How a robot can appear so cuddly and lovable I'm not entirely sure. Those sad, tear dropped shaped eyes and nimble, toddler-esque movements really tugged at my heart strings. I'd be pretty emo if I was the last active Waste Allocator Load Lifter Earth-Class left on the planet. Even worse, Wall E has feelings ! Having feelings is hard enough as it is in this cold, hard universe.
Wall E learns, through his tasks of sifting through the rubble of humanity, about love and relationships. Most of all he learns that he is lonely.
He is not without a friend, though - Eve (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Examiner). The first scene in which we see human civilization is when Wall E follows her to the Axiom. It is not a very optimistic view of humanity, which is surprising for a Pixar movie. Super obese people float on automated hoverbeds and talk to each other with screens. I have read many reviews of this film that draw parallels between the film's representation of humanity in the future and out current preoccupation with social networking sites like Facebook. The humans in the Axiom are within speaking distance, but still communicate via computers. So many of us are guilty of this even now.
All the humans in the film are pretty useless. The only human on the ship who has any personality, the captain, is still portrayed as a bumbling, unintellegent fool. The robots are the real heros of the film. Wall E is the only who makes other people and other machines start to think differently. He is a visionary, in this sense. While he is a robot, he is presented as superior to the human race. More sentient, more in touch with his emotions, more to offer the world.
Thanks for being so cynical, Disney.
The motif of garbage is obviously a strong one in the film. The landscape is comprised of the leftovers of human life. Even on the Axiom, masses of trash are ejected into outer space. Garbage is synonymous with human life.
This is what the director said about his depiciton of humans in an interview with WorldMag.com ...
"With the human characters I wanted to show that our programming is the routines and habits that distract us to the point that we’re not really making connections to the people next to us. We’re not engaging in relationships, which are the point of living- relationships with God and relationship with other people."
... but the programmed peices of metal are the ones who triumph here. Director Andrew Stanton imparts a cynical view of humanity, but leaves lots of hope for robots. Thereby justifying the very thing he intends to disprove - that robots and machinery will be the downfall of the world. I can appreciate that this film, (not unlike other Pixar films) isn't strictly for kids. It has a complex message that is intended for an intellegent audience.
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