Ragamuffin Ramblings

Robots in love… Sounds like the premise of a cheesy B movie from the fifties. But Disney / Pixar’s newest film “WALL-E” is one of the most delightful and heartwarming films of the summer. Once again Pixar Animation Studios has churned out a quality family film in the ranks of “Toy Story,” “Monsters, Inc.,” and “Cars.” Who ever thought that a love story between two robots could be so touching on such a human level? From the opening titles to the closing credits, all eyes are on the lonely trash compacter named WALL-E as he searches for meaning in his existence.

The movie opens by introducing our mechanical protagonist as he goes about the work of cleaning a desolate and deserted planet Earth. The last surviving Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class (WALL-E) unit, WALL-E lives alone with his pet cockroach. Over time, he develops a curious personality, sifting through rubble to find interesting knick-knacks. Among them is a videotape of the film “Hello, Dolly!” that introduces WALL-E to the concept of love and its expressions. Thus, when a female robot named EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) visits the planet, WALL-E is immediately star struck. What follows is a tale of excitement and wonder as WALL-E pursues EVE across the galaxy to gain her love.

What is most impressive about the film is the way that emotions are conveyed so plainly with so little dialogue. This story is simple, yet compelling and doesn’t need more dialogue to develop the characters. Sound engineer Ben Burtt (“Star Wars”) electronically constructed almost all of the robot chatter in the film. Aside from an assortment of beeps and blurps, a few human characters speak as well. Burtt’s work combined with the animation from Pixar creates a film that is worth seeing again and again.

Once again, the people at Pixar have displayed their seemingly endless creativity in “WALL-E.” They continue to confound expectations by continuing to make quality family films one after another. “WALL-E” is a heartwarming feature that surprises and awes. It is full of laughter, romance, and hope. This visually stunning tale transports you into the imagination where true love is cherished above all else… whether you’re a human or a robot.