WALL-E poster, pictures
Initial images for 2008 Disney/Pixar movie
Check out some early images of WALL-E, the next film from Pixar and Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo).
(Source: www.flickr.com)
Okay, I admit it: sometimes I do come off like a Pixar fanboy but – damn! – they really are doing some stellar **** these days! Almost all of their movies (with the possible exception of Cars) have been artistic knockouts and, more importantly, Pixar's animators haven't let the whiz-bang factor of CGI get in the way of what's important: writing great stories with interesting, empathetic characters. For instance, when was the last time you saw a villain with such a complex psychology as Syndrome from The Incredibles? Yup, I'm still thinking as well.
The fact that Pixar's flicks have (so far) never flopped at the box office is a testament to the boys from Emeryville's constant ability to get it right. In that sense, they truly are Walt Disney's original vision taken into the 21st Century, which means Pixar is about raising the bar for animated movies, while still giving the audience entertaining stories.
Which brings us to WALL-E, a film about the last robot on Earth. A movie like this would never have been greenlit at one of the other animation studios. Actually, I doubt that even John Lasseter would've given it the go-ahead if it weren't for the fact that writer/director Andrew Stanton was responsible for Pixar's biggest blockbuster to date, 2003's Finding Nemo.
Here's a quick synopsis, which I lifted off one of my previous stories: "The year is 2700. Planet Earth is one giant trash heap, and an incompetent corporation called Buynlarge has the contract to clean up the mess. Buynlarge sent thousands of robots, called Waste Allocation Load Lifters - Earth Class (WALL-E), to do the job but unfortunately they all broke down over the past 700 years. Save for one.
"This last robot has developed a few bugs of his own. This WALL-E has become self-aware and curious about humans. He, along with his pet cockroach Spot, has amassed a bizarre collection of human artifacts including a VCR and a VHS tape of Hello Dolly!, which he watches incessantly. WALL-E toils away at his thankless (and endless) job until another robot, named Eve, suddenly arrives. WALL-E follows this new robot around like a little puppy and, when she finally leaves Earth, he finds a way to tag along. Which is where the real fun starts.
"There are several things that potentially make WALL-E more amibitious than all other Pixar flicks. First is the environmental message: humans ruined their planet and they've gotten no better since then. Now they're gigantic blobs of flesh who travel in floating chairs.
"Second, the movie apparently features the brilliant Fred Willard (Best In Show, Monster House), playing Buynlarge's president. However, Willard doesn't just voice the character: he actually appears on screen. This will be the first time the first time a human performer appears in a Pixar movie."
Think this is weird? It gets better. Just to give you a taste of how f*****-up (in the finest possible way) this flick is: there is no dialogue for the first 1/3 of the movie. Zip. Zilch. Nada. The characters talk in bleeps, bloops, and snippets of Hello Dolly!. Think of another movie that dared to pull something like that. Still thinking? Me too.
Anyway, the pictures you see with this article are the models for the titular character, a solitary robot who has to clean up a polluted planet. You can tell he's a sad little guy, showing the viewer his prized possession: an old boot with a cockroach on it.
Animators regularly build models like these so that they can finalize a character's look before committing it to paper, or computer screen. It makes the animation process easier, and makes for less mistakes down the line.
I've also placed an initial poster for WALL-E, which doesn't have a lot on it. It's just there to let the viewer know what's beneath. Either way, colour me buzzed for this flick.
WALL-E is scheduled for a June 27, 2008 release.
