What would happen if the entire earth filled up with trash? Pixar takes a look at this scenario in the release “WALL-E,” a film which has some people up in arms. We’ll take a look at the controversy at the end of the review.WALL-E is a cute little robot somewhat reminiscent of No. 5 from the movie “Short Circuit.” WALL-E is the last of his kind, a mobile trash compactor left on Earth to condense and reduce the trash while all the inhabitants of the planet take an intergalactic cruise. Seven hundred years have gone by since all the people left Earth, and those now living on the ship have no idea what earth life was like.
When the ship sends a probe named Eve to investigate Earth to see if life is now sustainable, WALL-E finds himself smitten with her. Once WALL-E manages to break through her tough exterior, they become friends, and he offers her his most prized possession: a green plant he found growing under the garbage one day. This is the evidence Eve has been looking for, and she takes it back to the ship, WALL-E stowing away.
When the captain sees the plant, he knows the time has come to return to Earth and recolonize, but the ship’s computer has other ideas. Together, WALL-E and Eve help overcome the computer’s programming and return the people to their rightful place.
We enjoyed this film. My sons are all very much into robots and anything technical, and they were glued to the screen the entire time. I’ve spoken with other parents whose children weren’t as entertained, but I think a lot will depend on the interests of your children and their different personality types.
Some people feel that this movie is propaganda put forth by the environmentalists in the hopes of brainwashing our children into recycling. Well, for starters, if the movie did encourage people to recycle more often, what’s so bad about that? It’s hardly a Nazi-regime strategy. Furthermore, you can find an angle in anything, if you look hard enough. I’m sure “Ice Age” was a commentary on global warming and “The Jungle Book” was meant to teach us all how evil it is to own a gun. In fact, if I chose to, I could even take offense at “Horton Hears a Who.” After all, the villainess was a homeschooling mother. I could boycott that film and try to make a whole lot of other homeschooling mothers rise up in rebellion with me. You can take offense at everything, or you can just enjoy the stories for what they are. In my opinion, WALL-E was nothing more than a projection of what some movie makers imagined might happen in the future. As far as I know, it’s not against the law to use your imagination.
This film was rated G.
Trivia Question: What musical does WALL-E watch throughout the movie?
Answer: "Hello, Dolly."
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3 comments:
My 4 and almost 3 year old really liked this movie. My husband enjoyed it too. The first time I watched it, I couldn't keep watching, because it didn't hold my interest.
I watched it with the kids another time, and actually did find it to be quite cute.
The first part is hard to get through for some people... a little slow going. I thought it was a cute movie. Not my favorite by any means, but not too bad either.
This movie is stinkin' awesome.
When the children went to see it I refused to go because I'd heard of the environmental bias and thought it would make me furious and I didn't want to ruin the enjoyment of the film for my children.
When the children went to see it a second time (! That should have told me how good it was) they took their father.
Their father came home and said, "You must see this film." I think this is the only time in our entire 20-year marriage that he has said that. So I went...with grave reservations, but trusting my husband.
Oh my good gracious gravy goodness gosh. Yes, there is an environmentalist message, but ding dang it, this film is CUTE! This film is absolutely brilliant! It's wonderful! It's a must-see.
Our whole family fell in love with it. I think we saw it two or three times IN THE THEATRES - which our family never does because it's so dang expensive. The film is that good.
We bought it, of course, and have since watched it I do not know how many times on DVD. It's fabulous and I highly recommend it.
I love this movie because it can be watched on so many different levels. It can be watched without any message, enjoyed from that childlike point of view. It can also be seen as a warning about what will happen if we treat our planet badly. I don't think it was an agenda so much as a warning, and really, what's so bad about the message of "we should keep our planet clean so we can keep using it"?
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