Environmental Messages in WALL·E

So, was WALL·E Anti Consumerism?

  • No
  • Defintely Not
  • It’s…possible.
  • If it was, I completely missed it.
  • I bought all the toys, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.

0 voters

I know Andrew Stanton said that WALL·E was not created with any environmental or anti-consumerist ideals in mind, but it’s really hard to ignore some of these blatant underlying themes in the film (such as WALL·E running over a pile of money, Earth being covered with wind turbines, the advertisement on the moon, ie). They even made the DVD box out of recyclable material, and added an environmental insert. However, there was a lot WALL·E merchandise created, so clearly anti-consumerism wasn’t PIXAR’s plan either.

But, what really bugs me, is how some people actually despised the film based on these claims of WALL·E being too environmentally conscious, some stating it shows the “evils of mankind”. [url]http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/01/right-wing-hates-wall-e/[/url] Really? Personally, I really couldn’t care less if WALL·E had some underlying message or not. It was a fantastic film, one of my all time favorite PIXAR films, and if there was a hidden message I certainly didn’t pick it up in my 137 times watching it. BUT, even if it was, how is teaching kids about the environment evil? If anything that only makes the film even more praiseworthy.

But that’s just my opinion. Did any of you think WALL·E was anti consumerism or environmental?

NOTE: I had to change the title of the discussion to Environmental Messages in WALL·E from my original title. It was not my intention to offend anyone’s political opinion in this forum.

I really don’t think it’s anti-consumerism or anything like that. I saw it as a love story. Two things that aren’t human experiencing a human emotion, love, and that is what makes it a beautiful film. This obviously had to take place at a time where mankind didn’t feel that emotion anymore (or at least not as strong), and the way that people are materialistic, that is bound to happen. So I think that people who see it as anti-consumerism are missing that in order for the film to make more sense and become more excelent, it needs people to not care about love anymore. I really don’t see a problem with it.

I think the film could very well be used to see into it that way, but the great thing about Wall-E to me is that if the intention really was to get that kind of message across then it was done in a very subtle way for the story that wasn’t preachy to it’s audience so it would be entertaining and you probably wouldn’t think about it right away (I don’t seem to think of Wall-E the same way as FernGully: The Last Rainforest which I think has a more obvious environmental theme). Andrew Stanton could be eco-friendly for all I know, but I do think he’s right when he says that the main story is supposed to be the love story between Wall-E and EVE and that he built around that the plot of the humans leaving Earth and the backstory of why it all happened.

And they also give a good scientific explanation on the Axiom of the humans suffering “slight bone loss” in space to make it clear that they weren’t trying to make fun of obese people.

You actually make a good point. I like the parallel of robots being more human while the humans are stuck in their own programming like robots. You have to admit, it almost makes you want to think about those things more.

I agree with you, Flik-E. Ever since the WALL-E controversy, I have been able to pick up more of the environmental themes of the film, but when I first watched WALL-E my initial reaction solely towards the connection of WALL-E and Eve (and M-O, although YourMileageMayVary).

I did notice the rather hinted subject of enviremental protection but the film does a good job of keeping that as a past reference and not an immediate epidemic. Pixar did much better then Avatar which went rather overboard in my opinion on the topic of nature. I can’t handle much of that stuff because i don’t value it more then myself and other like me…but i’m not going to get into a discussion about that now. Pixar did okay and i’ll let the problem slip for Walle’s sake.

I don’t think WALL•E’s being anti-consumerist. The movie just depicted the negative effects of letting consumerism become a dominant lifestyle.

Environmental? No. People trying to pass it off as purely environmental are the same people who act like they’re better than you for buying “save the Earth” T-shirts at Kohls. (OK, maybe not just those people, but still) There may be some underlying messages in the film, but that is definitely not what its about. And even so, its the type of environmental messages I don’t mind. “Clean up our waters, don’t expand our landfills.” Good enough. What annoys me is when people try to connect WALL-E with global warming or something like that. “WALL-E was such a great movie. I loved it because it preached on the environment. Pixar wants us to end global warming!”
NO. WALL-E didn’t even MENTION global warming. Environmentalism =/= global warming!

As for the consumerism…well, yes, in a way. It does have some very good points about us not communicating as well as we did and how we are depending too much on technology. It still wasn’t saying that consumerism is evil.

It was consumerism that was the downfall of the people of Earth, but consumerism was also the seed of their redemption. Wall-E, having packed the transport truck full of stuff, was really just as consumerist as anyone else. It was through this junk that he learned humanity and was thus able to reteach it to the people on the Axiom.

I also really like how the movie didn’t condemn technology outright, unlike many sci-fi. In the end it wasn’t the humans working alone that restored them Earth but the humans and robots working together. Even during the end credits you can see them working hand in hand rebuilding the Earth. You shouldn’t shun technology, nor should you become totally reliant on it. It’s a tool, nothing more.

