Tale One
The Owl and the Pussycat
☾
A Birrell Jones Production · Coming Soon
Calico Pie: The Movie
Suzanne Birrell’s Preposterously Peculiar Picture Show of Nonsense
Welcome to Calico Pie
Nonsense deserves
beautiful production values.
Calico Pie: The Movie is a feature-length musical picture show built from ten poems and tales by Edward Lear, transformed by Suzanne Birrell into songs, characters, handcrafted worlds and one gloriously improbable journey.
The Feature Film
Calico Pie:
The Movie
Ten Edward Lear tales. One glorious, peculiar movie.
Calico Pie: The Movie is a roughly 55-minute musical journey through the comic, romantic, melancholy and utterly nonsensical imagination of Edward Lear.
Suzanne Birrell has set Lear’s words to original music and carries the audience from one handmade world into the next — from a pea-green boat and a courtship between an Owl and a Pussy-cat to Jumblies sailing away in a sieve and a Dong wandering beneath a luminous nose.
The poems remain Lear’s. The music, performances and visual interpretation make them newly alive on screen.
The complete movie has not yet been publicly released. The trailer is available now, with selected pre-release screenings planned before wider release.
Featuring the historic literary poetry and personality of Edward Lear
Music, vocals and arrangements · Suzanne Birrell
Guitar · Tom Duarte
Produced and Directed · Charles Paul Jones
Music, vocals and arrangements · Suzanne Birrell
Guitar · Tom Duarte
Produced and Directed · Charles Paul Jones
Ten tales ✦ one movie ✦ approximately 55 peculiar minutes
Inside the movie
The Picture Show
Ten distinct Lear worlds unfold inside the feature. Each has its own characters, mood and visual personality; together they form the journey of Calico Pie: The Movie.
Tale Two
Calico Pie
✦
Tale Three
The Broom and the Shovel and the Poker and Tongs
❖
Tale Four
The Duck and the Kangaroo
☀
Tale Five
Incidents in the Life of My Uncle Arly
✺
Tale Six
The Cummerbund
❀
Tale Seven
The Dong With The Luminous Nose
✹
Tale Eight
The Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò
☂
Tale Nine
The Jumblies
≈
Tale Ten
The New Vestments
✂
Ten tales. Ten different worlds. One continuous Picture Show.
Some are ridiculous. Some are romantic. Some are surprisingly sad. All of them belong unmistakably to Edward Lear.
Step right up
The Midway
Every proper Picture Show needs a Midway. Wander beyond the feature to meet Suzanne, peek behind the curtain at how the worlds were made, and explore the curiosities surrounding Edward Lear’s peculiar universe.
Meet Suzanne
Music, vocals, arrangements and the peculiar sensibility at the center of the whole show.
Come inside →How the impossible machinery works
Character, continuity, color, paper, fabric and the handcrafted visual vocabulary behind Lear’s moving world.
Go backstage →Play the Midway
Games, curiosities and assorted bits of civilized foolishness for anyone not yet ready to leave Lear’s world.
Try your luck →For selected organizations & special audiences
See the movie before everybody else.
Calico Pie: The Movie is not yet available for public streaming or purchase. Before its wider release, selected organizations may host special presentations of the complete 55-minute feature.
A screening can be an evening of music, poetry, animation and beautifully produced nonsense — suitable for arts organizations, literary groups, libraries, community organizations and fundraising events.
Pre-Release Screening Information
Screening availability is limited during the pre-release period. Use the screening information page for current details and inquiries.
Private Preview · Limited Seats
Watch Calico Pie: The Movie.
Ten Edward Lear tales. Suzanne Birrell’s music. One preposterously peculiar Picture Show. Before its public release, we’re inviting a limited audience to watch the complete film free, in return for honest feedback in a short questionnaire.
You’ll confirm your email address with a 6-digit code before the film starts. When the seats are gone, the preview closes.
▶ Watch the Movie