A new Tim Burton production (but directed by Shame Acker), 9 hits theaters this week. It’s a CG movie, but it was animated to look more like stop motion. The title refers to nine “dolls” that guard something of great importance. (You’ll see it in the movie.) The voice cast features famous actors like Elijah Wood and Martin Landau alongside the great Alan Oppenheimer, who you might remember as the 1980s voice of Skeletor.

The Story: When 9 (The Lord of the Ring’s Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.

If you dig the designs, check out the Tim Burton’s 9 Action Figures Series 1 Case. The strange figures look like they were crafted from burlap sacks and the scraps in your junk drawer, with little zippers and accessories cobbled together from odds and ends.