Pajiba

what an great summer.
when was the last time we had this many watchable movies so close togeather?

Never have I been so giddily excited about a cartoon/animated feature (other than the South Park movie...for entirely different, more selfish reasons).

Great review.

Wonderful review, Daniel. I'm certainly going to have a full weekend trying to fit this and Wanted into my schedule/budget. If anyone knows an usher that's willing to hold an exit door open for a poor SoCal Pajiban, lemme know.

I mean honestly - will Pixar ever royally fuck things up? Cars came closest, but even that film was just fine. The question with every subsequent Pixar film has shifted from "How good is it?" to "How much better than the other Pixar films is it?"

ahh, now i'm all squishy inside

robots that can love!!!!!

I don't know if I can take this.

Two positive movie reviews in one day on Pajiba. I'm not hating. I'm just a little concerned. All week long with the 70's movie love and now two new movies coming out this weekend are apparently good?

People, please find something bad to review and do it soon. If this positivity trend continues I might get all soft and gooey inside and actually start being nice to people.

We can't have that. The balance of the universe and the space time continuum demands that the Godtopus be fed the bones and bloody flesh of badly made films. So, make it happen. Mmmkay?

Man, I am so jazzed to see this flick. Nice review.

Christ, between the Where the Hell is Matt video,
"Boom Ya Da" and this review, I am not going to get through the day w/o tearing up!

Sniff...sniff...I'm just so happy...I want to go hug my trash compactor.

I've been very intrigued by this movie since its promotion began. I think I fell in love with the lil' robot the first time I saw him. However, I'm a little apprehensive...is WALL*E too adorable? Am I in danger of lapsing into a coma from exposure to teh cyoot? Should I take insulin with me to the theater just in case?

Nice review! I just saw this today with my 3 y.o. and we both had a blast. The fact that there is no real human presence in the film and very little real dialogue to speak of truly stands out. I rarely see movies anymore due to being with a pre-schooler constantly and this had me laughing out loud more than a few times. Also, the short that precedes the film, entitled "Presto" is just incredible. So so funny.
Though my little boy still probably prefers Nemo and Cars I can definitely see this on our DVD list in the future.

Lovely review. Can't wait to see it.

I saw all the kids lining up for this in my small town today and was very tempted to forget my jobs and dash in and see it too. I didnt as it probably isn't very heartwarming to get evicted.

Fuck this review.

I want to read it, yet I don't want to know shit about this movie before seeing it (in about an hour or so). I'M PUMPED. This is going to be a joy to watch. God, I hope the audience I'm with doesn't suck cock. I may even splurge on some popcorn (God forbid, apologies to my arteries).

This movie was on my "To See" list before the review; now it's underlined in red, with an exclamation point.

"I mean honestly - will Pixar ever royally fuck things up? Cars came closest, but even that film was just fine. The question with every subsequent Pixar film has shifted from "How good is it?" to "How much better than the other Pixar films is it?""

Cars is the absolute bottom of the Pixar barrel, except that barrel has wings and is soaring above the clouds in the radiant sunshine while all the other animated crap below on the ground can only stare wistfully at the sky, humming "I Believe I Can Fly." (Sure, you can, guys. Sure you can).

This movie was, in a word, transportive. It made me tear up no less than four times, which is four times more than I expected a movie about an adorable robot to.
Wonderful review.

I work in a children's section, in a library across the steet from a huge multiplex. Normally I dread the release of a new movie and the hordes of urchins who tread over here and demand anything related to whatever piece of junk* they just saw. (We don't have the budget to buy poorly produced marketing spin off "books" that are released with every single kids flick, that and we can't lower our standards that much.) But I can't wait for this movie. And I'll actually mean it when I apologize for not having the book forms of WALL*E. (Unlike when I bite my tongue and pinch myself to keep from laughing at the kids who want Hannah Montana books.) Even in the previews I was amazed at how much I could be so enamored with the little robot.

*I'm a children's librarian, I try not to swear. Thus sometimes I come off as a prudish goody too shoes. I am one of those, but I'm also terrified that if I swear at all, someday it's going to accidentally come out in front of a group of 3 year-olds.

I am so excited for this movie; can't wait to take the kids. Given that there are at least a half-dozen animated films each year recently, it's astounding how much ALL THE NON-PIXAR FILMS SUCK. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it amazes me that the other studios (especially Disney itself in the past 15 years) completely failed to see that what makes Pixar great is the storytelling. The animation is miles ahead of everyone else, too, but if there were this level of animation in, say, "Happy Feet," it still would suck. Pixar makes classics because they focus on character and story first. I can't wait to see what comes out of Disney once we start seeing the fruits of the Pixar transplant on their animation division....

I'm also terrified that if I swear at all, someday it's going to accidentally come out in front of a group of 3 year-olds.

Just grunt, splutter or say things in a different language.

My library has both the Disney mini-novels (and they publish a shit-ton of them) and a bunch of Wall*E books. I started reading the big storybook (which has that sorta Golden illustration style) the other week then stopped myself since it was gonna tell me the whole story.

