Shane Acker started the road to his animated film 9 with an 11-minute student film about a lone mutant rag doll roaming a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Once he and producer Tim Burton got the green light to turn the short into a feature-length movie, Acker fleshed out the story with a whole troupe of bug-eyed, burlapped creatures. To introduce the scrappy little critters to sci-fi fans, Focus Features is passing out individual character cards at Comic-Con International.
Here's a first look at the complete set, accompanied by commentary from Acker, who joins Burton, *9 * producer Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and voice talent Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly for a 2:30 p.m. panel Friday at Hall H.
*9 *opens September 9.
Number One, voiced by Christopher Plummer, "represents the politician," Acker says. "He has a cape, a brooch and this crazy hat that he uses to separate himself from the others and show that he is the king."
"Number Two is the inventor, the mechanic," says Acker, who cast Martin Landau to voice the character. "The core concept for each doll came in a sense from Plato, who had this idea that society was a manifestation of the different facets of an individual where each part, or person, or class fulfilled a role. The scientist who created these dolls has given each one a different facet of his soul."
"__Three __and __Four __are the knowledge keepers," Acker says. "The twins can scan and record images into their brains through their eyes and then they can project those images out. They communicate by quickly shuttling images back and forth between each other."
The Twins, which don't speak, were modeled on a garden glove, Acker says. "If you pay close attention, they are left-hand and right-hand mirror images of each other. The left thumb kind of becomes a tail hanging out behind them. The fingers are the legs and the arms, and their hoods are actually the strap that would go around the wrist if a person were wearing garden gloves."
"Five is the healer, the nurturer," says Acker. John C. Reilly voices the character.
Number Six, voiced by Crispin Glover, is the artist. "Number Six really plays the outsider role in this society," Acker says.
Number Seven, voiced by Jennifer Connelly, is the fighter, Acker says. "She's the athlete warrior. At the beginning, all the dolls adorned themselves to separate themselves from the others, which is why she wears this bird's skull."
Acker says: "Number Eight is the Protector. Most of the dolls are about 8 inches tall but we made Eight a little bigger." Fred Tatasciore voices Number Eight.
Number Nine, voiced by Elijah Woods, leads the rag dolls to survival. Acker says: "Nine represents, in the Platonic ideal, the philosopher king who has the clearest sense of the ideal but also knows you can never achieve that idea of perfection. He seeks to organize all the components to make society function together, and in that way they will survive."
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