WALL-E (2008 film)

History of the film

WALL-E (stylized with an interpunct as WALL·E) is a 2008 American computer-animated science-fiction, post-apocalyptic, comedy film produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton, the story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up an abandoned, waste-covered Earth far in the future.

He falls in love with another robot named EVE, who also has a programmed task, and follows her into outer space on an adventure that changes the destiny of both his kind and humanity. Both robots exhibit an appearance of free will and emotions similar to humans, which develop further as the film progresses.

After directing Finding Nemo, Stanton felt Pixar had created believable simulations of underwater physics and was willing to direct a film set largely in space. WALL-E has minimal dialogue in its early sequences; many of the characters do not have voices, but instead communicate with body language and robotic sounds, which were designed by Ben Burtt. It is also Pixar's first animated feature with segments featuring live-action characters.

WALL-E was released in the United States and Canada on June 27, 2008. It grossed $23.2 million on its opening day, and $63.1 million during its opening weekend in 3,992 theaters, ranking number one at the box office. This ranks as the fifth highest-grossing opening weekend for a Pixar film. Following Pixar tradition, WALL-E was paired with a short film, Presto, for its theatrical release.

WALL-E was met with critical acclaim, scoring an approval rating of 96% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It grossed $521.3 million worldwide, won the 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, the final Nebula Award for Best Script, the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film, and the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature as well as being nominated for five other Academy Awards at the 81st Academy Awards.

WALL-E ranks first in TIME's "Best Movies of the Decade". The film is seen as a critique on larger societal issues. It addresses consumerism, corporatism, nostalgia, environmental problems, waste management, human impact on the environment, and risks to human civilization and the planet Earth.