This also came in this week:
http://www.comicbookshelf.com/?rm=detail&id=11695

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Hopefully this will erase the "wtf?" I've been sporting ever since Kung Fu Panda. I think that I'm going to plan out catching Wanted, this and possibly Incredible Hulk if I can sneak around the ushers. Problem with a small town theatre with twelve screens and about five ushers is that, well, there's nowhere to hide.

My BabyDaddy and I took our 7 year old to see this today and it was simply wonderful. Despite economic concerns and lifestyle changes, this movie made us glad to consume less, be present for one another more, and enjoy our lives fully. Not too bad for a cartoon.

And the opening short KILLS!

So we spent the week going over classic movies, then finished it off with glowing reviews of both Wanted and WALL-E? What a wonderful week this has been.

Jaci, I tried to do the same thing today with Wall-E and Wanted. I new I was going to see Wall-E first (wanted to actually spend my hard earned dollar on that). But the god-damn ushers were right in front of the door (which was right across from the Wanted theater). Ah, to be poor.

I teared up several times throughout this movie it was that moving. There was only one thing that I didn't like about this entire film, and a very small irk at that. I want to see if anyone else picks it up during the weekend.

*knew, not new

Walllllllllll-eeeeeeeeeee!! I can't wait to see this. Hooray for tiny, adorable robots. I can only wonder at myself and ask where the bitter, disenchanted girl of my youth has gone...

When I took my Laneybon (4 yrs old) to see Ratatouille, she was utterly rapt and delighted by the short at the beginning of it (way more so than the movie... which I think I liked more than she did). Do you guys remember that short? Same sort of idea: two aliens, no dialog, and no missing the dialog. Also, it was hilarious. Laneybon LOVED King Fu Panda (which I admit I liked a lot too), but I think this one is going to rock both our worlds. Sounds like we got a Sunday plan!

Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

So far Pixar is 8 for 8. I even like Cars (the redheaded stepchild of Pixar, so it seems). I love that this movie breaks with so many accepted animated movies' standards: no celebrity voices, no sappy hit single, no smart-ass sidekick.

I hope they keep it doing it for a long time.

*sigh*

I would see it, but then I remember Disney bought Pixar a few years ago, and Disney is an evil corporation brainwashing us all into become soulless consumers, so I can never with good conscience spend money to see a Disney or Pixar movie.

Ah, to be blissfully ignorant again, if only for the duration of WALL-E.

Daniel,
You had me at "just damn good." Just wanted you to know that, before I finish reading.

xx00

My 19 year old brother and I are both super excited for this. We're both adults with no attached children. Although I might take my 12 year old sister just so I don't look too weird.

Seriously though, I am VERY excited about this movie. I've heard nothing but good things.

I would see it, but then I remember Disney bought Pixar a few years ago, and Disney is an evil corporation brainwashing us all into become soulless consumers, so I can never with good conscience spend money to see a Disney or Pixar movie.

cookie, there may be hope - Pixar's people are in control of Disney's animation division now, I believe, and they may be making it less actively evil. A year ago they abruptly shut down Disney's money-spinning Direct-to-Video sequels (Cinderella 3: What if the Slipper Didn't Fit?, et al) because crap like that dilutes the brand. They also nixed the Tinkerbell movie, which HAD TO suck. So maybe you can see Wall-E in good conscience after all.

Spoke to soon - seems the Tinkerbell movie was deemed unwatchable and started again almost from scratch - but it will be foisted upon us eventually because Disney had sunk too much in to it to back out (they are desperately trying to market a line of "Fairies" stuff to little girls as soon as they outgrow the Princesses).

So, ummm... I still think you should see Wall-E, cookie

CAN'T. FUCKING. WAIT.

i had to see "wanted" this afternoon due to my father-in-law's contempt of animated films (although i was pleasantly surprised and entertained by "wanted"...still, i wanted to see "wall-e"), but i will see this film as soon as fucking humanly possible.

Saw it today. Quite possibly the best pixar film to date. Extremely well made.

i hope everyone goes to see WALL-E. i don't think i've ever instantly fallen in love with a movie like this. precious.

Saw this with my wife and daughter today. We laughed and cried at the appropriate points but never felt that the film was manipulating us, which is high praise. Still, this review needs to give some love to Presto, the short before the film -- Lassiter has been trying to channel Chuck Jones for years and watching Presto made shake my head and think I was watching a lost Bugs Bunny cartoon. The whole experience was great.

Has anyone else noticed how much WALL-e looks like E.T.?

Saw this last night at the drive-in. It warmed my shriveled little heart and I was very close to tears about two or three times. Monkey McGee loved it and as soon as the credits rolled she said, "Mommy! Let's do it again!" It is a beautiful movie and I look forward to watching it again and explaining the underlying message to Monkey.
And Presto got huge laughs. I threatened death to all if we missed that short. Luckily, no one was harmed.

Pixar has made some neat movies in the past, I'm going to enjoy the lovable WAll-E.

Betty, of course robots can love, I believe vibrators come with multiple settings.

The movie is fantastic, and I second QED with the Presto short, amazing. If there is/was a "kids" movie that can hold up a mirror to society and say this is your future, this is it. When I saw how the movie portrayed humans, I turned to my 9 yr old and asked, do you still want to play video games all day?

