in June of 2008, easily besting its large $180-million dollar budget. The computer-animated

adventure follows a plucky little robot in the distant future who inadvertently embarks

on a journey through space that ends up deciding the fate of all mankind. Inspired by old clips

from the musical "Hello, Dolly!", the titular character is a hopeless romantic - but he's

also the only thing with sentience on the entire globe, left behind to clean up a planetwide

mess after humans left the solar system for a better future. Their expositional infomercial

that begins the film reminds customers that, "We'll clean up the mess while you're away!".

Despite being a mute, miniature Johnny-5 clone... "Wall-E" remains remarkably expressive. Hunting

for trinkets on the abandoned Earth to satisfy his curiosity, his large eyes and eyebrow

flaps help him emote his very human-like feelings and desires. He is perplexed and surprised

to discover all sorts of leftover trash, and even mistakes an old bra as large eyewear.

Revolutionary sound designer Ben Burrt, best know for his work on the "Star Wars" films,

provides the cutesy electronic voice of the robot - and is excellent with the limited,

but complicated role. This, combined with his constant need to impress a new robot arrival,

played by Elissa Knight, makes the character an absolutely adorable protagonist. Together,

their unlikely and irrational relationship carry the G-rated narrative which is devoid

of human dialogue until the halfway point. When more traditional characters and situations

are introduced, the film unfortunately suffers as a result. Sigourney Weaver is appropriately

cast the voice of the starship's computer; John Ratzenberger's requisite appearance gives

him plenty to chew on as a obese human who finally decides break humanity's cycle of

extreme consumerism; Jeff Garlin is great as an inquisitive Captain eager to learn more

about Earth's past, while Fred Willard is perfect as a smarmy CEO in a short live-action

cameo, the first for any Pixar film. The 98-minute feature scored a record-tying six Academy

Award nominations, winning for "Best Animated Feature". As expected, the visual effects

used to accomplish all of the characters' nuanced traits are impeccable, utilizing believable

lighting and film-like depth of field to really sell the realism. But special mention needs

to be made for a wonderfully poetic scene where our two robot protagonists fly spiraling

circles around each other in a sort of space-walk ballet duet. Thomas Newman's majestic score

lends an emotional depth to this proceedings as well, while an end-credits ballad by Peter

Gabriel titled, "Down To Earth", is also rather memorable. A sweet and tender love story set

against a cautionary tale regarding gluttony and environmentalism... this interstellar

adventure remains one of Pixar's best, on every viewing. "Wall-E" is a beautiful and

romantic experience with lovable characters. Now let's check out some of your reviews.

Remarkably consistent scores for "Wall-E", with everyone agreeing it's an AWESOME film.