A Robot Love Story
Wall-E
Review by Ross Anthony

I'd heard such good things about Wall E, that I made an effort to catch it before it left the big screen.

Quite unique, in that, the entire first half of the production is dialogue-free. With images, sound effects and music of the forties, Pixar tells the story of a lone trash compacting robot merrily making the best of a bad situation -- apparently all life on Earth had long since ended (save for a friendly cockroach). Despite the melancholy cityscape populated only with garbage, the art direction and timing make this first half particularly moving and beautiful.

Unfortunately, eventually humans interrupt the bittersweet solitude and steer the picture in a more mechanical direction. Despite an intriguing story idea, at some point the picture falls from the realm of Art to the realm of kiddy-film fare. It could be that the story itself simply wasn't feature material. It probably would have made an excellent hour-long short, though. I'd have loved to see Pixar limit the dialogue to two words: "Eva" and "Wall E." What a juicy challenge that would have been! What a potentially impactful film it could have been! Pictures, great timing, and a very beefy sound track -- do you think family audiences would have been able to handle that?

Grading? First half -- A, Second half - B. This should average to a strong B+, but because of drop in entertainment value as the film proceeds, I was left with an overall feeling of disappointment, so I’m giving this a very low B+.

-- Books by Author/Illustrator/Speaker Ross Anthony --


  • Wall-E. Copyright © 2008.
  • Starring Fred Willard, Jeff Garlin, Ben Burtt, Sigourney Weaver, John Ratzenberger, Directed by Andrew Stanton, Produced by Jim Morris, Screenplay by Andrew Stanton.

Grade..........................B+ (2.5/4)


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Copyright © 1998-2023 Ross Anthony, Author - Speaker - Solo World Circumnavigator In addition to reviewing films and interviewing celebs at HollywoodReportCard.com, traveling the world, composing great music, motivational speaking, Mr. Anthony also runs his own publishing company in the Los Angeles area. While traversing the circumference of the planet writing books and shooting documentaries, Mr. Anthony has taught, presented for, worked &/or played with locals in over 30 countries & 100 cities (Nairobi to Nagasaki). He's bungee-jumped from a bridge near Victoria Falls, wrestled with lions in Zimbabwe, crashed a Vespa off a high mountain road in Taiwan, and ridden a dirt bike across the States (Washington State to Washington DC). To get signed books ("Rodney Appleseed" to "Jinshirou") or schedule Ross to speak check out: www.RossAnthony.com or call 1-800-767-7186. Go into the world and inspire the people you meet with your love, kindness, and whatever it is you're really good at. Check out books by Ross Anthony. Rand() functions, Pho chicken soup, rollerblading, and frozen yogurt (w/ blueberries) also rock! (Btw, rand is short for random. It can also stand for "Really Awkward Nutty Dinosaurs" -- which is quite rand, isn't it?) Being alive is the miracle. Special thanks to Ken Kocanda, HAL, Jodie Keszek, Don Haderlein, Mom and Pops, my family, R. Foss, and many others by Ross Anthony. Galati-FE also deserves a shout out. And thanks to all of you for your interest and optimism. Enjoy great films, read stirring novels, grow.


Last Modified: Monday, 15-Sep-2008 11:08:11 PDT