This movie also has what I believe to be a political slant to it and could be used by environmentalists to provide a Gore-like preview of things to come for the Big Blue Marble.
I would see it again and just may do that, but I owe my kids that damn Panda movie yet, ugh.

The review was great, but I ask what was wrong with Cars, just curious.

When I first heard that my friend picked this movie to go see, all I could do was roll my eyes, since I hadn't done any research on the movie whatsoever and thought it was going to be terrible. Man, was I wrong. I absolutely adored the film! I loved that the speaking roles were few and far between, all the characters were lovable, and it was just an amazing story.

I thought, too, that this movie was a commentary on obesity and cutting one's self off from the world via electronics, but I still held some doubt. If you stay in space for far too long, you experience loss of bone density and swelling due to the strange atmospheric change, which makes you violently nauseous to the point of fainting if and when you finally return to Earth's atmosphere. (Hence why astronauts indulge in hour upon hour of exercise.) However, considering the Axiom looked pressurized to resume a normal, Earth-like atmosphere, my theory takes a back seat to the remainder of Earth's population ("700 years into our 5 year trip!") just succumbing to being lazy and fat.

Also, random cameo by Fred Willard. I loved it.

I cannot recommend not just the movie, but the cartoon short, "Presto" before it.

Go See This Movie If Only For The Short. I'm not kidding.

Take one part Chuck Jones in his prime, add one measure Tex Avery at his physics defying craziest, and last top with Pixar love. If you think "Jack Jack Attack" on the Incredibiles DVD was the funniest damn short they've done, this one goes up to 11.

Go See "Presto"!
Go See "Presto"!
Go See "Presto"!

(I didn't want to dirty my recommendation of "Presto" with the following)

My wife and I took the tots to Pixar's Wall-E yesterday. The good news is that Pixar has made a nuanced, beautiful film that keeps to it's traditions of heart and storytelling. The bad news is that Pixar has made a great film that's . . well . . contributing to one of the very things it picks at - meaningless overconsumption.

Since Pixar is a Disney company, one can't be surprised at the marketing and toys. But were the cheap disposable latex wristband watches, laminated cards advertising other Disney films, and the stickers being handed out to the kids yesterday really necessary? Or are the marketing flacks just dumber than bag full of hammers, rather than more opportunistically evil than lawyers and politicians? Did they just think that because they have another property to promote, you simply make free shit that ends up in a landfill, and that's all folks?

One would think that the marketing flacks would have been at least briefed on the film and its story!

I'm feeling a lot of love toward this movie. I saw it last night and visually it is impressive. But I have to say I was up last night (as is my way) struggling with the sense that something is amiss. Alas, there are too many holes in the story for me to say this is a masterpiece. Just my opinion. I'd go so far as to say this may be the weakest of Pixar's stories.

Saw this earlier in a theater with hundreds of 4-year olds. You could hear a pin drop between the appropriate giggles (except for my girlfriend shrieking whenever WALL-E seemed in peril.) The film did what every other Pixar film has done since I saw Toy Story in theaters when I was eight. It made me laugh, brought me close to tears, and it made me tingle on the inside and beam on the outside.

And as for "Presto," if they had shown that and "Landed" together, I may have suffocated like I was on Joker Gas. The shorts never fail to impress. Makes me want to find "Gerald's Game" so I can match the laughing fit.

Stupid robot being all cute and vulnerable.

I propose that the Three Laws of Robotics be changed:

1) Robots only come in two sizes: ridiculous compact, or hundred-foot behemoths.

2) Any robot that wields an arsenal of weaponry greater than most modern militaries must be immediately smashed in the head hard enough to cause amnesia. Once done, he will be partnered with a precocious human child and/or a female counterpart. In the event that neither is available, a resilient cockroach will suffice.

3) All robots shall include a copy of "Hello Dolly" in their memory banks, as well as a library of Superman comics.

With these new Bird-Stanton laws, we can avoid futures like Terminator. Asimov, you shall cause no more trouble!

This one's been high on the Pink family list for summer viewing. Unfortunately, my father-in-law already "claimed" his and his wife's right to take Little Pink to see it (After all these years, he is still playing the divorced parent, even to his grandson.), so I'll have to wait for a second viewing with Little Pink.

Glad to hear every viewer's been giddy about it. Those Pixar folks must have have some serious good juju on their side.

I'm also baffled at the Cars criticism, and I'd love to know why so many people think it's sub-par for Pixar. It's one of Little Pink's favorite movies, and it still manages to entertain the big people after multiple viewings. The animation is spectacular, especially in the opening race scene, and the animators added so many neat, sly touches to the environment that create a completely vehicular world.

If I had to pick my least favorite Pixar movie, it would be Cars. It's not "sub-par" so to speak, it's still a good movie even for Pixar, but in this great world of lists we live in, it ends up at the bottom of the Pixar list (for me at least).

Saw this last night at the drive-in
Dangle, there are still drive-ins??

I saw it at the drive-in too! Starlight Six, ATL.

