*** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

You saw a different movie than I did. The one I watched had a robot clearing endless expanses of human refuse -- leftovers from shopping at a blatant Wal-Mart parody -- and building super-skyscrapers with them. There was so much trash that it was the undoing of a legion of such robots working for 700 years to unsuccessfully clean the planet. Humans had shopped so much that there the first viable plant wasn't found for 7 centuries after they abandoned Earth. The trash didn't even stop there; so bad even the orbits were thoroughly filled with jumk satellites. Consumerism was so egregious that a mega corporation ruled the planet. The CEO was global president. And even upon leaving, people had so much stuff they stopped interacting with each other, content to let stuff (robots) take care of stuff, as they watched TV.

This was not a hard-to-see subtext. It was the text.



As noted, the primary story was a love story. And once they got past the scary, dominatrix, sadistic side of Eve, it was quite enjoyable.

 

[TravisR]

You're right, it wasn't preachy. Unfortunately, some people will say that any message involving the environment is preaching. It reminds me of one of the opening scenes in The Simpsons Movie when the second that Green Day mentions the environment, the town attacks them for 'preaching'.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Oh, I saw the same movie. But it wasn't ABOUT any of those things, anymore than (I'll use this example again) The Matrix was about advancing AI causing the downfall of civilization. The context of those images is brought in by the viewer themselves, not contained within the film itself. I have great concerns for our future, but BuyNLarge isn't one of them, and I don't think it's Pixar's either. That was merely set-up to establish WALL*E's situation. From the film itself, there is no judgement on the consumer culture, except that it might make you lonely. Hence my belief that the message is about connection. There are many more shots of holding hands than there are of piles of trash. Looking at the just the events of the films...every image of consumerism was played for laughs, not seriously.

That difference in how we see the film drives my opinion. I do agree with your opinions on The Incredibles Buddy. He was exceptional, but what you do with your abilities is more important than your abilities. I think the film covers that. Just not as directly as letting people be great.

I don't think the film is preachy. That's all.

Edwin, I'd love to argue with several of your points, but I can't

 

[DaveF]

The context is explicit by the story: Excess consumption destroys planet. Excess consumption forces a diaspora of the few. Excess consumption leads to people becoming a race of morbidly obese who do nothing but consume food, media, and video games. To overcome their hurdles, as much as personal connections, they had to overcome their lazy, sea-cow existences.

And had the movie not had the one side couple bumping into each other, the love-story would have rested solely on Wall-E and Eve with the humans being a background cautionary tale on consumerism.

And that would have been better in my view. I found those two to be awkwardly inserted with flat dialog.



More positively...
I loved the sequence where Wall-E rolls through the port and launch site of the Axiom. It was beautifully, realistically created. The auto-commercial fit perfectly and filled in necessary narrative. And was it through there where he got some new treads? Poignant: the realization that he's mortal, perhaps the last of his kind, and an accident away from being stuck -- a self-aware coma situation perhaps. It's that implicit storytelling that Pixar excels at. They way they suggest mature ideas, the deep worries that adults must face, in the midst of "kids" movies.

 

[ZacharyTait]

How do the geniuses at Pixar do it? They've made 9 movies and they haven't missed yet. 3 of their last 4 movies I consider to be their best (Cars being the exception).

I loved Finding Nemo and somehow director Andrew Stanton has surpassed that.

The short Presto was hilarious. The very beginning reminded of a Merrie Melodies short!

Far and away the best film of the year so far.

4 Stars.

 

[BrettB]

^ extracted from the review thread

Dude. Eve held his clamp... just like he wanted her to.... all through the entire movie. Did you spill your drink or something?

 

[Patrick Sun]

Plus, IIRC, there was a minor jolt of electricity between them.

 

[Bryan Beckman]

My interpretation of WALL-E's reawakening at the end went like this: if during the course of 700 years of operation he begins to long for companionship (something not at all allowed for in his programming, I bet), he must have developed something akin to a soul, something that existed independently from his motherboard and memory chips. Does the soul live in the brain, or exist somewhere else more ethereal, perhaps non-localizable? I don't mean to delve too far into faith/spirituality, but perhaps it was this "soul" that was reawakened by EVE's kiss and their hand-holding at the end.

Anyway, because I bought into the concept of a free-thinking robot with the capacity to love at the beginning of the film, the ending didn't seem that much of a stretch.

 

[Tarkin The Ewok]

He was awakened by the princess giving him true love's kiss. It's a tried and true fairy tale convention applied to robots. I don't think anything more metaphysical than that is needed or intended.

 

[Bryan Beckman]

I think it's ambiguous enough to allow for multiple interpretations. Maybe one reason I went with the one I wrote above is because it fit nicely with the major themes I picked up from the movie, as I mentioned in my post in the review thread.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

The filmmakers could have set up the film in any way for Wall-E's journey, but they choose to create this world. The folks at Pixar created a fully integrated world of BNL, environmental degradation, consumerism (on Axiom) run amok, causing humans to disconnect from one another, evolving human bodies, etc. Every single one of those elements was thought out and created, not just "there" as if Stanton pointed a camera at a natural scenery (which of course still would have been a decision). Yes, the film was also about love and connection (how many Disney released animated pictures aren't?), but we shouldn't just disregard the world where a picture takes place. That Pixar did choose this world for this story is pretty gutsy.

 

[Chris Will]

I still want to know what happen to the other ships that left Earth? The BnL commercial mentioned "ships leaving daily" but only the Axiom is in the second half of the movie. Did I miss something?

 

[DaveF]

I don't think there were other ships. I think the wealthy and elite left on the one Axiom Executive ship (as said in the Axiom billboard). Everyone else remained on Earth, either trapped or trying to fix things (as with the BNL / Global President).

