2. Group Contributions
Jazmin Ratcliff: Overview, Intro, Video
Clip
Mollie Krieger: Slides, History,
Discussion Questions
Esla Byrholdt: Characters and Theme
Sun Doan: Storyline,
Style/Animation/Film Type, Cultural
Aspect
3. Intro
Wall-E is a computer animated Pixar/Disney movie. Andrew Stanton, also known for
his brilliant work in Finding Nemo, directed Wall-E to become TIME’s best movie of
the decade. Wall-E was ranked fifth in the highest gross on opening weekend (June
27th, 2008) coming in at 63.1 million dollars. A movie that is aimed at kids, since it is
a Disney movie, caught the eyes of adults too, racking in 521.3 million dollars
worldwide. With so many achievements such as the 2008 Golden Globe Award for
Best Animated Feature Film, 2009 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, and
many more Wall –E has been translated into various languages. Not only has it been
translated into Russian, Arabic, and Dutch, Wall-E has also been made into a video
game. Wall-E was intended for children with its animated features, however, it’s
underlying problems which might not catch the attention of young kids, does bring
to light adult problems. These problems range from waste management to obesity
to corporations monopolies. Wall-E was released in June of 2008 and since then it
has became an American classic.
5. History Behind Wall-E
“What if mankind had to leave Earth and
somebody forgot to turn off the last robot?” –
Andrew Stanton
• Wall-E was actually first conceptualized
in 1994 by Andrew Stanton at a
Pixar/Disney writers meeting as an after
project film to the ever popular
animated film Toy Story.
• Other films discussed during this
meeting were A Bug’s Life, Monsters
Inc., and Finding Nemo.
6. History Cont.
• Stanton felt that audiences would fall in love
with a lonely robot on a deserted planet.
Portraying WALL-E as a menial waste
collector would make him not only
understandable but sympathetic.
• A world filled with cubes of garbage was in
his mind a way to make a disaster child
friendly and not too dark.
7. History cont.
• Stanton worked with
fellow writer Pete
Docter to develop this
film under the title of
Trash Planet
in 1995 but the writers
had trouble developing
the story line.
• Docter abandoned the film but Stanton came up with the
ideas of Wall-E finding a plant and falling in love with Eve in
the years before beginning the official script in 2002.
8. History Cont.
• In 2003, Stanton created the first story reel of the
film. It was very different from the finalized product.
For example, Wall-E was made to incite a war-like
rebellion against the remaining human race on the
Axiom, who were now cruel alien Gels (gelatinous,
boneless, see through) that spoke a gibberish
language.
9. History Cont.
• After realizing this plot was too confusing and un-
engaging, he reconceived humans as big babies who
needed to learn to stand again and grow up. These
changes allowed audiences to feel a deeper
connection and understanding of the films messages
of love, consumerism and environmental nostalgia.
10. Characters
Wall-E
Wall-E, the protagonist of the film, is the last old waste collection robot on what is left of a
trash-covered dystopian Earth. He works hard all day to continue to compact the trash left
on earth long after the humans have left and disengaged the other working robots, leaving
him utterly alone. He is a round character striving for more and more knowledge as he
goes around picking up interesting items he finds in huge piles of trash, such as movies of
dancing he learns to copy. All of his actions and body language suggests that he thinks and
acts just like a young human boy would. He’s compassionate and has a big heart, evident
from his relationship with a robot who comes to Earth searching for signs of natural life,
Eve. When Eve’s programs shut off one day he is shown standing out in a thunderstorm
just to keep an umbrella over her head. He has an immense amount of love for Eve and
spends the whole film trying to find her and help her with her own personal missions. All in
all he is a character motivated by love and curiosity which every viewer can enjoy.
11. Characters Cont.
Eve
The center of Wall-E’s universe after their first meeting, Eve is a
intelligent, driven new robot with a passion for her mission to find
natural life on the depleted Earth. She is equipped with lasers and high
tech technology such as biological plant scanners. We first see Eve when she comes to
the destroyed future Earth scanning large areas at a time in search of any plants that
could possibly have grown. She is largely unsuccessful for the first part of her mission
until she meets Wall-E. Although Wall-E’s love and infatuation with Eve was
immediate, Eve is completely focused on her mission. Eve is a dynamic character
throughout the film as she learns of new things from Wall-E and ends up falling in love
with him after she breaks down her work barrier. Although Wall-E and Eve are
complete opposites in their outside looks they both have a huge capacity for love,
hard work, and knowledge.
12. Characters Cont.
Captain B. McCre
Captain B. McCrea follows a long line of captains before him on the Axiom. His life
involves mostly unimportant tasks such as checking unchanging levels of the ship
leaving most of the decisions to an autopilot robot named Auto. Although when Captain
is first introduced he is shown as a overweight, follow the social quo man he begins to
think for himself and take action to make a difference for the rest of the humans. As the
story progresses he fights against auto and takes back control of his ship and ultimately
decides that they must return to Earth although this is the harder choice.
