Wall-E Observations...

Pixar's Feature Films WALL•E
#141

If you’re talking about the scene where [spoil]Eve is racing to the Holo-Detector to save Wall-E and all the rejects bot follow them, then that is one of my most favourite scenes! It’s so heartwarming that the robots tried to support our heroes, and that it’s during one of the most tense (and sad) sequences in the movies, when Wall-E is dying…yet they sing such a joyful song to give the pair hope and push them onward. [/spoil]

[spoil]VAN-GO sounded so cute when he tries to sing the song too. I liked how he continuously painted the ground even after his release, and how he initiated the group chanting and following Wall-E and Eve to the Holo-Detector. He’s one of the more ‘adorable’ reject bots like the allergic VAQ-M. :slight_smile: [/spoil]

#142

Another question: when [spoil]EVE got back the plant (after WALL•E was presumed killed in the explosion in space) when she put the plant back in her storage compartment, why did she not shut down again?[/spoil]

And this is more of an observation than a question, but notice at the beggining of the movie when they first show Earth at the opening titles, half of the Earth is in the light and the other half is in the shade, which sort of makes it look like half of a skull, setting the tone for the film and it’s also representative of the Earth’s state then. You can see it in the trailer. But at the end of the film, [spoil]the Earth’s shade had changed now and the skull image has disappeared, meaning a happier time for Earth is ahead, and as shown by the end credits, things do get better. Just something cool I thought I’d share.[/spoil]

#143

rachel: Hmm, to be honest, I never noticed that, but I will look out for that the next time I watch it. Great catch. :wink:

#144

Rachel- I think it’s because the whole [spoil]shutting down thing is to do with waiting on earth for the space ship to arrive, whilst this time, they were in space. I guess EVE can override that sort of thing, because if she did shut down in space, then she’d be no use to anyone. :laughing: Just a guess, though, I’m not entirely sure. Perhaps the fact that she can override that is also to do with her unique personality? She seems able and willing to do things that other EVE robots might not.[/spoil]

#145

Good observation on the visual metaphor of Earth, Rachel. I need to watch the beginning again to confirm that.

And your explanation sounds plausible, lizardgirl. I always wondered the same too. I liked how [spoil]Eve was totally incapable of doing anything in her first ‘freeze-up’, instead surrendering to her built-in purpose. On the second round, she had a choice (obviously she picked the more ‘selfish’ option without appreciating Wall-E’s sacrifice for her ‘moment of glory’). The third time in the garbage bay, she again was presented with the same command, but finally she saw that Wall-E had been trying to make her happy all along, but she had been ignoring him. Hence, it was an ‘epiphany’ when she realised that Wall-E was far more important than her pre-programmed objective. (The cruel irony was that in order to save Wall-E, she had to follow her original directive and deliver the plant again). :slight_smile: [/spoil]

#146

Also, remember how [spoil]at the beginning EVE flies around Earth, well I finally got the symbolism, because later EVE and WALL•E dance together - EVE has found her dance (and life) partner.[/spoil] So sweet. <3

[spoil]Ha-ha! That gives me a funny mental image of EVE floating around in space shut down. But yeah, as shown by EVE going against her mission, even if just for a few minutes when she first got put on Earth, it shows that, like WALL•E, she has grown to have more of a consciousness and awareness. Maybe this is how she overrode the command the second time. But still, it doesn’t make complete sense to me, but I’ll let it go.[/spoil]

Yeah, but then [spoil]she gave him a hug and kiss afterwards[/spoil], so it made up for her selfishness. ;-p And I’m glad the irony wasn’t lost on you either, as I noticed that, too. Such sweet, sweet irony.

#147

Good point. Wall-E is rife full of signifiers… I feel like doing a film review just on the themes and visual metaphors of Wall-E alone. I hope I’ve got the time to do that this holidays…

#148

Just saw Walle at a 1doller theatre…oh yeah.

Realized how easy the pizza planet truck and A113 are recognizable…Still a great film.

