Wall-E
Director: Andrew Stanton
Cast: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Kathy Najimy, John Ratzenberger, Sigourney Weaver, Fred Willard,
In a post-apocalyptic future where Earth has long since been forsaken by humanity, a unique and powerful love story is sparked between a pair of robots named WALL-E (Ben Burtt) and EVE (Elissa Knight) when a chance encounter causes their paths to collide, and sends them on a journey to bring life back to Earth. During the seven hundred years he has spent alone on an abandoned Earth, WALL-E has developed a unique personality, and he enjoys listening to show tunes and collecting odd trinkets that he finds in the debris, but he is more than a little lonely; his only friend being his pet cockroach. Then, WALL-E meets EVE (Elissa Knight), a sleek and elegant probe sent back to Earth, on a scanning mission, to see if life has been restored to the once decimated planet, thus allowing the humans to return home. Utterly smitten by this beautiful, yet mysterious stranger, WALL-E embarks on his greatest adventure yet, when he follows EVE across the galaxy to bring humanity home.
Wall-e's emotional sentience DOES NOT come from a glitch or random malfunction, but from him evolving as a character through new discoveries that he records. We have seen other mechanical beings do this...both from Star Trek, ironically...with the Doctor on Voyager and Data from Next Gen. Each of them is initially a machine with a simple purpose, but over time, both exceeded their original purpose and become uniquely sentient beings. They have dreams, goals, emotions, and friendships. Wall-E is the same. When he learns things like holding hands and dancing, he yearns to experience these things for himself. I would even concede that Wall-E's devotion to Eve made HER uniquely sentient, as well. Eve’s sole purpose when she arrived on Earth was to find proof of life on Earth. When she first sees Wall-E, she initially sees him as a threat, but as she spends more time with Wall-E, she forms an extremely sweet attachment to him, even showing him love when she puts him back together and gets him instantly back to the sun, to recharge his heart. She wanted her Wall-E back (the sweet and devoted dreamer, with the most beautiful heart I have ever seen) and not the brainwashed, apathetic version of Wall-E that he became. That is why Eve held Wall-E's hand…she was hoping that this intimate act would reignite Wall-E's memory of her. Further proof of WALL-E'S emotional sentience comes when we see what WALL-E truly values. While he tosses the diamond ring aside, with barely a glance at it, we see that WALL-E values deeply his bond of friendship/love with the two other beings that he shares his time with: Eve and WALLE-S pet cockroach. When Eve shuts down after discovering the living plant on Earth, WALL-E remains by Eve's side, determined to protect her from all danger, but still wanting to spend time with her, and be by her side, his heartfelt devotion to her reflecting in his eyes. He follows her ship into space, just to make sure she is safe, and he helps Eve fulfill her mission, to bring the plant back to the captain. That is devotion in its most beautiful form, in my book. He also protects his little cockroach friend. WALL-E shows deep concern when the bug gets squished and when the spaceship lands near WALL-E'S home, he tells his cockroach friend to stay in a safe place, so he wouldn't be in danger.
There is an intimate and powerful theme in Wall-E that illustrates the touching of hands with Wall-E’s almost child-like understanding of human emotion. In the beginning, Wall-E sees a couple dancing on his television. As he watches the story play out, Wall-E imitates the couple’s affection for each other by entwining his own hands together. When EVE arrives on Earth, she is the first life form that Wall-E has encountered in seven hundred years. While at first Wall-E is terrified of this aggressive stranger, his fear is soon transformed into something else entirely; he loves her. When EVE goes off-line after Wall-E gives her a plant, the feelings that Wall-E expresses are heartfelt; he is genuinely worried about her and his growing affection for her compels him to watch over her and protect her.
When EVE restores Wall-E after he sacrifices himself to save the plant, the part of Wall-E that was able to convey emotion is extinguished. He is alive, but the essence of what made him so special is gone. Although EVE tries desperately to remind Wall-E of who he truly is, all her attempts at restoring his emotional essence fail until she touches Wall-E’s hand with her own. When their hands meet, instead of recoiling from her, Wall-E allows his hand to entwine with EVE’s. It is this tender expression of EVE’s love for Wall-E which allows his heart to be restored.
“Wall-E” is by far one of Pixar’s most beautiful and sincerely heartfelt films to date. The animation is stunning, the story is both unique and endearing, and the emotional tone of the film, and in particular the love shared between Wall-E and EVE, overshadows any weaknesses that the film has. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who loves Pixar animation at its best.
© 2023 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.
