Summer of '08: WALL-E and Wanted

Today is the 700th anniversary of our five year cruise.

Welcome back to the latest edition of Summer of ‘08! This week, Pixar continues their string of hits, while another graphic novel adaptation hits theaters.

WALL-E (2008)

What if mankind had to leave Earth and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? After hundreds of years doing what he was built for, WALL•E discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report to the humans. Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy.

June 27, 2008

Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy cinematography by Jeremy Lasky, Danielle Feinberg
music by Thomas Newman
screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter
produced by Jim Morris
directed by Andrew Stanton

If someone tells you that WALL-E is slow and boring, it's because they last saw it when they were 10 years old in 2008. I know this because I was that person until last week when I rewatched it (on the Criterion 4K disc, which didn't feel particularly impressive technically) for this series. Without the nostalgia of Toy Story, the action of The Incredibles, or the memeability of Cars, I remembered WALL-E as sweet but forgettable. It would have landed toward the back end of a Pixar ranking, with the asterisk that I've only seen four of their last ten outings.