Halo Universe Tackles Animation

One of the most popular franchises in gaming is expanding into another entertainment medium. The Halo universe is becoming an animated movie composing of seven short films. The rise to fame for Microsoft's top gaming intellectual property came quickly. In late 2001, Microsoft launched their first ever video game system, the Xbox. In order to bring an identity to the system early on, the giant corporation went on a spending spree acquiring different studios and partnering with others.

One of their acquisitions was Bungie Studios. The game the development team was working on at that time, Halo: Combat Evolved, showed plenty of promise. Thus, Microsoft decided to buy the entire studio in order to secure exclusive rights to the multiplatform title, which was originally planned for the Playstation 2 in addition to the Xbox.

Their decision ended up paying off for Microsoft. The Halo series quickly rose to become one of the best-selling franchises in the entire history of the gaming industry. Seemingly every launch of a Halo title drew huge crowds looking to be the first to play the latest game from the series.

Microsoft is now looking to further expand their popular intellectual property with a direct-to-DVD release. Halo Legends is a compilation of stories taking place in the rich Halo universe. Seven short animated series will explore the different periods, characters and underlying themes of Halo. This concept is similar to The Animatrix, a 2003 DVD compilation that composes of several short animated stories in the Matrix universe.

Similar to The Animatrix, Halo Legends is being helmed by some of the biggest names in the animation industry to bring the rich universe to life in animated form. Shinji Aramaki (who worked on the Appleseed series) and Production I.G's Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell) are the two lead directors of Halo Legends. Moreover, Joseph Chou from J-Spec Pictures will be helping out in production along with 343 Industries, which is an internal division built by Microsoft specifically for Halo.

Five of the most popular animation studios will be tackling the seven animated short films in Halo Legends. The first is Bones, which is probably best known for Fullmetal Alchemist. While probably the least known of the group, Casio Entertainment has shown excellence in several CG cut scenes in a few video games. As previously stated, the highly-respected Production I.G will be also working in the Halo Legends project. Studio4˚C, who previously worked on The Animatrix, is also slated to take part in the Halo animation project. Finally, the legendary Toei Animation (Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, One Piece and more) will also be lending their hand.

With such an all-star cast, Halo Legends will certainly be one of the most anticipated DVD and Blu-Ray releases early next year when Warner Home Video distributes the ambitious project worldwide.