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| 9 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Shane Acker |
| Screenplay by | Pamela Pettler |
| Story by | Shane Acker |
| Based on | 9 by Shane Acker |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Kevin R. Adams |
| Edited by | Nick Kenway |
| Music by |
|
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Focus Features[1][2] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 79 minutes[3] |
| Countries | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million[4][5] |
| Box office | $48.6 million[5] |
9 is a 2009 animatedscience fictionhorror film based onShane Acker's 2005 short filmof the same name. Set in analternate version of the 1940s, it stars the voice ofElijah Wood as "9", a rag doll who awakens shortly after the end of humanity following the uprising of machines.John C. Reilly,Jennifer Connelly,Christopher Plummer,Crispin Glover,Martin Landau, andFred Tatasciore also star. The film was directed by Acker and written byPamela Pettler.
9 was released byFocus Features on September 9, 2009. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics and grossed $49 million on a $30 million budget. It received anOutstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures nomination at the21st Producers Guild of America Awards.
A scientist creates a robot for his government in the name of peaceful progress, making the highly intelligent B.R.A.I.N. However, the government seizes the B.R.A.I.N. and turns it into the Fabrication Machine, an armature that can construct an army of war machines. The machines become corrupted and declare war on the humans. As a last resort, the scientist usesalchemy to create ninehomunculus-like rag dolls called "Stitchpunks", each labeled with a number, giving them portions of his own soul via atalisman. He dies upon completing the final Stitchpunk doll: 9.
9 awakens sometime after the machines have destroyed all organic life on Earth and gone dormant. He ventures outside and meets 2, an elderly inventor Stitchpunk who finds him a working voice box. The last active machine, the Cat Beast, attacks the pair, abducts 2, and takes the talisman. One-eyed healer 5 rescues 9 and takes him to Sanctuary, the tower of an empty cathedral that is home to other Stitchpunks; the dogmatic leader 1, his large bodyguard 8, and the eccentricfountain pen-fingeredclairvoyant 6. Against 1's demands, 9 and 5 follow the Cat Beast to a factory and rescue 2. The Cat Beast attacks the trio, but it is killed by 7, who wears a bird skull, as well as the only confirmed female of the Stitchpunks. 9 curiously connects the talisman to the dormant Fabrication Machine, accidentally reviving it; it kills 2 by sucking out his soul, and the other Stitchpunks only barely manage to escape.
7 takes 9 and 5 to an abandoned library, where mute scholar twins of unknown gender 3 and 4 reveal the history of the Human-Machine war. 9 draws the symbols on the talisman, and 5 realizes the symbols match the drawings 6 is always making. 9 and 5 return to Sanctuary to investigate, but 1 reprimands them for disobeying and putting them all at risk. The Fabrication Machine begins assembling new robots; one of them, the bird-like Winged Beast, attacks the Sanctuary and burns it down. With 7's help, the Stitchpunks manage to destroy the Winged Beast using the engine of a crashed bomber and escape.
Back at the library, 6, 3, and 4 search for information on the talisman. 1 says such curiosity is dangerous, and reveals that he sent 2 to his death, to the dismay of the others. 7 attempts to attack 1, but is told off. Meanwhile, the Fabrication Machine uses 2's corpse as a hypnotic lure for its new snake-like "Seamstress" robot, which attacks the library. It fails to capture 1, but it successfully captures 7 and 8. The other Stitchpunks return to the factory to save them, but 8's soul is absorbed by the machine. 9 goes in alone, saves 7, and ironically destroys the Seamstress with a lure as a distraction. He and 7 escape as the other Stitchpunks blow up the factory, destroying nearly all of the machines.
Believing the Machine to be destroyed, the remaining six Stitchpunks have a short respite. The Fabrication Machine, badly damaged but still functional, emerges from the factory's ruins and absorbs 5's soul. 6 realizes that the deceased Stitchpunks' souls are still trapped inside the Machine and begs the others not to destroy it. The Machine manages to capture 6; just before it sucks out 6's soul, he orders 9 to go to the Scientist's workshop for answers. At the workshop, 9 finds a holographic recorded message from the Scientist, explaining both the Machine's and the Stitchpunks' origins, and how to use the talisman.
Now knowing that the talisman can be used to transfer souls, 9 reunites with the surviving Stitchpunks, who are trying to destroy the Machine. He plans to sacrifice himself to the Machine, distracting it long enough for the others to retrieve the talisman. 1 redeems himself by pushing 9 out of the way, allowing the Machine to suck out his soul instead of 9's. 9 removes the talisman and sucks the captive Stitchpunks' souls out of the Machine, destroying it. Afterward, 9 uses the talisman to release the souls of 5, 2, 8, 6 and 1. As the freed souls fly up into the sky, it starts to rain. The raindrops contain tiny flecks of bacteria, bringing organic life back into the world.