I loved this movie so much. I knew I would like WALL-E himself, from the trailers, and he was thankfully not saccharine but just as cute as I expected. The pleasant surprise was EVE--a smart, quick, and tough girl-robot who didn't just

(mild) SPOILER

give WALL-E back-up in saving the human race, but actually saved his behind more than once.

As for Cars, I can't say I hated it, but I also think it was the weakest of the Pixar films. A big part of my dislike was not inherent to the animation or story but had to do with the stereotypes represented in the film. I felt like the purpose was to be inclusive, but they cars came off like terribly predictable stereotypes, where the sketch of the character overwhelmed any individuality they would otherwise have had.

At WALL-E last evening we were discussing the problems with Cars; my friend and I were trying to explain how the cars could be racist, and she was like, "What, does the Hispanic car be a lowrider Chevy on hydraulics or something?"

And we were like... yes. Exactly.

I guess I understand the desire to be inclusive. And lowriders are a legitimate cultural phenomenon in southern California, and are probably recognizable and to a greater or lesser extent identifiable to many Hispanic youth, and perhaps it's nice to have a Hispanic character of any kind for once.

However, these aren't characters with the depth and dimension that Pixar is usually known for (and they can imbue a mute baby desk lamp with a full personality in 60 seconds, so they've got no excuse) but for these "inclusive" characters they fall back on the most obvious pop culture shorthand for racial identification.

I found it egregious, shocking even, when I saw it at first. I think I would have been less perturbed if Ramone (to continue his example) was a really well fleshed out and sympathetic character, but he clearly wasn't, nor were any of the characters in the film.

Oh, and also, fuck them for casting Larry the Cable Guy. That verged on unforgivable. I know some people thought he was okay as Mater but I'm guessing that was due singly and solely to the constraints of the script. As far as I'm concerned, it was just another character shorthand "toothless hillbilly" this time.

I HATED this film!!!

Why? It made me cry and laugh more than my previous record crying/laughing film....GoodFellas.

Seriously - if you do not appreciate this film for all that it is - go see "Hancock."

You DESERVE it...

Unfortunaly I did not get to see all of the movie due to the projector dying no less then 3 times during the film before dying for good. (And the manager didn't come in and apologize, instead he was outside complaining about all the free passes he was going to have to give out, then tried giving us only one apiece.... anyway...)

The movie still rocked. For the first 45 minutes I forgot who I was, how old I was, ect. I was a kid again. I was watching my first sci-fi movie . I was watching my first movie. I was in love with Wall-E on levels I didn't know were possible or healthy for an animated robot.

Hello Dolly - Perfect!

The little touches. (Mac Geek so the startup chime was beautiful.) So many tiny little things to melt you heart. I've said it before about other Pixar movies but what they have that no other company seems to bring through in their work is kind of obvious to me: love/passion. These are people that probably work 80 hour weeks during crunch time and have no regrets because at the end of the day they have created a work of art that will last.

If movies are our modern myth, then Pixar is our Homer.

Side note - why is it that Pixar is apparently YEARS beyond the cgi capabilities of any other movie studio? The only one they came close in the ads for the depth of semi-realism was the french Mouse.

Fantastic. Fantastic movie.

*.*

Oooh I can breathe a sigh of relief.

The guys at Pixar are my heroes, and I love to have my faith reaffirmed. They can do no wrong in my book.

HURRAH !

Wow...just got back from seeing Wall-E and made an ass of myself, blubbering like a baby. Great movie!

I can understand the good reviews this film is getting. It looks like it was well made, with heart and humour as well as great animation. What I don't understand is the huge amounts of adult love it is getting all around the internets. Why do grown men and women like movies like this?

From all the trailers I've seen, it looks... childish. It's a childrens movie, aimed at children.

I guess it must be the same adults who read Harry Potter books...

Well Alabama and the other people wondering what was wrong with Cars... To me, the film was just kind of lazy on the story. It seemed like they were more worried with perfecting their dust simulators and working on getting the cars to reflect light perfectly, which... well, kudos on that front.

Story-wise, though, Cars seemed to just start with "HEY, SO WHAT IF CARS COULD TALK?" and went straight into production. It was all very paint-by-numbers for me, where we could just see that Lighting was gonna Learn a Lesson and make some New Friends and learn what's Really Important in life. And that's just one of the issues I had with the screenplay. I remember watching it and thinking it was all painfully rote. He tore up the town's street and has to repair it? Uh-oh! Now he HAS to spend an extended period of time there! There's a big race that he has to get to? WONDER IF HE'S GONNA GET THERE AND WIN. And even if he doesn't win, bets on whether he learns to be O.K. with losing?

Why I think a lot of other Pixar films work so much better is that they go above and beyond just a base story and are so detailed, and in the case of WALL-E (and why I think they film is so brilliant), they add another layer of cautionary tale and satire to the mix, all within the confines of a G-rated kids' film. Pretty impressive stuff if you ask me.

"what an great summer."
http://www.english-zone.com/grammar/a-anlessn.html

Get it right, you pretentious fucktard.

Ben- I can easily say with pride that I've never picked up a Harry Potter book, and I fell asleep trying to watch one of the Potter movies (I couldn't tell you which one it was.)

