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Anime

Animatrix Trailer 134

Posted by michael from the trinity-now-with-even-tighter-clothing dept.
NeoCode writes "Like The Matrix? Like anime? Well, feast your eyes on this. The Matrix web site has released a preview trailer for Animatrix, a series of 9 anime stories set in the world of matrix, to be released on DVD. They are done rather beautifully, by the looks of the trailer, in both traditional anime and using computer graphics."
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Animatrix Trailer More

Animatrix Trailer

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  • I will consider the irony (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Com2Kid ( 142006 ) <com2kidSPAMLESS@gmail.com> on Saturday August 31, 2002 @04:23AM (#4175545) Homepage Journal
    Low budget eastern films influence big western producers to create gigantic megabuck flick;

    for a follow up?

    Why not export huge megabuck flick story line in an Eastern visual medium?

    Oh well, at least Anime kicks ass for fight scenes. :-D
    • Since when is anime low budget?

      As far as the 'visual medium' goes the only thing that we've borrowed is the stylization of the characters. Animation was invented in the west. And that visual style was borrowed from early western style anyway.

      I'm not saying that 'the west created everything' or anything like, obviously the japanese have really come up with the majority of advances in Animation lately, but I would hardly call it an "eastern visual medium"
  • "Wait a minute ! If this is real, why does everything still look like a cartoon ?!"
  • The trailer looks great. This seems like one of the more dareing ideas to come out of a big hollywood studio in a while (even if we all know there's a market). Maybe this'll be really cool anime with a plot that's understandable.

  • Typo in story, should read: (Score:3, Funny)

    by tunah ( 530328 ) <sam.krayup@com> on Saturday August 31, 2002 @04:29AM (#4175559) Homepage
    NeoCode [verticalinsanity.com] writes "Like The Matrix? Like anime? Well, I downloaded the trailer before submitting this story, and you can't have it. Neener neener neener."

  • I am still waiting (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jukal ( 523582 ) on Saturday August 31, 2002 @04:37AM (#4175569) Journal
    that they would publish Ma(rketing)trix the Movie, where they reveal how they managed in this :) These guys really know how to exploit and squeeze every penny out of the idea. The most amazing part of this is that everything is well done and thought, we consistent. You could believe for example, that you could ruin the matrix concept like this, but somehow they have managed to keep it in order.

  • Episodes made by various studios (Score:3, Redundant)

    by doc modulo ( 568776 ) on Saturday August 31, 2002 @04:40AM (#4175577)
    From the art style, I could recognise:

    * Studio that made: Ghost in the Shell, the movie (not sure about this one)

    * Studio that made: Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (new version of VHD)

    * Square studio that made: Final Fantasy, the movie.

    * The American studio that made: Aeon Flux, Sci-Fi animation for BBC's Liquid TV and MTV. (not sure about this one either).

    Anyone else have any additions or corrections?

  • Lain (Score:1)

    by Taurine ( 15678 )
    Let me get this straight. They watch the anime Serial Experiments Lain, take the most superficial view of it and go away to make the Hollywood perspective on this, with appropriately enormous budget and pretty-boy lead.

    Then, when the udder is starting to dry out, they think there will be more milk if they turn it back into a US-made anime?

    Like videogames, all good anime comes from Japan. OK, some good videogames come from the UK, France and Texas, but the best come from Japan.

    Actually, how can they call it anime if its not Japanese? Surely its just a cartoon series?
    • Actually they aren't US made, I believe all of them are made by Japanese studios. There's a lot of information about it available at whatisthematrix.com [whatisthematrix.com]. Sure the language is in English, which is most likely their key market, but I'm sure even for some of the purists (read: Ignorant people so tied up in their own little worlds that they can't for the life of them realise why people like things in their own language) there'll even be a Japanese dub.

    • Let me get this straight. They watch the anime Serial Experiments Lain, take the most superficial view of it and go away to make the Hollywood perspective on this, with appropriately enormous budget and pretty-boy lead.

      Lain was first aired July 1998. The Matrix began shooting March 1998. On the net, you can find draft scripts from 1996.

      The Wachowski's proudly admit to dipping into the common pool of anime ideas for inspiration for their movie. The similarities you found with Lain strongly suggest that its authors did likewise. Animes frequently borrow from each other and play off ideas and themes found in other animes. Why does it suddenly become exploitation when a Westerner does it? Is the pool marked "Japanese Only"?

    • I doubt that they just looked at one anime... It incorporates ideas from numerous anime and the main idea seemed to from a video game from like two decades ago. They might have not even played the game but looked at anime that had something similar.
  • So now big eyes == anime?

