Pixar has built a reputation for creating amazingly wonderful animated movies. They started with Toy Story, the first computer animated movie, and have been going strong ever since. Not only do they create movies with beautiful animation, but they also have strong stories and wonderful characters that I care about. I have seen and loved all of the Pixar movies. I have been wanting to see WALL-E ever since I first saw a short teaser trailer before Ratatouille.
Before WALL-E started, there was a very funny animated short featuring a magician and his rabbit.
Earth was abandoned by all humans after it became so polluted that it couldn’t sustain life. Only a small Waste Allocation Load Lifer Earth-Class robot was dealing with the mess. 700 years later, WALL-E was still cleaning up the mountains of trash and compacting it down into small cubes. He was alone except for the cockroach he had made a pet. Over the years, he became fascinated with some of the things he found, like silverware and a Rubik’s Cube. He’d even found an old VHS copy of an old musical that he watched.
One day, everything changed when Eve, an Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, arrived to run tests. WALL-E was drawn to her and eventually managed to make a connection with her. She did seem to return his interest, but she was focused on completing her mission. That caused WALL-E to follow her back to Axiom, the huge spaceship where humans had been living. WALL-E and Eve, along with a group of malfunctioning robots, set off on an adventure.
There was some cute animation during the credits. There weren’t any additional scenes during or after the credits.
The plot of WALL-E really wasn’t complicated, but it still worked very well. Time was taken to show that WALL-E and his cockroach companion were alone in a large city on Earth. He had kept doing his job for 700 years, though he also developed a personality and interest in some of the things he was supposed to be compacting. He was very curious and would take time to examine things he discovered. When he liked something, he took it to add to his collection. It didn’t take long for Eve to arrive and start running her tests. More started happening at that point, especially once WALL-E followed her back to Axiom. I thought that the plot was well done and ended up being strong even though it was simple. The way the material was handled made it a wonderful story. It made me care about a little robot who could only say a couple of words.
There were a few things about WALL-E that reminded me of the movie Short Circuit. Both movies feature robots who developed personalities and who are fascinated with many things humans use. A few things about how WALL-E looked, like his eyes and the tread things that served as his feet, were also similar to how the robot in Short Circuit worked. That was really it for similarities. WALL-E had a different, unique plot, so it wasn’t like it was a rehash of the older movie. I thought the plot employed a few elements that had been in previous Pixar movies in different ways. I also thought that his eyes looked a lot like the little wind up binocular toy from the Toy Story movies.
I thought there was a good amount of humor in WALL-E. Most of the humor was provided by WALL-E when he was trying to figure out how certain things, like a fire extinguisher worked. He was frequently taking time out from his work to pick up things he found interesting. He took time to show off some of his collection to Eve, and her reactions were amusing. Apparently robots find popping bubble wrap as irresistible as many people do. WALL-E was a bit out of place once he was on Axiom, which added more humor. There was a little robot named Mo who was obsessively following WALL-E around, cleaning up after him. Some of the things done for humor were a little bit silly, but they were still very funny. There wasn’t any of the crude or gross humor that turns up in so many of the other animated movies. It was rated G, so parents don’t need to worry about there being anything that isn’t appropriate for their children in the movie.
In addition to the humor, there were also some serious moments in WALL-E. The movie did include a bit of a message about the environment as well as on the dangers of people relying too much on technology. The environmental message worked very well because it wasn’t forced or heavy handed like what happened in Happy Feet. The message was just a natural part of the plot for this movie, which made it work so much better.
WALL-E featured the same type of beautiful animation that Pixar has become known for. There were all kinds of details on the deserted Earth, like the swirling dust, that made the environment come alive. Axiom did have a cleaner look, but there were still many amazing details, with movement everywhere. None of the backgrounds were static. There were some scenes showing different things in space that were so beautiful, like when the ship passed by the rings of Saturn. Once things were happening on Axiom, some human characters turned up. The animation for them was also well done. Pixar continues to dazzle me with what they are able to create. The scene with WALL-E and Eve dancing through space was sweet and tender and one of the most gorgeous scenes of the movie.
Other studios, most notably Dreamworks, have followed in Pixar’s footsteps to create computer animated movies. Several of those animated movies have been entertaining and I do like them. However, none of them, and I include all the Shrek movies in this statement, have come close to the greatness that Pixar has reached in every one of their movies. It seems like the other studios just want to try to dazzle with the animation and the plots suffer as a result. Pixar takes time with every one of their movies so that the story is just as strong as the animation.
Eve and WALL-E were the main characters. Neither one of them could say more than a few words, but it was always clear what they were thinking and feeling, especially once the connection between them as established. WALL-E had wonderfully expressive eyes that made him come alive and made it believable that he was capable of feelings. The relationship between them was sweet and tender and worked so much better than some romances in live action movies. WALL-E had some interactions with people on Axiom, and he managed to touch them as well.
WALL-E was a very curious, adorable little robot who longed for companionship. He did have a pet cockroach, but his watching of an old movie had him longing for romance. He was only able to say a few words, but he was able to get his point across. He was able to express more emotion than some characters in live action movies. Eve was very focused on the mission she was sent to Earth to do. She ignored WALL-E at first, but he helped her at one point and that started the connection between them and a change in Eve. There were many more robots on Axiom who served specific purposes. Most of them were cute. Ben Burtt created most of the robot voices.
Sigourney Weaver provided the voice for Axiom. Otto was the autopilot for Axiom. He was in control of just about everything on board. Everything was owned by a huge company, and the CEO, Shelby Forthright, was actually shown as a live action character. The Captain was probably the human character shown the most. After 700 years of depending on computers and technology to do things, he and the other humans weren’t able to do much of anything on their own. The Captain, as well as John and Mary, started to think more and pick up more about their surroundings. John Ratzenberger, who has provided a voice in every Pixar movie, did the voice for John. It would have been nice if his character had a bit more to do.
Voice Talent
Ben Burtt - WALL-E/M-O Jeff Garlin - Captain Elissa Knight - Eve Kathy Najimy - Mary John Ratzenberger - John Sigourney - Axiom’s computer Fred Willard - Shelby Forthright
Andrew Stanton - Director
Pixar has created another masterpiece with WALL-E, a movie about a cute little robot who only says a few words. The movie is sweet, funny, and emotional, something that many live action movies fail at. The plot and characters were stronger than what turns up in many live action movies. I did actually think that Kung Fu Panda was a good movie, and much better than many others that Dreamworks has put out. WALL-E blows it away. Pixar knows how to create great animated movies that don’t resort to crude humor to entertain. There is magic in their movies, and it shines through WALL-E’s expressive eyes.
What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? WALL-E, a robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But ...More at HotMovieSale.com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.