13. Theme
Main Theme:
Humans must consider the consequences of
industrialization and excessive consumption before the
planet Earth is destroyed beyond livability.
Aspects of Theme:
ENVIRONMENTAL WASTE: If we neglect to take care of
our environment, Earth as we know it will be destroyed/inhospitable.
NOSTALGIA: Fond memories of “old” Earth are displayed through human
artifacts that WALL-E collects. These artifacts represent a time of human love,
connection, and freedom.
TECHNOLOGY: Dependency on technology can cause a disconnect to nature
and an ignorance to what is happening around us.
14. Storyline
This film follows a young robot
named WALL-E(waste allocation
load lifter earth-class) who is the
last remaining of his kind on Earth.
There are no humans and the Earth
has been turned into a huge pile of
garbage. All that accompanies
WALL-E is his friend the cockroach,
as he collects different items that
were left on earth
15. Storyline
All humans from Earth are now living on a ship called
the Axiom that is run by technology. Everyone in the
ship is morbidly obese.
16. Storyline
Another robot named EVE(extraterrestrial vegetation
evaluator) comes down to earth and befriends WALL-E.
Wall-e then gives her the last remaining plant on Earth,
and the adventure begins.
17. Storyline
The plant is brought to the captain. He surveys EVE's
recordings of Earth and concludes that mankind must
return to restore their home. However, AUTO reveals
his directive, staging a mutiny and tasering WALL-E,
severely damaging him. He also incapacitates EVE
and confines the captain to his quarters. EVE realizes
the only parts for repairing WALL-E are in his truck
back on Earth. She helps him bring the plant to the
holo-detector.
18. Storyline
EVE brings WALL-E back to his home where she
repairs and reactivates him. After the repair WALL-E
no longer recognizes EVE, reverting to his original
programming - an unfeeling waste compactor.
Heartbroken, EVE gives WALL-E a farewell kiss. This
jolts WALL-E's memory, and his personality returns.
WALL-E and EVE happily reunite as the humans and
robots of the Axiom begin to restore Earth and its
environment.
20. Cultural Aspects
The movie has an emphasis on
industrialization with
technology relating to obesity
in people. People never doing
anything for themselves and
being too lazy to think and too
bloated to walk is causing rapid
obesity. In todays culture in
America everyone is obsessed
with weight and the major
obesity problem (Engber, 2008).
The western culture has pulled
our bodies and our planet down
with obesity and ecological
catastrophe (Engber, 2008).
21. Cultural Aspects
Although Wall-E was made to portray love between two robots
it also carries some messages toward peoples opinion of the
apocalypse. In a culture where cellular reliability, fatty foods
and electronic toys is more important than sustainability, the
outcomes would be the Earth become unlivable and pushing
people to create a new world somewhere else. The main
message is “life centered on productivity (like industrialization)
threatens the life forms and the planet and the planet itself
(Clarke, 2010).
22. Cultural Aspects
Feminism take a step in the
movie because EVE, a female
robot is the one responsible
for saving Earth and finding
life on Earth. Feminists had a
debate on the movie
because they feel the
message should have men
emphasized just as much as
women. American culture
and modern ways today
focus on equality of women
(Clarke, 2010).
23. Work Cited
Clarke, Cassandra. "Love in the Time of Pollution: A Look at Eco-Feminism Roots in
Disne'ys "Wall-E"." Student Pulse. 2.3 (2010): n. page. Web. 6 May. 2013.
McNaughtan, Hugh. "Distinctive Consumption And Popular Anti-Consumerism: The
Case Of Wall*E." Continuum: Journal Of Media & Cultural Studies 26.5 (2012): 753-766.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 May 2013.
Engber, Daniel. "Fat-E." Slate. (2008): n. page. Web. 6 May. 2013.
<http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/green_room/2008/07/fate.html>.
Murray, Robin L., and Joseph K. Heumann. "WALL-E: from environmental adaptation
to sentimental nostalgia." Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media 51 (2009): n.
Wikipedia contributors. "WALL-E." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 May. 2013. Web. 12 May. 2013.
24. Work Cited
"Subtitles for." WALL-E. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2013.
McNaughtan, Hugh. "Distinctive Consumption And Popular
Anti-Consumerism: The Case Of Wall*E." Continuum: Journal
Of Media & Cultural Studies 26.5 (2012): 753-766. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 18 May 2013.
"WALL-E." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Nov. 2013.
Web. 13 May 2013
"WALL·E." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 13 May 2013.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9s7afoYI-
M&feature=youtu.be
