Pixar Expands the Medium with Wall-E
Posted by Nirav | Filed under Movies
I didn’t like Cars. I really didn’t. I don’t know why—perhaps it was for a younger audience—but it just didn’t click with me.
I also wasn’t the hugest fan of Ratatouille. It wasn’t horrible, and it had its funny moments, but why was there a floating ghost of a dead chef? The story seemed a bit sub-par and predictable.
I was afraid for a couple years that Pixar had lost its magic. Would we remember Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles as Pixar’s wonder years? Would their movies become childish like Cars or disjointed like Ratatouille?
I guess not. Because I absolutely loved Wall-E. So as not to spoil it, I’ll say that it’s simply an excellently crafted work of art. The fact that something like the entire first half of the movie is totally without people or words at all, and only has the adorable, gorgeously animated title character (and perhaps a couple more), and still works so well on both the entertainment and story levels is a testament to how Pixar is maturing well as a studio.
That brings up another point: this is really an animation movie, not a graphics movie like Ratatouille (see “fur shading”). There’s nothing in Wall-E that hasn’t been done before, graphics-wise. Robots are, in fact, easier to render and animate than anything else. But the level of care and detail put into animating Wall-E and EVA really shows when they don’t just feel like human personae shoehorned into a metal body, but shine as characters that arise naturally from the robot’s build and purpose.
If you haven’t seen it yet (or are seeing it again) and want to keep an eye out for easter eggs, Peter Sciretta has a post on slashfilm (/film?) about the small homages and inside jokes that Pixar inserts in to all of their films; Peter profiles the ones in Wall-E. Spoiler warning, though.
Thanks, Pixar. I can’t wait to see where you go next.