HOLLYWOOD CLASSIC · 1999

Matrix Rain

The most iconic screen effect ever: cascading green characters that made The Matrix (1999) instantly recognizable. Actually invented in Japan by Simon Whiteley who used katakana mirrored horizontally + numbers. Here you have the pure HTML5 canvas rendition.

A full-screen animation starts. Press Esc or click the exit button to leave.

Original inspiration

The characters in the movie are a mix of half-width katakana, Latin letters and numbers, all mirrored horizontally. The designer Simon Whiteley took inspiration from Japanese sushi cookbooks. The characters change but the "code" is not real code — it is deliberately obfuscated.

Controls
  • Esc — exit the Matrix
  • Space — trigger "Wake up, Neo..." message
  • F — toggle fullscreen browser
  • + / - — increase / decrease rain speed
▲ Esc = exit  ·  Space = message  ·  F = fullscreen  ·  +/- = speed
Wake up, Neo...