It’s a very rare thing to develop an emotional bond to two animated robots. With Wall•E, writer/director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) and the crew at Pixar have created something unique by making the most emotionally compelling and thought provoking animated film in years, perhaps of all time. Audiences of all ages will be drawn into the beautiful and immersive world created by the animators, as well as becoming attached to the characters of this film, in particular the hero, in spite of his lack of dialogue.
The central character to the film is a small robot named Wall•E, who is the last of the remaining robots left on Earth by humans, who fled the polluted planet. Set 700 years in the future, Wall•E is tasked with cleaning up our planet. He does this by collecting garbage and compacting it into cubes using a box in his chest, and then assembling piles with the garbage that resemble skyscrapers. Wall•E is a very curious little robot, he collects the unique knick-knacks he finds in the rubble and hoards it in the little storage facility where he sleeps. As Wall•E learns more about humans through his discoveries he seems to be developing a feeling of loneliness, and one night he sits watching an old movie trying to hold his own hand in order to imitate the intimacy of the couple onscreen. The level of sympathy and compassion we immediately feel for this small and quiet robot is incredible when you consider that he was created at the stroke of a computerized pen.
The central character to the film is a small robot named Wall•E, who is the last of the remaining robots left on Earth by humans, who fled the polluted planet. Set 700 years in the future, Wall•E is tasked with cleaning up our planet. He does this by collecting garbage and compacting it into cubes using a box in his chest, and then assembling piles with the garbage that resemble skyscrapers. Wall•E is a very curious little robot, he collects the unique knick-knacks he finds in the rubble and hoards it in the little storage facility where he sleeps. As Wall•E learns more about humans through his discoveries he seems to be developing a feeling of loneliness, and one night he sits watching an old movie trying to hold his own hand in order to imitate the intimacy of the couple onscreen. The level of sympathy and compassion we immediately feel for this small and quiet robot is incredible when you consider that he was created at the stroke of a computerized pen.
One day Wall•E’s world of old trash and piled rubble is shattered by the arrival of a sleek new spaceship. Wall•E then meets Eve, a new robot the humans have sent to search for life on Earth. He falls in love with her, or whatever the robot equivalent of such an emotion would be, and he follows her back up to the orbiting colony on a ship called the Axiom. On the Axiom humans have all become fat creatures with brittle bones who float around in flying lawn chairs, their interactions with each other all done through computer screens. This is where Stanton exerts his dystopian socio-political message, but its all brought across with the humorous nature of a Pixar film.
The film provides us with a strong moral at this point, showing us a potential future that if we do nothing to prevent could happen. Wall•E is similar to other science fiction films in displaying a post-apocalyptic or abandoned Earth, but the message behind Wall•E actually seems more current than many other sci-fi films; with its heavy environmental undercurrent running throughout.
Wall•E causes some chaos aboard the Axion, and he and Eve give message to the Captain that there is some life on Earth. However, the ship’s evil computer orders the destruction of the single remaining plant, and we have that classic struggle between man and machine. Somehow Wall•E is different than all other sci-fi movies as well as differentiating itself from other animated creations. It has a unique charm that few movies contain, let alone other animated movies; although Andrew Stanton’s very own Finding Nemo is one of these other such films. The characters are loveable despite their lack of dialogue and the world created by the animation team is both beautiful and immersive, making it one of the best animated films in many years.
The film provides us with a strong moral at this point, showing us a potential future that if we do nothing to prevent could happen. Wall•E is similar to other science fiction films in displaying a post-apocalyptic or abandoned Earth, but the message behind Wall•E actually seems more current than many other sci-fi films; with its heavy environmental undercurrent running throughout.
Wall•E causes some chaos aboard the Axion, and he and Eve give message to the Captain that there is some life on Earth. However, the ship’s evil computer orders the destruction of the single remaining plant, and we have that classic struggle between man and machine. Somehow Wall•E is different than all other sci-fi movies as well as differentiating itself from other animated creations. It has a unique charm that few movies contain, let alone other animated movies; although Andrew Stanton’s very own Finding Nemo is one of these other such films. The characters are loveable despite their lack of dialogue and the world created by the animation team is both beautiful and immersive, making it one of the best animated films in many years.