University of Ontario

The Humanity of Machines: How WALL-E’s Combined Styles Offer a Complex Look at the ​ ​ Future

Jenny Yang 250984834 3357F Dr. Tobias Nagl 30 November 2018

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The Humanity of Machines: How WALL-E’s Combined Styles Offer a Complex Look at the ​ ​ Future

Pixar blends both science fiction and in Andrew Stanton’s WALL-E (2008), a ​ ​ film now famed for its unique storytelling style, a well-liked message, and strong visuals. One of the most interesting aspects of the film’s presentation is that it begins with very little dialogue, and the character the audience first identifies with is a small, beat-up robot. The film’s core themes involve environmentalism and anti-capitalism, but its themes are complicated by its own presentation. ’s innovations in animation and storytelling lead to a deeply complex film that in some ways contradicts the G-rating it has been assigned. This demonstrates one of WALL-E’s ​ ​ strongest features: in looking at the future with a critical lens and exploring the future and the way humans come to rely on technology, it ends up looking at the past with fondness and developing robots who come off as even more human than the people themselves. Even as animation and science fiction are commonly associated with childishness, WALL-E uses both ​ ​ styles to tell a thought-provoking story that pays homage to the past and considers the future, with an unexpected maturity that defies certain expectations and offers a reading of a future that is at once optimistic, pessimistic, and nostalgic.

WALL-E subverts ideas of juvenile entertainment from the beginning by imitating ​ live-action cinema in both animation style and storytelling. Humans have left the planet after they have drained it dry, a point the film makes visually by showcasing a brown, desolate Earth.

This is further conveyed by the stacks of trash that at first appear to be skyscrapers in the fog, and the eventual activation of holographic screens encouraging humans to board the ship the

Axiom while robots like WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth-Class) clean the area. ​ Yang 3

Such realistic imagery pulls the audience into an immersive experience that mirrors live-action cinema, “link[ing] Pixar with ‘sophisticated’ cinema, making it a part of a cinematic canon in ways that marginalized animation has rarely been” (Scott 153). WALL-E even uses a song from ​ ​ the 1968 romantic musical Hello, Dolly! as foreshadowing for WALL-E’s journey into a clean ​ ​ and futuristic space, where the lyrics sing, “There’s a slick town, Barnaby/Out there/Full of shine and full of sparkle.” This is enhanced by the fact that it is “set in a stylized 1890…[and] depicts the draw of modernization and urbanization, but an additional correlative emerges through the context of [when it was] released: namely, the space race” (Herhuth 54). The song fades out with another sign of foreshadowing to WALL-E’s romantic journey: “And we won’t come home until we’ve kissed a girl!” By using a more obscure song, Andrew Stanton captures the general optimism of musicals, which are also commonly associated with cartoons, with its excitement for the outside world and nostalgia adding to the science fiction feel.

The only character the audience can connect to as humanoid and humane is the lonesome robot that is also the titular main character. He is small against a brown background of garbage and Buy and Large (BnL) advertisements, all of which subtly give exposition of the story’s background. The title card plays ominous music, with the film even morbidly showing WALL-E stealing treads from a decommissioned WALL-E robot on the side of the road. While his function is to compact trash, he has a pet cockroach, finds enjoyment in collecting trinkets, and loves Hello, Dolly! He is a nostalgic character in general, modeled after stars ​ ​ like and Buster Keaton (Murray and Heumann 2). He even appears to long for love, as he fiddles with his metal hands when he witnesses the actors on-screen hold hands.

WALL-E is not capable of real speech, but the audience is immediately made aware that he is an antiquated robot who loves things from the past via other forms of expression: sound, reaction, Yang 4 and facial expressions. His appearance will later contrast the sleek, Apple MacBook-inspired design of EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), WALL-E’s eventual love interest. The extended focus on the advanced technology of EVE’s ship is in the form of a spectacle, which is a common trait to science fiction as a display of futuristic, almost alien technology, but also in animation, showcasing Pixar’s advanced CGI. EVE takes little interest in WALL-E personally, although he is immediately attracted to her.

