Wall - E

This animated feature is, I believe, the first from Pixar Studios newly-merged with Disney.  The news for the future is good.  This is a pretty fabulous start to the partnership.

It's not actually a partnership. Pixar still operates as an independent entity within Disney, and the Pixar group is still together.

This is quite an extraordinary package. If you're tempted to turn up your nose and leave it to the kids, forget it. This is for adults too.  I laughed out loud all the way through.  And, as with all Pixar features, there is a short, so don't be late.  The short is hilarious - surely a tribute to the great warner Bros cartoons, and animator Tex Avery in particular.  And don't leave before the end of the credits. The creidts feature the development of art throughout the ages and are just about worth the price of admission in themselves.

Wall-E is the story of how 2 robots save th world. But the robots don't really speak - except through fabulous squeak and crockes and whizzing sounds provided by Ben Burtt, who provided the voices for the robots in Star Wars. Apart from a talking bill-board, there are no human voices for 40 minutes in this film - it's a feat reminiscent of the 20 minutes of silence at the start of There Will Be Blood.

Unitl the humans appear, the film could almost be a live-action one. The state of animation these days is such that it is almost impossible to tell that wht you are watching is drawn.  Not that I'm saying it looks like the real world - it's just that it look like a form of reality.

Wall-E is funny and moving and clever and wise. Make the effort to see it.  You'll be impressed.

Oh, and that film he loves - Hello Dolly!