In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently
embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of
mankind.
WALL·E (2008)
Director:
Andrew StantonStars:
Won
1
Oscar.
Another
90 wins & 90 nominations.
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
13 August 2008 (Philippines) See more »Also Known As:
Wall-E See more »Filming Locations:
Budget:
$180.000.000 (estimated)Opening Weekend:
$63.087.526 (USA) (27 June 2008)Gross:
$223.806.889 (USA) (2 January 2009)
In a distant, but not so unrealistic, future where mankind has abandoned
earth because it has become covered with trash from products sold by
the powerful multi-national Buy N Large corporation, WALL-E, a garbage
collecting robot has been left to clean up the mess. Mesmerized with
trinkets of Earth's history and show tunes, WALL-E is alone on Earth
except for a sprightly pet cockroach. One day, EVE, a sleek (and
dangerous) reconnaissance robot, is sent to Earth to find proof that
life is once again sustainable. WALL-E falls in love with EVE. WALL-E
rescues EVE from a dust storm and shows her a living plant he found
amongst the rubble. Consistent with her "directive", EVE takes the plant
and automatically enters a deactivated state except for a blinking
green beacon. WALL-E, doesn't understand what has happened to his new
friend, but, true to his love, he protects her from wind, rain, and
lightning, even as she is unresponsive. One day a massive ship comes to
reclaim EVE, but WALL-E, ...
On June 27, 2008, Pixar unveiled WALL-E, a sci-fi adventure that would become a summer hit with critics and audiences.
This is getting to sound like a broken record: Pixar Animation Studios has just topped itself. Again.
In WALL-E, following the sublime culinary slapstick of Ratatouille,
Pixar and director-writer Andrew Stanton — officially the studio's
ninth employee way back when — have spun a whimsical sci-fi fantasy
about robots 800 years into the future that has all the heart, soul,
spirit and romance of the very best silent movies 80 years ago. Well,
you don't expect robots to talk, do you? While the soundtrack is full of
clanking noises, explosions, music and even dance numbers, there is
little dialogue as such to get this story told. Stanton and his
animation team punch across their terrific (and ecologically sound!)
story by inventing a visual and aural language with which these robotic
creatures can express a rainbow of emotions.
The film is so clever and sophisticated that you worry, slightly,
that it might be too clever to connect with mainstream audiences. But
like those worries last year that having a rat for a hero in Ratatouille might throw off audiences, surely WALL-E will make that connection. It's so sweet and funny that the multitudes undoubtedly will surrender to its many charms.
A trashed and toxic Earth has been abandoned by mankind centuries
ago, but somebody forgot to turn off the last robot. That would be
WALL-E (an acronym that stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter
Earth-Class), a mobile trash compactor who goes about his job decade
after decade. He has even developed a storage system so he can
self-replace his parts. His only companion is a cockroach. Well, you
knew that creature would survive anything.
Mankind, grown fat and lazy after centuries of floating like lotus
eaters in a Club Med spaceship above Earth, sends a probe to search for
signs of life on the abandoned planet. That would be EVE
(Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator). WALL-E develops a mighty crush
on EVE, though her fearsome temper — she tends to blast anything that
moves — makes him shy. But their romance, an innocence in the
unlikeliest of places, blossoms. WALL-E even shows her his little green
plant.
His little what? That's the very thing she's been looking for! That
plant launches the couple on an epic journey to the Axiom spaceship,
where with other "rogue robots" they overthrow a robotic controlled
civilization and galvanize humans — more robotic than the actual robots —
into something approaching life.
The visual design of WALL-E is arguably Pixar's best.
Stanton, who wrote the script with Jim Reardon from a story he concocted
with Peter Docter, creates two fantastically imaginative,
breathtakingly lit worlds — a wretched, destroyed Earth city, not unlike
Manhattan, and the spaceship where humans hover in floating couches,
their bloated body fat encasing virtually useless bones, while an
intricate series of robots perform all labor and a 3D Internet is the
chief form of human communication.
The real stroke of brilliance, though, is the use of old movie
footage, mixed in with the CG animation, to trigger WALL-E's romantic
yearnings. After work, WALL-E endlessly watches a videotape from the
1969 movie Hello, Dolly! Its musical imagery and two songs make
him understand what love and passion mean. He even learns how to hold
hands, something he is finally able to try out with EVE.
Sound designer Ben Burtt creates expressive sounds given off by the
robots, and in particular WALL-E, that you would swear are voices
speaking words. If there is such a thing as an aural sleight of hand,
this is it.
There are lifts from 2001 —
acknowledged as such with a wink by the filmmakers — as there are
moments when the robots run riot that remind you of Pixar's Monsters, Inc. Yet WALL-E is just possibly the studio's most original work yet. Can they really top this? — Kirk Honeycutt, originally published June 25, 2008.
