WALL-E

So Jordan and I saw "WALL-E" on Saturday with my brothers, and we give it two thumbs way up! This is my favorite Pixar movie in quite a while. I actually didn't like "Cars" all that much, and at first I thought WALL-E would be the same way--the absence of cute and fuzzy creatures and too much machinery. But it turned out totally different. It was like 2001, Star Wars, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton combined. The animation is amazing, but with Pixar, it's the story that's the star and the focus. WALL-E is the story of a robot who was designed to clean up the trash which has overrun Earth, and he just keeps on doing his job even though all the humans have moved to outer space. WALL-E and his friend (he wishes girlfriend) EVE are very human-like sometimes, especially WALL-E. The sounds he makes are robotic but have emotion. For example, when he accidentally treads on his cockroach friend (which Pixar makes very cute), the "gasp" he makes sounds very human (of course the cockroach was ok--it's a cockroach). He has a cute personality too. Every night he removes the treads on his wheels and hangs them up in his house, then plays with the human trinkets he collects, like a spork (he can't decide whether to put it in the fork or spoon pile) before turning off for the night. I loved the music in the movie too. One of my favorite things about the movie was how WALL-E is obsessed with the movie "Hello, Dolly!". He only watches two songs, but they come up all through the movie, thanks to WALL-E's built-in tape recording device. (I really like this musical, but I think it was kind of an obscure reference for those unfamiliar with it, especially since Dolly herself never appears, and the title is briefly shown only once, as WALL-E inserts the VHS tape. So I think it was a daring thing for Pixar to do, but all of the things Pixar dares to do are usually wildly successful, as was this.) From watching his video, WALL-E learns the concept of holding hands, and for the rest of the movie is trying to get EVE to hold his "hand". Eventually, WALL-E and EVE find themselves on a space cruiser with a bunch of fat humans floating around on chairs and staring at screens perpetually hanging in front of their faces. They have a mission to complete, with the help and hindrance of other endearing robots and humans, but I won't elaborate in case you haven't seen the movie. I liked all the parts and all the characters in the film. I loved that for the first 40 minutes or so, there is no dialogue. And as you've probably gathered from commercials and trailers, yes, there are messages in the film, but we did not think they were too heavy-handed (nothing like "Happy Feet", which I actually didn't like). So four stars for WALL-E! I thought it was adorable, and just as fun for the adults and older kids to watch as for the younger ones. Some parts were so cute and sweet that they even made my eyes water up, although that may be due in part to my current hormone-crazy state.