I had high expectation for the animation film “9” that bears the logo of Tim Burton. Later on, I read that Tim Burton only produces the film while the director and writer is Shane Acker. “9” is a decent animation. Just that I love “Corpse Bride” so much better. The quality of the image animation is top notch, no doubt. I gasped at the details and the motions of those dolls bouncing and walking. As far as the story goes, 9 dolls are brought to life, caught in the war between mankind and the machine, and incredible as it may sound, even as the entire human race was brought to extinction by those machines, the dolls seem to have a decent chance against the aggressors. Unlike “Corpse Bride”, which idea is built upon well known yet abstract concept of the ghosts and the living beings, underworld and the living world, “9” merges science and fantasy that leaves me more questions than answers. I mean, what is the purpose of these dolls’ existence? What is the purpose of the entire story?
Tim Burton was impressed by Shane Acker’s student project titled “9” created in 2005. You could easily find it in YouTube. I must say, it looks very impressive as a student project. What a dream comes true for Shane Acker to adapt this short clip into a full movie shown on big screen. A promising artist for sure and I look forward to watching his next production.
PS. For those who have watched “9”, I swear I have spotted a key hanging on the neck of “6” and thought that key has a connection to the lock box that “9” has found. Apparently, there isn’t such a connection. And I wonder what is that key for besides being a piece of decoration.