WALL-E

Story

700 years after planet earth has been abandoned, lone robot WALL-E (voice of Ben Burrt) continues his quest to clean up all the garbage that humanity left behind. WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth-Class) is an eccentric little machine who is desperately lonely. His only friend is a cockroach. That is, until a mysterious ship drops off a flashy, space-age robot called EVE (Elissa Knight). EVE (Extra-Terrestrial Vegetation Evaluation) is on a mission to find life on earth and couldn't care less about friendship.

Undeterred by EVE's tendency to shoot first and ask questions later, WALL-E shows her his collection of rarities. Among them is a solitary plant shoot he discovered growing in the garbage. Eve is delighted, places the plant in her cargo hold and shuts down. WALL-E is devastated. He looks after EVE, caring for her like a person, and accompanies her back to space when the ship arrives to pick her up.

The space ship Axiom is run by the Captain (Jeff Garlin) with the aid of a lieutenant robot, Auto (Macintalk). It is filled with thousands of fat humans who can't walk anymore and are serviced by robots.

EVE is horrified when she learns that WALL-E has followed her. She tries to get him back to earth before the Captain or Auto find out that there is a stowaway on board. The Captain is delighted that Eve has found a plant, because this means that they can now return home. But the computerised co-pilot is under confidential orders not to let the spaceship return to earth. So he sets about trying to destroy the plant and anyone who gets in the way.

Wanting nothing more than to help EVE, WALL-E does all he can to save the plant. In the process, he teaches both the human passengers and the robot world about what it means to be human and how it feels to be alive.

Themes

Environmental impacts of our consumerist and 'throw away' society.

Violence

There is some violence and accidental harm in this movie. For example:

EVE shoots at anything she doesn't understand. She nearly destroys WALL-E a few times.
EVE blasts a huge hole in a rock, nearly hitting WALL-E, who is cowering on one side.
EVE shoots a magnet, blows up a ship and annihilates an abandoned ship yard while trying to escape a magnetic force.
While spinning, EVE accidentally hits WALL-E and breaks his eye.
WALL-E is hit by lightning twice during a thunderstorm.
WALL-E grabs EVE's detached arm and accidentally shoots a machine. This triggers a system malfunction and causes all the dysfunctional robots to escape.
EVE shoots a computer screen.
The co-pilot brutally attacks WALL-E, shuts down EVE and dumps an injured WALL-E down a garbage chute.
EVE shoots at the robotic police force.
Rogue robots attack and destroy a police contingent by beating them to pieces.
A small robot is kicked out a window. It crashes down to the decks below and is destroyed.
The Captain and the co-pilot fight each other for control of the ship.

Sexual references

None of concern

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

None of concern

Nudity and sexual activity

None of concern

Product placement

None of concern

Coarse language

None of concern

Ideas to discuss with your children

WALL-E is an animated adventure with some excellent computer-animated graphics. At some stages the story is quite slow, and younger children might be bored. But this family film contains some powerfully educational messages about commercialism and the consequences that global waste can have on our planet.

Values in this movie that you might wish to reinforce with your children include hope, determination, friendship and justice.

This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the importance of making informed choices about what products to buy and what activities to choose. This is instead of letting advertising or popular culture determine how you will live your life.