WALL-E

WALL∙E – 2008

There seems to be little possible direction to take when creating an animated film. Of course the setting can be changed along the situations and characters, but I am hinting more towards the target audience. Firstly, there is the option to skew the demographic strongly towards the fledgling crowd with films like Curious George and The Wild. Close behind are those films targeted at a younger, but not greatly adolescent audience, which are embodied in films like Madagascar and Horton Hears a Who! The detrimental aspect of films like these, are that they are for the most part strictly kid-fare, and may put off the unwilling parents, especially after DVD combusts after overuse. Next there is the more risky segment of animated films, in which the creators strive to link the generational gorge and give pleasure on a surplus level. Films like Shrek, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo have been successful at this, but a greater number like Happy Feat, Igor, Barnyard, Monster House and Open Season have been less so. Finally, there lies the risk at the other end of the spectrum, in creating films that may be too mature for less seasoned patrons to understand or keep interested in, such as Ratatouille and The Iron Giant.

Then along comes a film like WALL∙E. A film that is so breathtaking and above any level of animation ever before conceived, that will likely thrill older audience members as much as any other movie they view this year, so insightful and profound and complex in it’s entirety and absorbing in its tenderness and emotional resonance that everything is whole again. And the best part, your child who may have been bewildered by the mature themes at play, will grow to love, if at least not appreciate, WALL∙E more with each passing year.

It would be a lie to claim that WALL∙E is my favourite animated film, or even my favourite conceived through the use of computers, but that is in no way a degrading comment as it is the best animated film in almost five years and still one of the best of all time. If there was ever a year at the Academy Awards to repeat the best picture nomination of The Beauty and the Beast, this would certainly be the one. The cumulative wonder of this feature lies throughout multiple veins of its construction. Setting new lofty standards for animated features to come, the quality of the design achieves a detail and vividness that will astound and consume anyone who gazes upon it. The effects of the terrain, to the details of the robot stars is so impeccable, one is hard pressed to clearly decipher it as animation and not as reality. Yet this is only the icing on the cake, with the foundation spawned from the genius of the story telling itself, without which would demote WALL∙E to eye candy and nothing more. The opening forty-or-so munities is sans dialogue and the ability to keep the level of intrigue at such an engrossing level is a true testament to all those involved, especially veteran Pixar director Andrew Stanton.

Meet WALL∙E. Or for those who dislike acronyms, a solitary Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth Class, who spends his days compacting, and neatly stacking towering peaks of garbage on the now barren wasteland that was once Earth. Driven to spend their remaining days on a series of space shuttles due to the waste spawned by overconsumption and the greed of a conglomerate, aptly named Buy N Large, mankind has all but forgotten Earth. Not the same can be said for WALL∙E, who was inexplicably skipped after a widespread deactivation of his robot compadres, who, aside from his monotonous task, a loving fascination with the forgotten treasures (or garbage to us) of Earth past, has no greater purpose in life. That is until EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator); a deadly ivory robot sent to search for any signs of life on Earth arrives, and immediately steals the admiration of the little droid. The latter portions of WALL∙E are in the truest sense, a love story, and are comprised of our hero searching for his love after EVE returns to her extraterrestrial home. All acts of this film mesh flawlessly and build upon each other into a sometimes tragic, yet ultimately heart-warming sci-fi fable.

While not in the typical sense, WALL∙E is the perfect family film, with its endearing characters and monumental art direction, it may not win over all ages simultaneously but will capture the hearts and imagination of those who let it.