My favorite movies tend toward the violent vein- Goodfellas, Resevoir Dogs, etc...but Wall-E still got to me. Be careful not to try to pigeonhole people too much when it comes to this movie...

Oh there's two Bens!

It's that Ben giving Harry and the readers shit. No big deal then, it's just bait.

(however, magical Britain is one dangerous fucking place, lemme tell ya. Harry can't be pigeonholed either)

Saw this last night at the drive-in.
Dangle, there are still drive-ins??

Yes, EricD, there is a Santa..er, there are still drive-ins. We are fortunate to have about three or four within about an hour of where we live. Hopefully The Dark Knight will play there so I can watch it in my pajamas while eating cheeseburgers and potato chips and without hearing some uber-nerd yelling "Yesssss!" every few minutes. Unless that uber-nerd is me.

What I don't understand is the huge amounts of adult love it is getting all around the internets. Why do grown men and women like movies like this? From all the trailers I've seen, it looks... childish. It's a childrens movie, aimed at children.

A well-told story can appeal to children as well as to adults, especially a story as layered as this. Contrary to what the idiots responsible for all the movies featured in previews before Wall-E think, a film does not have to be awful for children to enjoy it (and making a film that appeals to adults requires more than throwing in some horrible double-entendres). If you want to know why adults love this movie (and you aren't understanding why from all the glowing reviews) perhaps you should check it out for yourself. If you aren't merely a Harry-Potter-bashing troll, you'll probably enjoy it.

Sooo...it's not too vomitously cute? I don't know, I'm still not convinced; it looks really ooey-gooey for my liking. My inner child is a bit underdeveloped, I guess.

Or maybe it's just that, as cmoody pointed out, the little dude looks a lot like E.T. I frickin' hated E.T., that creepy little bugger.

Ahh, I'll give it a chance to win me over. I had the same reservations about Ratatouille, and I enjoyed it.

What a lame review. It was like revisiting my grade six book reports. This is much more to the point:

http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2008/06/27/wall_e/index.html

I took my little brother to go see this only because
I wanted to and I figured it would gain me some brownie points with the parents. Aside from the absolutely amazing animation (We have come along way from Toy Story, haha) this is simply a brilliant story. My brother was a little bored and I admit this is probably a little slow for a kids movie, but I don't really believe Pixar was trying to make this just for children. Excellent animation, voicework and a great message make this one of the best movies I have seen in a while.

http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2008/06/27/wall_e/index.html

Um ... no.

Not sure why I've been labeled as giving the readers shit. I was merely asking why a childrens movie appeals to so many adults.

So basically yes, it has good storytelling, interesting characters... but you can find them in a grown-up movie, no?

I dunno, I guess I just don't get it.

No offense was intended, by the way.

i saw this today with a good friend of mine, and both of us, in our mid 20's with no kids and nary a maternal thought in our bodies, loved the hell out of this flick. not gonna lie. i am pixar's by-turns giggly, weepy, sniffle-addled and wide-eyed bitch. my favorite of theirs has always been finding nemo, but wall-e is just in a class unto himself. gorgeous, heartwarming and so, so engaging. i can't say enough good about it. oh, and much love for the 'presto' short. hilarious.

Ben (The Harry Potter Bashing Troll): The reason why I liked this film so much (saw it with my younger sister and we're 22 and 20) is because it isn't like grown-up movies. It's a movie that I can go watch and laugh and cry and leave the theater full of joy and smiles. Like Finding Nemo and Ratatouille. I went and saw those with my mom and sister and all of us were waaay past the age when we were "supposed" to go. We came out of the theater just purely happy, like children.

I guess that is why I like Pixar films. They make me feel happy like a kid again. That pure, unadulterated, I just wanna run around and play type happy.

Ben (The Harry Potter Bashing Troll): The reason why I liked this film so much (saw it with my younger sister and we're 22 and 20) is because it isn't like grown-up movies. It's a movie that I can go watch and laugh and cry and leave the theater full of joy and smiles. Like Finding Nemo and Ratatouille. I went and saw those with my mom and sister and all of us were waaay past the age when we were "supposed" to go. We came out of the theater just purely happy, like children.

I guess that is why I like Pixar films. They make me feel happy like a kid again. That pure, unadulterated, I just wanna run around and play type happy.

I may have posted this comment twice. Sorry if I did, I'm slightly computer-slow.

I'm disappointed that the inevitable outcome of the human race is portrayed as 'morbidly obese' individuals. Movies showing fat people in a negative light? What an amazing insight! That's never been done before! Yawn.

Movies showing fat people in a negative light? What an amazing insight! That's never been done before! Yawn.

Sorry, it was consistently logical with the rest of the universe and the story and contextually accurate within the weight (har) of the piece.

Stories should be made to be good stories.

Disclosure: I'm huge!

Ben--I invite you to please give your criteria for "kids' stories" and "adult stories." I don't think such a line truly exist. Not to say that there aren't overly simplified, stylized works meant to teach children something. I don't think these are very different in quality from "adult" gross-out humor movies, for example, or rom coms. That is, the problem is that they are formula flicks geared to a particular audience.

