Thursday, February 11, 2016

There's Lots of World Out There (Disney Pixar's WALL·E, 2008)

WALL-E, short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class, is the last robot left on Earth. He spends his days tidying up the planet, one piece of garbage at a time. But during 700 years, WALL-E has developed a personality, and he's more than a little lonely. Then he spots EVE, a sleek and shapely probe sent back to Earth on a scanning mission. Smitten WALL-E embarks on his greatest adventure yet when he follows EVE across the galaxy.   ~ Google

 Story

This film's plot follows a popular question: what if all life left the earth for good?   Everyone has toyed around with the thought of humans living on the moon or on Mars at some point.   Some people believe that the world will become so polluted that humans will have to leave Earth or die.   Another popular question: what if there was only one person on earth?   WALL·E turns the person in this question to a robot.   This film is also the most romantic Pixar film they have made to this day, though Toy Story 4 is rumored to be a love story.   The film is low on dialogue, but the robots are constantly expressing emotion through movement and sound.   IStar Wars was made from R2-D2's point of view, you would get WALL·E.    (A sound director from Star Wars also recorded the sound for this film and voiced Wall-E.   Random fact you didn't need to know.   ☺)

Visuals

I can't say enough about the visuals in this or any Pixar movie.   (Even Toy Story, the first Pixar film ever made, was far ahead of its time and contained better computer animation than some used today.)   On Earth, you really feel how deserted and polluted it is.   Everything is covered in dust.   The storms that take place there are incredibly true to life.   You can practically feel the rain, wind, or sand hitting your face.   In space, you feel as if you really are in space, floating.   I remember the first time I watched, I lost my breath when Wall-E took off in the rocket.   I really felt as if I were in space, lack of oxygen and all.   Because of the little dialogue, the animators really had to catch your eye with the way things looked.   I think they really succeeded in this regard.

Music

Unlike many Pixar films, this score was not written by Randy Newman (think "You've Got A Friend In Me" and "I Wouldn't Have Nothing If I Didn't Have You").   However, this composer is Randy's cousin, Thomas Newman.   His style is a bit more subdued than Randy's (Randy Newman has lots of peppy bits in his music, one example is when Flick from Bug's Life enters the city for the first time), but his scores are still incredibly memorable and fun.   He has lots of musical themes for certain emotions and characters, which in my opinion is a sign of a good score.   My favorite piece from the soundtrack is "Define Dancing," which plays as Wall-E and Eve are dancing around in space.   The credit song, "Down to the Ground," is great too.   (So great, in fact, that I had to purchase it and listen to it repeatedly.   ☺)

Final Rating

This review was probably wayyyy more detailed than any other I have done, partly because the movie is so great and partly because I actually watched the bonus features disk.   (I should probably do that more often...)   This film is fun to watch with children or adults.   I recommend it for anyone wanting a cute movie to enjoy!   (It's also great for Valentine's Day!   ☺)

Bonus Gif:

2 comments:

  1. I do like me some WALL-E. I do wish there had been more girl characters... but you know how Pixar is. *sigh* Still, cute!

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    1. I see what you're saying. There were a lot of girls in several of their other movies though, like Inside Out! The movie industry is making giant steps to bring more diversity to their films, so you may see some more Pixar girls in the future! ☺

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