Wall-E (2008)
Directed by Andrew Stanton
Written by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon
Starring Zooey Deschanel, Ben Burtt, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Sigourney Weaver
Release Date June 27th, 2008
Published June 26th, 2008
Pixar has long been at the cutting edge of computer animation. The key to keeping that edge has as much to do with the latest in technology as with maintaining strong relationships with the most creative minds in the animation biz. People like Finding Nemo creator Andrew Stanton. It was Stanton who dedicated years to the story of a father and son fish who got seperated and had to find each other.
And it is Stanton who returned to work as soon as he wrapped Finding Nemo, on the story of a lonely robot who falls in love. The result of another 5 years of hard work is Wall-E the latest masterpiece from the company that has revolutionized the way we view animation.
It is the year 2700 and humans are long gone from earth. No they weren't wiped out by a nuke or anything post-apocalyptic like. Rather, humanity abandoned it's garbage overflowing planet in favor of a giant, corporate owned space ship while they wait for earth to be cleaned up. The clean up of the planet was left to robots called Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class or WALL-E units.
Several hundred years after the first WALL-E units were put to work only one remains. WALL-E has, in his years alone, evolved. He has a personality. His childlike curiosity leads him to collect items of the garbage he busily compacts into cubes for stacking, and keep them in his little home that he has built for himself.
WALL-E even has a friend, a cockroach who follows him everywhere. WALL-E's tranquility is upended one day by the arrival of a spaceship and a beautiful modern robot that we soon learn is called EVE. It is is Eve's job to search earth for plant life and report back to the spaceship. If she finds something alive, humans may be able to return to earth.
For WALL-E seeing Eve inspires love at first sight and eventually he wins her over. When Eve is called back to the spaceship WALL-E tags along and a whole new adventure begins.
The script for WALL-E has a number of wonderful twists and turns and a central romance between WALL-E and Eve that is more touching than 99% of the romantic comedies we've been subjected to over the past decade. Writer-director Andrew Stanton's wondrous sense of detail applies not merely to the cutting edge animation but also to the characters who are rich, elegant studies of romantic and even science fiction heroes.
The key to WALL-E is it's abundance of heart. If you can watch WALL-E and not be moved by this sweet, sensitive, smart story then you need to see a shrink. This is some of the finest character work we have seen in any movie in years. WALL-E, Eve and the humans aboard the forever orbiting spaceship, especially the captain wonderfully voiced by comic Jeff Garlin, have these rich inner lives that are delicately revealed in smart, sensible doses.
On top of the terrific characters and the romance is a smart sci fi story that goes as far as to adhere to Asimov's 3 rules for robot behavior. The three rules, do no harm, obey commands and protect itself, are played out in important and exciting fashion. I cannot stress enough the extraordinary attention to detail in this script that combines terrific sci fi, a little mystery, a great romance and even a big dance number..
WALL-E truly has it all.
Pixar has done it again. I love, love, love, love this movie. Andrew Stanton, Brad Bird and John Lasseter working under the Pixar banner have delivered the most consistent quality product of any studio in the business. Even as that business tries to limit them by labeling animation a kids genre, these brilliant artists have done more to advance the artform of feature length film than any group of directors you can name.
When Oscar comes around next year it will be a herculean effort for the academy to limit WALL-E to the mere animation Oscar category. WALL-E is a serious, undeniable candidate for the big prize and don't be surprised when it becomes the first Pixar film to break the ranks of live action domination of Best Picture.
WALL-E is just that good.