Was there any explicit reference to other ships?

As for what awoke Wall-E: the princess kiss is the best explanation . Earlier in the movie Eve touched heads with Wall-E, sending a spark and jolting him. I don't think the spark was shown when he awoke, but the physical situation was repeated. And of course, she held his hand.

But it doesn't matter. We knew he would wake up. He had to. He did.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I viewed WALL-E this evening and really, really enjoyed the film.

The first 30 or 40 minutes of the film was simply brilliant. I was intrigued by the premise of a mainstream animated feature telling much of its story in strictly visual terms (referring once again to the opening third of the film) and WALL-E and the fine folks at Pixar delivered the goods.

The animators did a great job of investing WALL-E with a heart and soul and the juxtaposition of WALL-E and EVE against the scenes from Hello Dolly was just wonderful. The ability of the film to generate such identification and empathy with these characters is just one of the factors that sets it apart from most animated fare.

Did I mention I liked this film?


I also thought that I'd mention that fans of this film who enjoyed the character of WALL-E and the idea of this little robot soldiering on through the centuries would probably enjoy (although the main story points are different) Alistair Reynold's SF short story Zima Blue - which contains an interesting perspective on machine intelligence and a rather long lived robotic protagonist.

- Walter.

 

[Edwin-S]

That is what was wrong with it. It was just a twist on an old, tired, animation cliche. This film would have been as great as every one said it was if he hadn't woken up. Love lost. That would have taken some stones, but, being animated, Stanton had to have the prerequisite happy ending.

 

[BrianShort]

Just got back from seeing Wall-E and loved every minute of it. I think it's great, subtext, or not, that it can at least generate discussions like this one. I mainly saw it as a sweet love story between two unlikely protagonists, and I think that any subtext behind that had more to do with being connected to the world around you rather than rampant consumerism is going to destroy the earth.

The animation was incredible, and I like how Pixar is starting to make a lot of their scenes look like they were shot with an actual camera, with shifting focus points, shaky cameras, etc, rather than the perfectly smooth look you see in computer animated films from other producers.

I also got a kick out of how the sound that Wall-E makes when he's fully charged is the Macintosh boot-up sound!

Also, the Presto short was hilarious!

 

[DaveF]

I do think the happy ending is the right choice. These are happy ending stories, and when has a Feature Animation from Disney or Pixar not had a happy ending? But it could have been done better. Just the twist of Wall-E's damaged circuit board rendering him "dead" until repaired was sufficient. And it had a clear and direct solution. The subsequent amnesia was just piling on, and required a magic solution to a realism story.

I could have done without the spring-loaded cockroach. It exceeded my "ick" factor and it violated the rules of the world: everything was "real", but no cockroach has that dog-like loyalty and comprehension.

I loved the little scrubber robot. His frustration at the unending and inexplicable contamination was palpable.

 

[JonZ]

Of course, there should have been a happy ending. What I find amazing is that I cared more about and that Wall*E and EVE made a better romantic couple than 99.9999% of the humans Ive seen in plenty of crappy romantic comedies.

This movie had alot of heart. While I laughed a few times I smiled though almost the entire thing. My G/F loved it and laughed often. One of things I enjoyed so much was how much emotion they were able to project through the robots, epsecially through EVE, with a simple set of glowing eyes.

"The one I watched had a robot clearing endless expanses of human refuse..."

When I was in school, I remember the population of the planet being 4+ billion. That number now seems to be 9. In 20 years the population has doubled. So how bad will it be in 100 or 200?

I dont get some of the criticism being thrown at the movie. The SciFi genre has always used social/political/moral/warning of such and such a danger issues for backdrops for stories. Gattaca constantly warns of the dangers of genetic manipulation and I dont think Ive ever heard anyone call that film preachy.

As for people becoming fat, lazy and disconnected - well thats already happening and I wouldnt blame it on consumerism(more technology). Look in a SUV when you drive by. No one is talking everyone is watching a DVD. My G/Fs kids (who are overweight) are spending their teens in chat rooms and playing online video games. They dont hang out with friends, dont ride their bikes, dont play sports, dont do anything. From the minute they home to when they go to sleep, theyre in front of a monitor. I work at IBM and 3/4 of the people I see everyday are overweight. Obesity is clearly a problem today.I also frequent another forum that has a romance section when I need a good laugh. Its full of young people who meet on myspace and in chat rooms - and have no idea how to communicate with each other in person. This subtext IMHO is one of the films strengths, not weakness(but Im also a pessimist). I agree with Kirk, I applaude them to use these ideas for a Pixar film.


The 2001 gag was funny. Kubrick was very interested in the idea of robots taking on human attributes and the idea of them developing a soul. Hal learning to lie and even becoming afraid at his own demise and AI's David even lashes at in jealous behavior. The Capt standing up with TSZ blaring in the soundtrack was one of the films funniest moments.

I dont have a problem with the robot cute gags. They were cute and again I think its appropriate. They are there but I didnt notice it happening as often as someone mentioned earlier.

I think this film is a huge achievement. Visually is beyond impressive, stellar, add whatever you want here, its all of those things.

I liked it better than Ratatouille and think its edges out Finding Nemo and would put it up there with The Incredibles and the 2 Toy Stories films.

:star::star::star::star: out of 4:star:s


Oh yea, and Presto was wonderful. As someone mentioned earlier, definitely reminiscent of the old similar Looney Tunes cartoons.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

There absolutely was a small spark. EVE's head was on the right of the screen, slightly above center, and WALL*E's was about center on the left. As EVE leans in, there is a small spark between their heads, though EVE does not notice it.

It's there

 

[todd s]

I asked earlier..But, does Disney have a site or does anyone have a wav file of Wall-E going "Whoa"??