The Second Renaissance

The Second Renaissance (2003) are two anime shorts which are a part of the Animatrix collection. Both parts were written by the Wachowski brothers are were directed by Mahiro Maeda[?]. The shorts were rendered by a mix of traditional hand drawn animation and CGI.

The shorts provide a background to the 1999 film, The Matrix. Part 1 explains the origins of the machines' conflicts with the incumbent human civilization. Part 2 shows the war which results in the machines' dominance and the creation of the Matrix. Both parts are structured as fictional documentary films, unlike the other shorts from the Animatrix.

As of June 2003, both parts can be downloaded for free from the official Matrix website. [1] (http://www.intothematrix.com)