Much more than the average animated film

WALL-E (2008)

Written & Directed by Andrew Stanton. Titles by Jim Capobianco.

* * * 1/2

Admittedly, I have a slight bias against the types of animation films that are being produced these days in Hollywood. I think more often than not these stories involve a clichéd plot, a protagonist that must learn to believe in his or her abilities, a quirky and obnoxious sidekick (voiced by Robin Williams or Eddie Murphy), banal dialogue and generally incredibly annoying voice work by over-hyped stars. I said I had a slight bias.

Thankfully, Wall-E isn’t like most animated pictures and it avoids the trap of throwing together a cute story and a few big Hollywood names. In fact, the only big star lending voice to a part is that of Sigourney Weaver as the ship’s computer. Much of the 97 minutes is devoid of dialogue (although the third act has a fair share). The first 25-30 minutes of the film is presented splendidly without dialogue (just some robotic beeps and blips) as we learn Wall-E think a cuter, more compact boxed-shaped version of the Short Circuit robot) is a clean-up robot on Earth which has become one giant landfill where human beings no longer live.

Wall-E (Voice: Ben Burtt) collects garbage, compacts it and produces a cube-shaped product which he stacks atop a mile-high stack of other cubes of rubbish. His existence is pretty mundane until he encounters EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, Voice: Elissa Knight), a high-powered (equipped with a destruction beam), ovular-shaped white robot that looks like it was designed by Apple. She scours earth looking for signs of plant life to bring back to her superiors. At first Wall-E is intrigued by EVE’s powers and his fascination quickly turns into a crush and then, you guessed it—love, robot love. There is an interesting dynamic here. The female EVE is clearly the stronger of the two, while Wall-E is relegated to a role nearly always given to females. EVE is able to destroy things and fly at insanely high speeds, while Wall-E relies on determination and ingenuity like using a fire extinguisher to propel through space.

The remarkable visuals and the poignant love angle is undoubtedly the draw for kids and probably many casual film goers (Although I found it harder to appreciate a love story involving two robots, I will say that it is executed very well). What makes Wall-E standout is that it is much more than a picture for kids. Once Wall-E and EVE reach the spaceship Axiom things get even more interesting and a subtext is revealed. The Axiom is essentially a space resort for human beings and it has been providing a no hassle, stress-free living environment for people for hundreds of years. All of the inhabitants are fat and ignorant (they have zero knowledge of Earth or anything outside of their resort) and sit atop hover chairs which can take them anywhere they wish, while robots are always at their beck and call. People are so lazy that later in the film a crowd of people is astonished when their Captain (Voice: Jeff Garlin) sets foot on the floor and walks.

More than anything I think this is a commentary on the constant advancement of technology as a means for “improving” the everyday lives of people. More and more things are becoming faster, easier and cheaper but are we happier? Sometimes the advances carry with them unintended consequences like deterioration in interpersonal communication. In the film we see this with two average (i.e. overweight) people in John (Voice: John Ratzenberger) and Mary (Voice: Kathy Najimy) who have every gadget they need in their lives but cannot communicate adequately to express interest in each other. Ironically, Wall-E and EVE are more human than the human beings living aboard the Axiom.

Even though I have briefly gone into my theory on the film, Wall-E should not be thought of as an overly didactic agenda film. Many viewers will and should enjoy the film because of its incredible animation and its simple theme: Love is all you need. Film buffs and those who wish to look deeper into the movie should enjoy the Axiom subtext and the references to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Also, jazz lovers and those who appreciate great music will smile at the use of Louis Armstrong’s sublime version of “La Vie En Rose.” Any way it's looked at Wall-E is an excellent film which should appeal to everyone.