Fantasy film enthusiasts will once more rejoice as I introduce you to a new and most attractive animation project : numero 9. The development of this feature shows once more how short films can be a convincing path to Hollywood’s glory. Just like Battle for Terra –presented to you last Monday- this animation work produced by Shane Acker is based on a short movie of the same name and same director. To give a little value adding detail, the short film was originally nominated to the Academy Awards 2005… I feel I now have your full attention…
When 9 (The Lord of the Ring’s Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.
In addition to a finely-worked aesthetic and a very attractive trailer, the identity of the project’s filmmaker should as well draw your attention, as it is no less than one of the greatest animation movie directors: Tim Burton himself! Sadly, we will need to wait until September 9th before being able to admire this new Science Fiction gem, which implies the voices of Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer.
Together with the trailer, let me introduce you to the fascinating short film, which is the initial source to the feature film… Enjoy!
The trailer:
The short story: