OG's BLOG

Several years ago at AnimWatch, I profiled a short film called “9″ by young director Shane Acker. As happened with a few of the other AnimWatch profilees, Shane got a feature film deal for the film, when none other than Tim Burton saw the film screening at a film festival. Talk about your classic star-discovered-at-a-soda-fountain scenario.

Well, several years later, I am pleased to see that the film is almost out, and there is a trailer for the film up at Apple. It will be released in September of next year (yes, on 9-9-09). There are some significant changes to the film now that it’s enlarged from short to feature. I was initially disappointed to see that the directors made the decision to have the characters speak, when part of the appeal of the original was its reliance on pantomime. But from what I can see in the trailer, it hasn’t hurt the appeal of the film. The trademark look of the film is there, and I recognize a couple of shots that look straight out of the original. And I suppose adding Hollywood names to the cast might help get the film a wide audience, and since I want the film to succeed, I guess that’s OK.

But it’s good to see this happening for Shane, and I wish the film much success.

TIP: While you wait for the film to come out, why don’t you read the original interview with Shane at AnimWatch?

(Thanks to Tom Dell’Aringa for the tip).