Wall-E

Wall-E, released by Disney/Pixar in 2008 is the tale of a robot that is designed to clean up the earth after humans irreversibly screwed up the environment. Wall-E has somehow outlasted his fellow robots and, over time, developed emotions, curiosity and a love of musicals (specifically, “Hello, Dolly!”) Each day as Wall-E goes out and follows his pre-programmed “directives” he brings along an Igloo-Playmate Cooler and uses it to collect items that he finds either intriguing (a Zippo Lighter) or potentially useful (extra parts for his own maintenance).

Along the way, Wall-E meets the Robot/Girl of his dreams, Eve; while at the same time uncovers the first link toward helping to save the earth. The movie is filled with messages about compassion, environmental responsibility and other deep things.

I decided to buy the DVD and make it part of Spicy Girl’s small DVD library, knowing full well that it was going to be a stretch for a toddler. But the screening couldn’t have gone better.

The beauty of Wall-E as a film for the toddler set is that it doesn’t have a great deal of dialogue. This allows Mommy or Daddy an opportunity to help the child along with some self-propelled narration. “See, Wall-E is cleaning up.” “Yes, the people made a big mess, that’s why we do what we can not to make a mess.” “Eve loves Wall-E.” “Wall-E is helping.” And so on.

As we watched and talked it through, Spicy Girl got increasingly engaged and concerned about Wall-E and the eventual outcome of the story. The running time of 1 hour and 37 minutes, Spicy Girl was able to sit through it with limited fidgeting. The writing and animation are typically Pixar Fabulous, and this allowed the adults in the room to become equally engaged in the film—having a chuckle or two at the adult humor laced throughout (my favorite is that when Wall-E charges back up and reboots, he makes the sound of an Apple Macintosh starting up).

Overall, Wall-E shows how a well-written story can engage people of every age. And, as a friend has said, “How Broadway musicals will save the world”.