I’ll spare you what you already know about how great the Wall-E movie and how its strong theme is about the ravages of commercialism. I wanted to talk about the secondary theme in Wall-E, the thread of symbolism that enriches what seems like simple story-telling fabric. Forget the “hypocrisy” that one (of the very few) soulless critics pointed out about the commercial viability of the slickly designed cast against the wholesome message. That critic has forgotten his job is to review movies, not corporate greed, unless he’d prefer the movie to NOT have its message and JUST be a vehicle for Disney’s marketing.
SPOILERS!!!
No, that’s not what interests me. Wall-E is a masterpiece because of the maturity of its symbolism, which Pixar has evolved in this movie to transcend dialogue and plot. Consider Wall-E and EVE’s shapes. As if her name wasn’t allegorical enough, EVE has the organic oval form of a seed, and with her arms open, a likeness to the green sprout icon on her chest. Her free-spirit and pure colors, her passion, humor, and angers represent the vivacity of life.
Wall-E, on the other hand, is square. He represents functionality. He compresses trash into building blocks, and he is the color and dirtiness of a worker, a “foreign contaminant” to Axiom’s ship of leisure. Over his life, he develops curiosity and a yearning for love, but must teach himself their nuances even as he fearfully reaches for EVE’s hand.
The two together give us the secondary theme in Wall-E, that life without function is merely survival. The captain realizes this is not what he wants for his people. In this tale, it is life that has forgotten function, and it’s no surprise that the functional robots of the ship seem to have more life than its passengers. Therefore, the return to Earth represents the reunion of life and its functional purpose. Like the ship’s definition of dance, both movement and rhythm are required.
It makes perfect sense, then, that when EVE revives Wall-E, it wasn’t enough for him to be fixed. The damaged Wall-e, reverting back to pure function, is as lifeless as the passengers and their “directive”-less existences. He’s a Wall-e, not the Wall-e, until EVE and Wall-e hold hands, joining the two things they represent together. Then he remembers, like the passengers remembering Earth, and becomes whole again. The plant in the boot too represents the union of life and function, but the boot is also a metaphor for Wall-E’s travels. Life is found, nurtured, not had, pre-packaged.
This movie knocked my socks off, and it wasn’t just the various aspects of storytelling or animation or CGI rendering that did it. In fact, I found several moments to be imperfectly written and directed. Even so, somehow Pixar can give us a predictable story and really have us empathize with things we take for granted, as their movies always do. The metaphor of teaching each other to dance really sells the reference at the film’s end, recalling the final line from Wall-e’s favorite film Hello Dolly:
“Money is like manure. It’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread about, encouraging young things to grow.”
Crispy writes:
A great review of a great film! I loved the film and will see it again soon. The first 30 minutes of the movie where unbelievable.
Anonymous writes:
Though several scenes involving the captain were cringe-worthy, I think it's worth a solid 7.5/10, if not more – my second viewing will probably result in a higher score.
Patrick writes:
nice review, I didn't pick up on that, but it makes a lot of sense. I should also point out that the critics who bitch about hypocrisy should realize that it's not completely condemning commercialism, it's just pointing out that we shouldn't let it run our lives and we should take notice of the more fulfilling things around us.
Anonymous writes:
I agree fully with Patrick. I never thought of WALL-E as a "green" movie or anti-commercialism film but as more of a movie against ignorance, which is rising alarmingly.
Anonymous writes:
I just want to say 'Bravo' to Pixar for somehow pulling a film off that absolutely took my breathe away at some mindblowing visuals; creating robotic characters who conveyed more emotion than most humans, using only limited facial expressions and a word or two; and driving a sobering message home. Making a statement about the beating the enviroment is taking, and our role in it, is one thing. But saying it in a way that is totally on par with people of all ages, and with such elegance and honesty, is another. Thank you, Pixar, for inspiring and not simply entertaining. Excellent work.:)
Anonymous writes:
personally, i hated the movie.
I thought it sucked, was uninteresting, and kinda depressing. I was very disappointed in it.
Anonymous writes:
….although, it did make me want to recycle
Anonymous writes:
did anyone see the hidden symbolism that eve was? a fertilized egg? and then the captain read postive as though pregnant?
WALL-E was an excellent film and you've certainly 'reviewed' it in some depth…
The teaser trailer for Pixar's new film 'UP' has recently been released – I've posted it on my blog. Hopefully you'll like that too!
Anonymous writes:
I'm surfing the web to find comments on the object of my essay: Wall-E. Very interesting swing you've given to the interpretation of the symbolism in this movie. I'll add it to my movie analysis!
Anonymous writes:
wow I loved this review. Thank you!
Kathy writes:
Loved the movie and your review. Thanks!
Anónimo writes:
I'm looking for some information about this movie because I have to write an essay about it. we're being asked to work out the symbols and true meaning of the story, I find your review very interesting. Few people realize these kind of things, like eve's pregnancy, the way she keeps life inside her stomach and the shape of an egg or a seed like you marked. Nice one!
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