    I mean, I dunno. I would hardly call the CG one 'anime'. But what really should we call the others? Is all high quality animation amed at adults now "anime"?

    Ah well, who knows. Btw, if you like this stuff you can find a bunch of Matrix inspired here here [warnerbros.com]. Some of them are pretty cool.

    • The preview does not call this "anime", simply "animated shorts". Anime has a specific definition, being animation from Japan, but that would include not only the good stuff like Mononoke, Akira, etc, but also the stuff like Hamatro and Pokemon. Certainly, none of the shorts are of the anime of the last type (thank goodness! "Jump, Neo!" "PIKA!").

      Here, I think they are simply saying "Ani[mated] Matrix", as opposed to implying "Ani[me] Matrix". And in the first catagory, I'd certainly include CGI animation as a valid entrant, as well as American-directed shorts that may have been inspired by Anime but aren't truly anime.

      • Actually, if you visit the site (whatisthematrix.com) and put your cursor over the second box on the "mainframe" menu, it'll say "anime." The link takes you to the Animatrix part of the site. Thus, they do imply that the move is the Anime Matrix, not the Animation Matrix.
    • As you can see two threads above most of the shorts are made by Japanese ppl and -I assume- by Japanese studios so it's animation made in Japan in the typical style and imho that qualifies them to be called Anime

      jm2

      • No, all of the shorts are made by anime directors produced by anime studies. The only stretch on this would be the last piece, from Square. But it's still a Japanese company, even if it was made in Hawaii before Square, Honolulu became no more, and a Japanese director.
    • The poster, of course, is at fault. "Animatrix" is from "animated Matrix", not "anime Matrix". But clearly the fact that all the animators, except for Square USA, are Japanese should count for something.

      "The Matrix" is a huge hit with non-geeks as well as geeks, of course, and the Warchowski brothers put this video together because they're anime fans as well. Anything, IMO, that brings "animation to the masses" in the USA is a Good Thing. Hopefully there'll be some previews of each studio's other projects on the DVD to direct buyers to other anime offerings by the same folks.

      Anything that brings down the cost of "Cowboy Bebop" DVDs for me is worth doing. :-)
  • Like The Matrix?
    No. Should I? A sorry mishmash of dystopian human-slavery science fiction, incredibly shallow cyberpunk (telephones as portals?) and Buddhist "the mind is the weapon" pap mixed with shiny leather and softcore multiculturalism (hmm...the black guys are the only ones who are natural in a modern noble savage kinda theme) combined to make no sense while doing an excellent A-TEAM ripoff with thousands of rounds sparking past our heros.

    Like anime?
    No.

    • Clearly, you are much smarter then everyone else who might happen to enjoy well crafted and entertaining movies that don't happen to have storylines equaling the highest literary standards in academic America.

      Your distain for Anime only hightens that point, as no truly intelegent person could enjoy artwork that moves for christ sake!

  • Windows 3.1 Reloaded (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "Wake up Neo."

    "Fucking stupid KaZaA messages, I thought I turned that shit off."

    "The Matrix has you."

    "U r 2 14m3 4 m4 sk177z! 1 vv177 h4x0r j00!"

    "Fine then, fag - stay in the Matrix!"

    later at work, a FedEx package arives

    "What is this? Why am I talking to myself?"

    Neo opens the package and six high density floppies fall out.

    "Oh my GOD! NOO!!!! It's Windows 3.1!!!!"

    The phone at Neo's desk rings, he answers it.

    "Hello."

    "Hello fag."

    "Oh, the asshole from KaZaA... Hey, how'd you get my number?"

    "There's no time for that now. Did you get the package I sent you?"

    "Yea. Why the fuck you send me Windows 3.1?"

    "It is very important that you install it right away."

    "But..."

    "No butts, find a computer and INSTALL IT!"

    "Okay, whatever."

    "At the end of the hall there's a computer with Windows XP. Reformat the hard drive and install Windows 3.1"

    "That's a Mac running OS X, doushebag."

    "A Ma.... Oh, my bad, after reading Matrix code for years you begin to see things that aren't there. I thought it said OS XP."

    "What the fuck, OS XP? You're a tard."

    "Change of plans, I just realized this wasn't as urgent as I thought. We can get back to this tomorrow. I'll be watching you, Neo."

    "Sure you will. Fag."

