By Bob Clark
In a little less than a year, we will see the twentieth anniversary of Peter Chung’s Aeon Flux, which debuted in a brief but potent form on the MTV animation anthology series, Liquid Television. Though he was able to parlay that short into a series of its own that won a cult following and critical acclaim that has far outlasted its short lifespan, his career since the days of Aeon and Trevor’s folie-a-deux has been less than inspiring, to say the least. Aside from a few impressive shorts done in conjunction with various movie franchises (Chronicles of Riddick, Tomb Raider and the Animatrix project, where his piece Matriculated easily outshone the rest of the anime short-subjects, and even the sequel films themselves), Chung’s creative output has been largely that of a character designer, with work ranging from the prestige (a futuristic, gender-bending Alexander the Great anime by Rintaro that puts Oliver Stone to shame) to the pathetic (a sci-fi retake on Lee Falk’s The Phantom). With new opportunities for his distinctively avant-garde animation dwindling and the future of the Aeon Flux franchise all but ruined by the Charlize Theron-vehicle that bore its name, each passing year it’s seemed less likely that we would see him make a grand re-entrance back onto the world stage of cutting-edge cartoons. That waiting has suddenly, perhaps abruptly, come to an end– now the question is whether or not that test of our patience has been worth it.
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