Film:  WALL-E

Studio:    Walt Disney Pictures; Pixar Animation Studios

Director:  Andrew Stanton

Principal Actors:  Ben Burtt (voice); Elissa Knight (voice); Jeff Garlin (voice); Fred Willard
Release:  June 27, 2008
Film length: 103 Minutes
Rating:  G    

Reviewed By:  Deborah Ground Buckner (Kansas City Correspondent - USA) 

Pixar brings a science-fiction triumph to the screen with WALL-E.  With brilliant animation and very little dialogue (almost none in the first half of the film), WALL-E goes farther in entertaining and giving a message than most of the summer's live action offerings.

The year is 2700.  Earth has been abandoned, its population orbiting in a giant spaceship that serves as a cruise into gluttony.  Back on the planet, WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) continues its directive of cleaning up, one compacted load of garbage at a time.  WALL-E is a robot with personality, evidenced by the expression in his headlight eyes, his collection of special items he retrieves from his work, his friendship with a cockroach, and his fascination with a much-watched videotape of Hello,Dolly!  Though dedicated to his work, somehow he senses there is something more out there somewhere, something called love that includes holding hands with another being. 

EVE, a robotic probe from the spaceship arrives on earth.  Like the dove released by Noah, EVE gathers evidence of whether Earth is once again a habitable planet.  WALL-E inadvertently aids in the research and finds himself reaching the spaceship as well.  There, it becomes robots and human captain against a machine reminiscent of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey.  There, the action truly begins in a contest that will affirm the strength of the human spirit and give one pause about shopping at "big box" stores and setting multiple garbage cans at the curb.

Without giving too much away, WALL-E is a reminder of all that is great about Pixar.  It's a love story, a science-fiction fantasy, and an action-adventure film all rolled into one.  The animation is amazing, looking not at all "cartoon"-like, but truly presenting a world in ruins.  For example, a closer shot of skyscrapers reveals they are, in fact, meticulously stacked squares of compacted trash. 

Be sure and get to the theatre in time to see the Pixar short, Presto, the story of a magician with a less-than-cooperative magic rabbit.  Animation continues through the closing credits of the film, too, so keep your seat until the lights come up.