The Animatrix

The Animatrix is a collection of 9 short films produced and commissioned by Matrix creators the Wachowski brothers, and is now available to view on TheWB.com. Each short was created by a different animator, ranked top in the world, and adds backstory and new chapters to the epic Sci-Fi trilogy. The shorts (or chapters) explain the origin of the machines, created by man to serve man. However, after many years of abuse, and eventual banishment, the machines rose against their makers in full-on man vs. machine war. Because the machines ran on solar energy, men darkened the sky, so machines imprisoned all of mankind for an alternative power source. They created the illusionary world of the matrix to mask their control. However there were cases of those inside the matrix breaking through. Like Neo from the trilogy, a high school boy realized the truth from the computer; An athlete pushes himself passed what should be physically possible and awakens (even if just for a second); a detective finds a pattern that takes him to the truth. The Animatrix also served as part of an arching larger story combining subplots from the films and the video game "Enter the Matrix" One such connection is the chapter titled "Final Flight of the Osiris" where a lost ship comes upon an army of machines drilling straight down towards the last human city of Zion (which is the premise for the final film). Keanu Reaves and Carrie-Anne Moss lend their voices. MORE