2008 Woodie Awards
'Wall-E' yet another Pixar success
Ed Komenda
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: The Edge
It would be completely wrong to say that Pixar Animation Studios has done it again with their latest flick "Wall-E." It still wouldn't be enough to describe the film as a milestone that completely transcends any animated reel of the past. Words are often a good weapon. But in the case of "Wall-E," there are no words thick enough to even slightly dent its tempered casing. In short, "Wall-E" is a cinematic masterpiece.
We begin in a land that resembles Earth, or at least what's left of it in the year 2815. We see dust storms, giant mounds of decaying trash and minimal sunlight. In a place with the appeal of a back-alley dumpster, life is usually scarce.
But then there is movement - an odd-looking object, trailing the grimy wasteland. This object is not human; it is a robot. It is a Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class, to be exact; Wall-E for short. This little bugger's job is to do exactly what its name implies - lift large loads of allocated trash. The landscape surrounding Wall-E (voiced by Ben Burtt) is the culmination of 700 year's work - a giant city comprised of skyscraper-like monuments of waste.
Wall-E's trek through the wasteland yields a few key suggestions to audiences, hinting at a fallen society ruled by a major corporation and a past failure at fixing the whole mess. And it seems that Wall-E is not one-of-a-kind; spread out across the landscape, incapacitated Wall-Es lay broken and out of service. Our Wall-E is alone, minus his loyal cockroach companion. The end of Wall-E's day points out his desperation and loneliness, as he finds solace in the film "Hello, Dolly!" The scene showing two lovers' clasped hands gets him every time.
When another robot is mysteriously sent to Earth, Wall-E lunges at the chance to put on the moves, following the visitor at all costs. EVE is the robot's name, which stands for "Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator." EVE's "directive" (futuristic way of saying "orders") is the find any proof of sustainable life on a destroyed Earth.
We begin in a land that resembles Earth, or at least what's left of it in the year 2815. We see dust storms, giant mounds of decaying trash and minimal sunlight. In a place with the appeal of a back-alley dumpster, life is usually scarce.
But then there is movement - an odd-looking object, trailing the grimy wasteland. This object is not human; it is a robot. It is a Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class, to be exact; Wall-E for short. This little bugger's job is to do exactly what its name implies - lift large loads of allocated trash. The landscape surrounding Wall-E (voiced by Ben Burtt) is the culmination of 700 year's work - a giant city comprised of skyscraper-like monuments of waste.
Wall-E's trek through the wasteland yields a few key suggestions to audiences, hinting at a fallen society ruled by a major corporation and a past failure at fixing the whole mess. And it seems that Wall-E is not one-of-a-kind; spread out across the landscape, incapacitated Wall-Es lay broken and out of service. Our Wall-E is alone, minus his loyal cockroach companion. The end of Wall-E's day points out his desperation and loneliness, as he finds solace in the film "Hello, Dolly!" The scene showing two lovers' clasped hands gets him every time.
When another robot is mysteriously sent to Earth, Wall-E lunges at the chance to put on the moves, following the visitor at all costs. EVE is the robot's name, which stands for "Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator." EVE's "directive" (futuristic way of saying "orders") is the find any proof of sustainable life on a destroyed Earth.
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