1. The story is nothing new - boy meets girl and it's love at first sight. Granted this time around they're robots, but you get the picture. It's this simplicity that makes the film universal, and an excellent choice for kids, too. (Also there is a cute cockroach. Yes, I'm serious.)
2. By creating a world beyond our experience, the creators draw us in completely, so that you want to move around and explore with the characters. It's like an animated Life After People.
3. The dialogue is sparse in WALL·E, so we really get to focus on the story and the emotions. In fact, you become so engrossed that you immediately forget the fact that robots expressing emotions isn't really logical.
4. Beneath the enchantment of the story, there's a clear pro-green message going on. But it's subtle enough that you don't feel like you're being preached to at all. Again, a gentle message that will go over well with the little ones.
Get ready to hand this one the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, because it's practically a lock already!
The bigger question - how would I rank it amongst the other Pixar films? Tough call. I'd definitely put it near the top. Maybe somewhere around 3rd, after Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.
Oh, and as always you get the bonus of an animated short by Pixar at the beginning. This time around it's the very clever slapstick of a magician and his rabbit in Presto. I'd say an Oscar nod is a sure thing!
8 comments:
Love all around.
Well done Pixar. And the short was hilarious.
But where would you rank Ratatouille?
Ratatouille gets high marks, but I had minor quibbles with it. I'd probably rank it somewhere around 5th, after Monsters, Inc.
I'm hearing so many good things about this movie. I hadn't really been wowed by the trailers, but all this strong word of mouth is making me think I should see it soon.
Here's a link for the short:
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/07/04/presto-pixar/
I think a huge advantage at Pixar is that they are an in-house studio that has fairly low turnover, so these while most studios contract out a film to an assembled crew, the Pixar team have been working together for years, growing together and finding ways to challenge each other and the company as a whole. WALL-E may be the best animated firm ever, but it got there by standing on the shoulders of the other Pixar giants that preceded it.
Ooo - very good analysis, Greg.
Tonight I just watched Hello, Dolly - and yes, the one scene made me bawl like a baby. Thanks, Pixar!
I just got "Presto" off of iTunes - it is hilarious!!! That little rabbit might just be the cutest bunny ever. All he wants is his carrot!
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