Wall-E. Pixar took us to ground level & beyond with A Bug’s Life. They took us to the depths of the ocean with Finding Nemo. And now we venture into space with one of the most loveable characters ever created. Pixar makes us fall in love as Wall-E falls in love. The first half of the film is in garbage filled Earth that humans have left behind. There’s no dialogue. It’s very reminiscent of old silent films, particularly Charlie Chaplin films. This is very bold considering the attention span children are notorious for. Wall-E is madly in love with the super sleek EVE and constantly tries to woo her to no avail. The saying goes “love hurts” and Wall-E learns this as he put through so much in the end. He is pulverized within an inch of his life.
Wall-E symbolizes to me a lost innocence. He doesn’t think in complexities. He is just a curious little robot who longs for love. He does his best to try to make things better but often ends up making things worse. But bless his heart,he has the best intentions. The end was one of the more heartbreaking scenes I’ve seen in a youth targeted animated film. Wall-E is crushed & nearly destroyed and in an attempt to save him, EVE replaces his broken circuits with spares Wall-E kept in his home. We are led to believe that he is fixed but suddenly it is revealed that he has been totally reset,quirky personality and all. EVE tries to get him to remember but after no success, she gives up. She gives him a goodbye “kiss” and Wall-E regains his memory. I saw this as interesting reversal of the “Prince Charming’s kiss” tale. And by that point, I had tears of joy.
I left the theater amazed at that they made me believe that a little junk robot could fall in love. But Pixar’s emotional punches would hit a whole new level in their next film.
