Xtra-vision explores the stitchpunk universe of post apocalyptic adventure 9.

A visually startling animated fantasy packed full of action and imagination, Shane Acker's 9 is an expansion of an Oscar-nominated short he made in 2004. With help from heavyweight producers Tim Burton, director of The Corpse Bride, and Wanted's Timur Bekmambetov, Acker's post apocalyptic animation sees a group of odd little 'stitchpunk' creations, brought to life by a scientist during the final days of humanity, struggling to survive a terrifying mechanised beast. Co-starring the considerable voice talents of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau and Crispin Glover, 9 is unlike any 'toon you've ever seen, a true original available now, on Blu-ray and DVD, from Xtra-vision.

"It was a dream come true," says director Shane Acker of the rare opportunity to expand his student Academy Award-winning short film into a feature. "I'd fallen in love with the world and the characters, and my head was full of ideas of what I would want to do to show more of it, and more of them, as they discovered the world and themselves."

For Acker, the release of 9 caps a decade of exploring a world he created. "At the end of the last century," he remembers, "I had the idea for the character of #9, an innocent who would risk his life for his brethren and use intellect rather than might to slay a beast. I wanted to depict him empathetically, without dialogue. This way, the short film could be universal and accessible, while also challenging the audience to piece the details together in order to understand the whole. I thought that would make for a rewarding film-going experience, especially in animated form."

Making the short took four-and-one-half years. Acker remembers, "I would take jobs on-and-off to pay for the cost of living. I went to New Zealand for six months to work on The Return of the King. That was an amazing learning experience, like animation boot camp."

As director of the short, Acker received an Academy Award nomination in the Best Animated Short Film category – after having won the top prize at the Student Academy Awards. Acker reflects that, "...getting an Academy Award nomination changes your life! I had no idea that the short would go as far as it did, and I felt very blessed and honoured. It opened doors, and has allowed me new opportunities to express myself as an artist."

"The short was among the most extraordinary 11 minutes of film I've ever seen," says Tim Burton, the legendary filmmaker who soon after seeing the short joined forces with Acker to expand the concept into a feature. "Shane's conception was and is a stunningly detailed and hauntingly beautiful universe that resonates not only visually but emotionally."

Screenwriter Pamela Pettler, who has collaborated several times with Burton, was enlisted to work with Acker to expand his story and canvas. "I love collaborating with people who think as visually as Shane does," says the writer. "The way we created this universe was, he would free-associate and I would shape it so that the characters had emotional depth and the story was consistent.

"Pamela helped flesh out the characters and the structure," adds Acker. "I'm the type who will throw everything in, including the kitchen sink, and she would sift through and knit all my crazy ideas together while making sure that the journey of the characters was a strong one."

In expanding the film it became necessary to give his creations at least a little bit of dialogue. "A lot of times though," commented Acker, "animated movies and their characters are broadly pitched. I wanted to make sure that we had subtlety, with our voiceover actors speaking with dramatic truth and more realistically. So the idea was to cast actors who themselves had key characteristics of the characters, and would speak with their own voice rather than doing a voice."

To voice the lead role of the newly born #9, Acker couldn't help but have in mind an actor who was so central to the film set he had worked on years earlier in New Zealand - Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood. The director remarks, "For an actor who could play someone naïve yet unafraid to follow his instincts, and in so doing emerge as a leader, I knew I wanted Elijah. He was a natural fit."

Wood says, "I was blown away by the short film, with its extraordinarily beautiful animation of the kind you don't come across often. I met with Shane and found him to have a very clear vision of what he wanted. Playing a 'stitchpunk' creation was fun because 9 is someone who is trying to navigate a journey of discovery through a world, and he looks at everything through an innocent's eyes."

The female role of the rebellious #7, conceived by Pettler and whom Acker admiringly refers to as "a real character to be reckoned with," was taken by Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly. "I have two kids," she explains. "I watched the short film with them and they thought it was the coolest thing that they had seen. They watched it over and over again, so I couldn't not be part of 9!

"The visuals and the design fascinated me. Shane kindly indulged all my questions like, 'How the heck do you do this? How does that work?' and, since I had never done voiceover before, 'Let's talk about that. Did you like it or not?' He made me feel comfortable."

"The actors deliver the subtleties of the dialogue, while the animators deliver the performance," explains Acker. "We shot video footage of the actors, even when they were sitting around a table, and the animators used that for reference. This way, they could take those qualities that the actors had conveyed and apply them consistently throughout. Every character was distilled down to its vitals."

"I'm so excited to have been a part of 9," says Wood with characteristic enthusiasm.

"Ultimately," notes producer Jim Lemley, "9 resonates with audiences, not only because it's so entertaining, but also, as in the best fantasy adventures, you will feel that you are part of a whole new world."