New details are coming to light on the much anticipated animated Matrix prequel dubed "Animatrix".
In an interview with WIZARD magazine, Matrix producer Joel Silver revealed Matrix creators Andy and Larry Wachowski will write half of the 10 shorts, with Japanese anime masters including Yoshiaki Jawajiri (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust) and Mahiro Maeda (Blue Submarine NO. 6) whose short will be animated by the same house that did Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
"We're planning a series of animated short subjects that will kind of take the world from the world we're in today to the world of the Matrix and how we got there. We have assembled a team of unbelievably talented and renowned Japanese animation directors and artists to create a series of short films that will be accessible either on the Internet or eventually on DVD." Silver said.
"We're intending to put the animes out on a regular basis," says Silver. The 10-episode series is set to conclude before the release of the first sequel to The Matrix in 2003.
Yoshiaki Kawajiri, one of the episode directors for The Animatrix says, "The Matrix is a flat-out incredible experience both visually and on a narrative level. It really manages to fuse a lot of disparate elements of cinema. You see why people love it so fanatically. It really convinced me that a new breed of filmmaking had arrived."
One of episode will be based within the simulation ("training program") that ends up becoming a part of the real world. It's billed as an "Akira-style ninja epic."
Another episode, entitled "World Record," follows a man inside the Matrix who breaks out through "sheer physical power." This episode is being directed by Takeshi Koike. He hints that many questions about the Matrix will be answered and that "the more you understand it, the more interesting it becomes."
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