With works of quality, it is completely different. How can a movie with a universally-relevant message, and with solid characters and beautiful scenes not appeal to whoever watches it? What exactly is it that makes WALL-E a 'kids' movie'? It doesn't deal specifically with adult conflicts, but it deals with questions of humanity writ large that would be hard to explain unless you go to it.

I think it's far too easy to suggest that any movie that doesn't labor under it's own cynicism is a kid's movie. Adults do not by definition have to be jaded self-obsessed creatures incapable of simple pleasures. WALL-E is a story with absolute earnestness. It works in the story specifically because the setting is far more melancholy than formula kids' flicks venture to be. WALL-E the robot labors everyday protecting the last vestiges of humanity, and the fact that he is a mechanical product of human creativity is less ironic than it is pointed. When WALL-E's safety is threatened in the movie, the audience is on edge not just because they want the cute paedomorphic robot to make it through; they do so because everything about who we are--the entirity of the knowledge of the earth and our culture and ourselves--ALL of human identity as we know it--is wrapped up in his wee little motherboard.

I believe that Harry Potter appeals as well because unlike most children's stories it represents a clash of values, but one with true imperilment and with the moral ambiguity that is usually absent from children's programming. I'm not trying to compare the quality (WALL-E was a masterpiece in my mind, while Potter is just a story). But Harry Potter is a good adventure, at least the last three books. It's not unlike rereading Lloyd Alexander's work at an adult age, though Potter is far more sophisticated.

In sum, I'm saying that quality is quality, and when children's programming looks like children's programming, it's because it's badly done. Moreover, I'll defend the prerogative of adults everywhere to embrace works the remind us what it feels like to be earnest and hopeful; these are emotions that are easier to feel as children, to be sure, and hard as hell to come by once we are grown, but I submit that that does not make them childish.

I absolutely loved this movie, hands down, no complaints at all. I think what really works about WALL-E himself is that his personality, while being very detailed and intricate, is also very simple. We don't have to see every quirk or reaction he might have, just the ones that are important to the story, and those are shown with such careful detail, that we can fill in for ourselves aspects that are left out. I can't remember the last time I bought an animated film once it was released on DVD, but I am definitely going to pick this one up.

Also, I really think it's quite sad when people say things like, "I can say with pride that I have never watched/seen/heard [insert popular culture item of your choice]". Choosing to ignorantly dislike something to which you've never honestly exposed yourself is a poor reason for pride. You're feeding right into the hype you're so desperately trying to avoid, so why don't you try getting off your pedestal and making your own informed decision instead of disliking something purely based upon the fact that it is popular.

We took the kidlets to see Wall-E last evening, and I have to say that the whole "silent" segment was by far my favorite. In addition, not seeing humans was pretty good. I don't know how they made a movie about the future seem such a throwback to old cinema, but by golly they did. We all loved it.

it's monday and i've already seen this movie TWICE. quite possibly the best pixar movie ever made. i couldn't stop cracking up the entire film.

Jen:

I have to say, your post was great and reminded me that there are a lot of quality pieces of entertainment that are marketed to children and even possibly created for children that still appeal to adults (and for good reason, too).

However, from all that I've seen of Wall-E, it just looks like another cutesy Pixar flick. I'd probably rather have seen it than Get Smart (which I luckily did not pay for) but it's not something I'll actively seek out and see.

Sure, I liked Toy Story when it came out (as I was a kid then) but I cannot stomach the likes of Finding Nemo or Monsters Inc.

Okay, clearly just different tastes here. Ben (THP-BT) out!

I saw this last night, and even with the doting Pajiba review, I still wasn't expecting to be blown away. I was wrong. I loved this movie! It's funny, heartwarming (usually that's a pejorative adjective for me but in this case I mean it with the utmost sincerity), and it has a message that is just as important for adults to heed as children.

JTate- I don't hate Potter at all...just never got into it. And I certainly don't like or dislike something, simply because it's popular... Maybe you need to see Wall-E again and cheer up a bit????

ben, way to bash a movie based on... what exactly? A trailer? yeeeeah

This rocked. Loved it because LittleBird (2) loved it for its simplicity and ease and I loved it for its complexity and overarching story. Oh and Ms Weaver as the voice of the ship (kind of reprising the Planet Earth narration- love it!).

Kids stories can be easy on an overtaxed brain. They can remind you of when things were simpler (like my current Camp Rock love- it's exactly the stupid movie I would have loved when I was 7 and my niece and I can bond over it) or it can challenge you to think in a way you've either grown away from or a way you've never thought of. Kids stories have always been adult stories in hiding because here's the big secret: KIDS ARE PEOPLE. They are competent, brilliant, fascinating, inquisitive people who devour good stories as well as adults do. Good children's stories appeal to adults because they treat kids like thoughtful people and not simpletons.

What's wrong with Cars? 2 words: Owen. Wilson.

Off topic- has anyone else noticed that there has been a rash of "this site sucks, go here" posts from random people who seem to have never posted before? Methinks Pajiba has arrived, ladies and gents, and that blog-bashers for hire (or employees sent to bash competition) have descended upon us. So yay pajiba for being important enough to be annoyed!!!! And don't feed the trolls!

