“The Animatrix” is a collection of nine animated shorts inspired by the live-action films set to be released soon after The
MATRIX RELOADED hits theaters. Known to be ardent fans of Japanese animation, directors Andy and Larry Wachowski sought to
use the craft to delve deeper into the MATRIX universe. I got a chance to chat with Michael Arias, the producer of the
“Animatrix” collection, and Mahiro Maeda, director of the episodes “The Second Renaissance – Parts I and II.”
Could you tell us a little about the idea behind the “Animatrix” and how you got it off the ground?
MA:
Andy and Larry are enormous fans of Japanese animation and Hong Kong action movies and the MATRIX is an incredible synthesis
of all these different influences. So, they had this crazy idea of doing an animated anthology of MATRIX stories. They’d
already done a series of graphic novels on the web and they wanted to do the same thing with animation, specifically Japanese
animation. The basic idea was to get the 10 best animation directors in Japan and let them each go nuts in their own
personal style. To jump-start the process, I asked Andy and Larry (Wachowski) to write us a few rough sketches or outlines
that would give the directors an idea of what they were interested in. So, they wrote outlines for “The Second Renaissance,”
“Kid’s Story” and “The Final Flight of the Osiris.”
Did Andy and Larry have much creative involvement in the making of the episodes?
MA:
No, basically they backed off as soon as the stories were locked in place. I mean, they looked at our storyboards and
character designs, but they had absolutely nothing critical to say about the different visual styles. Each of the episodes
is done in a very distinct and very different graphic style. I got the sense that they were very excited to watch these
things blossom.
(to Mahiro Maeda) Could you talk about your visual approach to “The Second Renaissance?”
MM: One thing that I wanted to avoid was making it too stylized; I wanted to make it very straightforward. Since this is
the genesis of the MATRIX, I wanted to tell the history in a straightforward way. At the same time, I wanted to make this
into a mythology from the standpoint of the machines.
What is can you do with animated shorts that they haven’t done in the MATRIX movies?
MA:
Well, there are a lot of things you can do with animation that you can’t with live action. Live action is basically graphic,
whereas animation is very surrealistic and metaphorical in nature, and you’re conscious of the fact that you’re watching an
illustration. In The “Second Renaissance”, for example, [Maeda is] telling this story where there are no characters to speak
of. It’s almost a documentary in shape. It takes place over hundreds of years and has a cast of hundreds of thousands. It
obviously would have been an incredible challenge to do that with live action.
(to Mahiro Maeda) What impression did the first MATRIX, which was so heavily influenced by Japanese animation, have on you?
And what did working on the “Animatrix” mean to you?
MM:
The biggest impression I had was that something new had arrived. I felt that it would create a new wave in the world of
entertainment. Even though a lot of people talk about the influence of animation on the MATRIX, that’s not the way I see it.
In Japan, animation is usually created on very low budgets. Because of the financial constraints, they have to come up with
creative ways to entertain viewers. I feel that Japanese animation has been heavily influenced by American entertainment.
In the MATRIX, that influence of American entertainment on Japanese animation turned back to Hollywood. So, it’s sort of a
circular movement.
Does this mean that there won’t be an live action MATRIX prequel, since you’ve got one on the “Animatrix” (in “The Second
Renaissance – Parts I and II”)?
MA:
I haven’t heard Andy and Larry say anything about doing a prequel. I think they’re probably ready to do something different.
Having over the last few years visited their sets in Australia and San Francisco, I’ve never seen anything like that even
comes close to the size and scope of these productions.
“The Final Flight of the Osiris” looks very much like the MATRIX live action films, whereas the other episodes of the
“Animatrix” portray the world in very different ways.
MA:
That’s one of the great things about animation. For every story there’s a different visual style. You’re not so married to
the real world as you are with live action. Andy and Larry love comic book art and they love animation – and that includes
all these different styles – very Japanese styles, very European rough sketchy styles that they use in Kid’s Story, and the
kind of hybrid 2-D and 3-D style that Maeda-san’s film has.
Was there any thought of running “Osiris” before the RELOADED, since it is referred to in the film?
MA:
I think that more than anything else that it was a timing thing. It was probably of great interest to Warner Brothers to
leverage it as a promotional thing. So they ran it before DREAMCATCHER, which was released far enough in advance of
RELOADED.
Speaking of promotional, with both “The Animatrix” and “Enter the Matrix” coming out alongside RELOADED, there’s this huge
marketing effort to this, but with products that aren’t just ancillary, they’re integral to understanding the story of the
films.
MA:
Personally speaking, I’ve always felt that “The Animatrix” has a lot more to gain from the promotional muscle of the MATRIX
films than they do from us. I don’t think people are going to see the “Animatrix” and then say “oh yeah, maybe I’ll go see
RELOADED.”
If you’re thinking of the “Animatrix” as a big commercial for the franchise, it’s a very, very, very ambitious commercial. I
think Andy and Larry wanted to make the “Animatrix”, not so much to embellish their own universe, but because they like good
animation.
If The “Animatrix” takes off, is it possible that more animated shorts will be produced?
MA:
Yeah, I guess, but it’s an extremely hard way of making movies. It takes a lot of patience, and it’s not a cheap way of
making movies.
How long would it take to make a sequel to the “Animatrix”?
MA:
Well, we definitely learned a lot making this one. I’ve been involved with the project for three years now, actually
producing the films for about 2 years. We sort of staggered them and, at various times, worked parallel. There’s an
enormous amount of animation being made in Japan, so everyone, particularly the really talented people, are extremely busy.
So I think an enormous challenge would be assembling another team like this.
It was an incredibly difficult project at times, working across continents and with different directors, each of whom is a
respected auteur. There was a certain amount of competition among the directors, some of whom we couldn’t even put in the
same room together.
(to Maeda) What was the most challenging aspect of making “The Second Renaissance?”
MM: The hardest part was that there was no main character in his film. And there’s no particular story either.
MA:
To turn it into something that seems like a story that actually has a beginning, middle and end.
MM:
It was very challenging to create something with all the visuals I had in my mind and put it together so that it would be
attractive enough for the viewers.
Some of the stuff is pretty graphic. Was there any kind of limit to how far you could go?
MA:
Nope. Andy and Larry told us to put it all in there.
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