Wall-E

Directed By: Andrew Stanton
Rated: G
Runtime: 1 hr, 37 min.

“Actions speak louder than words” so the old saying goes, which, in most cases is quite correct. Certainly with respect to Pixar’s latest hero, Wall-E, this is undeniably the case, though whether action is an appropriate description for how Wall-E communicates is still unclear to me. It seems almost telepathic; those would-be inanimate eyes speak volumes to anybody who enters the lively theatres where this movie has been warming child and adult hearts alike for the past few weeks.

The film begins on a version of earth that has become a desolate wasteland due to human over-consumption and lack of space for garbage disposal. Humans have abandoned the planet and left several thousand wall-E units to clean up the planet. In the spec of wasted city in which we enter, one wall-E unit is still functioning, carrying out his directive with the added development of a personality, involving an overwhelming sense of curiosity (arguably the reason this unit has carried on while others have shut down.) Due to this added development, Wall-E also suffers from a crippling loneliness and yearns for contact with others, though he perhaps wouldn’t be able to explain this in so many words.

Things carry on day in and day out, until the arrival of a shuttle carrying a second robot unit, Eve. Wall-E’s world turns upside down with Eve’s arrival as he tries to teach her what he has come to learn about earth, while she strives to carry out her directive. Once she obtains what she is looking for and is prepared to return to space, Wall-E finds he cannot let her go so easily and stows away on the shuttle to find her. What he encounters is all that’s left of the human race, on a galactic cruise ship, completely unaware of the life they’ve left behind, and under the control of the many robots running the ship. Wall-E and Eve embark on a journey of instruction versus instinct, and ignite a new journey for the complacent humans aboard the ship.

Trumping their previous masterpiece, Oscar Nominated “Ratatouille” Pixar has succeeded again in animating their way into your hearts and memories (not to mention pocketbooks). Wall-E resonates with every person in that theatre, young or old. Who has not experienced loneliness, isolation, or a longing for connection at some point in their life? Everybody understands Wall-E’s desperation for love and companionship, but also his journey to self-understanding and his battle against what he was destined to do and what his heart desires. He is more and more humanized as the film progresses, and you become more and more attached to him.

Pixar seems to have brought the best of the best to this film. The animation is top notch and the sound is even better, with the genius of Ben Burtt as the sound designer and voice of Wall-E. Burtt, who has worked extensively on Indiana Jones and Star Wars, was responsible for the personification of R2D2 through sound. The story line is engaging and hits a little close to home in this day and age when global warming and waste control warning signs are rampant, and the path to self destruction is all too clear. Whether it was intentional or not, the film sends a great message to our kids; Value what you have and be conscious of where you are headed, while reminding any adults in the theatre that margarine on the popcorn may have been a better choice.

Try as I may, I cannot find one single thing that I disliked about this film (other than having to sit through the “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” trailer…twice). I have heard from others that the lack of vocabulary between Wall-E and Eve (consisting primarily of saying each others names) can weigh heavily on ones patience; something that didn’t bother me in the slightest, and made the kids in the theatre giggle with glee. Pixar has hit the nail on the head with this latest film, and continues to build their castle of success, compacted cube by compacted cube.