So essentially I didn’t see it condemning or praising consumerism or technology but saying that people need to maintain a proper balance. (Hey… I only bought Wall-E and Eve action figures and not the whole line. That’s balance for me)

It’s certainly not the main theme of the film- that’s the relationship between WALL-E and EVE, as others have said- but it’s definitely present there. I wouldn’t call it anti-consumerism, but rather anti-not-doing-stuff-for-yourself and anti-not-living-your-life. It’s very true that technology has meant that people are seeing less of their friends and family face to face, and part of that is because we have become a more consuming world in which we’re expected to buy the latest gadgets and that sort of thing. I’m as much part of it as anyone, but there’s no doubt that one hundred years ago people spent more time outdoors and socialising, and that’s part of WALL-E’s message, which is no bad thing.

That’s exactly what I was thinking too Fett101! I think what I find the most hilariously ironic about the film is that while mass merchandise is what destroyed the Earth, it’s ultimately a mass produced robot that brings humanity back on it’s feet (no pun intended). It sort of mirrors the double edged sword of technology: it can have you hating it just as much as it can have you in love with it.

I know it was, in a way, but I felt like it just made for an interesting story.

Just last week I saw pictures of some of my family for the first time in 6 years. One in-law (non-relation) was archaic and might have lung cancer. One older brother was just over the obesity line and the other was halfway to being an Axiom Crewmember, and this guy was the athlete in high school and went on to study Sports Medicine and did that for big firms to help keep their employees in shape, then he did like 10 miles of running per day. Now look at him: “I am the Walrus, koo-kooka-choo”, I barely recognized him, no wonder he just sends pictures of his kids at Xmas and never himself and his wife. And, lizardgirl my parents keep bugging me about not having bought a cell phone yet: “You just avoid modern technology and conveniences”. Actually they become controlled by these technologies. And btw, it’s hardly likely they have even seen this movie, or liked it if they did. Old folks generally disdain fantasy. But my dad isn’t a blimp, he has managed to keep in shape physically even tho he rarely challenges his mind.

Anti-consumerist? Stanton is an honest man, but at first it seemed hard to believe that a satire against modern society this movie wasn’t conceived as.

Just being curious, what are some other environmental themes people have been able to pick up from WALL•E (besides EVE’s name).

I had seen WALL-E on opening day and being the Pixar fan that I am, dragged the rest of my family into seeing it later. I came out beaming and giddy and asked my dad: “SO?” But he didn’t have much good to say about it. He liked the Axiom scenes, but thought that everything on Earth promoted environmentalism and yadda yadda yadda. I was crushed myself, because I saw it as another brilliant Pixar film with a fantastically told love story. But there are a ton of people like my dad who just don’t see it like that. I suppose that’s okay. It’s just a movie after all. But when they refuse to even pay attention to the main story, well…

I’m always amazed that being environmentally conscious is seen as a bad thing by so many people. Obviously, the hippie ideal of living in tepees and becoming a vegetarian who doesn’t shower would be an absurd proposition to force on everyone. But simply being aware of and making some effort to mitigate the impact humans have and are having on the planet shouldn’t be a political issue.

It’s been my experience, that the unsophisticated mind is the one who likes the Axiom over Act I. If you read the critics, they always trumpeted that first act and had lesser things to say about acts II and III. Some people I know who are young and watch a great number of movies were upset about the lack of dialogue on earth. I know my own dad well enough from his own movie experience and lack of imaginative books in his collection for almost his entire adult life not to even bother to recommend the movie to him. Perhaps I will one day, if I find out he liked Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.

I think those are the type of people that probably have a short attention span with those kind of slow scenes and want to get to all the exciting stuff (but I can’t be one to judge since I was probably like that with movies myself). I thought having silent characters that relied on physical acting for most of the film was kind of refreshing when other animated films with those celebrity voices seem to be loud and obnoxious sometimes.

Remember that when Stanton came up with the idea of Wall-E, it was to make the last robot on earth, “the loneliest scenario I could imagine.” So his team then had to figure out why he would be the last robot on earth, and it was because the human race had left it, and all the other robots either went with them, or had been turned off, or had just plain malfunctioned.

Now why would people have to leave the earth? Pixar could have come up with some outlandish or weird reason, but instead chose a ‘safe’ one. Little kids can’t see CO2 gas, and that’s too obvious: garbage overflow and toxic gases from incineration are somewhat weird environmental mandates. Stanton says that he is apolitical and that it is his wife who scolds him for not recycling. So we should probably believe him, he does seem to be an honest man. However, things do seem to have been carried away with the trampling over the money and the “Outlet Mall coming soon!” blurb on the moon.

It’s possible has…any votes? Strange. No, no, and no again. Read a single quote from Andrew Stanton, the person who’s opinion actually matters on this subject, and you will see that it is about as far from propaganda as you can get. The background story is the background story, and you see it however your prejudices want you to see it. Stanton had no “message” in mind for said background story, it was just the way to get the story told.

Please don’t dumb down this film by calling it some kind of environmental message. It deserves better. With all due respect, if someone thinks that is the message of the movie, I can only assume the whole movie went right over their head.

The themes in WALL*E are much deeper: youtube.com/watch?v=c9vkK75PXrw