#149

What was with the [spoil]lighter and the importance of fire[/spoil]…? I didn’t fully understand that. My guess would be that [spoil]fire is sometimes used to represent life[/spoil]? But I don’t know…

Also, I think the reason why EVE was so attracted to [spoil]Hello, Dolly on TV[/spoil] is because in the background she could see [spoil]grass and a tree[/spoil], maybe? Or was it because there [spoil]were humans on TV dancing and she didn’t know what they were doing[/spoil]?

And also, I found it really amusing when [spoil]WALL•E went past the typing bot, and then after the typing bot let them through to go see the Captain (or was it the repair ward?) and it was alone again, it looked a little bit perplexed, not really knowing what to do next, thinking to itself about what just happened. Just the fact you can get such expression out of something that has no face and is essentially just a body and arms, is so amazing. Then later it waves at WALL•E - so adorable. And also the typing bot’s computer keyboard only had 1s and 0s on it.[/spoil] :slight_smile:

#150

[spoil]lighter and the importance of fire???[/spoil]…
Well, here goes my explanation…
[spoil] The lighter was used in the credits to illuminate the cave painting of life starting again on Earth, so thats partly right. The credits then show the humans starting a fire, I guess with the lighter, instead of rubbing sticks. But mainly, it was to represent the spark of love. Wall-E is pleased to find out what the shiny lighters he’s been collecting are for, but of course, that’s trivial compared to what they represent.

Lighters are often used in classic war and post-war films to introduce a couple. “Do you have a light?” And the cigarette is often thought of as a phallic symbol.

Fire can be destructive, but also helpful. Remember that Wall-E first talked to Eve next to the inferno. Fire is warming, and it reflects nicely in Wall-E’s eyes when he looks at the flame on the lighter and then looks at Eve.

What Eve saw on the Hello Dolly screen, with Wall-E and with the Captain, was the hand holding which she clearly relates to the lighter. She even looks at it immediately after looking at the hand holding.[/spoil]

#151

I like DarkHandOfSignourneyWeaver’s explanation of the imagery and symbollism. Also, [spoil]I always thought that, in a way, the lighter represents EVE herself- both destructive and helpful depending on the situation and how you look after it.[/spoil]

I love that part too, Rachel, with the [spoil]typing bot that didn’t really know what to do next. The way Pixar manage to create such humanistic qualities in robots is amazing, and I think they were also really trying to emphasize the whole ‘humans need to be taught how to be humans again’ point by making a lot of the robots, even the minor characters, so humanlike.[/spoil]

#152

I always thought of the [spoil]lighter’s flame as a symbol for everlasting hope and renewal.[/spoil] But I like DarkHandofSigourneyWeaver’s interpretation too. :slight_smile:

And yes, I agree with lizardgirl and rachel on the [spoil]typing bot. He/it was one of those whose lives have been changed for the better by Wall-E’s infectious optimism. Wall-E basically went around ‘waking up’ everyone from their techno-induced slumber to reality, and what life has to offer to them beyond menial tasks and wasting their time away. It’s a very powerful message, and inspiring too. I liked how the typing bot puts his skills to planting seeds in the credits.[/spoil]

#153

i loved the typing bot and the learning of saying good-bye.

#154

Thanks for the explanation, DarkHandOfSigourneyWeaver. I had never thought of those points before… I’m still a bit confused as to exactly why [spoil]EVE was drawn to the flame in WALL•E’s home. Just the way she looked at it, made me wonder what it was she was feeling at that time and why. Also, as the rest have said, the flame is also important because it’s one of the ways that WALL•E is at work (rather forlornly, though) and realises that the ship is back to collect EVE because the flame blows out.

I know there must be some kind of a big symbolic meaning to the flame, just because of its focus throughout the film. And EVE is still holding onto the lighter, and the flame when she involuntarily drops it because the directive over-rode her, and then the flame goes out. I wish Andrew Stanton could clear that up for us.

