The Animatrix
The Animatrix (Japanese: アニマトリックス, Hepburn: Animatorikkusu) is a 2003 American-Japanese adult animated science-fiction anthology film produced by the Wachowskis.[2] The anime compiles nine animated short films, detailing the backstory of The Matrix film series, in addition to providing side stories that expand the universe and tie into the film series.
The Animatrix
- The Wachowskis[a]
- Mahiro Maeda
- Shinichirō Watanabe
- Yoshiaki Kawajiri
- Kōji Morimoto
- Peter Chung
The Wachowskis
- Michael Arias
- Hiroaki Takeuchi
- Eiko Tanaka
- Square USA (Final Flight of the Osiris)
- Madhouse (Program, World Record)
- Studio 4°C (The Second Renaissance, Kid's Story, Beyond, A Detective Story)
- DNA Productions (Matriculated)
- Warner Home Video
- Village Roadshow Pictures
- NPV Entertainment
Warner Home Video
- June 3, 2003
102 minutes[1]
- United States
- Japan
- English
- Japanese
The film received generally positive reviews from critics and fans.
Plot[edit]
Final Flight of the Osiris[edit]
Captain Thadeus (Kevin Michael Richardson) and Jue (Pamela Adlon) engage in a blindfolded sword fight in a virtual reality dojo. They don't harm each other, only damage clothing. At some point, they are interrupted by an alarm and the simulation ends.
In the next scene, the hovercraft Osiris heads for Junction 21 when operator Robbie (Tom Kenny) discovers an army of Sentinels on his HR scans. The ship flees into an uncharted tunnel, where it encounters a small group of Sentinels patrolling the area. The crew members man the onboard guns and destroy the patrol. The ship emerges on the surface, four kilometers directly above Zion and close to the Sentinel army. Thadeus and Jue see that the Machines are using gigantic drills to tunnel their way down to Zion. The Sentinel army detects the Osiris and pursues the ship.
Thadeus realizes and decides that Zion must be warned, and Jue volunteers to broadcast herself into the Matrix to deliver the warning while the ship is doggedly pursued. Knowing that neither of them will make it out alive, Thadeus and Jue admit to each other about peeking in the simulation before kissing farewell. Entering the Matrix, Jue eventually reaches a mail box where she drops off a package; this sets up the prologue for the video game Enter the Matrix. She attempts to contact Thadeus via cell phone as the Osiris is overrun by Sentinels and crashes. The Sentinels tear their way into the ship, where Thadeus makes a last stand against the Sentinels. Shortly after Jue realizes the horror of the situation, she says "Thadeus" over her cell phone immediately before the Osiris explodes, destroying many of the Sentinels and killing the entire crew. In the Matrix, Jue falls dead to the ground, due to her body being destroyed on the ship.
The Second Renaissance Part I[edit]
Told by the archives of The Machines, the story's format is similar to the creation myth of Book of Genesis using phrases after major events such as "and for a time it was good". The story talks about how in the mid-21st century, humanity falls victim to its vanity and corruption. They develop artificial intelligence, and soon build an entire race of sentient AI robots to serve them. Many of the robots are domestic servants meant to interact with humans, so they are built in "man's likeness" (in a humanoid form). With increasing numbers of people released from all labor, much of the human population has become slothful, conceited, and corrupt. Despite this, the machines were content with serving humanity.
The relationship between humans and machines changes in the year 2090, when a domestic android is threatened by its owner. The android, named B1-66ER, kills its owner, his pets, and a mechanic instructed to deactivate the robot, the first incident of an artificially intelligent machine killing a human. B1-66ER is arrested and put on trial, but justifies the crime as self-defense, stating that it "simply did not want to die". During the trial scene, a voice-over of the defense attorney Clarence Drummond (whose name is a dual reference to Clarence Darrow and Henry Drummond from Inherit the Wind) quoting a famous line from the Dred Scott v. Sandford case in his closing statement, which implicitly ruled that African Americans were not entitled to citizenship under United States law, is heard:
Production[edit]
Development of the Animatrix project began when the film series' writers and directors, The Wachowskis, were in Japan promoting the first Matrix film. While in the country, they visited some of the creators of the anime films that had been a strong influence on their work, and decided to collaborate with them.[6]
The Animatrix was conceived and overseen by the Wachowskis, but they only wrote four of the segments themselves and did not direct any of their animation; most of the project's technical side was overseen by notable figures from the world of Japanese animation.
The English language version of The Animatrix was directed by Jack Fletcher, who brought on board the project the voice actors who provided the voices for the English version of Square's Final Fantasy X, including Matt McKenzie, James Arnold Taylor, John DiMaggio, Tara Strong, Hedy Burress, and Dwight Schultz. The English version also features the voices of Victor Williams, Melinda Clarke, Olivia d'Abo, Pamela Adlon, and Kevin Michael Richardson.
The characters Neo, Trinity, and Kid also appear, with their voices provided by their original actors, Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Clayton Watson.
The Animatrix:
The Album
Four of the films were originally released on the series' official website; one (Final Flight of the Osiris) was shown in cinemas with the film Dreamcatcher.[9] The others first appeared with the VHS and DVD release of all nine shorts on June 3, 2003. The DVD also includes the following special features:
Shortly after the home video release, the film was exhibited on June 14, 2003, in New York City at the New York-Tokyo Film Festival.[10]
It was broadcast on Adult Swim on April 17, 2004 (to promote the DVD release of The Matrix Revolutions) and again on its Toonami programming block on December 19, 2021 (to promote The Matrix Resurrections) (albeit with edits done to remove nudity and gory violence in The Second Renaissance Parts 1 and 2), and has received airplay on Teletoon several months after its American broadcast. In the UK, Final Flight of the Osiris was broadcast on Channel 5 just before the DVD release, along with The Second Renaissance Parts 1 and 2, Kid's Story and World Record broadcast after the DVD release.
In May 2006, The Animatrix was aired in Latin America and in Spain by Cartoon Network on Toonami.
The Animatrix was also screened in select cinemas around the world for a short period of time, a week or two before the sequel The Matrix Reloaded, as a promotional event.
One day before the release of The Matrix Reloaded on cinemas, the Brazilian television channel SBT aired Final Flight of the Osiris after airing The Matrix to promote the film. The same thing happened with French television channel France 2.
The cinema release order for The Animatrix (at least in Australia), and its sequencing in a subsequent release on HBO Max, differed from the DVD release, placing the Final Flight of the Osiris last instead of first. The cinema release-order:
To coincide with the Blu-ray edition of The Ultimate Matrix Collection, The Animatrix was also presented for the first time in high definition. The film was released along with the trilogy on October 14, 2008.
The Animatrix saw a one night only screening in 35mm at New York City's Japan Society on May 27, 2022.[11]
Reception[edit]
The Animatrix sold 2.7 million copies, grossing $68 million in sales revenue.[12]
The Animatrix received mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 89%, based on reviews from 18 critics.[13] Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies stated that "unlike many heavily promoted franchise movies, it justifies its hype". She praised Maeda's Second Renaissance, noting that it "foreshadows the dazzling visual inventiveness of his later Gankutsuou".[14]