For the longest time, animation has been hindered by a misguided notion that animated movies are meant for kids. Sure, there have always been popular outliers like the infamous Fritz the Cat and 1981’s Heavy Metal, but it was only recently that animation began to be legitimized by the industry at large (even if that’s mostly due to a handful of auteurs like Guillermo del Toro publicly defending animation as a medium instead of a genre).
Unfortunately, this means that plenty of edgier animated projects ended up slipping through the cracks over the years, with general audiences usually favoring family-oriented entertainment over experimental stories dealing with more mature themes. One such project is Shane Acker’s underrated 2009 thriller 9, a post-apocalyptic adventure that deserved more attention and pushed its PG-13 rating to the absolute limit.
Originally an Oscar-nominated short film that Acker developed while studying at UCLA, the first version of 9 caught the attention of both Tim Burton and Russian producer Timur Bekmambetov, who were enthralled with the film’s unique setting and design. This unlikely duo of Hollywood titans would then give Acker the chance to expand his 11-minute short into a feature-length project that would replace the eerie silence of its source material with a celebrity voice cast.
A few years of hard work later led to the release of Focus Features’ 9, a dark animated film that follows the youngest of a group of living ragdolls (Elijah Wood) as he embarks on an epic journey through a post-apocalyptic wasteland overrun by mechanical abominations. Along the way, the inquisitive doll slowly uncovers the horrible secret behind the current state of this ruined world and the alchemical origin of his fellow “Stitchpunks.”
It will probably come as no surprise that this strange little film wasn’t the resounding success that Burton and Bekmambetov were hoping for, with 9 only barely raking in a profit at the box office while also garnering a mixed reaction from critics. At the time, reviewers complained that the movie’s shallow narrative didn’t quite match its evocative visuals while also unfavorably comparing it to other dark animated classics.
In fact, the flick ended up being overshadowed by another Focus Features production that came out that very same year, which was Henry Sellick’s beloved adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Looking back on the film 14 years later, it’s pretty clear that the cheap 3D animation hasn’t aged all that well, with muddied textures and simple rigging that often look more like a contemporary videogame than a big budget animated film – and that’s not even mentioning the less-than stellar script that doesn’t quite live up to the lofty ambitions of the film’s premise.
However, the sheer artistry behind the picture continues to stand out in spite of all these flaws, and the benefit of hindsight allows us to appreciate 9 even more due to the fact that we haven’t really seen anything in animation that feels remotely like this movie since it first came out. Admittedly, almost all of these unique qualities are limited to the film’s visuals, but that doesn’t make them any less impressive.
In fact, the consistently gorgeous designs and moody atmosphere make this a perfect hangout movie, and I’d argue that it can be even more enjoyable as an engaging piece of background entertainment than as a proper narrative experience. I mean, the Danny Elfman score on its own is already worth the price of admission, and Acker makes the most of his celebrity ensemble by giving nearly every character a distinct personality to go along with their high-profile voice talent (which ranges from Crispin Glover to Jennifer Connelly).
That’s why I think it’s a huge shame that this ended up being the director’s only feature-length production, as I would have loved to see what other bizarre animated worlds Acker could have come up with had this film been successful – especially if his future projects could have secured a larger budget.
WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
9 is certainly darker and grittier than your average 3D animated film, featuring some disturbing imagery and touching on several adult themes, but it’s still not quite a proper horror film. Despite its grim setting, the movie focuses on a traditionally fantastical adventure as this rag-tag group of hand-stitched misfits is forced to work together in order to overcome the dark forces that have taken over the earth.
That being said, the film boasts a menagerie of bio-mechanical horrors that wouldn’t feel out of place in an Army of Frankenstein sequel, with plenty of terrifying chase sequences even a number of brutal death scenes that are likely to shock younger audiences who are only used to Disney-style action. 9 also refuses to shy away from the horrors of fascism, with the Third-Reich-inspired dictatorship that resulted in the apocalypse suggesting that this was a terrifying world long before the machines took over and began exterminating human beings.
Of course, it’s the aforementioned mood that really sells the picture for me, with the gloomy environments and curious art direction making the entire movie feel like a memory from a fleeting nightmare, complete with cybernetic monsters decorated with skulls and a surreal combination of science and magic.
The film would probably have stood the test of time better had it been a stop-motion endeavor like Acker had originally intended (though that would likely have resulted in even bigger losses for the studio) and I wish that the script had been more thoroughly polished before the producers settled on a final draft, but I still think that 9 is an inspired example of apocalyptic fiction and might even work as a piece of gateway horror for younger viewers.
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.