WALL•E

2008, Pixar

Animated

Rating: G

Approx. 98 mins

THE STORY:

In this half-silent sci fi romance, Earth is a post-apocalyptic wasteland inhabited solely by WALL.E, a trash compacting robot who longs for a hand to hold. His loneliness abates when EVE, a robot probe, arrives. The two are just beginning to get to know each other when EVE discovers a plant and disappears back into space with it.   

WALL.E follows EVE to the giant ship where the human race has been living for 700 years. Humans have become completely reliant on technology, completely inactive and completely cut off from each other. 

The plant proves that Earth is able to sustain life, and a battle ensues between the humans, who want to return, and the robots, who don’t. Ultimately, WALL.E and EVE save the plant, re-settle Earth and establish a deep friendship.

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE: 

• stupid

VIOLENCE: 

• robot on robot combat, which makes it hard to conceive of as true violence

TEACHING POINTS:

• Respect for Earth as a finite resource
• True friendship is shown through actions rather than words

THE UPSHOT:

I was surprised how invested I became in the relationship between the two central robots. The emotional climax between two animated, automated, practically non-verbal characters, was genuinely touching.

In the same way, the scenarios depicted in the film are extreme, but that doesn’t make them any less plausible. 

As much as I enjoyed WALL.E, the story and themes are far too complex for young kids. Even the very few words WALL-E and EVE utter are highly technical—e.g. “directive”—and hard to distinguish due to their robotic delivery. Definitely better suited to older kids and to adults. 

 4/5