  • Direct download links... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Saeger ( 456549 ) <(farrellj) (at) (gmail.com)> on Saturday August 31, 2002 @05:12AM (#4175634) Homepage
    ...for the annoyed:

    Animatrix_Trailer_640.mov [warnerbros.com] - 18MB (the one you want)
    Animatrix_Trailer_480.mov [warnerbros.com] - 13MB
    Animatrix_Trailer_320.mov [warnerbros.com] - 7MB
    Animatrix_Trailer_240.mov [warnerbros.com] - 3MB

    --

    • Thanks, but what would annoy me even less is to have something that uses a codec I can play.
      • Yeah... but the good news is that it's easy to convert from Sorenson to DivX (or XVid, or whatever), at least in windows. You just export from QuickTime to Cinepak AVI (remembering to set HQ output). Then you just re-encode to Divx+mp3(or ogg) in VirtualDub.

        I'm sure the new encode will pop on p2p networks sometime soon. The same thing happens with other (popular) sorenson only clips.

        --


        • It's not easy to convert from Sorenson to anything else if you refuse to install quicktime software(*).

          Anyone know where to get a cracked/seperated sorenson codec?

          (*) - because of quicktime's OVERBEARING IDIOTIC Vicious perpensity to sieze control of your OS/Browser file associations and make your system/browser less stable.
          • Yes, that would be the problem I have.

          • because of quicktime's OVERBEARING IDIOTIC Vicious perpensity to sieze control of your OS/Browser file associations

            In my copy of QuickTime 5 for Windows, I immediately unchecked the option (Start > Settings > Control Panel > QuickTime > File Type Associations) to associate with Windows file types and Internet file types. Removing the npqtplugin*.dll (the QuickTime plug-ins) from c:/program files/mozilla.org/mozilla/plugins helped as well.

            and make your system/browser less stable.

            Hasn't happened on my machine running the Windows 2000 (NT 5.0.3) OS. I still haven't got one blue screen since I installed it four months ago.

            • In my copy of QuickTime 5 for Windows, I immediately unchecked the option (Start > Settings > Control Panel > QuickTime > File Type Associations) to associate with Windows file types and Internet file types.

              That's more work than necessary. Apple should not assume that you need their program to view files for which there is a perfectly good program for that comes pre-installed with nearly every OS. I can't limit the associations beyond Windows, Mac, or Internet file types, whatever that means. I've got programs that are better at viewing "Macintosh" files than Apple's own software, all except for Sorenson-encoded MOVs. They should at least let you pick associations for each file type, and should never take associations from other programs. And, in a perfect world, they'd just install a system codec and let any application use it.

  • Hey whats gives with QTime (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    On the site they have trailers with the first ten or twenty seconds blank (try the Micro preview of Matrix Reloaded).

    Below it it says "Sound but no pictures - get Quick Time 5 (Download)".

    Did they make the trailers blank at the start to get people to upgrade their Quick time?

    • Did they make the trailers blank at the start to get people to upgrade their Quick time?

      Not necessarily. Perhaps the older Sorenson Video codec included with QuickTime 3 and 4 would introduce horrible artifacts that would shine a negative light on the cinematic quality of the first 20 seconds of the trailer.


  • Oh thank God. I was reading a post by Tycho a couple hours ago and was curious enough to follow his link that went like this: Pulled the .mov out of my browser cache. Think I'll watch it again, just because. As much as I may hate the politics of AOL/Time Warner and DVDs with their evil regions and encryption... I'm afraid I'm going to spend my money on it.

    Figures. I would find this just after watching Ghost in the Shell.

  • Does anyone know the name of the music they used in that promo?
    • "Snatch" Soundtrack , track 3.
      Track name: "Supermoves", by Overseer.
      It's a strange, but still great, CD.
      • I've watched that movie and never even recognised the song. Thanks mate !!
      • Harh! I have both the Snatch and Matrix soundtracks. I recognized it but thought they were just re-using music from the Matrix.

        I've now been excited into listening to the Snatch soundtrack again.. really good stuff. Didja know Mirwais is half Afghani? I saw a poster at my university asking us to donate textbooks to the Mir-wais school in Kabul. Anyone know what it means?
  • I know what the Matrix is.

    It's the marketing hype that is going to be surrounding the film.

    The Animatrix.
    The Matrix Reloaded.
    The Matrix Revolutions.

    Future Projects:

    The Anna Nicole Matrix.
    The Matrix Recycled.
    The Unixmatrix
    The Matrix Refresh rate
    The Matrix decaf.
    The Matrix pop-up book.
    Johnny Mnenomic (in bullet time)
    Ossama bin Matrix.
  • Suuuuuure... and I was expecting Yakko as Morpheous, Wakko as Neo, and Dot as Trinity. Sure, go ahead and spoil my expectations!
    • Fade in:
      COMPUTER SCREEN - so close it has no boundaries. A blinking cursor pulses on the screen.

      A phone rings.

      YAKKO(V.O): Hello?

      DOT(V.O): I'm inside. Anything to report?

