Wall·E: A Robot Even I Can Like
Posted by Shay

Disney/Pixar
2008
In 1986, Johnny 5 warmed our hearts with his “input”, jokes, and aliveness, but in 2008 Wall·E makes us all wish were as hopelessly romantic as he is. The story of a little robot with a big heart is another truly inspiring and creative work from the people at Disney/Pixar. Visually stunning and with a surprisingly limited amount of dialogue, Wall·E taps into the creative genius of entertaining audiences without the use of words.

I probably spent too much time looking over at my wife to make sure she wasn’t getting teary-eyed in the first few minutes of this film. The little robot Wall·E has a way of winning your heart over real quick and you’ll hear the “awwws” coming from the women in the theater. Me, on the other hand, well–I was a little harder to win over. My love for robots really does go back to the eighties when I first saw Short Circuit. I was a little kid then, but not much has changed in 20 years. I’m still a sucker for a character dressed in metal and Johnny 5 was my child hood hero. He had a personality that was hard to beat. He loved everyone and everything, unless of course you messed with his girlfriend Stephanie [played by Ally Sheedy] or tried to tell him he wasn’t really alive. Johnny had to learn, just like a child, what it means for something to die and what it takes to laugh. He had to convince his makers that he didn’t “just run program” but that he was just like you and me–very much alive.

With that as my background, I couldn’t help but see the similarities in Wall·E. He too was a robot that looks surprisingly similar too Johnny 5. Though he was once a machine used for picking up garbage, time has allowed him to learn about his own interests. Whether it be collecting old junk, building stuff, or watching old romantic movies, Wall·E has learned what he loves and what he wants–he becomes more alive than even he knows. The human element can not be taken for granted, though he looks like a robot, he’s very much a loving and caring little guy–and that’s why I couldn’t help but love this movie.

Wall·E is a charming and fun film. Each character will make laugh and smile, and surely you’ll want jump aboard the next flight out to space. You can tell much time and effort was put into the development of each characters movements and sounds and you’ll even be questioning your eyes whether that Zippo lighter flame is real or not. Humans did make in to the film however, but we’re not looking so hot. We’ve let technology get the best of us and now we’re basically lazy bums that never walk, never interact with each other, or basically don’t do anything that we were made to be–that is, relational beings. But don’t fret, Wall·E will help us. Along the lines of humans, my only criticism is simply that Disney is putting their name behind the “green” movement. This movie is definitely openly supporting the global effort to be more “green” and environmentally friendly, and I was surprised at how clear that came across. I guess I didn’t expect Disney to jump on that bandwagon just yet, but hey… we don’t care, we just love our new robot friend.

All in all, Wall·E is a keeper. The kids will love the sounds he makes, the way he “flys”, all his cute friends–especially the little cleaning guy whose name I’m still not sure of. The parents will love his romantic side and his taste for old film. Me? Well, I loved his on board laser (which Johnny 5 had), his “zoomy” eyes (which Johnny had), and of course I can’t help but dig his little apartment complete with a classic VHS tape player–which amazingly, Johnny 5 just doesn’t have.