A quick word with animator Peter Chung

Aeon Flux is now on DVD, with a Peter Chung commentary.

Peter Chung is the animator and creator of the original Aeon Flux - think Lara Croft by way of Trinity of The Matrix, but wearing less - who Charlize Theron makes flesh in the forthcoming (though widely derided) sci-fi thriller of the same name.

The film has provided the cue for Chung's ahead-of-its-time cult animated series, originally made for MTV and which played on TV3, to be revived on DVD.

Since hand-drawing Aeon Flux in the early 90s, Los Angeles-based Chung's career has mixed commercials and animated add-ons for sci-fi films - including The Animatrix for The Matrix trilogy.

But first it's back to the future with the Aeon Flux DVD set, on which Chung provides a commentary occasionally explaining some of the original show's more cryptic aspects.

What's it been like revisiting and talking about the work you did quite a long time ago?

It's been good to get a lot off my chest because at the time it was on air there wasn't as much interest as there is now. At the time I really tried to maintain the mystery of the character and the world and the stories.

When they first saw the show a lot of people thought "What the hell is this? Who are these people? Who made this? Where has this come from? What were they thinking?" Now, it's been liberating in a way to have an audience interested in hearing all this.

Of course, the revival in interest is because of the film.

Yeah the film, and at the time MTV really didn't know what they had on their hands. They didn't make the effort to promote it. Have you seen the movie?

No it hasn't opened here yet. Is it any good?

Well I'm not really the person to ask. I had nothing to do with the movie.

When I saw it, it's so different from, um, the characters and the tone of the animation.

I think it might be best to forget you had ever seen the animation and just look at it as something else.

Aside from the film, the original show feels like it might have been influential on many things. The Matrix for example.

It's hard for me to comment on something like that. Definitely the kind of character that she is - a very athletic and violent skilled female action hero ... I'm kind of reluctant to call her a hero. To my mind she was never really good or bad.

She was a rare cartoon action hero in that she was for grown-ups and she didn't spring from a comic book.

Graphically, I was certainly influenced by some European comics but in terms of the character I was trying to get away from a typical comic book hero.

There are two things - there's the visceral effect, the kind of visual appeal of the show. It was definitely created to draw an audience and to attract viewers just based on what she looked like.

And then there were the stories I was interested in telling - they were very complicated and mysterious.

The visual appeal was kind of a way of getting people who wouldn't ordinarily be interested. It was strategic. I've always enjoyed watching escapist action movies but I kind of feel guilty afterwards.

The films that I really really like are movies that are harder to understand and deal with philosophy and psychology. But I never understood why you couldn't combine the two. That was kind of the agenda of the whole thing.

But when it came to making an escapist action film of Aeon Flux you had little or no involvement?

None. I wasn't happy with it but it had been in development for such a long time I got used to the idea it was going to get made with or without me, and that's pretty typical of what happens when an author's story gets adapted for a Hollywood movie. They are usually not allowed or asked to participate.

Does the movie follow the show very closely?

In a very superficial way it does. Viewers who are familiar with the show will recognise a lot of elements. But the core aspects of the show - mainly the personalities of the main characters - didn't really make the translation as well as I would have liked.

Though it might be hard for any actress to depict your character as she is drawn. She might have been done in 2D but she sure had a 3D kind of body ... did you ever get any flak?

No, actually men seem to be a lot more nervous about that. Women haven't had a problem. I've had more misgivings on the part of male viewers.

Maybe they think they're being protective of women's interests - women don't need to be coddled.

* Aeon Flux: The CompleteAnimated Series is out now in a digitally restored 3 disc DVD set. Aeon Flux the film opens on Thursday.