Not only does WALL-E connect with the audience, he also eventually connects with

EVE, despite her directive-driven programming, showing a traditionalism that can be read as problematic. By coding the originally genderless robot as male, “Pixar operates with a nostalgia that is both regressive (in its reliance on traditional notions of gender, class, and morality) and liberating (in its embrace of an ironic, detached view of the present)” (Scott 153). After he finally gets closer to her and invites her to his home, he shows her some of the trinkets he has stored and the audience witnesses EVE display fascination in a lighter and Rubik’s cube, even laughing at

WALL-E’s clumsiness. EVE watches the Hello, Dolly! clip, where the actors hold hands and ​ ​ sing, “It only took a moment/To be loved a whole life long!” She records the scene and it returns in a later act, making her realize she is in love with WALL-E, another suggestion that something nostalgic can humanize even robots and save the day. The final thing that he shows her is something completely natural: the lonesome plant he discovered while working. Rather than further enhance EVE’s humanity, this triggers her to revert to her former directive-driven self, even causing her to drop the lighter she has been so interested in. As Ellen Scott points out, this heterosexually-coded romance is furthered by the fact that in courting her, WALL-E has literally implanted life (the plant) in EVE’s stomach, who loses her individuality because she becomes just another mindless drone of the EVE model, focused solely on the mission (154). This is Yang 5 shown in other ways as well: Andrew Stanton is religious, and this adds to the nostalgia because of EVE’s name. Even as an acronym, it also references the loneliness of WALL-E, who seems to be the equivalent of Adam. The Biblical spin is continued, as Herhuth writes, as “the spaceship that the humans live on, the Axiom, sends probes back to Earth to search for plant life (similar to ​ ​ the Genesis story of Noah and the ark)” (55). To “save” her from capture, WALL-E follows her ​ ​ onto the ship that also dropped her off, leading them on the second half of the film, where the beauty of space and the sleek design of the Axiom starcruiser contrast the bleakness of an ​ ​ abandoned Earth. The audience is at last introduced to the people of the film, all of whom have become morbidly obese, glued to their screens, and unable to walk due to their heavy reliance on machines.

The humans shown are caricatures of humans from the past, and they appear to be more machine in personality than the machines themselves. This form of uncanniness and the audience’s continued identification with WALL-E, a robotic Other, reinforces that while these people should be familiar, their lifestyle and appearance are so far-removed from the reality of

2008 that they are no longer relatable. As Sobchack describes, “The fear in SF springs from the future possibility that we may—in a sense—lose contact with our bodies” (39). Not only are the humans incapable of walking, their hover-chairs also follow a set of pathways on the ship that the robots must also adhere to. Howey writes that WALL-E “exemplifies a problem not ​ ​ uncommon to science fiction: attempting [sic] to imagine the future, it nevertheless defines ​ ​ ‘human’ nostalgically” (172). WALL-E thus inspires humanity in other robots besides EVE as well—he presents Earthen soil, a sign of the past, to M-O (Microbe-Obliterator), a small cleaning robot. M-O later steps off the paths on the Axiom to do what he wants (which is, ​ ​ admittedly, to follow his directive and clean foreign contaminants). This exploration of emotions Yang 6 in something that should be emotionless is also common in animation, especially in Pixar films.

WALL-E even inspires two humans to see their world in a new perspective, whose names are

Mary and John, both rather uncreative names, again suggesting stagnated creativity and individuality. He is also the only one on the Axiom capable of connecting with the ​ ​ malfunctioning robots, who have been deemed misfits because they have unique personalities.

One thing that may undermine my suggestion that animation and science fiction are presented seriously is the usage of live-action in clips associated with the past while the animated, futuristic aspects are shown negatively. But such social commentary being presented within this animated makes itself more mature, and it demonstrates a further subversion of expectations. As Gaffey writes, “WALL-E seems uniquely suited to fulfill this ​ ​ function of public pedagogy given its combination of audience appeal and social topicality by featuring [characters children will like who confront adult issues]” (44). And even though the people of the Axiom are no longer recognizable to the audience, the live-action actors ​ ​ representing the past prove that this outcome is in fact a consequence of what “real people” did.