Awwwwww...let's not bash on Ben (THP-BT)! I agree with him on Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc...I couldn't stomach them either :-)

But I will admit, I liked the first Shrek. A lot. But that was definitely geared towards adults.

The question I wanna ask...which reviewer gets my eternal respect and jealousy, when they get to preview The Dark Knight for us???? I'll promise you my firstborn if you pirate me a copy ;-)

What a great summer of great movies. Quite a rarity.

This movie was perfect. After the disappointment of Cars and Ratatouille, Stanton and Lasseter have brought Pixar back to its heights.

People proud to to never read Harry Potter or visit a Disney park.

You make me sad.

So be it. Come, Patsy!

Hi Ben,

It might be worth seeing WALL-E; it may surprise you. I've been keen to see it since I saw the first trailer last summer (in front of Ratatouille, which I also adored). The first trailer was very subtle, and I think it more nearly captured the tone of the film itself than the more recent cuts have done. When I saw some of the more recent adds, I admit my enthusiasm was lessened, if ever so slightly. I started to worry that it might in fact be saccharine and light.

As soon as the movie started, though, my fears were put to rest. WALL-E is not Number Five Redux. Nor is he Spielbergian sap a la E.T. He has soul and determination, even in the face of heartbreaking desolation. The detritus of our pop culture become truly new, in a way that turns VH1's ridiculous self-indulgence pop-culture shows inside out. The first thirty minutes of the film are a mirror, in which each of us may see something different but in which it's hard not to recognize the best and worst and most absurd of our shared humanity and culture.

Also, the girl robot kicks ass.

Honestly, you may be more moved than you suspect if you give it a chance. Don't let the (ironically) cutesy marketing deter you....

"After the disappointment of Cars and Ratatouille..." Really? I loved Ratatouille and I liked Cars. I hope this film doesn't bring up any slushy feelings inside me but I agree with Jen. The very first trailer had a quiet tone about it that hinted at something special. So I'm going to do it and if I feel to weakened then I'm going to watch Wanted straight after. Yeah! That'll teach my feelings not to come up during a movie...

Severely disliked Ratatouille. The 2 main characters had terrible voices, although the designs were IMPECCABLE. Never saw Cars, never appealed to me.

This movie made me feel like a kid again, when I watched cartoons and just got totally lost in the cartoon. Ahhh. That was a good damn feeling to recapture. Everyone might not agree, but thanks Pixar.

Also if you happen to be a Thomas Newman fan (soundtrack composer), this is definitely a movie for you.

Best horror movie I've seen.

My boyfriend talked me into watching this Sunday night, and I was reluctant because I knew absolutely nothing about it. I'm so glad we went, though. We even stuck around for the tribute to 8-bit graphics in the credits. I haven't been so enthralled with a non-human character since E-T.

Just want to add that at our local movie theater it was mostly adults at the evening showing I saw. Don't miss out on this movie just because you don't have a kid to take with you!

I saw this tonight with three other adults, and loved it immensely. Others have said pretty much what I have to say, so I'll boil down my comments to: 1) Only dislike was the way (I felt) the movie hit the viewer over the head with the message. 2) LOVED the "art history" segment at the very end.

I saw Wall-E just today and already I feel like it impacted me greatly. Not only is it Pixar's finest when it comes to stories and messages, but it's also a mature film. Sure, it is technically geared towards children, but I felt that I liked the fact that things went over the kids heads. It means that as they grow older, they will re watch this and notice how important and beautiful this film is. It's a movie that will improve to children as they grow up, and for the adults it doesn't feel too cloying and cutesy. The meaning of the film is not destroyed by celebrity voices and meta references. Nobody farts or takes a crotch shot, and in the end, it caused me, a serious, mature movie goer, to cry. I teared up during parts of the film, but the end was just so empowering. The world was being restored and life was back to being happy and full of joy.
And Jen, your analysis as to why Cars is Pixar's only minor flaw. The film itself is not terrible, I enjoyed Cars more than Shrek the Third and Happy Feet, but it's like you said, the one with the least amount of depth. The voices aren't 100% needed, Larry the Cable Guy causes me to break out in a rash, believe it or not, and the meaning seemed lost behind the voice talents. Though it is pretty damn gorgeous to look at. However, it is only really their most accessible in terms of merchandise, it sells toys more than a rat or a trash compactor. My younger cousin loves this movie, and he owns a bunch of its merchandise. It's cute to see little kids in love with a movie, but still, compared to masterpieces such as Wall-E, it falls flat.
However Ben, I loved Monsters' Inc and Finding Nemo, they were both two adorable movies. I need to re watch Monsters' Inc, because the ending is just so damn gorgeous.

This is the first movie in a long time to make me cry in the theater. When Wall-E is trying to impress EVE and Louis Armstrong's "La Vie En Rose" came on, I was a mushy goner! Fitting, then, that I was holding my honey's hand the entire time... Part of it was the feeling of a bittersweet eulogy for the 20th century, the mix of technology, consumerism & decay, and the explosion of creativity & beauty that surged out what - I think - will be looked back at as a golden age of unprecedented ignorance & achievement at any cost.

