After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, cleaning up the planet WALL·E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he encounters a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL·E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future and races back to space to report her findings to the humans who have been eagerly waiting aboard the luxury spaceship Axiom for news that it is safe to return home. Meanwhile, WALL·E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most incredible comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen. Joining WALL·E on his fantastic journey across the universe 800 years into the future is a hilarious cast of characters, including a pet cockroach and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots.

If you can say one thing about Pixar is that they seem to be able to tackle all genres and all storylines with such a level of ease and perfection that you can’t but help wish that every other studio took the care, time and love that Pixar seems to put into every film they make. Forget that the movies are animated and that they are mainly made to entertain younger audiences these movies reach across all genres and easily entertain and bring wonder to all ages and demographics. What makes Pixar so great and what makes everyone else want to emulated them is that their movies bring wonder, imagination and sheer joy to all those who watch their movies. Wall*E is no exception as the movie is funny, exhilarating and entertaining all at the same time. It’s the kind of movie kids will love and want to watch a hundred times and the kind of movie that their parents won’t mind too much watching over and over again. That is a fantastic statement and the reason Pixar is the king of Hollywood.

I was truly amazed at points during this movie because Wall*E does spend a lot of time on the screen by himself and you wonder if that can capture a child’s imagination much less their more discerning adult counterparts. But the movie is so beautiful visually and there is so much going on to capture your eye and imagination that it makes no difference that no one really peaks for the first 30 minutes of the movie and that we see no humans tell halfway though the movie. The movie doesn’t need speech to propels its story as one of the things about Pixar has always been there ability to tell their story with its visuals and interplay between characters. If over half of language spoken is done through body language then someone has spent vast amounts of time at Pixar learning and studying that body language. That is a great way to tell a story and it is how they once had to tell all stories with silent films and shows the sheer genius of the animators of Pixar.

Most of the films made by Pixar before Wall*E always had a little message about either friendship or family and Wall*E is no different. If anyone dislikes the movie it might be because this is probably the most blatant and non subtle message so far in any of their movies and deals with over population, pollution and obesity in a tongue in cheek kind of fashion. These are big issues and very political but the movie takes them light heartedly and weaves them into an intricate but still cute story. I mean that is masterful storytelling right there to have a not too subtle message or even agenda and to be able to tell it in such a fashion and manner than most will not find it offensive but to still be able to pass it on to the kids of today.

For a studio that has spent many years with lots of voice work and very notable and quotable characters Wall*E takes a different approach. With their first take on Science Fiction all their robots have such a unique and non verbal way about them that they will still be extremely easy to market even without the catch phrases like to Infinity and beyond. This film shows that Pixar can evolve and stretch its legs and do so many fantastic things that you cannot wait tell their next forte into the world of cinema, this is the kind of animated feature I think Walt Disney would have imagined and been proud of.

Grade: A