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The film soundtrack was released on August 31, 2009, in physical and digital formats, nine days before the film was released.[6][7] It includes the themes created byDanny Elfman,Deborah Lurie's film score, and "Welcome Home" byCoheed and Cambria. The latter song was used in two trailers for the film, with minorcensoring for the full song in the soundtrack. Along with "Welcome Home", the teaser trailer also features an excerpt from "The Captain" byThe Knife, which was also not included in the soundtrack. Other songs within the film that were not included in the soundtrack was the traditional "Dies Irae" chant, performed byCrispin Glover as part of the background score, and "Over the Rainbow", the song fromThe Wizard of Oz and performed byJudy Garland. The song plays on a78rpmphonograph record in a lighthearted scene, when the surviving Stitchpunks were momentarily celebrating the destruction of the factory.[citation needed]
On December 25, 2008, atrailer was released onApple.com that featuresThe Knife's "The Captain" andCoheed and Cambria's "Welcome Home".[8]
9 is the second animated feature film to be released byFocus Features, the first beingCoraline, written and directed byHenry Selick and based on the book byNeil Gaiman. The trailer for9 precededCoraline when it was shown in theaters and released on DVD. A second trailer for9 first appeared onG4'sAttack of the Show and was later shown beforeLand of the Lost. It is an extensive trailer which includes a bit of the background story behind the existence of the creations. In April 2009, the film's "Scientist" began making journal entries on a Facebook page called "9 Scientist", including essays about each of his nine creations. The "9 Scientist" Facebook page seemingly references events leading up to the release of the film.[9] A viral campaign promotional website for9 was launched. It shed some light upon the background of the9 world.[10] The trailer featured several machines: the Cat Beast, a cat-likeambush predator that appeared in the original short film (where it had a green eye, changed to a red eye in the feature film, along with some other changes); the Winged Beast, apterosaur-like machine with movable blades in its mouth; the Seamstress, a hypnotic serpent that uses threads to restrain victims; Steel War Behemoths, large two-legged machines armed with a machine gun and poison gas mortars which can kill in a matter of seconds; the Fabrication Machine (previously known as B.R.A.I.N. – "Binary ReactiveArtificially Intelligent Neurocircuit"), a large,cyclopean machine with many multi-jointed arms; and Seekers, aerial machines with searchlights.[8] Later trailers also reveal the existence of several small spider-like machines.[citation needed] Part of the film's marketing strategy was its release date of September 9, 2009 ("9/9/09").[citation needed]
Shortly before the film's release, Life released a mobile game adaptation titled9: The Mobile Game for theiPhone andiPod Touch.[11]
OnRotten Tomatoes,9 has an overall approval rating of 57% based on 185 reviews and average rating of 5.90/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Although its story is perhaps too familiar and less complex than some might wish,9 is visually spectacular, and director Shane Acker's attention to detail succeeds in drawing viewers into the film's universe."[12] OnMetacritic, it holds aweighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[13]
Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, contrasting it with the works ofHayao Miyazaki and saying that, "9 is nevertheless worth seeing… [the visuals] are entrancing."[14] The general sentiment by critics is that the film is "long on imaginative design but less substantial in narrative."[15]Variety's Todd McCarthy says, "In the end, the picture's impact derives mostly from its design and assured execution."[16]
The filmunderperformed at the box office. Its opening weekend landed it at No. 2 behindI Can Do Bad All By Myself with approximately $10,740,446 and $15,160,926 for its five-day opening.[17] The film grossed $48,559,999 worldwide.[5]
| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Outcome | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annie Awards | ||||
| Best Animated Effects in a Feature Production | Alexander Feigin | Nominated | [18] | |
| Best Production Design in a Feature Production | Christophe Vacher | |||
| Producers Guild of America Awards | Producer of the Year in Animated Motion Picture | Nominated | [19] | |
| Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture | Ken Duncan, Jinko Gotoh, Daryl Graham, Joe Ksander | Nominated | [20] |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | Best of the Best Animated Film | Focus Features | Nominated | [21] |
| Motion Picture Sound Editors | ||||
| Best sound editing for music in a musical feature film | Will Files and Pascal Garneau | Nominated | [22] |
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 29, 2009, three-and-a-half months after the film's theatrical release.[23] The DVD and Blu-ray contained special features such as the director Shane Acker's original 2005 short film of the same name, cast interviews, and commentary by the filmmakers.[24]
I think there is definitely room. I mean, the way we end the film, there is a slight suggestion that it may be a new beginning. And I think we could continue the journey from where we left off and see how these creatures are existing in a world in which the natural environment is coming back and perhaps even threatening them in some way. Do they make the decision to not affect it, or do they try to affect it in some way? And do they still try to hold on to that humanity within them or do they recognize themselves at being machines too and go off on a different trajectory? So there's lots of idea that I think that we could play with and make another story out of.
No plans for a sequel have been made, but possibilities were mentioned via the film's 2009 DVD commentary. Director Acker has also mentioned the possibility of a sequel being made because of the lack of darker animated films, claiming that everything is G- and PG-rated with little to no dark elements. In 2009 he said that he will continue to make darker animated films, either doing so with a sequel to9 or original ideas for future films.[26] Before the theatrical release of the film, Acker and producerTim Burton stated they were open for a sequel, depending on how well the film was received.[27] Since the film's home release, there have been no further mentions of a sequel, with Acker focusing on projects announced in 2011 (The Adventures of Thomas), 2012 (Deep), 2013 (Beasts of Burden) and other four projects aimed for older audiences of which have not been released,[28][29][30] untilCrusoe, acomic science fiction short film was released in 2021.[31]
Despite the silence from Acker, in January 2017, the Facebook profile of the character "the Scientist" was updated with a rather cryptic message.[32] The profile had been inactive since 2009, leading some to speculate the teasing of a sequel.[citation needed]