The use of CGI itself is often associated with being “revolutionary,” especially from Pixar, and here is no different, as it critiques conglomerates like Disney despite being a subsidiary of the company. Still, its traditional happy ending and heterosexually-coded characters also suggest influence from Disney (Murray and Heumann 1). This means the film can be read as both conservative and liberal, as WALL-E often is. ​ ​ WALL-E’s nostalgia extends to the science fiction as well, with one of its strongest ​ references and homages being tied to Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1968 film, 2001: A Space ​ Odyssey. Auto, the film’s main villain, is a clear reference to HAL 9000, but unlike HAL, who is ​ coded as human, Auto is a mindless machine. While he contests the argument that robots in Yang 7

WALL-E are human-like, this is because he follows directives from humans (the global CEO, ​ ​ ​ Shelby Forthright, from the BnL corporation that took over Earth). Auto has remained unchanged and unaffected by the passage of time, unlike WALL-E. The film makes a point of having the portraits of captains not only show them evolving (or devolving) from live-action and a healthy body size to animation and morbid obesity, but Auto also looms larger in each portrait as he is given more control. This is reinforced by the fact that his name is literally Autopilot, and the current captain, Captain B. McCrea, complains: “Honestly, [morning announcements are] the one thing I get to do on this ship.” He proceeds to announce that he is sure their forefathers would be proud they are doing the same thing they have always been doing. WALL-E is able to disrupt this mechanical routine with his connection to the past, as he is the reason EVE found the plant that lets them go home (Murray and Heumann 2). While Auto attempts to stop this return due to his orders, WALL-E inspires McCrea to finally take a stand—literally. The film then plays “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” a song played in the dawn of man chapter of the film 2001, ​ ​ “[signaling] the significant achievement of the Axiom’s captain when he stands, presumably for ​ ​ the first time, to challenge the villainous Autopilot” (Howey 173). This is a reference to the rise of man, where the alien technology was embraced, although in this case McCrea rises against and defeats technology—made by humans who have forgotten how to be human. WALL-E ​ focuses on the technological Other and how even it can evolve, in this case without the interference of people, and eventually come back to teach people how to once more be human, unlike in 2001, where HAL is perceived as a threat, and where overall human language has ​ ​ decayed without recovery (Sobchack 177).

WALL-E continues to inspire humaneness, and in doing so, the film reinforces the idea that love, and connection are a natural sign of humanity. The plant WALL-E found inspires Yang 8

Captain McCrea to learn about Earth. For example, he says, “, define ‘dancing,’” despite Auto telling him it is time for bed. The audience hears the explanation but also witnesses

WALL-E and EVE sharing a romantic romp in space, suggesting that just a mechanical definition cannot capture the magic or humanness of the moment. When WALL-E once again gives EVE the plant, she is so ecstatic they share their first robotic equivalent of a kiss—a spark between their foreheads. Many critics have pointed out that this scene does not further the plot, and would realistically kill the plant; it is another spectacle, as seen in animation like in Disney’s

Fantasia (1940) and science fiction, like in 2001: A Space Odyssey (Howey 172). Mary, whose ​ ​ ​ holographic screen has been turned off thanks to WALL-E, witnesses this and shares it with

John, turning his screen off in the process. They touch hands and make eye contact—the first sign of human interaction in the whole film, suggesting that people are still capable of intimate relationships. Additionally, after WALL-E has committed self-sacrifice to return the ship home,

EVE displays the personal desire of repairing him, even throwing the plant away at one point before they reach their goal. However, after she fixes him, his new parts get rid of his individualistic nostalgia, with him even compacting his own treasures as if they were trash and running over his cockroach. WALL-E, the most human creature in the film, is now emotionless and only directive-driven. This contrasts how his influence on robots helped them grow desires out of their directives, with “humans relearn[ing] the value of work and the robots learn[ing] the value of pleasure; and in both cases, it is out of the rationalized world of programming that the irrational emerges” (Herhuth 61). It is only EVE’s “kiss” that finally brings him back, causing him to tilt his head upwards from shadow into the sunlight, with the first thing he utters being her name. The usage of one another’s names has certainly made up a large portion of the script, but the film shows that even robots with minimal vocabulary are capable of saying a lot. This ties Yang 9

WALL-E back to 2001: A Space Odyssey once more, as they both show deteriorated human ​ ​ ​ communication, while the simple speech and noises of machines carry more emotion (just as

HAL 9000 comes off as more human in that film). Thus, humanity in WALL-E is associated with ​ ​ love—especially heterosexual love.

