I got this idea from a thread on IMDb, but basically you have to report here what the theatre experience was like when you went to see WALL•E. We all know what us Pixar fans would think of the film, but what about others at your showing? So just post what showing you went to (time and place if you want), how crowded the theatre was, audience reaction, did they stand up and applaud at the end? etc etc
Rachelcakes1985, you’re on a roll for creating some great threads!
I don’t know what the crowd will be like, as I’m not seeing the film for another 21 hours (Even though the midnight showing is in an hour and a half). Expect me to be cheering loudly and applauding at every single moment of the film. I CAN’T WAIT!!!
In White Plains, NY there were about 10 people in the theater I was in. But, they were showing it on 3 different screens and I went to the latest of the showings. So, there were probably more in the earlier ones. I was the only person who stayed to watch the credits. Everyone else left immediately after it ended.
North of Dallas, TX, there’s a town called Denton. And south of Denton, TX, there’s some other town like Lewisville or something (I’m new around here), which houses RAVE - a really sweet digital projection theater - the picture is spectacular.
And it packed 257 room, not selling out by just several seats (front two rows were empty)… The location of the theater was is exactly the best either, but the crowd was big, diverse, and very much in approval of the film.
There was no applause at the end, though there was one guy sitting in front of us that really wanted to clap several times during the movie. While generally being quite a killjoy about such things, I fully support this man in this case.
I do not support two girls that sat behind us that felt that every moment where things weren’t said on the screen were cues for them to begin discussion of the movie. If it wasn’t for my wife and friend, I’d been, let’s just say, less pleasant.
I’m going to have to figure out when I’m going to see it again, though.
Midnight screening, Southern California. I figured… why not?
Average size theatre was over 3/4ths filled – at midnight. Also, there were quite a few cinemas doing midnight screenings of Wall-E within a 30 minute drive, so that’s really promising. Audience was almost all 20-somethings, very enthusiastic. Two totally different groups of people (maybe 6 or so total) came dressed up as Wall-E… one group in large cardboard boxes, the other group in like boxes, but covered with tinfoil or turned silver color. They let us in 30 mins early, and even had a beach ball bouncing around the theatre beforehand (three in all, as each eventually got taken by employees). No kids. Great response from audience. Yay.
PS: unrelated to Wall-E, but someone in the projection booth screwed up when assembling the film (or digital) for the “Bolt” preview (once all the local ads and previews the movie theatre tacks on are done, the reels sent from Disney start with a trailer for “Bolt”, the Pixar short “Presto” and then go on to Wall-E). Well, someone completely screwed up with the “Bolt” trailer (thankfully not with the other stuff). It was project completely backwards – in all ways! It was upside down, it was inside out, and it was literally backwards – starting at the end and going back to the beginning. The sound was played backwards too. Hearing that and seeing everything backwards, upside down and invertedl, everyone was laughing their head off. Never seen that happen before!
This is a good idea for a thread, Rachelcakes. Going to see a new Pixar film is one thing, but seeing a new Pixar film with a large audience that is really enjoying the movie is something else. And I’ll definitely encourage some applause at the end of WALL-E when I see it- Pixar’s amazingness should be a appreciated.
miafka- That sounds hilarious! It must’ve been so strange seeing that happen, though; cinemas tend to create an illusion that no mistakes can be made, but when something goes wrong behind the scenes, it’s always funny (or sometimes annoying).
It was early in the morning, yet there were still lots of people. My only complaint, a little chatter and a brief moment of baby crying. It was very enjoyable and digital. ;D As the random guy next to me said: “Pixar does it again!”
Went at 1pm today and I’m surprised that the theatre wasn’t too full. Not too many kids, either.
Good news was that there wasn’t any distractions from the kids. They were quite throughout the movie and even some people clapped at the end.
And by the way, I’m with you Stormsurge. I was one of the only people to stay and watch the credits.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I also stayed for the credits, i was the only one besides the movie critic right next to me (he had a clip board). They were extremely creative, so stay. Yes, even after the Pixar logo passes. 
