The Animatrix shorts each bring something to the world of The Matrix

Resurrections by The Matrix, Lana Wachowski’s return to the universe of the Matrix nearly 18 years since the conclusion of the original trilogy, returned to streaming on HBO Max this week following its premiere last December.

Back in 2003, the Wachowskis created what remains to this day one of the most ambitious multimedia storytelling projects attempted in mainstream cinema: an interconnected universe of comic books, video games, and anime designed to be released and watched within and after the six-month release window between 2003’s Reloaded: The Matrix and 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions.

Although some titles are available, notably the 2003 videogame The Matrix is open for youThe 2005 MMO The Matrix Online, have either become harder to find or discontinued outright — thus rendering it impossible to experience the original story as it was intended — the 2003 anime anthology The AnimatrixIt is still available on HBO Max and widely viewed by animation fans and admirers alike. Produced by the Wachowskis and boasting the inimitable talents of directors such as Mahiro Maeda, Shinichirō Watanabe, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and more, The AnimatrixThis is the ultimate platonic idea of what one might want from another franchise tie-in.

In honor of the arrival of the latest Matrix entry on streaming, let’s take a look back on one of the enduring cornerstones of the Matrix multimedia project and break down how each short ties into the larger mythos of the series and what they contribute to the universe as a whole.

Final Flight of Osiris

Square Pictures/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

It is what it isAndy Jones, animator for visual effects (Directed).AvatarSquare Pictures created the above video. Final Flight of OsirisThe scene depicts the escape of the Machine Army by the Resistance Hovercraft Crew and the last desperate attempt to alert Zion about its impending attack.

It relates to Matrix original: Final Flight of Osiris is a direct prequel to 2003’s Reloaded: The MatrixVideo game 2003 The Matrix is open for youThis document provides information about an important happening between the films of Matrix and their cinematic sequels.

The Matrix’s benefits: More cool, sexy dojo fights; more terrifying mechanical squid monsters; and more spectacular acrobatics and parkour, rendered in the same uncanny valley-adjacent animation style of 2001’s Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

Part I and II of the Second Renaissance

Image: Studio 4°C/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

It is what it isMahiro Maeda directs (Blue Submarine No. 6, Gankutsuou, The Countess of Monte Cristo), Second RenaissanceThe Human-Machine War begins at the end of an era of artificial Intelligence. It ends with the creation of a Matrix.

It relates to Matrix original:Partially based on 1999’s web comic, written by the Wachowskis A few bits and pieces of information, Second RenaissanceThe canonical prequel of the original Matrix trilogy.

The Matrix’s benefits:Actually, quite a lot! Before this film, the closest audiences had to an explanation of the Matrix’s origins was Morpheus’ “Desert of the Real” speech from The Matrix. Unlike Morpheus’ take, though, Second Renaissance doesn’t paint humanity at all in a flattering light, conjuring parallels to multiple historical atrocities to depict the cruelty humans inflicted on their Machine creations. The second part goes on to explore the Machines’ thwarted attempts to peacefully coexist with their creators, the creation of the nanite shroud that covered the planet in perpetual darkness, and the last-ditch creation of the Matrix by the Machines out of existential necessity.

The framing of the short, that of a Zion archive program guiding the viewer through a historical simulation, implies that certain members of Zion — contrary to what others might believe — are in fact aware of the true origins of the Human-Machine War, and have chosen to conceal this truth so as not to undermine the morale of the human resistance.

Kid’s Story

Image: Studio 4°C/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

It is what it is Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo), Kid’s StoryThe story follows a teenager, who discovers that the Matrix is real and enters it through surprisingly tragic ways.

It relates to Matrix original: The Wachowskis wrote it. Kid’s StoryThis illustration depicts Kid’s origin, who is a supporting role in the film. Reloaded: The MatrixAnd The Matrix Revolutions who would go on to perform an important role in the humans’ defense of Zion while under attack by the Machine army. Keanu and Carrie Anne Moss sing briefly as Neo and Trinity.

The Matrix’s benefits:Apart from being the most grisly short of the whole, Animatrix anthology, Kid’s Story introduces the concept of “self-substantiation”: the ability to exit the Matrix without the use of a red pill through willpower alone. Morpheus, though not explaining it in depth, mentions an identical phenomenon. The MatrixWhen discussing the legend about the founder of Zion who was free without any outside help,

Programm

Image: Madhouse/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

It is what it is Yoshiaki Kawaajiri directed (Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D – BloodlustProgram is the story about Cis and Duo who are human resistance members that fight in an ancient Japanese training simulator. They are both forced to fight each other to the last when an awful revelation becomes apparent.

