Another stunning animated entry from 2009, this fantasia from director Shane Acker, an extension of his 2005 Oscar-winning short, is as visually intricate and detailed as anything Pixar has ever done. The storytelling may not be as strong, but you almost don’t care. Acker has envisioned a post-apocalyptic world in which exquisitely detailed rag dolls appear to be the only surviving creatures. They’re made from discarded parts – Acker has a Tinkertoy touch – so that one wears a candle for a hat (a crank lowers the lid to douse the flame) and another has a zipper running up his abdomen. When he wants to store something, he opens up and plops the item in. We wonder: Who made these beings? How are they powered? And the ultimate question: Do they have a soul? As they explore the devastated landscape, we get clues about a war involving lethal gas and AWOL computers, so that 9 ultimately amounts to a mesmerizing combination of The Terminator, The Matrix and Pinocchio.
