Matrix fans: Have you watched The Matrix for the 500th time and can now recite, complete with fairly good voice imitations, every line of the movie? Have you perused every fan site on the Internet looking for ANY new tidbit of info concerning Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity? Do you insist that your better half wear skin-tight black leather pants or long black coats and dark shades even if itis 90 degrees and at night? Are you so anxious to see the new Matrix movie that youive already gone to the theater and marked out a spot on the sidewalk where you intend to camp out several days before the movie opens so that you can be the first in line to buy a ticket?
While there are some who may ridicule you, apparently the folks at Warner Brothers Studios understand your, um dedication. They have released the first of 9 animated short films. This collection is called The AniMatrix.
What is The AniMatrix?
Imagine different animation styles combining to tell the story of The Matrix from 9 different aspects; some drawn in traditional Anime style, some using advanced 3D animation, but all aimed at revealing a certain aspect of The Matrix. Currently there is one episode of The AniMatrix available and itis a whopping 141MB, 9 minutes long, can be viewed in full widescreen format, is downloadable, and is completely free. Hereis a better explanation provided by The AniMatrix website:
THE ANIMATRIX fuses the creative vision of Larry and Andy Wachowski, writer-directors of THE MATRIX and its upcoming sequels, with the inspired artistry of some of the most revered and exciting talent of the anime world.
THE ANIMATRIX represents more than three years of collaboration between the Wachowski Brothers and animation artists at studios in Japan, Korea, and the U.S.
All of the directors and key players of THE ANIMATRIX have been hand picked by the Wachowski Brothers, and have worked closely with them from first concepts to post-production.
So, what is THE ANIMATRIX? It is a series of nine feature-film-quality short animated films, each between six and sixteen minutes long.
Four of the ANIMATRIX stories are penned by the Wachowski Brothers, with the remaining five written by the anime directors themselves.
All of THE ANIMATRIX is deeply rooted in the world of the MATRIX films. Viewers of THE ANIMATRIX will learn the origins of characters familiar from the MATRIX films, learn of the genesis of the Matrix itself, as well as meet new characters in original stories inter-woven with the fabric of THE MATRIX feature films.
For those of you with less than a broadband connection, you can still view the episode in smaller sizes.
This is really good stuff even if youire not a big Matrix fan.
The AniMatrix episodes are available in QuickTime only and is MPEG-4 encoded for high quality viewing.