I think the way they make fire in the end credits is by WALL•E using his laser then another robot (PR-T?) using her mirror to point it at the ground, but don’t quote me on that…[/spoil]

lizardgirl - Really great point about how [spoil]the flame can be both destructive and helpful, sometimes essential, to life. Maybe that is what Pixar meant? Yes, quite clever how it takes a robot, which was made by humans, to teach humans how to act like humans again.[/spoil]

thedriveintheatre - Yeah, the end credit sequence is awesome because [spoil]rather than having the robots service the humans for the immediate, and somewhat ignorant needs, the humans and robots are working together for the future needs of the planet and long-term human survival.[/spoil]

Also, I love the [spoil]red circle sequence and how WALL•E first spots it, then just stares at it for a second, then he moves his head to the side a bit like a dog does when something peaks its interest. And also that sound effect that happens then is really cool, too. I’ll never tire of it. And then once WALL•E has “caught” the red circle, he tries to pick it up, but he can’t because it isn’t a physical object, and just his reaction to that is quite cute.[/spoil]

EDIT: [spoil]And did anyone notice that in scene where WALL•E was blasted away aboard the emergency vessel (I forget what they’re called) and he’s pressing all these buttons because he accidentally pressed the self-destruct button? Well, then all of these funny things happen like a parachute goes off, a yellow inflatable thing comes out from underneath, and then the vessel thing spins? Well, when the camera goes back to WALL•E inside it, the camera angle spins a little bit, too. You may have to wait until you see it on DVD to spot it, but it’s a really cool effect. At first I didn’t know if it was my mind playing tricks on me, but then I saw the movie again and low and behold it happened again.[/spoil]

#155

Yes, your right I think about Wall-E being the one who starts the campfire. Pixar found many uses for fire in this movie: utility, destructiveness, love.

Someone else on either this forum or a reviewer noted that Eve looked kinda forlorn or sad [spoil]after all those ships keeled over and the last one blew up. She had just gone thru perhaps the 700th failure to achieve her directive. She looked quite angry exploring all those covered places where a plant might be growing in that hostile environment. Was that in her programming to be so defensive? After she destroyed the ships, she might have been undergoing self-examination, perhaps self-pity.

The length of time both Wall-E and Eve looked at that lighter - it sure meant something important. You make good observations RachelCakes about the flame being blown out by the ship. I had always thought it just signaled that something was amiss, to get Wall-E’s attention. But it meant too that the Spark of Love was being blown out by circumstances. Also, the directive caused Eve to drop the lighter and snuff the flame out then too.[/spoil] I don’t think there is much of a mystery here.

Robots have been shown to teach us our humanity, again, in a number of recent movies, including films that Robin Williams and Sigourney Weaver have appeared in. Remember the Aliens movie where she encounters an android who is the only caring ‘person’ she meets. In fact Riley figures out that she is an android because of this human trait.

RachelCakes: [spoil] I saw that the self-destruct mechanism came on with 20 seconds left to go when Wall-E pushed the big red button. He then pushes it several times to deactivate. But I’ve always wondered whether the self-destruct was programmed into the escape pod by GO-4. After all, no matter how many buttons Wall-E pushed, the ship wouldn’t turn around.[/spoil] There is another theory, fanatically clung to by some, that this scene was being manipulated by the dark hand of Sigourney Weaver, herself! Think about that. She was the voice of the computer in the Escape Pod, wasn’t she? Um-hum.

#156

2 good points

[spoiler]I’m pretty sure that. when eve is looking for the plant in the beginning of the movie, and when she slams the door of the toilet in frustration, she says the f word. Don’t rant, I loved this movie but I’m telling you what I heard.

I have another one too, I think the flame meant love. When EVE kept seeing the plant, the first time she dropped Wall-E “love” (the lighter, duh) for her because she was still just a robot and Wall-E has barely influenced her yet, her directive was still her most important thing in life. The second time, in space, when eve saw the plant, she almost got crazy again, but she realized it was thanks to Wall-E and showed her appreciation (that part was heart warming :smiley: ). The third time, in the garbage dumps, she completely let go of her directive due to Wall-E’s love, showing that she evolved because of him. [/spoiler]

#157

DarkHandOfSigourneyWeaver - I would really like to know why [spoil]WALL•E developed a sensitive, inquisitive personality, yet EVE developed a somewhat guarded one. I guess, like you said, it was because of her frustration out of failing so many times, perhaps even 700 times. Would the same EVE have gone on an annual mission to Earth, or would they have rotated the EVEs around, do you think?[/spoil]

Well, if you say that [spoil]fire represents love, particularly the lighter[/spoil], then at least that gives me something to work from, in figuring out the meaning there, thanks.

