There is another conflict: Man vs. Society
To
me, that’s the one that this robot faces. He looks vulnerable and exploitated by other robots.
Recently there was a miniseries type thing called "Nightmares and
Dreamscapes" inspired/based off the books of Stephen King. I think there were 8 stories, each an hour long.
The first one was called Battleground and it was about a bunch of toys who attack this man who murdered the owner
of the toy company. It was directed by Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson, and it was notable for being
dialogue-free. It was effective and well done.
Dialogue-free boring?? Gah!
My ears!
There’s nothing wrong with movies being dialogue-free - heck, ALL films were totally silent for
the first 30 years of movies, yet they still managed to tell a story and keep people interested. I mean, when
I’m watching Fantasia, I’m not saying to myself, “This is boring! When are they gonna start talking?”
I’m too busy paying attention to the stories and characters to worry about that.
Y’all are jaded
whipper-snappers, y’are. 
Meg - Thank you, Meg – thank you!
See, this is what I was trying to tell
you all. The point is not whether or not there is dialogue in the film, but if the
story is well-developed and beautifully crafted. Characters can be engaging and the
settings intriguing even if no one talks in the film at all. It’s the heart of the movie and the plot-line that
counts.
The thing with Fantasia is it is a collection of many
animated shorts. This one is one long animated film. And besides, we live in an era where sound, dialouge, and
music all work together in harmony to compose a masterpiece for the ear and mind of a human.
I don’
t know about you guys but I really liked Knick Knack, the short before Finding Nemo and that didn’t have
dialouge, but again it was a short and not a full length film. Actually now that I think of it, most of the
Pixar shorts didn’t have dialouge, except for “Mike’s New Car” and "Jack Jack Attack, and
Boundin’" making me think they could pull it off.
ok -
I’ll admit I only skimmed posts here so forgive me if I offer ideas already offered without propper
credit.
I like the idea of WAL-E being a Mars Rover type robot. It fits his look and the landscape we see
in the picture. I’m also convinced that the robot is on Mars as the red dot in the logo likely represents the
planet. That also leads me to guess that the E in WAL-E may stand for earth - his point of origin. This is an
Andrew Stanton film so there will be a number of parallels to Finding Nemo. First the unusual terrain -
ocean/Mars. We likely will have a scenario where the robot is in search of something (lost, abandoned, seeking
his purpose, etc.). Stanton also likes to use multiple types of characters so I doubt we have just bots and
we’ll likely see aliens and what ever else is around there - in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if WAL-E is a mute
character that expresses himself with body language (a technique perfected in Cars) while other characters do
most of the talking. One thing for sure though - look for it to be visually stunning (like Nemo) with lots of
paneramas and breathtaking shots of the scenery. This may be the perfect combo as only Stanton can take
something so desolate as Mars and make it sparkle with gorgeous visuals.
I completely agree with your statement there, Dash. I
particularly favor your opinion on WALL-E being on Mars and the ‘E’ in the title standing for ‘Earth’. This
leaves three other letters to figure out, of course, but we’ll get to that later…
Every director has
his own style and form of conducting a film, so it would be only natural for Mr. Stanton to incorporate several
elements in his production that resemble those from Finding Nemo.
Do you
think that if, perhaps, the red dot on the picture he is holding represents Mars, that the picture is actually a
map of some sort? If so, then it looks as if he is showing it to another (alien?) life form, asking for
directions in the process. This would coincide with the rumor that WALL-E is looking for a new
home…
Nice observation/reasoning, Dash.
Maybe the Wall part in Wall-E is like a defense for the
planet Earth “E”.
E
standing for ‘Earth’ does make sense definitely, and I like TSS’s idea of the Wall part being some kind of
defense. Maybe Earth is going to be attacked, and Wall-E has been created as some kind of defense mechanism.
Maybe, although he may look quite sweet and innocent, he is actually very powerful?
Here’s a quote from Mr. Fun
(everyone’s favorite Floyd Norman!) over at AnimationNation:
Oooh,
guys, I think this really might be silent!!
Meg - Cool! It almost seems as if that settles it, even though we
don’t know what the surprise is. This is making me smile – perhaps there wont’ be any dialogue after all…
Thanks Meg! That is awesome!
hhhmmmm rubs chin
It’ll be awesome either way
Wow, there’s certainly a lot
of interesting speculation going on. I would think of something, but I cant really think of much at the moment. I
just looked at your original plot idea, Mitch, and it sounded cool to me.
lennonluvr9 - Heheh –
thanks for the compliment on my story idea. I’m much obliged.
Looks like Pixar’s secrets are holding
out longer than I thought. Not that this relates to WALL-E very much, but no
Ratatouille tv spot or trailer was shown during the Superbowl, which was
disappointing. If they are holding out this long (approxiamately eight months) to reveal any more information
about the film besides a teaser trailer, how long will it be before we see extra features concerning WALL-E?
Although, we probably will get a teaser trailer for the said film along with the
premiere of Ratatouille, so I guess we shouldn’t give up all hope.
I’m not worried about that, Pixar is usually very
good with marketing, as well as trailers and teasers.
…Even though it’s Disney who markets their films.
Meg- As far as I
know, John Lasseter does have some ability to steer the marketing efforts of his
films. He may not be the top dude, but it’s incorrect to say he has no control.
Googly-Bear- In
the past, yes, the marketing for Pixar films generally has been pretty good, but in my opinion, the marketing for
Cars was terrible. I, (and as far as I’m aware, I’m not the only one who thinks this) did not find the footage
that they put in the trailer funny or enticing, and was actually a bit disappointed with the preview that Pixar
(or Disney) had provided for us. Of course, the film itself was brilliant, but the marketing campaign was nowhere
near as successful as for previous Pixar films.