Welcome to a post-apocalypse like none you've ever seen before. 9 is an animated movie produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Nightwatch) with a visual style all of its own. It began life as a short film by Shane Acker – which you can see here – that impressed Burton so much he gave Acker the chance to turn it into a full length movie.
The story features the world’s first "sticthpunk" star, 9, who first comes to life in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they'll soon come to learn, the very future of civilisation may depend on them.
9 is released in the US on 9/9/09 (clever,eh?) but in the UK on the considerably less gimmicky 25/11/09. Over the next few pages you can meet 9 and eight of sticthpunk mates:
Voiced by one of the world’s most respected actors, Christopher Plummer (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country), 1 is the Scientist's first creation. As the elder, he is the self-declared leader of the group. He is clever and sly, but also domineering, quick-tempered, and threatened by the new arrival of 9, whose higher intellect leads him to question authority.
Click here to meet 2
