What made this film stand out to me more than other films was that it wasn’t really a moral tale like most other films with heavy-handed ‘lessons’ spoon-fed to children. Instead this film was an adventure story that both children and adults can love. Not to mention the wonderfully lush world of the film that takes place in a setting much different than what kids might be used to—ultimately instilling that sense of adventure in all of us. Some critics have claimed that this film isn’t one of Pixar’s best, but I must disagree, instead of feeling like I’m out to learn a lesson, I can actually sit back and enjoy the film and the world in the film without being detracted by such ideas. I look forward to continuing to watch these wonderful Pixar films with my daughter as she grows up and hope they continue to be outstanding tales of adventure and ultimately love—because that’s what really matters.

One of the strangest things I noticed in the first few minutes of Wall-E was Pixar’s use of what appeared to be either real video footage, or animated footage made to look very real. I’m not sure the exact purpose of doing this, other than to perhaps illustrate the that this new dystopian future portrayed within Wall-E was what we’d become, if we were to continue using the planet at the rate we are now. Speaking of planetary responsibility, that’s another huge step forward for Pixar; in Wall-E, Pixar actually tackles a real social issue. They tackle this issue in a somewhat un-cartoony way as well, by showing harsh examples of what the world would become if we were to be wasteful and uninvolved, for example, humans aboard the spaceship The Axiom sit in floating chairs with video screens in front of their faces, constantly ‘drinking’ food, and are grossly obese. This sort of portrayal I think is necessary to translate a more complex idea to children as well as adults, where more specific adult-oriented ideas in the film such as highly consumer-inflated lifestyles are present to adults.

All social issues aside Wall-E is a wonderful love story. In the past, Pixar films have tended to be more oriented with issues of friendship and family (i.e. Toy Story or The Incredibles), and less focused on something as simple as a love story between two characters of different backgrounds. Wall-E is a trash compacting robot left on Earth to clean up after a desolated planet, when Eve (a vegetation probing robot) comes to Earth looking for any signs of real life. Instantly Wall-E falls in love with Eve because to him she represents all that Wall-E wants, companionship and someone to hold hands with. After a somewhat complex scenario, Eve eventually realizes Wall-E’s dedication to her and returns the feelings. The film really is as simple as that, but wait, there’s so much more. From the amazing animation to the very Apple-esque visuals Wall-E communicates it’s base emotions with little to no dialogue at all.

All and all, what makes Wall-E a fantastic film is it’s ability to communicate to multiple audiences with multiples messages and still be a very entertaining film for people who don’t want to think about social issues or how great the visuals look. If this film is any indication of the direction Pixar is moving I’m very excited.