Wall-E is an adorable, heart-warming story about a robot. It is also a thought-provoking science fiction story about the current environmental and ecological crises that we are facing as a species. In the future, Earth is a glorified rubbish tip, and the company that seems to run most of the world develops the ‘Wall-E’ class of robots to clean up, while most, if not all, humankind leaves on a space ship on a five-year luxury cruise. However, something goes wrong and 700 years later, only one Wall-E robot remains functional, and humankind is still in space.
The first part of the film has very little dialogue, and yet the robots in it, Wall-e and Eve, are incredibly expressive in their own way. The toils of little Wall-e as he struggles to come to terms with his own personality, his loneliness, and his sudden lack of loneliness is remarkably well described throughout the film. In some ways, the robots are much more expressive than the human characters.
While our little robot has spent 700 years cleaning up Earth as best he can, and collecting such trinkets as he sees fit, humankind has taken a downturn. The inhabitants of the spaceship live in hover chairs, eating food that comes in cups. They are all overweight blobs, communicating to each other through heads-up display, and very rarely actually taking note of what is around them. 700 years has left humanity in a rather sorry state, with robots to cater to their every whim, even walking seems an unfamiliar concept.
As the plot progresses we see Wall-e’s personality growing, and we see him gradually opening peoples eyes, affecting them for the better. Between the Captain of the spaceship and two passers-by that Wall-e happens to ‘bring to life’ we see the film’s world explored, and we see the vicious circles that lead down that path. We also see the changes that bring hope and encouragement, with some restoration of the faith in human nature.
Wall-E is a kid’s film. The emotions of characters have to be made plain, and the explanations have to be clear, for the younger viewers to understand. Younger viewers will also appreciate the chase-scenes, the cleaning robot that constantly chases after trails of mud left by Wall-e’s tracks, and the struggle of our human and robot protagonists against the rigid and unmoving ‘autopilot’.
But Wall-E is also one of those rare gems: a kids' film that also has a lot in it for adults. From humour that steps sometimes beyond what most young children will grasp, to underlying messages that are more disturbing to adults than they are to children, everyone can learn from Wall-E. And within the framework of a post-apocalyptic world, we are told a funny, endearing story about a robot that has developed sentience. It is witty, it is lovely, and it tells a story in fantastic style. The lessons are subtly driven home: they are taken-as-read to the extent that the plot can be enjoyed without feeling beaten down by the force of the warnings and moral debates the subject matter should raise.
One question I would have for the makers of film is why did Wall-e survive, but not all his other companions? Throughout, our little protagonist strikes the viewer as resourceful, intelligent and almost indestructible, but it is unclear why he realised this potential while his companions fell by the wayside. It is also never made clear exactly what global crisis left the world as uninhabitable as it eventually is.
In the end, you have to come back to the explanation of ‘it’s a kids film, and there isn’t enough time for all the explanations’. However, what it deals with, it deals with spectacularly well. The love story, the adventure story and the drama mesh seamlessly into a beautiful work of animation and a film that both adults and children can enjoy to the fullest extent. If you haven’t seen it yet, do. I thoroughly recommend it.
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