Wonder, Heroes, and Trash: WALL-E Review

What more can be said of Pixar’s ability to make wonderful stories that rake in mounds of cash? The animation studio has put out the most consistently original and entertaining films of the past thirteen years and each film has been a commercial success. Even the animated shorts they play before their features have more creativity, heart, and humor than most of the films released. They’ve explored the worlds of toys, monsters, cars, fish, superheroes, bugs, and even a rat with great culinary talents. They’ve given us amazing characters like Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Boo, Elastigirl, Edna Mode, Dory, and Remy. Perhaps the one thing that can be said of Pixar is that no matter how predictable it is that their next movie will be very good or excellent, we still leave the theater surprised, enraptured, entertained, and even enlightened. Pixar’s films defy the animation genre; they don’t make just the most technologically advanced cartoons, they make some of the best films, period.

With the release of their ninth film, WALL-E, Pixar extends their successful streak to nine. They also continue to break new ground by giving us both their first science-fiction tale and date movie. Writer-director Andrew Stanton has fashioned yet another iconic character in WALL-E, the last working robot of thousands created by Buy N Large — a giant retailer that has taken over providing humanity with nearly every need or desire — to clean up the Earth after humans’ consumption and waste has made the planet uninhabitable and devoid of nearly all vegetation. We meet him 700 years into the future and he’s still working away, compacting the trash into cubes and placing them in stacks as high as sky-scrapers. All the while, WALL-E collects some of the interesting pieces of garbage — rubber duckies, Christmas lights, a Rubik’s Cube — and brings them back to his shelter. WALL-E does not talk per se, but he communicates clearly and his curiosity and wonderment at the world around him are contagious. It also helps that Ben Burtt made the sound design for the film. Burtt previously gave “voices” to R2-D2 and ET, two of the most wonderful and articulate communicators in cinema despite the fact that they don’t speak any human language. Like all Pixar films, WALL-E looks gorgeous, even the early sequences depicting the desolate Earth. Like all Pixar films, however, WALL-E’s beauty resides primarily in its story and characters. The amount of imagination the filmmakers and animators possess humbles the audience.

WALL-E’s curiosity is enhanced by regular viewing of a found copy of Hello, Dolly! He desires the connection he sees the humans in the film having. Simple connections like holding hands. One day a ship returns to Earth carrying EVE, a scout robot looking for signs of vegetable life on Earth. Her sleek design and flying power is an iPod to WALL-E’s boxy Apple IIe as he travels on industrial tank tracks. Without giving too much away, WALL-E sees in EVE the possibility of realizing the connection he desires. Her orders must take her away back to the Axiom, the spaceship ark that Buy N Large created to house humanity for five years (now going on 700) as the company set about cleaning up the Earth. WALL-E cannot bear the thought of being separated from EVE and grabs onto the spaceship that retrieves her. For the first time in his existence, WALL-E leaves Earth and his daily routine. Once on the Axiom, we see what seven centuries of microgravity, consumption, and inactivity have done to humanity. People move about on personal floating sleds that were originally meant to help the invalid participate with others. Now each person is isolated and numbed with entertainment by their personal video screens. Food comes in the form of shakes people drink in huge cups. All this, supplied by Buy N Large.

On the Axiom, a struggle ensues between the ship’s computer versus its captain, WALL-E, and EVE. The computer’s red eye and singular commitment to the mission owe much to HAL of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: a Space Odyssey. It has been ordered to ensure humanity’s survival, but it does not comprehend that we are more than biological organisms. WALL-E deftly shows us that to be human is to dream, learn, and take risks. Living is more than surviving. WALL-E could have easily followed its more satirical beginning to an apocalyptic and cynical conclusion. Instead, it embraces a message of hope that no matter how comfortable we are, we can change. Stay through the initial credits for a beautiful sequence that shows the results of WALL-E’s journey.

Whereas all of Pixar’s films have had strong messages (importance of friendship and loyalty, family being a calling, being true to oneself, etc.), WALL-E addresses a more controversial aspect of human behavior directly. Namely, the film questions our identity as consumers and our growing dependence upon technology. Contrary to other reports, WALL-E is not a Luddite tale, nor a scree against (big) business. Either message would be a hypocritical statement from a Disney-owned movie company that pushes the industry in terms of technological advancement. Remember, the heroes of the movie are robots created by Buy N Large, and the film does not consider this fact ironic. Pixar is actually positioned perfectly to give us this message. In Pixar’s philosophy, technology always supports the story and characters. People in the theater did not cry because WALL-E’s digital dirt looks so life-like, but because he is a wonderful character whose journey resonates with us. WALL-E argues tools (including business) have a right place in our lives to help us live better. These tools should never replace real human connection. In the end, WALL-E shows us, with a pure sense of wonder, that there is a difference between merely surviving and truly living. And it reminds us that to keep our tools in their right place, we need to turn them off and connect with each other.

A friend of mine said after watching Children of Men, he was nearly brought to tears for a week whenever he heard or saw kids. After seeing WALL-E, the sight of trees, grass, and other plants moved me deeply. This film makes a fantastic argument for the wonder of creation and our responsibility to care for it. WALL-E is far more than a thesis, however, it is a brilliant film that challenges as well as it entertains.