Director: Andrew Stanton
Cast: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Kathy Najimy, John Ratzenberger, Sigourney Weaver, Fred Willard,
In a post-apocalyptic future where Earth has long since been forsaken by humanity, a unique and powerful love story is sparked between a pair of robots named WALL-E (Ben Burtt) and EVE (Elissa Knight) when a chance encounter causes their paths to collide, and sends them on a journey to bring life back to Earth. During the seven hundred years he has spent alone on an abandoned Earth, WALL-E has developed a unique personality, and he enjoys listening to show tunes and collecting odd trinkets that he finds in the debris, but he is more than a little lonely; his only friend being his pet cockroach. Then, WALL-E meets EVE (Elissa Knight), a sleek and elegant probe sent back to Earth, on a scanning mission, to see if life has been restored to the once decimated planet, thus allowing the humans to return home. Utterly smitten by this beautiful, yet mysterious stranger, WALL-E embarks on his greatest adventure yet, when he follows EVE across the galaxy to bring humanity home.
Wall-e's emotional sentience DOES NOT come from a glitch or random malfunction, but from him evolving as a character through new discoveries that he records. We have seen other mechanical beings do this...both from Star Trek, ironically...with the Doctor on Voyager and Data from Next Gen. Each of them is initially a machine with a simple purpose, but over time, both exceeded their original purpose and become uniquely sentient beings. They have dreams, goals, emotions, and friendships. Wall-E is the same. When he learns things like holding hands and dancing, he yearns to experience these things for himself. I would even concede that Wall-E's devotion to Eve made HER uniquely sentient, as well. Eve’s sole purpose when she arrived on Earth was to find proof of life on Earth. When she first sees Wall-E, she initially sees him as a threat, but as she spends more time with Wall-E, she forms an extremely sweet attachment to him, even showing him love when she puts him back together and gets him instantly back to the sun, to recharge his heart. She wanted her Wall-E back (the sweet and devoted dreamer, with the most beautiful heart I have ever seen) and not the brainwashed, apathetic version of Wall-E that he became. That is why Eve held Wall-E's hand…she was hoping that this intimate act would reignite Wall-E's memory of her. Further proof of WALL-E'S emotional sentience comes when we see what WALL-E truly values. While he tosses the diamond ring aside, with barely a glance at it, we see that WALL-E values deeply his bond of friendship/love with the two other beings that he shares his time with: Eve and WALLE-S pet cockroach. When Eve shuts down after discovering the living plant on Earth, WALL-E remains by Eve's side, determined to protect her from all danger, but still wanting to spend time with her, and be by her side, his heartfelt devotion to her reflecting in his eyes. He follows her ship into space, just to make sure she is safe, and he helps Eve fulfill her mission, to bring the plant back to the captain. That is devotion in its most beautiful form, in my book. He also protects his little cockroach friend. WALL-E shows deep concern when the bug gets squished and when the spaceship lands near WALL-E'S home, he tells his cockroach friend to stay in a safe place, so he wouldn't be in danger.
There is an intimate and powerful theme in Wall-E that illustrates the touching of hands with Wall-E’s almost child-like understanding of human emotion. In the beginning, Wall-E sees a couple dancing on his television. As he watches the story play out, Wall-E imitates the couple’s affection for each other by entwining his own hands together. When EVE arrives on Earth, she is the first life form that Wall-E has encountered in seven hundred years. While at first Wall-E is terrified of this aggressive stranger, his fear is soon transformed into something else entirely; he loves her. When EVE goes off-line after Wall-E gives her a plant, the feelings that Wall-E expresses are heartfelt; he is genuinely worried about her and his growing affection for her compels him to watch over her and protect her.
When EVE restores Wall-E after he sacrifices himself to save the plant, the part of Wall-E that was able to convey emotion is extinguished. He is alive, but the essence of what made him so special is gone. Although EVE tries desperately to remind Wall-E of who he truly is, all her attempts at restoring his emotional essence fail until she touches Wall-E’s hand with her own. When their hands meet, instead of recoiling from her, Wall-E allows his hand to entwine with EVE’s. It is this tender expression of EVE’s love for Wall-E which allows his heart to be restored.
“Wall-E” is by far one of Pixar’s most beautiful and sincerely heartfelt films to date. The animation is stunning, the story is both unique and endearing, and the emotional tone of the film, and in particular the love shared between Wall-E and EVE, overshadows any weaknesses that the film has. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who loves Pixar animation at its best.
© 2023 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.