When Does "The Animatrix: World Record" (2003) Take Place?
"The Animatrix: World Record" is a science fiction animated short film written by Yoshiaki Kawajiri and released June 3rd, 2003.
It takes place on the fictional The Matrix timeline roughly in the years:
We know this because the A.I. antagonists in the story are concerned with the main characters' awareness of the Matrix, so it absolutely cannot be after the film "The Matrix Revolutions" (2003), which takes place in 2700 AD. The narrative probably takes place long before the film "The Matrix" (1999) because the antagonists act very similarly but appear visually very different from the Agents seen in the film trilogy, implying that the viewer is being treated to a view of an earlier iteration of the Matrix.
~2200s AD
We know this because the A.I. antagonists in the story are concerned with the main characters' awareness of the Matrix, so it absolutely cannot be after the film "The Matrix Revolutions" (2003), which takes place in 2700 AD. The narrative probably takes place long before the film "The Matrix" (1999) because the antagonists act very similarly but appear visually very different from the Agents seen in the film trilogy, implying that the viewer is being treated to a view of an earlier iteration of the Matrix.
Additionally, there is a flashback to the aftermath of Dan Davis' previous effort at an Olympic Games racing event. Presumably, that was 4 years before the main action.
It is technically an entirely unplaceable work. All that can be said with certainly is that the main action and the flashback take place between 2199 AD and 2700 AD.
The timeline of the Matrix Universe is fairly unique among the largest franchises because the human characters within its fictional world (diegesis) do not themselves know what year it truly is for the duration of most of the stories.
It is the third chronological short film in The Matrix Universe timeline. It can be watched at its timeline point, as an extended flashback after the film "The Matrix" (1999), or entirely separately.