Midnight screening in Orange County, California:
There were three screenings for the movie and the one I went to was nearly completely full. The midnight crowd was a lot of teenagers and animation geeks. 
Pretty predictable.
Memphis, TN 1pm. Maybe 1/3 full, but there were very, if any, audience interruptions. Surprising number of people stayed the entire credits.
Another wonderful idea, rachel! 
Time/Date/Location: 3:50 - 6/27/08 - Southern California, USA
Review:
My sister and I arrived at the theater approximately thirty minutes before the screening, along with no one else at the time. It was obvious that we were one of the few – if not the only – Pixar “geeks” in the vicinity, but that didn’t deter us from the ticket booths.
One minute, two minutes, ten minutes passed… until we finally couldn’t bare the tension any longer and rushed into the theater, spirits skyrocketing and water bottles sloshing in our hands. We opened the doors and walked into the cinema.
Once seated, we noticed that the advertisements displayed upon the screen were not formatted in their usual letterbox format. Concern arose as attendants began pouring into empty armchairs all around us – surely the film had not been tampered with? There was no way on this earth that I was to watch WALL-E in full screen mode. However, concern was not an emotion to be wasted at that moment, for then the trailers began to run in their standard, letterbox form. Thank goodness…
Naturally, Presto, Pixar’s newest animated short film, topped all of the trailers that were shown prior to it. The humor resembled that of those in aged Bugs Bunny cartoons; the animation was superb, as always; the character designs were appealing; and the sets and backgrounds were eye-catching and tasteful. As it has now earned its place in line as my second favorite Pixar featurette, I shall give it a nine out of ten (9/10) stars.
And then… Well, what can I say? There are no words to describe this film at the moment, because there were no words in that film to describe it. If images, music, and emotions are all you need to drive a dance… then so be it, and by golly it works like a charm in this magnificent production. I would not describe WALL-E as a movie. I would not describe it as an art form. I would describe it… as a dance.
The tears that I cried at the end of the film were all the words I needed to say. Even applause was absent at the completion of its run; I’m not sure if this was the fault of the audience… or of the film – if the viewers present were either unsympathetic… or if they simply were in a pleasant state of wonder and shock. Either way, my sister and I were the ones to start the ripple of clapping hands, but we really didn’t care at that point whether or not the people around us loved it or hated it. All we cared about was… smiling. Smiling 'til the end of time…
What was the audience’s reaction? Truth be told, they seemed to me to be one of the “mildest” crowds I’ve ever watched a movie with. They laughed during all the right moments, and some of the kids present were practically standing up in their seats in enchantment, but other than that we were all pretty quite. I can understand their overall impression of the film. Undoubtedly, this has to be one of the most melodramatic and bittersweet recipes that Pixar Animation Studios has ever created. I am… speechless. I really am speechless… I still feeling like crying right now…
I feel as if a piece of my childhood has found its way back into my heart after all these years. I don’t even know what that piece truly is… or what it looks like, smells like, or tastes like. All I know is that it is lovely… beautiful… romantic… entrancing… WALL-E…
Heh. I’m sorry, guys. I’m getting all gushy here. (snigger) <img src=“{SMILIES_PATH}/love2.gif” alt=“:loves:” title="In
Love" />
But, yes, it was wonderful. The credits; the film; the characters; the visuals… Simply… wonderful.
Oh, and 98% of the audience didn’t stay for the credits. (heh)
– Mitch
Decent-sized theatre on Long Island.
A lot of kids were walking in when we got there and there was even one wearing a Wall-E shirt. I heard a few kids say “WAAALL-E” a few times and was glad to see people excited to see the film.
The theatre was packed by the time we got there, but we decided to sit in the very front, where there seemed to be no people to bug us, but some parents and kids then sat behind us.
Everyone was pretty good and quiet, except for laughing of course. There was this one kid sitting right behind us that said “WALL-E!!” every two minutes for the first part of the film, along with a few "EVE!!"s in there.
I was also getting kicked in the back of my seat for some of the film, but it was okay I guess.
And luckily, the group I was with behaved and was pretty quiet throughout the film.
Most of the people left for the credits, but we stayed through it all.