      Numbers and letters start to stream in alternating columns up & down across the screen - flashing through a box in the middle. A quick reader will spot BUY AOL @ 14 as it flashes by. The first three digits of an area code snap into place.

      YAKKO: Yes. I'm on the final level!

      Numbers are replaced by a game of Pong on-screen.

      Cut do DOT on the phone wearing traditional outfit.

      DOT: Pretty good. So I bought the cutest outfit...

      POLICE burst into the room, guns drawn.

      POLICE: Freeze!

      DOT motions to the phone and the police abashedly point their guns elsewhere and begin to quietly whistle.

      DOT: I gotta go now.

      YAKKO: Okay. See you when you get in.

      DOT hangs up. POLICE resume aggressive stance one comes forward with handcuffs. DOT jumps in the air and motion freezes. Camera pans around her in mid-air. Motion resumes and she lands in "cute" pose.

      POLICE: Awwwwwww....

  • Nice, but... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Briareos ( 21163 )

    ...I found the trailer for the Ghost In The Shell TV series [dmz-plus.com] that was also just released way better... plus it's a simple MPEG file - no need to mess around with QuickTime... :)

    np: Nils Petter Molvaer - Hurry Slowly (NP3)

  • Fuck karma. Fuck submitting stories.

    2002-08-30 18:06:15 What is The Animatrix? (articles,news) (rejected)

    What the fuck do you have to do to get something submitted around here?

    • Yeah, most posts are by Michael(5 stories), Cliff, and CowboyNeal. I have submitted stories only to have someone else submit the exact same story later and get it accepted. Time to remove this site from my favorites list!
    • It's obviously a good ol boys submission system when shit like "A Guide to the Dance Dance phenomenom" gets posted. I mean really, what good is a karma system if you don't use it for something? Sure, it's used in moderations, but that's it? Mine is "Excellent". I've submitted 12 stories and every fat one of them has been rejected. Sure, some of em may be bad, prempted, etc, but all of them? And for a busted review on a year old U571 movie rant? DDR?! I feel for you bro...

      Take the points, big dogs. Doncha wish you could mod past -1?
    • I feel you man, my karma is good as well but I gets no respect. My submitions have all been pretty juicy, but its obviously good ole boy when it comes to acceptance. Oh well,maybe I"ll start my own nerd news site.
    • just wondering--couldn't there be a way for all submitted stories to be accepted, just as all posts are accepted? let the moderators catagorize the stories and bump them up and down. the average view will then simply set a threashold that allows him to see the number of stories he feels like reading. that would actually make life easier on taco et al.

      well, just an idea.
  • I would like to thanks Square for doing this, they are giving everyone an extra view on the Matrixuniverse.

    The trailer looks awesome and by the looks of it it seems that the CG rendered world is the reality, and the Anime world is the Matrix or "Animatrix".

    Very interesting and I can't wait till it's released.

  • ...who thinks this looks really cool?

    I liked the Matrix, I like anime, and this looks really awesome. Assuming the information Longinus posted is correct (I certainly hope so - that's some awesome info and I have no idea where you got it from), I'm really hyped. I recognize all of those names, have seen stuff they've all done, and I know them to be really really good; something good has to come out of this all, even if it was started by the always-so-hated big Hollywood studios. Even if Longinus's post isn't true, at least one of the features is using Square-esque computer graphics (even if it's not square, which apparently it is), which means we'll finally see some follow-up after the Final Fantasy movie. As much as the movie bombed and wasn't all that good, I'm waiting for someone, anyone to pick up the torch and keep it going. Quasi-photorealisitc CG literally is completely limitless when it comes to movies, so I'm estatic that something else has been made. I'll probably be one of the first to get this DVD when it comes out.

  • what? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Anime to me is merely a medium. Right now it is cheaper and easier to make fantastic situations and worlds with Anime then with realistic CGI and actors. If that changes in the future (as is the trend) then who knows. I personally do not fall in love with anime for the sake that it is anime. For that matter, I wonder how many people out there like it because of true enjoyment in the medium and not because it is 1337 to do so.
  • has yet to be made! [thematrixxx.com] :-)
  • Does this sound like pure merchandising to anyone else? It reminds me of those music-inspired-by-the-movie "soundtracks".

  • Then the Matrix has you...

    I mean damn man, do you really expect to see yourself?

    signed, the real life Neo..

  • No matter what the trolls say, this has potential. When I saw the Reloaded/Revolutions teaser, I wasn't too excited, but this one brings back the feelings I had after seeing the original Matrix teaser. I hate the MPAA, I hate Hollywood, I hate Warner, but they'll get my money for this!

    If they do it right, they can go far beyond what they're doing on the big screen. Let's hope they break out of the sequel box and give us some cool entertainment.

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