WALL-E Powered by More than Futuristic AAAs

By Adam Pope July 10, 2008 Issue

The latest in the very successful line of films from Pixar Animation, Wall-E reminds us why Pixar is at the top of the game in animated filmmaking. The film finds itself in the very capable hands of writer-director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) and proves that there is no landscape that Pixar cannot tackle. After exploring the ocean floor with Nemo, zooming along with The Incredibles, and deciphering the mystery of French cuisine with Ratatouille, the next logical step was to head for outer space. That is exactly what Stanton and Pixar did in their newest film chronicling the life of a big-hearted garbage robot in the distant future.

The film takes place on Earth in the year 2700, and life on the crazy blue marble isn’t exactly the way we remember it. The world has been completely evacuated and deemed incapable of supporting human life. The only intelligent being on the planet is Wall-E, a robot who somehow slipped through the cracks of the evacuation effort. So while the bulk of human culture is off exploring other avenues, poor Wall-E—who looks like a miniaturized version of Johnny 5 from the classic film Short Circuit—remains behind following his tedious protocols.

WALL-E stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth class. WALL-E moves trash all day, every day without complaint and develops a hobby of collecting ancient relics from the gargantuan garbage piles. For the longest time, WALL-E’s only friend is a cockroach he met amongst the debris until sleek and shiny new babe-bot Eve buzzes into the picture.

In a moving display of electronic amour, WALL-E attempts to impress and court his new robotic companion. Among the hundreds of artifacts he has collected, WALL-E has one item that he prizes above all and soon shows it to Eve—a tiny plant barely able to stay alive. Soon Eve whisks the plant away to the mother ship inhabited by some of the humans who left the planet.

Bad news, humanity. In the future, our kind is so fat that we are not even able to walk about and are confined to floating wheelchairs to support our massive waistlines. The hefty humans soon decide that the plant is an indication that the planet is ready to be repopulated. The real adventure begins, sending WALL-E and Eve buzzing all over the universe and getting into the chaotic adventures for which Pixar has become famous.

The film is easily the most gorgeous of Pixar’s to date. Every scene is brilliantly rendered and colored, and the tattered ruins of humanity give the Earth scenes an all-too-haunting loneliness and finality—think Toy Story meets the final scene from the original Planet of the Apes. WALL-E also boasts the most lovable cast of characters since Nemo, and the adventures are among the most outlandish, fantastic and enjoyable of any animated feature.

The film really shines in the first twenty minutes as WALL-E goes about his daily business of moving garbage from pile A to pile B. The almost complete lack of dialogue forces you to use your eyes to take in the impact of the scenery, and what magnificent scenery it is.

WALL-E himself could likely go down as the most adored character in Pixar history as his infectious heart soon rips its way out of his gears and wires and into the audience. The only negative from the film could be the beeps and boops the children will be using to talk to each other for a long time.

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