Wall*E

Wall-E Rubik's
Originally uploaded by The Wall-E Builders

Pixar has the market on making some of the best films that come out every year, not just the best animated films, but the best films. Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story and every other Pixar film raise the bar for what is expected out of an animated film in terms of story and advancement of technology. Wall*E is no exception to Pixars standard of excellence.

The film centers on Wall*E, the last working clean-up robot on an Earth that has been abandoned by its inhabitants hundreds of years ago. Being alone for so long has evolved Wall*E from just a robot into a robot with a personality; he has a pet cockroach, he’s created a home in an abandoned truck which he has decorated with Christmas lights, and odds and ends that he’s found and he collects things that fascinate him from the rubbish he cleans and organizes including rubber duckies, spoons, forks and replacement pieces for him in case he is damaged. However, Wall*E is lonely and longs for companionship. Finally a robot probe named Eve is sent to Earth for a mission and Wall*E falls in love, and follows her back into space and discovers the human survivors.

Wall*E had some of the most spectacular animation I’ve seen yet from Pixar. There were times I could have sworn Wall*E was a miniature and not animation he looked so real. Unlike Happy Feet, Wall*E manages to blend moments of live action film into the film seamlessly so they do not stand out as glaringly outside the animated realm. I may not be sure why they chose to do so, but it worked visually.

The funny thing about my response to Wall*E is that my favorite part of the film is actually the end credits. I’m not saying that I didn’t like the film and was glad to leave. The end credits sequence was one of the most creative I’ve seen in a long time as they both continue the story of what happens after the “end” of the film and do so by showing the evolution of art from cave drawings to drawing with pixels.

My only problem with Wall*E is that it is essentially a message movie about the environment. However, the message is not slapped in the audiences face the way it is in a movie like The Happening so it is easier to swallow.

Director & Writer: Andrew Stanton
Wall*E, M-O: Ben Burtt
Eve: Elissa Knight
Captain: Jeff Garlin
Shelby Forthright: Fred Willard
Ship’s Computer: Sigourney Weaver