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Wall-E
Year: 2008
Director: Andrew Stanton
Wall-E is pretty easily my favorite Pixar movie. Ratatouille comes close I guess, but not close enough for it to be hard for me to choose. There's something about Wall-E that just elevates beyond everything else Pixar has done. It's a masterpiece, truly a masterpiece. I don't even know how to get started talking about it because they're just so much!
Let's just start with the opening scene, because that is one good opening scene. Every time I hear "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" now I get chills, because it's used so effectively in Wall-E. We get first beautiful images of outer space. There is a camera pan down to a terrible looking Earth, and then it zooms in to show a post-apocalyptic nightmare. I've never played Fallout, but apparently this part of Wall-E reminds a lot of people of the game because of the soundtrack. It is certainly very well done. And then we realize it's really Wall-E playing Hello, Dolly, which he happens to own a copy of. So, anyways, it basically becomes a slice of life film for fifteen or so minutes.
These first thirty minutes are seriously so good. Best part of the movie by far. They follow Wall-E in his daily routine. We learn who he is - a robot who has been cleaning up trash after humans for almost a millennium. His life is boring and tedious, but he makes it interesting. He's basically a hoarder, a robot with no physical heart but with so much personality. There's a moment when, listening to Hello Dolly, he looks up at the stars as the clouds part. I get literal chills watching this part. It connects to me so well. For a moment, I am Wall-E, waiting for something to happen on this lonely world.
And then Eve comes. Meaning something happens. Now I don't think anyone likes anyone likes Eve nearly as much as Wall-E, but Eve (or shall we call her Ev-A) is a great character. She also has a mind of her own, and a strong personality. She's clearly aggressive and cautious, but we learn later that she also has a heart and the ability to love. Wall-E basically falls in love with her right from the get-go. We get a hilarious montage of poor Wall-E trying to watch and impress her. And then he finally is able to get them in his little "home" together at night (
), and the rest is history.
Well, not really. Then Eve finds the plant (her mission), and they go back to where all the humans are. The rest is a wildly adventurous and hilarious ride that's not quite as great as the opening, but that's okay. Auto is a great villain (very reminiscent of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey), as well. Which reminds me - Wall-E takes clear inspiration from two major texts - Kubrick's 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Holy Bible.
Let's start with 2001. Obviously the first similarity is that both these movies are sci-fi movies set in the future (although Wall-E is set considerably more forward in time). Both, interestingly, make use of the same music. Yes, if you listen closely, you can hear part of Strauss's The Blue Danube and the other Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra. These are used much more obviously in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I wonder if Pixar wanted to do a sly reference. As I already mentioned, Auto is a clear imitator of HAL, who seeks to control Bowman's mission to Jupiter in 2001: A Space Odyssey. So, yeah, this movie has a lot of similar themes and ideas.
And then the Bible. Yes, the director even confirmed this was inspired by the Bible. Let's start with Wall-E himself, who is a clear version of a Christ Figure. Wall-E is a touchingly loving, curious, and kind character who likes to help everyone. *cough* Jesus. That's not all. He enters the world of humans, then attempts to save literally all humanity, but Auto (The Devil/Evil/villains in the Bible) crushes (crucifies) him. Even though nearly dead, he holds on to the plant and saves humanity. Of course, he can't actually die
, so he's revived by Eve, much to everyone's relief. That is a clear allegory to Christ's journey on Earth. There are other biblical references (such as the names of the human characters, John and Mary). Plus, well, Eve... that's a biblical name whether you want to admit or not.
I hear a lot of people say that Wall-E is important because it's about saving the environment and protecting the Earth. Yes, that's important, but it's not why I love this movie. I like Wall-E because it has great characters, a touching story, and a beautiful ending. The themes for me more have to do with love and sacrifice than the world and the environment. At its core, it's a robot love story. Which... Well, I love that.
Wall-E
Year: 2008
Director: Andrew Stanton
Wall-E is pretty easily my favorite Pixar movie. Ratatouille comes close I guess, but not close enough for it to be hard for me to choose. There's something about Wall-E that just elevates beyond everything else Pixar has done. It's a masterpiece, truly a masterpiece. I don't even know how to get started talking about it because they're just so much!
Let's just start with the opening scene, because that is one good opening scene. Every time I hear "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" now I get chills, because it's used so effectively in Wall-E. We get first beautiful images of outer space. There is a camera pan down to a terrible looking Earth, and then it zooms in to show a post-apocalyptic nightmare. I've never played Fallout, but apparently this part of Wall-E reminds a lot of people of the game because of the soundtrack. It is certainly very well done. And then we realize it's really Wall-E playing Hello, Dolly, which he happens to own a copy of. So, anyways, it basically becomes a slice of life film for fifteen or so minutes.
These first thirty minutes are seriously so good. Best part of the movie by far. They follow Wall-E in his daily routine. We learn who he is - a robot who has been cleaning up trash after humans for almost a millennium. His life is boring and tedious, but he makes it interesting. He's basically a hoarder, a robot with no physical heart but with so much personality. There's a moment when, listening to Hello Dolly, he looks up at the stars as the clouds part. I get literal chills watching this part. It connects to me so well. For a moment, I am Wall-E, waiting for something to happen on this lonely world.
And then Eve comes. Meaning something happens. Now I don't think anyone likes anyone likes Eve nearly as much as Wall-E, but Eve (or shall we call her Ev-A) is a great character. She also has a mind of her own, and a strong personality. She's clearly aggressive and cautious, but we learn later that she also has a heart and the ability to love. Wall-E basically falls in love with her right from the get-go. We get a hilarious montage of poor Wall-E trying to watch and impress her. And then he finally is able to get them in his little "home" together at night (
), and the rest is history. Well, not really. Then Eve finds the plant (her mission), and they go back to where all the humans are. The rest is a wildly adventurous and hilarious ride that's not quite as great as the opening, but that's okay. Auto is a great villain (very reminiscent of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey), as well. Which reminds me - Wall-E takes clear inspiration from two major texts - Kubrick's 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Holy Bible.
Let's start with 2001. Obviously the first similarity is that both these movies are sci-fi movies set in the future (although Wall-E is set considerably more forward in time). Both, interestingly, make use of the same music. Yes, if you listen closely, you can hear part of Strauss's The Blue Danube and the other Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra. These are used much more obviously in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I wonder if Pixar wanted to do a sly reference. As I already mentioned, Auto is a clear imitator of HAL, who seeks to control Bowman's mission to Jupiter in 2001: A Space Odyssey. So, yeah, this movie has a lot of similar themes and ideas.
And then the Bible. Yes, the director even confirmed this was inspired by the Bible. Let's start with Wall-E himself, who is a clear version of a Christ Figure. Wall-E is a touchingly loving, curious, and kind character who likes to help everyone. *cough* Jesus. That's not all. He enters the world of humans, then attempts to save literally all humanity, but Auto (The Devil/Evil/villains in the Bible) crushes (crucifies) him. Even though nearly dead, he holds on to the plant and saves humanity. Of course, he can't actually die
, so he's revived by Eve, much to everyone's relief. That is a clear allegory to Christ's journey on Earth. There are other biblical references (such as the names of the human characters, John and Mary). Plus, well, Eve... that's a biblical name whether you want to admit or not.I hear a lot of people say that Wall-E is important because it's about saving the environment and protecting the Earth. Yes, that's important, but it's not why I love this movie. I like Wall-E because it has great characters, a touching story, and a beautiful ending. The themes for me more have to do with love and sacrifice than the world and the environment. At its core, it's a robot love story. Which... Well, I love that.