Pixar continues to define the gold standard of animated feature films with "WALL-E", the story of a little robot with a big heart. Surprisingly mature, thoughtful and subtle, "WALL-E" proves the mastery and bravery of Pixar's filmmakers as they push the envelope of animated storytelling.
In the not-too-distant future, the big blue marble of Earth has become a toxic, dusty landfill. Its human inhabitants have decamped for a luxury resort in space while the Buy-N-Large Corporation mounts a cleanup effort. Tackling the mountains of garbage are WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) robots. After 700 years, only one robot remains.
While he dutifully compacts the mountains of trash into tiny cubes, the curious little robot (with his large, expressive eyes, he looks like a cross between Johnny Five from "Short Circuit" and E.T.) picks little treasures from the trash heaps and squirrels them away. Among his prized possessions is a Rubik's Cube, a collection of Zippo lighters and a tape of the 1969 musical "Hello Dolly!".
WALL-E's sole companion on this dustbowl is a cockroach. That is, until he encounters EVE, a probe-droid sent to Earth to analyze and gather samples. With her sleek lines and semi-translucent skin, she is an iMac in robot form — albeit armed with some heavy firepower. Focused on her "directive", EVE initially ignores WALL-E, but soon becomes curious about the lone (and lonely) robot.
Almost completely devoid of dialogue, the scenes on Earth between WALL-E and EVE are possibly the most exquisite and eloquent animation sequences put on film. Pixar is, of course, known for visual artistry, but it's the masterful storytelling and character development that really sets their films apart. Director Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo") succeeds in creating a wonderfully Chaplin-esque character in WALL-E — a character full of pathos and humanity that provides a stark contrast to the humans we meet in the second half of the film.
Leaving Earth, the tone of the film changes from the simple, graceful interchange between WALL-E and EVE to a witty, biting satire about humankind. On the spaceship Axiom, several hundred years of resort-living has caused the former earth-dwellers to evolve (or devolve) from live-action humans to animated, jumpsuit-wearing flesh blobs (a stroke of genius from Stanton). Riding in hover chairs, they eat their meals in shake form and interact with each other only via personal heads-up displays. They fix their eyes upon the screen in front of them, oblivious to everything around them except the gigantic Buy-N-Large advertisements flashed on screens around the ship.
While the film is rife with comments about the wasteful, destructive and slothful nature of humans, it also has a positive message about the resilience of the human spirit. WALL-E's beloved "Hello Dolly!" is used as a device throughout the film — an interesting choice when you understand it was considered a flop because it was deemed too quaint, too old-fashioned for modern audiences. But its simple story about finding love underscores WALL-E's childlike curiosity and his elemental search for an emotional connection with another being.
As with their last effort, "Ratatouille", "WALL-E" may prove to be too subtle and sophisticated to appeal to children. Whether or not kids will respond to WALL-E like they did to Nemo or Buzz and Woody remains to be seen, but perhaps that's beside the point. "WALL-E" is truly a masterpiece of animation. If only live-action films were as thoughtfully and beautifully executed.
