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Set in a world where a giant tree called Axis rises 100 miles above the planet surface, this is an adventure story about a spirited, young woman, Kaena (Kirsten Dunst), who leaves her tree village hoping to discover why the plant's sap is disappearing, thus threatening her people's way of life. Against the wishes of her village elders, she climbs down past the cloud level, and encounters the Selenites, a race that is trying to keep the tree from dying by enslaving another species. Richard Harris plays Opaz, an elderly sage, Anjelica Huston is the evil Queen of the Selenites, Keith David plays her second-in-command, while Greg Proops and Michael McShane are comic relief characters, the Worms.
This project is billed as the first European 3D CGI feature. CGI animation on this film, originally known as "Axis," started in Paris in early 1999 on a budget of $26 million. It is based on an idea by Patrick Daher and Chris Delaporte, and was developed over 3 1/2 years by Chaman Productions, TVA International and Vivendi Universal's Studio Canal. Appearance-wise, the characters are somewhat of a cross between those in "Shrek" and "Final Fantasy," with the producers going for a fantasy look rather than photorealism. Namco developed an action game for the Sony Playstation 2 in conjunction with the film release, and a PC version is also planned. Universal Pictures is most likely to be the U.S. distributor, due to its ties to Studio Canal. A short demo reel from the film will debut at SIGGRAPH, which will be held on August 12-17 in Los Angeles.
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