After EVE and WALL-E are reunited on Earth with the humans, they are able to begin planting life anew, an optimistic conclusion enhanced by the ending credits, which display a new sort of nostalgia and raise questions about the future, despite appearing quite happy. The film closes with McCrea and some babies (a symbol of the future) planting the plant, declaring that they will be able to plant all sorts of food, like pizza. While this misunderstanding demonstrates that the humans still have a lot to relearn, the camera pulls out so that the audience sees more plants growing on the outskirts of the city. This positivity is continued in the credits, which were made in the fear that the revitalization of Earth would be interpreted as an impossible mission.

The credits represent a progression through history by showcasing various art styles from various periods of time, from cave paintings to the post- art period (Gaffey 50). We also see that humans have learned to hunt and cook like in the past, which is again a nostalgic outlook. This leads to further questions—have humans really learned their lesson? Will the cycle of history simply repeat, now that they have returned to the past? While these questions raise certain concerns, the film makes a point to end the credits with an image of EVE and WALL-E with their hands intertwined, before panning out to reveal the plant is now a tree that spills out of the boot. By showing the humans relearning, this time with the futuristic robots to accompany them, WALL-E suggests that the future and the past must be balanced in order to present a ​ ​ sustainable present by diluting one another. Yang 10

By defying the expectations of both science fiction and animation, WALL-E’s messages ​ ​ are broadened and provide deeper meaning when further examined. While “director and co-writer Andrew Stanton describes WALL-E as a story about overcoming systems of rigidity, ​ ​ summarized in the proposition that ‘irrational love defeats life’s programming,’” the film itself has been read in multiple different ways (Gaffey 42). The love between EVE and WALL-E can be interpreted as more traditional in its gender dynamics, or it may come off as hopeful that even robots can develop emotions like humans. As many science fiction films do, WALL-E ​ encourages limits on people’s reliance on technology so that humanity may be maintained. The film looks to the future with a sort of animated optimism that encourages audiences to appreciate technology, rather than rejecting it like in other science fiction, while also encouraging people embrace the environment of the natural. It uses the future as a way of critiquing the present and look back on the past with a potentially problematic fondness, but its complicated themes also encourage audiences to take such films more seriously and analyze them more thoroughly.

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Works Cited

Gaffey, Adam J. “Flip the Switch: Virtue, Programming, and the Prospect of Automatic Agency in WALL•E”. Southern Communication Journal, vol. 83 no. 1, 2018, pp. 41-56. ​ ​ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1041794X.2017.1399434?scroll=top&nee dAccess=true ​ ​

Herhuth, Eric. “Life, love, and programming: the culture and politics of WALL-E and Pixar .” Cinema Journal, vol. 53, no. 4, 2014, p. 53-75. ​ ​ http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A376509640/AONE?u=lond95336&sid=AONE&xid ​ =83672299. ​

Howey, Ann F. “Wall-E.” Science Fiction Film and , vol. 3, no. 1, 2010, p. 171-175. ​ ​ http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A243358126/AONE?u=lond95336&sid=AONE&xid ​ =87c2ee24. ​

Murray, Robin L. and Joseph K. Heumann. “WALL-E: from environmental adaptation to ​ ​ sentimental nostalgia.” Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, no. 51, 2009. ​ ​ https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc51.2009/WallE/

Scott, Ellen. “Agony and Avoidance: Pixar, Deniability, and the Adult Spectator.” Journal of ​ Popular Film and Television, vol. 42 no. 3, 2014, pp. 150-162. ​ https://journals.scholarsportal.info/details/01956051/v42i0003/150_aaapdatas.xml

Sobchack, Vivian. Screening Space: The American Science Fiction Film. New York. Rutgers ​ ​ University Press, 1987.