At the end, us and a few other people applauded.
Overall it was an okay crowd.
Also, one of my friends brought a cardboard box with a robot face drawn on it that said ‘robot.’ They didn’t let him wear it in the theatre though. 
Beach balls, people in costume, no kids, wow! I hope I get to go to a midnight screening of WALL•E! It’s good to know that you guys are staying till the end of the credits, and from the sounds of things people are really enjoying the movie. Loved reading all of your theatre experiences, guys.
miafka - That sounds really funny! At least they didn’t run the movie backwards, too! Eeek.
Well, I went on opening night.My family and I went to the 11:15 PM showing. It was really, really late for the kids to be watching at this time. With that said, only teens to adults were up watching it. Still, THe theatre was really packed. If I am not mistaken, all but one row of the theatre was filled. Anyways, people seemed to really like Presto. It got a lot of laughs. When we got to the movie, you get a whole mix. SOme were falling asleep, some were so into the movie. You got some really good laughs, but not real powerhouse laughs. I believe only two people were really going “awwww” thoughout the entire movie. Funny that they happend to be sitting next to me. In the end, you got a few claps here and then, but some just wanted to get out of the theatre and go to bed.
The Aintitcool News screening was pretty good. Minor chattering by some little ones (not a whole lot there). Though I’d say our reaction to Presto was bigger than when I saw Wall-E at 7:00pm Friday (Though seeing Presto for the first time, I was going nuts with laughter).
The 7:00pm showing, there were some ‘aww’s’ in the audience. Though no real laugh-out-loud moments.
[spoil]Near the end when Wall-E is getting crushed by the machine that is supposed to take the plant, one child a few rows up started crying hard, and their Dad took them out of the theater[/spoil]
Though strange enough: no applause at the end of the 7pm film showing. Of course, the AICN showing we applauded like mad.
I saw it opening day at a 7:05PM showing in San Francisco.
Thankfully, although it wasn’t digital, I got the large 400+ seats theater. Sporting my The Incredibles t-shirt and four of my Disney/Pixar pins, I went with two of my closest friends and my sister and got a seat. As a Pixar geek, I couldn’t help myself but to talk wildly about how much I loved WALL-E before the showing, and that got a few stares from people sitting around me. But thankfully, during the film the 2nd biggest Pixar fans must have been sitting next to me. They were geeking out as much as I was, cracking up at every single joke and chattering amongst themselves about how much they love the film. I’d say the rest of the crowd was families and adults. There was one kid who must have been shouting several times out loud to the whole theater, "Lookie, Mommy, there’s WALL-E!!!’ One of those times the audience got a good laugh at that. At the end I heard a quiet clap but I clapped as much as I could which got the rest of the audience clapping, too.
Simply one of the most memorable movie experiences I’ve ever had.
It wasen’t that packed there, most of the kids were well behaved. A baby started bawling during the movie but the parents took it out, thank goodness. The worst was the people who sat in front of me. They kept standing up and talking constantly. The one guy stood for about five minutes right in front of my veiw.
I had the best crowd ever. They laughed a lot, but shut up when they were supposed to.
[spoil]And when EVE did the little sparky kiss thing to WALL-E in the space scene, everybody cheered. XD[/spoil]
I went to see WALL-E opening day yesterday at a 1:15pm showing… So as I got inside, I was bombarded with a large line of people waiting to get inside the screening of WALL-E also… I was like, “Wow! Hope I get a good seat!”
Luckily I did.
Now the actual reactions with the whole audience with the movie… There was tons of moments where people are laughing, or getting a smile on their faces. Also moments where everyone just wanted to go “Awww” to the poor little guy.
By the end of the film, most people seemed pretty silent. I don’t think that was a bad thing - because WALL-E is indeed an emotional film, that isn’t supposed to be taken like you just saw the most epic action flick ever.
I was very pleased with WALL-E, and so were the people in my group. We all loved it and fell in love with it!
WALL-E is definitely a masterpiece, and I just hope the minority don’t overlook this gem because of the message the film gives about commercialized consumerism, and how it can affect us.