WALL·E

I don’t want to survive. I want to live! Best way to spend earth day imo. Anyways when people think of Pixar, they usually think of the friendship of Woody and Buzz, the nostalgia of Lighting McQueen training with Doc Hudson for the Piston Cup, the fun family dynamic of the Incredibles, or that memorable opening of Up. Im not saying that Wall-E is a slept on Pixar film but it’s actually Pixar’s best. Yes the self contained robot love story in space is Pixar’s greatest work ever. As the self acclaimed Wall-E Warrior, I adore this... all of it. I still remember that Wall-E was the first film I’ve ever seen on the big screen back in 2008. I miss when animated films would have a likable protagonist from the get go, no annoying side kicks, not have super dated pop culture references for jokes (that aren’t funny), a great soundtrack, and only purpose was to help distract a child for 100 minutes so they would fall asleep. The early Pixar days had one amazing film after another that avoided the “kid movie” cliches. When the film starts and all you see are stars. Then bam! Put on Your Sunday Clothes starts playing and you're hooked. The first third of this film has little to no dialogue from our main characters. This film lets the animated images do the heavy lifting in storytelling. Wall E is just a lil dude who collects relics in a dystopian earth and finds love through his vhs copy of Hello Dolly. He has a little cockroach buddy (how does this film make me like a cockroach??) and they go on little adventures together collecting relics of another age. All of that is said without any dialogue. The sound design and music is crucial for the storytelling too. Once Eve is introduced and Wall-E chases her to the Axiom, the sound design is scaled up to 11. All the different sounds of the robots are fun to listen to. One of my favorite sounds is Eve’s blaster and then the twirl like a revolver in the old west. The Axiom is very haunting since it feels like once the world does eventually go into apocalypse mode, the richest company will take over dooming us all. The real life use of the BnL CEO is a great choice and the directive A113 scene is terrifying. Each individual robot has their own story. It’s told through how they look and sound. Shout out to Ben Burtt who has done funky voice work in Star Wars, E.T and Indiana Jones. He’s a legend. The voices of Wall-E and M-O are so lively. We exist without purpose unless we risk exposing our true self for love. That was one of director's Andrew Stanton's notes. Wall-E and Eves romance is the best kind in film in which it isn’t forced upon. The Define Dancing scene is one of those classic Disney scenes that will stand the test of time. I like how self contained the story is and how Disney hasn’t turned it into a franchise (yet). The closing credits tell the rest of the story through different art styles throughout history which I thought was a neat touch. Wall-E is emotional, authentic and beautiful. It’s crazy how in a little over 90 min that I got to care about two robots holding hands. Can’t believe the academy museum had a real animatronic Wall-E after the film. I felt like a little kid again!