It relates to Matrix original: It has no connection to any other Matrix franchise.

The Matrix’s benefits: Ninja Scroll was one of the anime films cited by The Wachowskis as a core inspiration behind the original Matrix film, alongside 1988’s Akira and 1995’s Ghost in the Shell. Kawajiri takes that same film’s kinetic swordplay, feudal Japanese aesthetic, and transplants them into Matrix. The result is a thrilling duel with heart-racing pace and grace that escalates with wuxialike grace and ferocity.

World Record

Image: Madhouse/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

It is what?Takeshi Kokoike directed the filmRedline), World Record This is the story about Dan Davis, an American disgraced athlete who tries to break the 100-meter world record. He ends up in the Matrix.

It relates to Matrix original: There is no direct connection to the Matrix franchise.

The Matrix’s benefits: World Record touches on the same concept of “self-substantiation” broached in Shinichirō Watanabe’s Kid’s Story. The visuals are what make this video so appealing. Koike is a superb animator with a distinctive style that evokes comparison to the aesthetic flamboyance of Franco-Belgian comics, the exaggerated character designs of his contemporary Peter Chung, and the stark, silhouette-heavy aesthetic of Frank Miller’s Sin City.

World Record’s strength is in transforming the spectacle of physical exhaustion into high drama, with muscles spasming and thin geysers of blood erupting as Dan comes within hair’s breadth of the finish line. In a lot of ways it feels like an indirect tribute to his former mentor Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s previous short for the 1987 anime anthology Neo Tokyo, ironically enough titled “Running Man.” In the end, World RecordThe story is tragic but moving and shows perseverance in the face impossible odds. This story speaks to core Matrix themes.

Above and Beyond

Image: Studio 4°C/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

It is what it is Directed by animator Kōji Morimoto (Memories, Akira), Above and Beyond follows the story of a teenage girl whose search for her missing cat leads her to an abandoned building “haunted” by strange, inexplicable phenomena.

It relates to Matrix original: There is no direct connection to the Matrix franchise.

The Matrix’s benefits: The in-universe explanation of supernatural phenomena as “glitches” in the Matrix dates as far back as the original film and was later expanded on in 2003’s Reloaded: The Matrix. Morimoto’s short explores this concept, as well as an alternative to the phenomenon of déjà vu, from the unwitting perspective of a rambunctious group of adolescents. Above and Beyond The Matrix core elements are reused for a story which touches on childhood imagination and the sorrow of watching a beloved place in your youth be bulldozed so that another similar parking lot can be built.

A Detective Story

Image: Studio 4°C/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

It is what? Shinichirō Watanabe’s second anthology short follows the story of a private detective whose search for a mysterious hacker will lead him to question the very nature of his reality.

It relates to Matrix original:In a completely different version to that seen in the Matrix trilogy. A Detective StoryTrinity still makes a notable cameo.

The Matrix’s benefits: While the plot of A Detective StoryAlthough it has no direct connection to any other Matrix films, this short is arguably the most distinctive in the anthology. It features monochromatic visuals, analog steampunk technology, and a noir-inflected soundtrack by Don Davis, Matrix trilogy composer. It’s those visuals, and in particular the appearance of Trinity, that gesture toward a tantalizing possibility that the Matrix as seen in the original trilogy and the one seen in this short — or for that matter, AnyYou can find the Animatrix shorts — are in fact nothing but a handful of an incalculably vast number of Matrices running simultaneously alongside one another.

Matriculated

Image by DNA Productions/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

It is what it isPeter Chung directed the filmÆon Flux), Matriculated follows a group of above-ground human rebels who attempt to use a “Matrix” of their own design to convert an enemy Machine sentinel to their cause.

It relates to Matrix original: It has no connection to any other Matrix franchise.

The Matrix’s benefits: A human-created Matrix concept is fascinating. We’ve seen training simulations, such as the jump test and sparring dojo where Neo fought Morpheus in the original Matrix film, but a Matrix created specifically for Machines in mind to navigate and interact with is unique to Matriculated. This Matrix is far more than the hyperrealistic, sterile Matrix that we have seen in films. It’s a maze full of earthly delights, including fractal-like textures, organic masses and hallucinatory dimensions.