Which brings me to 9, the next animated flick to come from Focus Features- the thing sounds flippin’ awesome, and will probably be just what we need after so much animated garbage. From Academy Award nominee Shane Acker, it’s already being described as ‘epic’, and after hearing the synopsis, I think I’d have to agree: 9 is a feature-length expansion of Mr. Acker’s short film of the same name. The action-packed tale takes place in a world parallel to our own, in which the very legacy of humanity is threatened. A community of fully mobile rag dolls living a post-apocalyptic existence find one of their own, 9, displaying leadership qualities that may help them to survive. The conflicted but resilient community includes 1, a domineering war veteran; 2 , an aged inventor; 5, a stalwart mechanic; 6, a visionary and artist; and 7, a brave warrior.
You like that shit? How about the fact that Tim Burton is also on board as producer! Yeah! Or how’s about the voice talent? Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer, and John C. Reilly! Wow! What a line-up! Yes, we may just hear Connelly’s voice, but damnit, I’ll still be able to imagine her hot bod when hearing it! And Crispin Glover? Too cool, too cool…
9 is already in production, and will likely be inching it’s epic animated head into theaters sometime 2008- and if we’re lucky (and if they’re smart), they’d aim for a holiday release at the end of THIS year, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I never saw the award winning original short, but the sci-fi epicness of the story, the awesome cast, and the fact that Tim Burton is on board has me sold! Stick around for more 9 as we hear it!