I was not immediately taken by the advertising for the new Disney/Pixar venture Wall-E. Nonetheless I ended up seeing it the other night with a couple friends. Was I glad? Well, yes, yes I was. Wall-E is the story of the last robot on earth. He is basically a really advanced trash compactor whose job is to turn trash into cubes and then stack those cubes into giant sky scrapers of refuse. All life has long since left Earth with the exception of Wall-E’s buddy, the indestructible cockroach. The action really begins when a spaceship lands and leaves a probe named Eva behind. Eventually Wall-E and Eva find themselves on a giant spaceship which holds the remaining human population of the galaxy. These people have degraded into a totally plugged in, sloth laden, and morbidly obese population. Hilarity ensues and Wall-E, Eva, and a rag-tag group of malfunctioning robots help the humans chart a course back to earth.
The creative genius that went into making this film astounds me. Not only was the animation beautiful, but the story was also well thought out and imaginative in both its scope and presentation. Much of the story is told without words, making the use of movement as communication paramount. As I think back I cannot recall the musical score, which means I was not that impressed. This is definitely a film for the whole family. In the same vein as The Muppet Show and Bugs Bunny the movie presents some very adult concepts in ways that are accessible to children and entertaining for the older generation. I give Wall-E four out of five stars, the last star lacking because of the musical score and quick wrap-up at the end of the film.
