Apocalyptic animation with 9

: 20 August 2009; John Howell

9single Set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have been wiped out, the animated feature film 9 follows a group of goggle wearing sentient rag dolls as they confront terrifying machines determined to kill them. The rag dolls have been created by a brilliant human scientist to seed a desolate Earth with intelligent life after a cataclysmic war.

The brainchild of director Shane Acker, 9 is a longer version of his 11-minute 2005 Academy Award-nominated short of the same name (which perhaps explains the short running time of just 72 minutes). 9 is also the second animated movie from Focus Features, the makers of Coraline. With the backing of producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, Shane Acker has managed to recruit some big Hollywood names to voice the main characters, including Christopher Plummer as the war veteran 1, Martin Landau as an old inventor, 2, and Jennifer Connelly as 7, a brave warrior.

Elijah Wood voices the lead character, 9, who together with his other walking talking rag dolls (9 in all) must discover why the machines creatures are so determined to kill them, and what role they have to play in a future where the remnants of civilization are threatened with extinction. 9_Still_two

If the trailer and pictures are anything to go by, 9 has the potential to be a stunning visual feast. The WW2 inspired futuristic scenery looks first class and the actors voicing the main characters are likely to give the visuals a powerful lift. We’ll just have to wait and see if the story can match the images. Certainly 9 is one to watch out for.

9 will be released on 9 September 2009. That’s a lot of nines.

Watch the official trailer in low resolution here or a higher resolution version here. Focus Features official 9 website can be found here.

Display search results for: 9, Tim Burton, animated film 9