Every Animatrix Short Explained: Matrix Connections & Are They Canon?

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In addition to the four theatrical live-action The Matrix movies, the Matrix franchise also features an animated film – The Animarix. The film consists of nine anthology stories developed in collaboration with Japanese anime studios. Despite being released in 2003, at the high the Matrix franchise’s popularity, The Animatrix is not so well known in the mainstream, with many viewers unsure whether the shorts are connected to the Matrix films at all.

The Animatrix was released in the months leading up to The Matrix Reloaded as part of the marketing campaign for the first ofthe Matrix sequels. The Wachowskis had always mentioned anime as a huge influence for The Matrix, and the director duo saw in The Animatrix the perfect opportunity to work with Japanese filmmakers in new Matrix stories. Seven different directors worked on The Animatrix, and the movie received both a Japanese version and an English-dubbed one.

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In The Animatrix, audiences get to see multiple interpretations of the Matrix world through the lens of different artists. That said, all nine Animatrix shorts follow the rules established in The Matrix regarding how the Matrix simulation works and how the humans have been fighting in the war against the machines. The Animatrix also features some of the most important Matrix characters, namely Neo and Trinity, and one of the shorts especially ties in with The Matrix Reloaded.

All nine Animatrix shorts are indeed part of Matrix canon. Not only did the Wachowskis produce the animated anthology movie, but they also wrote five out of the nine Animatrix shorts. “Final Flight of the Osiris,” “Kid’s Story,” “The Second Renaissance Part I,” “The Second