WALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL·E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton.
The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future. He eventually falls in love with another robot named EVE, which he pronounces Eva, and follows her into outer space on an adventure that changes the destiny of both his kind and humanity.
After directing Finding Nemo, Stanton felt Pixar had created believable simulations of underwater physics and was willing to direct a film largely set in space. Most of the characters do not have actual human voices, but instead communicate with body language and robotic sounds, designed by Ben Burtt, that resemble voices. In addition, it is the first animated feature by Pixar to have segments featuring live-action characters. Walt Disney Pictures released it in the United States and Canada on June 27, 2008. The film grossed $23.2 million on its opening day, and $63.1 million during its opening weekend in 3,992 theaters, ranking #1 at the box office. This ranks as the fifth highest-grossing opening weekend for a Pixar film. Following Pixar tradition, WALL-E was paired with a short film, Presto, for its theatrical release.
Plot[]
In the 29th century, Earth is a garbage-strewn wasteland due to an ecocide, caused by rampant consumerism, corporate greed, and environmental neglect.
Humanity is nowhere to be seen, having been evacuated by the megacorporation Buy n Large (BnL) to space on giant starliners, leaving trash compacting robots to clean up the planet, seven hundred years prior. All the robots on earth have since stopped functioning and the last remaining active robot, a Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth-class (WALL·E), has developed a personality. WALL·E remains active by salvaging parts from other inactive robots and lives with his pet cockroach as his only companion in a large robot carrier truck.
One day, WALL·E's routine of compressing trash and collecting interesting objects is broken by the arrival of an unmanned rocket probe carrying an egg-shaped robot called an Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator (EVE), which is sent to scan the planet for signs of sustainable life. WALL·E is smitten by the sleek, otherworldly robot, and the two begin to connect, until EVE goes into standby mode when WALL·E shows her his most recent find: a living seedling. The probe ship eventually returns and collects EVE and the plant, with WALL·E clinging on in fear of losing her. The probe ship then returns to its mothership, the starliner Axiom.
In the centuries since the Axiom left Earth, its passengers have degenerated into helpless obesity due to microgravity and laziness, with robots catering to their every whim. Even Captain B. McCrea is used to sitting back while his robotic AI autopilot helm, nicknamed AUTO, pilots the ship. McCrea is unprepared to receive the positive probe response, but discovers that placing the plant in the ship's Holo-Detector will trigger a hyperjump back to Earth so that humanity can begin recolonization. When McCrea inspects EVE's storage compartment, the plant is missing, with EVE blaming WALL·E for its disappearance.
EVE is deemed faulty and taken to diagnostics. Mistaking the process for torture, WALL·E intervenes and inadvertently releases all the other faulty bots, causing him and EVE to be designated as rogue robots. Frustrated, EVE tries to send WALL·E home in an escape pod, but before she can, the two witness McCrea's first mate robot, GO-4, stowing the plant in a pod set to self-destruct, revealing that WALL·E did not steal the plant. WALL·E enters the pod to retrieve the plant just as it launches, but both he and the plant survive unscathed. EVE catches up to him and they reconcile, celebrating with a dance in space around the Axiom.
EVE brings the plant back to McCrea, who watches her recordings of Earth, concluding that they can and must save it. However, AUTO reveals that he has been ordered to not return to Earth by a secret no-return directive A113, issued by BnL CEO Shelby Forthright, also revealing that GO-4 attempted to dispose of the plant on AUTO's instruction. When McCrea goes against the directive, AUTO and GO-4 electrocute WALL·E, forcefully puts EVE into standby, throws them both down a garbage chute and confines McCrea to his quarters. EVE (having been reactivated by a mouse-like robot) and WALL·E are nearly ejected into space with the ship's refuse, but Microbe Obliterator (M-O), a cleaning robot who had been following WALL·E's dirt trail across the ship since his arrival, inadvertently jams the door and saves the two, prompting the Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Axiom-class (WALL·A) garbage bots to abort the ejection. As humans and robots help in securing the plant, McCrea and AUTO fight for control of the Axiom. AUTO crushes WALL·E using the Holo-Detector in a last-ditch attempt to keep the human passengers in space; McCrea eventually overpowers and deactivates AUTO by switching him to manual mode, and EVE successfully inserts the plant, initiating the hyperjump.
Arriving back on Earth, EVE quickly repairs WALL·E, but finds that his memory and personality have been erased. Heartbroken, EVE gives WALL·E a goodbye "kiss", which releases a static electricity shock, restoring him to his normal self. WALL-E and EVE reunite as the Axiom inhabitants take their first steps on Earth. Humans and robots turn the ravaged planet into a paradise, and the plant grows into a mighty tree, which WALL·E and EVE rest beneath.
Critical Reception[]
WALL-E has been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews among critics, scoring an approval rating of 96% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It grossed $521.3 million worldwide, won the 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature as well as being nominated for five other Academy Awards at the 81st Academy Awards. WALL-E ranks first in TIME's "Best Movies of the Decade".
Pixar Films[]
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The Adventures of André and Wally B. (1984) · Luxo Jr. (1986) · Red's Dream (1987 · Tin Toy (1988) · Knick Knack (1989) · Geri's Game (1997) · For the Birds (2001) · Mike's New Car (2002) · Boundin' (2003) · Jack-Jack Attack (2005) · Mr. Incredible and Pals (2005) · One Man Band (2005) · Mater and the Ghostlight (2006) · Lifted (2006) · Your Friend the Rat (2007) · Presto (2008) · BURN-E (2008) · Partly Cloudy (2009) · Dug's Special Mission (2009) · George and A.J. (2009) · Day & Night (2011) · La Luna (2011) · Hawaiian Vacation (2011) · Small Fry (2011) · Partysaurus Rex (2012) · The Legend of Mor'du (2012) · The Blue Umbrella (2013) · Party Central (2013) · Lava (2014) · Sanjay's Super Team (2015) · Riley's First Date? (2015) · Piper (2016) · Lou (2017) · Bao (2018)
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| Preceded by Ratatouille |
Pixar Films 2008 |
Succeeded by Up |