I loved it in spite of, or because, it was hitting us over the head with it's message. If it seems a bit extreme, it's because we're not taking our impact seriously enough. Thankfully, it had the authentic Pixar stamp of hope - or else it would have traumatized me the way "Silent Running" did - and I would be agreeing completely with Maryscott O'Connor (although, I still could put it next to "Knocked Up" in the category of "Horror Movies That Were Not Meant To Be That In Any Way").

I just lovelovelove what Pixar is doing. After the Disney-saturated previews (which made me want to have my tubes tied), it's nice to see that if the creativity & quality are there (and lightning strikes in the right place), the funding might appear even if your ultimate message is anti-corporate. In the scene when the rolly-polly shaped children are learning their ABC's by the corporate name that each letter could stand for, I like to think that if they had gotten to "D", it would've stood for "Disney"...

Apropos of the trailer for Disney's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua": what is the target demographic for that film? Lobotomized 6 year olds?

I took my 3 year old niece to WALL-E and I got so tranfixed, I almost forgot she was there. I'd love to know if the younger kids who were the target demo were able to understand the story.
And I was not prepared to cry!I went in there thinking it would be some kiddy cartoon like Cars or Madagascar. I was emotionally spent when i got out of there. Really good film.

Loved the movie, hated the audience. I walked out bitter and angry because full grown adults howled with laughter at that fucking Chihuahua trailer.

Wow, I'm a total sucker for lonely robots watching Hello Dolly anyway, but this really got me. Seeing the planet all covered with junk, watching WALL-E sort his little collection and make a hat out of a hubcap, experiencing with WALL-E the majestic view of outerspace ... man, I teared up so many times in this movie.

My friend said she thought it was "too preachy" ... I say we need this kind of preaching.

I came here for the bad-movie bashing, but I'm glad that people can still appreciate a movie made of pure delight even if it looks like it was made for kids.
There are very few movies where I can say I cried from sheer joy. This is one of them.

So I'm obsessed with this flick. My brother had to drag me out of watching Wall-E for a second time while Hellboy was starting (the film we went to see). To me, although I respect Pixar's films for their attention to detail in their films, Monster's Inc., Cars, and Finding Nemo are not films I could watch over and over again. Wall-E is that for me. It came as a relief to me as I can't stand the onslaught of Superhero flicks that hollywood is dishing out right now. I think that's why The Incredibles didn't appeal to me as much. Looking forward to The dark knight though.

Anyways I loved Wall-E. I'd watch it again over seeing Hellboy, Hulk, Hancock, Ironman, or Wanted. I've seen all of those except for Hancock, which I don't have the heart to see because it knocked Wall-E down in the box-office. Now the argument of seeing a "children's flick" is void when I consider superhero/comic book stories childish. There's more messages in wall-E than there was in any of those previously mentioned flicks.

Just loved this movie on so many levels, and to those who might consider it "hype".. just go watch your super hero flicks and then tell me about hype. This film is more than mere passive entertainment.

Wall-E totally looks like the robot from "Short Circuit"... minus the cheesy 80's style of course

I enjoyed the first act, the Wall-E character in genera, and the sweet romance...

But the idea of representing the human race as a failing, slovenly, ignorant and inconsiderate breed through obesity just struck me as lazy and irresponsible. I rarely find myself siding with criticisms like this, but Pixar pitching this stereotype of the obese to a young and impressionable audience is ridiculous. It left such a bad taste in my mouth that it really stopped me from enjoying the film as much as I wanted to. Overweight people are lazy, follow monolithic corporations, destroy the enviornemnt, and don't have enough determination or energy to stand up? Really?

hmm.. I thought it was pretty believable. Granted, it's a bit of an extreme, but our society is all about doing things more efficiently and THAT seems a bit lazy to me. Fast food, soft drinks, automobiles, global connectivity through the web, and machines that have been replacing our shrinking labor force are all making life 'efficient' for us. Pollution is also a relevant issue and I'd hope it doesn't take another 1000 years before we realize it. I really don't think this film was all that preachy. The truth is, the 'preachy' issues in Wall-E were part of a subplot. Not even the main story.

Late, late, late in the game, but over here the movie was literally just released so I just sawe it today....

Man, it's lovely. Hauntingly lovely in the beginning. Funny later on, although I agree the first part's the most affecting.

Amazing, these people at Pixar. Honestly, their work is going to stand the test of time as some of film's best achievements. It's as if somehow their technical work is a screen, behind which they hide and make works of pure heart that nobody else in the modern age can seem to make.

Oh, SoCo, I think you're misled. Granted, the representation of the overweight humans IS that of sloth and passivity, but I don't think the movie blames the weighty for the condition of the planet or corporation-following. That happened before they left Earth when (remember the progressive captain's portraits) people were pretty much regular-sized.

Although I'll grant you, it's definitely a message of the film that all of these things are factors in where we're heading. Can't say it didn't make me think, but I certainly didn't find it offensive.

"Overweight people are lazy, follow monolithic corporations, destroy the enviornemnt, and don't have enough determination or energy to stand up? Really?

You're getting your cause and your effect in the wrong order from what the movie intended.