Ha-ha! So that’s the story behind your username. =) You know, now that you bring it up, after the first couple of times I saw the movie, something seemed amiss in that [spoil]escape pod scene - I never actually saw WALL•E press the self destruct button, and couldn’t figure out who pressed it. I don’t think Sigourney Weaver made it self destruct, though, but we can agree to disagree on that. Maybe it was GO-4 that pre-programmed it to self-destruct, yeah. Why would he have wanted to send the plant back to Earth? He didn’t want the plant, or any traces of it on the ship so that’s why he wanted it outside of the ship, and maybe he intended for it to be blown up in space, and not be sent back to Earth at all.[/spoil]

Also, someone I saw the movie with would like to know: [spoil]how did WALL•E get out of the escape pod in time before it blew up? My personal theory is that he banged the fire extinguisher against the door in vain, then when the camera wasn’t on him any more, he opened the door, then turned into a cube (maybe) then the force of the explosion blasted him away.[/spoil]

coolio2654 - It sounded like she was cursing/swearing? I didn’t pick that up at all… It sounds to me like she’s say ‘BAAAH’ or ‘AHHH’ at that moment. Sorry, I don’t hear an ‘F’ in front of it. But I love those noises of frustration by EVE there, ‘WEEEW!’ :slight_smile:

Really good interpretation of the [spoil]lighter = love, too. Yeah, I think she dropped the lighter the first time because her directive was more important than something like love, and the other times she over-rode her directive, so she could thank WALL•E, maybe? Good work.[/spoil]

#158

Rachel- In concerns to your question about [spoil]how WALL-E managed to get out of the escape pod in time, let’s be honest, he’s pretty much invicible, isn’t he? :laughing: He seems to get out of every scrape imaginable without much harm.

But seriously, I agree with your theory about him managing to open the door before the explosion, otherwise he really would’ve been blown up. My question is: why have a self destruct button in the escape pod anyway? In what situation would you want to blow up the thing between you and the infinity of space? :laughing:[/spoil]

#159

Somewhere else people talked about the 5 EVE’s, and it was agreed upon that all of them had been deposited on earth every year. Why else would you remove all of them from the ship? Have each examined for cleaning? Have each examined for the green symbol thingee. Someone guessed there was one EVE per continent.

[spoil]Self-Destruct: Wall-E may have pressed this, or his pressing of that button may have prompted the computer to give more information about what was going to happen. Wall-E sure does get into a lot of trouble, such as when he grabbed EVE’s detached arm.

We talked elsewhere in some thread about how Wall-e got out of the space pod before it blew up. Perhaps he banged the extinguisher hard on the glass. Maybe he used his laser to open the door hinge. Any hole in to a near vacuum might cause such a rush of air as to tear a bigger hole or cause the door to fail. This has happened in airliner cargo doors. The ‘cube theory’ is a good one too. LizardGirl mentions that he can get out of any fix, and this is his preferred method. We just can’t say how he got out ‘alive’.

Yeah, I think that GO-4 and Auto did not want the plant back on earth to cause problems in future missions. It either had to be blown up or sent astray. Since Wall-E couldn’t change the direction of the pod, I’m suspecting that certain things about his journey were pre-programmed, as you say.

The more I think about what you are saying, RachelCakes1985, the more I’m convinced when Wall-E made his last cube he was questioning his directive. He put down the last cube and pulled out the lighter from its little slot (the makers specially built this slot into him). Then he flicked on the lighter, which was now more important to him than his unrewarding work.[/spoil]

I wonder what happened to the lighter?
EDIT: Whoa! Just watch the dvd deleted scene on disk1!

#160

[spoil]About the self destruct thing: I recall WALL•E pressing the self destruct button after “20 seconds to self destruct” is said. He presses it to try to turn it off, unfortunately that doesn’t work and…[/spoil]