Before film audiences view Stephen King's creepy alien tale, Dreamcatcher, they will be offered a rare treat these days ... an animated film short called, Final Flight of the Osiris. This is the first installment of nine animated preludes to the Matrix films. The sequels to the breakthrough special effects film The Matrix, are due out in May (The Matrix Reloaded) and November (The Matrix Revolutions) of this year. The remaining 8 episodes will be strung out throughout the year, either as film shorts or downloads available from the web. The complete animated story will be available later this year on DVD.

Matrix creators brothers Wachowski have collaborated with famed animators from Korea, Japan and the USA to produce a visually stunning and unique backdrop to the Matrix films:

• Part One - Final Flight of the Osiris: 3D effects of Andy Jones and Square USA (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within) are highlighted in this story of the hovercraft Osiris , as the crew must get message to Zion before the mech Sentinels stop them.
• Part Two and Three - Second Renaissance: The rise of the Matrix, and the defeat and enslavement of mankind versus the machines.
  • • Review - I was blown away by the shear depth of this history of man's vanity to re-create himself in his own image, and the familiar parallels of humanity's continued weaknesses. The Wachowski brothers have developed a compelling background of mankind's eventual self-destruction at the hand's of their own mechanical creations, which is beautifully illustrated by Japanese Artisans Mahiro Maeda and Studio 4 degrees. It is hard to fathom being able to fit such an epic into 9 short minutes, but they have accomplished just that. This will easily leave you wanting more, but please heed this tiny warning: This is NOT a Saturday morning cartoon for kids, and contains very graphic images of an adult nature which should be should be viewed Mature Audiences Only.
• Part Four - Kid's Story: Introduces one of the new key characters in upcoming Matrix sequels, The Kid, who is called "out" of the Matrix by Neo, while attending a high school class. And like Neo before him, The Kid is about to have his own sense of reality turned upside down. Features the voice of Keanu Reaves.
• Part Five - Program: Training within the Zion samurai simulation, soldier CIS must choose between her lover and loyalty to the race of man.
  • • Review - In the more familiar traditional anime style, Yoshiaki Kawajiri and his team at Madhouse Studios in Tokyo, weave a tragic tale of a beautiful young woman, torn between her rebelling Matrix lover and her service to Zion. The lingering choice each human must eventually make between the hard, cold reality of this world ... and blissful fantasy of the Matrix existence. A hard pill to take, indeed.
• Part Six - World Record: A World Record Sprinter, Dan, gets a peek in to the "reality" of the Matrix, while pushing his mental and physical abilities to the limit.
• Part Seven - Beyond: The young Yoko discovers an abandoned mansion in his small, unsettling town, which has become a "bug" that exterminators must quickly fix in the Matrix system.
• Part Eight - Detective Story: Detective Ash has his private "eye" opened to the real world of the Matrix, while on the trail of cyber fugitive Trinity. Features the voice of Carrie-Anne Moss.
• Part Nine - Matriculated: A mech Sentinel is captured by Zion rebels, who reprogram the machine to aide the humans. But at what cost?

Two of these episodes are currently available for download on the web site - Second Renaissance Part 1 and Program, while episodes Detective Story and Second Renaissance Part 2 can be downloaded in April and May, respectively. The DVD of all nine animated shorts is due to be released June 3rd. Final Flight of the Osiris, aka The Matrix 1.5, feeds viewers the events that follow the original film and proceed the new video game due out May 15th, Enter the Matrix. Visit the Official Web Site for available trailers (including four of these shorts), posters, photos, games and a lot more for the entire Matrix films (including a unique section on various philosophies regarding man versus machine):

http://www.theanimatrix.com/

Here's a breakdown of all The Animatrix episodes, from Samuel Walters at Dauntless Media:

http://dauntlessmedia.net/matrix/the-animatrix-review.html