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The Animatrix (2003)
Andy and Larry Wachowski have been long time fans of Japanese style animation, and with the success of The Matrix franchise, they were able to put together a virtual anime all star team to create this collection of nine animated short films. The first film, “Final Flight of the Osiris”, was written by the Wachowski brothers and animated by Andy Jones, the animation director behind Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. It tells the story of the doomed ship Osiris and leads in directly to The Matrix Reloaded. The second and third films are titled “The Second Renaissance Parts I and II” and were the first stories that the Wachowski’s presented the producers of this collection.
These films were directed by Mahiro Maeda, the director of “Blue Submarine No. 6”, who shows us, with a blend of computer and Japanese style animation, the history of the battle between man and machine (which is kind of a mix of The Terminator and The Planet of the Apes stories). Shinichirô Watanabe, the creator of the popular “Cowboy Bebop” series, directed the fourth and eighth stories. “Kid’s Story” is about a kid that has a hard time distinguishing between his dreams and reality. He turns to the internet for answers and the response changes his life forever.
The story was written by the Wachowski’s and is told with a very exciting and experimental style of animation. “A Detective Story” is about a private investigator on the hunt for the ever elusive “Trinity”. It is The Matrix set in a Hollywood film noir setting and is one of the best of the series. Short number five is called “Program” and is directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, the director of Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.
The film is the most “traditional” Japanimation of the group and tells a story of betrayal in a matrix simulation. Kawajiri wrote this film and also the next. “World Record” is directed by Takeshi Koike, a young and energetic animator. The film shows how people can sometimes escape the matrix without knowledge of what is happening.
The seventh film, “Beyond”, was a creation of Kouji Morimoto, who was the first director the Wachowski’s signed. It’s about a group of kids who find a glitch in the matrix and naïvely use it for entertainment. At over two years the short’s production lasted longer than any other. The ninth and final piece is titled “Matriculated”.
Peter Chung, the writer and director of MTV’s “Aeon Flux” series, was hired to create the short late in the Animatrix’s production due to scheduling conflicts with another filmmaker. The incredibly surreal and abstract film takes a different angle on the idea of the matrix and puts a machine into a world created by humans. All in all the Animatrix is great fun for both anime enthusiasts and novices and compliments The Matrix franchise nicely. (Produced by and Segments Written by the Wachowski Brothers)
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