1161 WALL•E

[Antoine Doinel]

Here's Burn-E the short that is being included on the Wall-E DVD. There are spoilers for those who haven't yet seen the film.

[Tom Hagen]

Nice to see Pixar pack another great 2001 homage into that short. That really made me smile.

[Grand Illusion]

Just finished watching this on DVD, and while I should let it settle, it's a very clear contender for the best film of the year.

[knives]

Definitely, this, DK, Synechdoche, NY, and Boy A are really the only standouts for me so far this year.

[swo17]

A friend of mine brought over the single-disc DVD of this the other day, and the packaging was just awful. Obviously they were going for something green and futuristic looking, in keeping with the film, but it's really just a thin cardboard slot that holds the disc in. Does anyone have the 3-disc set, or the Blu-ray, that can describing the packaging for those?

[Narshty]

The opening 30 minutes of this, as well as the journey through space and the fire extinguisher ballet, were simply transcendent. More than once it had me on the verge of tears simply for being so wonderful. There were so many images thrown up that had never occurred to me before. I'm not going to use the word 'masterpiece', but I will contend that 'visionary' is not inappropriate - Wall-E trying to dance along to Hello, Dolly! improvising a hubcap for a hat to impress EVE would be nightmarishly embarrassing in any other context, but here it's completely heartbreaking and genuinely poetic. This has to be the all-time greatest example of footage being used from an earlier film.

(Once Pixar's now-familiar high voltage chase finale turned up it became less special, but it's still gratifying to see a proper story with a real structure.)

[exte]

it's still gratifying to see a proper story with a real structure.)

Explain that. I'm real curious to hear more...

[Narshty]

Is that a way of saying you thought there was no story to tell? It's hardly an epic plot, but the way things were revealed (Wall-E trundling around, activating "exposition" holograms) was pleasing in and of itself. The fact the last 30 minutes was executed with enough leisurely moments for character interludes was like seeing an endangered species. I thought it was a very confidently told story, all the more so for the eccentricity of its construction.

[exte]

No I wasn't being sarcastic. I'm totally into structure and I thought the first thirty minutes were perfect and loved how it literally skyrocketed into the second act. I thought Act three was a bit weird, not very typically structured. And just thinking about the movie in general, I'm surprised they never offered a new solution on how humans 700 years later deal with garbage. If anything, they throw it far out into space. Not very sci-fi... What then are they going to do with all that garbage at home? Anyway, I'm pleased all in all.

[Tom Hagen]

The 3-disc packaging is the same absurdity times x 3.

[Grand Illusion]

Structurally I thought it was interesting

SpoilerShow

that the protagonist basically takes a secondary role to EVE's actions in the third act. It worked for me though, probably due to the little moments where WALL-E saves the day, like holding up the plant storage device.

[swo17]

Structurally I thought it was interesting

SpoilerShow

that the protagonist basically takes a secondary role to EVE's actions in the third act. It worked for me though, probably due to the little moments where WALL-E saves the day, like holding up the plant storage device.

I watched the deleted scenes the other day, in which Stanton revealed that

SpoilerShow

it was actually going to be the other way around originally (i.e. EVE gets hurt badly and WALL-E has to save the day, and her.) He said it came to him during a test screening, that EVE needed to realize her new "directive" and that she needed to take on the role that she did in the end for their love story to work like it does. Personally, I think this is a great strength of the film, as it makes EVE a stronger character, and shows that they both had to fight to be together, as opposed to the cliche of just rewarding the hero with the girl in the end.

The 3-disc packaging is the same absurdity times x 3.

I won't hold out much hope for the Blu-ray packaging then. Though they say they are supposed to be more scratch resistant...

[brendanjc]

I have the 3-disc Blu-ray version, it comes in blue plastic case similar to all the standard ones, except it's twice as wide to accomodate all 3 discs and has a cardboard slipcover like the other Pixar Blu-ray releases. It's similar to the Blade Runner packaging, I had no issues with it.

[Tom Hagen]

Random observation: though this is still my favorite film of 2008, the presence of a four-year-old in my home and the resulting ubiquity of all things WALL·E is considerably damping my continued enthusiasm.

[exte]

Creative Screenwriting Magazine interviews co-writer/director Andrew Stanton about Wall-E

[hearthesilence]

I watched the deleted scenes the other day, in which Stanton revealed that

SpoilerShow

it was actually going to be the other way around originally (i.e. EVE gets hurt badly and WALL-E has to save the day, and her.) He said it came to him during a test screening, that EVE needed to realize her new "directive" and that she needed to take on the role that she did in the end for their love story to work like it does. Personally, I think this is a great strength of the film, as it makes EVE a stronger character, and shows that they both had to fight to be together, as opposed to the cliche of just rewarding the hero with the girl in the end.

I didn't see the actual deleted scene until now. (It's also here for those who don't have the DVD or BD.)

It was surprising to see what's more or less a finished, fully-animated deleted scene, and it's also a credit to PIXAR's thoroughness that some of the minor elements of the scene work much better in the original context (Wall-E's resemblance to the giant Wall-A's which sets up their interaction, Wall-E's formal introduction to M-O.) But ultimately they take a backseat to the main point of the scene, and making the switch is a significant improvement, one that grows substantially given the way it impacts the rest of the film.

[Ribs]

Joining the Collection this November

[hearthesilence]

holy shit, a Disney film has joined the collection

[Never Cursed]

I mean, I understand why Criterion would do this, but what does Disney get out of it?

[Blutarsky]

While Wall-E is definitely on my top choices of Pixar movies to deserve a Criterion release (here is hoping for Monsters Inc. in the future), the Instagram release noted their “first collaboration.” Hoping this means we will get more classic Pixar films, as well as Disney films from their golden age (Fantasia being at the top of my list).

[swo17]

No Presto?

[cdnchris]

I got this e-mail and thought someone messed up something. Love this one, but odd it's out of nowhere. I wonder if Criterion was trying to work out something for Fox titles and Disney is seeing how releasing titles through them works out. And the e-mail it was the "first" in a way that suggested more.

[onedimension]

I like Pixar movies, but a Criterion Wall-E's a little cringe. Miyazaki, Snow White, Fantasia is probably as far as I'd go.. maybe Dumbo. The brands are very different. Are they going to add a Criterion ride to Disney World

[The Masked Marvel]

While Wall-E is definitely on my top choices of Pixar movies to deserve a Criterion release (here is hoping for Monsters Inc. in the future), the Instagram release noted their “first collaboration.” Hoping this means we will get more classic Pixar films, as well as Disney films from their golden age (Fantasia being at the top of my list).

Crossing my fingers for future collections of Oswald/Mickey/Silly Symphonies shorts. No idea as to their status when it comes to restoration, though.

Does this mean we might see The Straight Story eventually?

[captveg]

I mean, I understand why Criterion would do this, but what does Disney get out of it?

Some $$ for a catalog title on a medium (physical discs) they no longer care for all that much.