Nice lead-in there Phillip. I have always loved the Reggio film, and even owned that expensive, super-rare laserdisc of it.

We operate in a society inundated with marketing messages, and I think these efforts would have garnered positive media coverage for the film/Pixar, as well as been more in line with the movie’s message.

The target audience question is a good one. Wall*e targeted adults (the decision markers) first and then children (a captive audience once inside the theater). I think the movie communicated the message clearly on these two levels, but once I left the theater, there was nothing else. I wanted someone standing outside the theater handing out “for more information” brochures or something like that. It would have been a great opportunity for Pixar to partner with canvassers from Greenpeace or other environmental groups, who could talk to people about the issues in Wall*e and ask for donations. Those are just some ideas….I seriously loved the movie so much and thought it was fantastic.

Good point about Walden Pond.

Speaking of consumerism, though, has anyone seen this?:

http://www.buynlarge.com/

^ That’s some seriously biting satire…especially for a “kids’ movie.”

I visited Walden Pond in Massachusetts this summer and there was a big ol’ Walden Book Store with all sorts of books, t-shirts, toys, and walking sticks. Considering what he stood for and what he wrote about, Henry David Thoreau certainly wouldn’t be happy about it.

This strikes me as the same type of thing.

I totally agree with your complaints against Disney and Pixar here, but I don’t think you acknowledge the question of audience.

In the case of Urban Eco Chic, you’re arguably going after a demographic that’s already concerned about protecting the environment — and would be decidedly put off by the hypocrisy they’d see in a lot of print advertisement and licensed merchandise.

WALL-E, on the other hand, is designed as a warning about the dangers of not living “green” (or at least, that’s one valid interpretation). If this is the case, then its target demographic is a different one: those who need to be warned — i.e., those who aren’t going to be put off by a lot of paper waste and plastic junk. It’s particularly true, I think, that in order to capture the minds of kids (especially kids that are accustomed to being consumers), you have to offer them some sort of merchandise (otherwise their experience will end at the theater, and their short attention span will quickly be seized by their Kung Fu Panda trinkets).

Obviously, I’m not trying to defend Disney-Pixar, but I do think there are reasons for what you see here. They’re just marketing reasons.

I took my sister (age 7), brother (age 6) and son (age 3) to see Wall-E this weekend and was floored by the imagery of garbage skyscrapers and by the blatant environmental message, which wouldn’t have made it to the mainstream movie theaters a few years ago. It had the socially-conscious feel of an independent movie.

The movie was so powerful that I became incredibly self-aware of my own actions within the first few minutes and before long I felt guilty to be drinking a bottle of water, eating popcorn from a large paper bag, and snacking on a box of Snowcaps. Multiply that by the hundreds of thousands of theater-goers and think about all of that trash produced by the movie industry.

I do marketing for a book publishing company, Quadrille, that is publishing a green home decoration book, Urban Eco Chic by Oliver Heath. We went to great lengths to get the book printed on FSC certified paper, both to underscore the credibility of the book and because it’s the right thing to do. Most of my marketing will be done online, saving paper and shipping.

I think a better Wall-E promotion, rather than cheap plastic toys, would be to sell environmentally-friendly water bottles and snack packaging at the theaters. These would have prompted discussions between parents and their children far more than toys.

I just got back from this one, and I am so blown away. This movie was fantastic. I’m so glad there are still people making movies like this one. I don’t have much to add. Just…wow.

The short that played before it was awesome, as well. It was like the best of Looney Tunes.

The things you bring up about the film are elements I noticed as well. The scene with the woman who loses her TV screen looking out at the stars was one of my favorites in the film yet I completely failed to mention it here. Oh well.

With that in mind, although the theme of extraordinary love transcending all barriers is extremely prominent in the film, I would suggest that the consumerism theme is just as prominent. Stanton may not have intended it as the main theme of his film but, by golly, its there as a byproduct and is communicated to the audience regardless of his intentions! Just look at the way the world Wall-E cleans up is so much like our own and how the Axiom is said to offer a world of entertainment with “everything you need to be happy.” Happiness lies in possessions, not worthwhile engagement with other people and the created world.

Maybe the best solution to mesh your points and mine would be to say truly meaningful relationships, the ones that make life worth living and worth living well, aren’t possible until we shift our focus away from things and onto what God (from my perspective, at least) so generously supplies us — whether it be a good friend or a beautiful starry sky.

First of all, I must compliment Philip on his outstanding review of what has become the “film to beat” this summer.

I just saw it on Tuesday with my sister and a few friends. I’m not ashamed to say it, but I came close to crying quite a few times. Which really isn’t all that hard, as I am a big softie…

But I digress. I think it important to lay out what I go through before I watch a movie. I try to set a level of reasonable expectations for the film, so I can view it on its own level. Since it’s a Pixar film, I already had two expectations in mind:

1) The animation will be top-notch. Pixar has had a superior track record so far, so there would be no reason to expect “glitches” of any sort.

2) A large part of Pixar’s appeal for me is in HOW they approach their film’s premise, even if that premise is a total cliche. They have a talent for telling an old, worn-out story in a manner quite unexpected. The most obvious example is “Monster’s Inc”, where we are given a unique perspective on the old “monster in the closet” story.

Having said that, Wall*E not only met both expectations, it exceeded them.

In my circle of friends, I am known as the “Keen Observer Of Detail.” (KOOD, for short. LOL) I seem to pick up on stuff that my other friends are not even conscious of during the film. For example, one thing about Wall*E that I noticed after we all left the theater was that the first half of the movie was, in essence, a silent film. I found that to be a nice homage to those classics of yesteryear.

Mahalo,
James

“overweight, lazy blobs traveling around on floating chairs, being nourished with liquid food … just like babies.”

Yeah, I really liked that particular parallel. It was great to have Ben Burtt doing what he does best again.

I’m just wondering if he manipulated the wilhelm scream for the film. I sure didn’t notice it.

Then again, I could have watched Wall-E for another 6 or 7 hours.

I, too, am looking forward to this. Love the comparisons to Koyaanisqatsi, Phillip. I still remember when I first saw that – blew me away.

(Notice I used concur in lieu of agree…thought I’d step my game up a little bit…show off my vocab)