2. Introduction to film
Wall-e is a very interesting movie. The movie is based on
this adventurous, romantic, comedy genre. We get a story
in which we see that two robots live this very interesting
life. The two robots Wall-e and Eva are two genuine robots
with different tasks. We have Wall-e, the old fashioned, old
school robot. Who is designed to simply compact trash and
make piles of it. Later falls in love with this female like
robot, Eva. Then we have Eva, the female figure robot, who
is designed in finding life down in earth so that the people
in space could return. But this movie doesn’t only share a
story of love and adventure, but it shares a meaning in how
we should change our ways of living. It shares how the
smallest things could change our ways of living and doing.
3. Definition of dystopia
During the viewing of the film, we sought to be able to define Dystopia (and by extension, Utopia) in order to both understand the topic
and to better understand the film. What made the world of Wall-e a bad place to live, and why did it need to be changed? And after
considering the major themes of the film and the differences between both the beginning of the film and the resolution at the end, we were
able to define Dystopia, and better understand the motivations of the characters.
●Dystopia is the lack of progression or change, the stagnancy of culture and creativity, but also life in general.
●Utopia is founded upon progression, the flourishing of cultural advancement, and life is allowed to adapt and change as it wishes.
This is an important distinction, as while the Earth is obviously Dystopic in its environment, the Axiom is not; people can survive there,
possibly indefinitely, as they have for 700 years. nobody is immediately suffering, and there is no immediate risk to anyone’s life.
However, as we will show, the Axiom is Dystopic as well, albeit in a different way, one that is every bit as important and dire as the
ecological Dystopia on Earth.
4. Analysis from the film itself
During the first act of the film, we are shown:
●A space view of earth, which is brown and without life
●A dense field of space debris around the planet
●Thick clouds of smog, and mountains of trash
●abandoned BnL facilities, currency, newspapers, and advertisements make up everything that is not mounds of refuse
During this, we do NOT see
●Any movement or indication of life besides the main character and a single cockroach
●any vegetation
●any working infrastructure
This shows a stagnation of life on earth, things are not able to grow and change, the old culture of BnL has stopped any progression. We
can see very clearly that things have not changed on earth for a very long time.
During the first act we also see an advertisement from BnL for the space liner Axiom, which details how life aboard the ship is an idyllic
paradise while the “mess” on earth is taken care of, elements of life including the facilities, hover chairs, food in cups, etc is laid out for us
Later, in the second act aboard the Axiom, we are shown that this has not changed, and are informed that 700 years have elapsed since
the spaceship’s launch. All of the elements of the advertisement are present, but they have developed without changing, becoming even
worse through stagnation:
●The hover chairs are now used by everyone
●all food is delivered by cup technology
●as a result, every member aboard is morbidly obese and inactive, not even moving under their own power
●they have forgotten about earth and many aspects of human culture, as evidenced by the captain using the computer to define basic
terms
5. Dystopia of Earth
We can now see some differences and similarities between
the two locations, particularly in what is wrong with them.
Earth is a wasteland of trash and toxicity, and the forces that
were cleaning it up or changing the environment have all
left, except for the main character. The environmental impact
is significant, but more damaging is that nothing significant is
being done about it. The garbage in question is just being
moved around, not actually removed or recycled into new
products. Furthermore, the earth is culturally stagnant, but
not sterile; Wall-e ponders very human questions about life
and love using the film version of Hello Dolly! as a reference,
and collects human relics.
Furthermore, it can be seen that this mindset of
irresponsibility for the ecology of earth, a mindset of
consuming but not renewing, has led to this disaster. the
BnL presence is pervasive, ads and derelict facilities dot the
landscape, and Wall-e is shown driving over piles of BnL
currency.
In short, Earth has been abandoned, and this inability to be
changed has led to the problems that it faces.
6. Dystopia of the Axiom
Compare the situation of Earth to the Axiom. The ship is shown to
be the product of whatever wrought the disaster on Earth; BnL has
advertisements strewn across the ship, encouraging more
consummation of their products, and advertisements on earth
reference the ship and its reason for leaving the planet. The
adherence to the policies of the past have continued and
worsened. Humanity is reduced to having things done for them,
not influencing anything, and having no culture aside from the
consumer culture of BnL. Once enjoyable distractions are now
routine and devoid of meaning, adding to the stagnation.
These two environments are tied together by the statements of the
CEO, ordering humanity to do the “easy” thing and stay the
course, rather than trying to change the situation.
But even more alarming is the cultural stagnation. This is the most
surprising, as you would assume that humans would not have any
problem continuing their culture that they had on earth. However,
we can see that BnL has interrupted this in a number of different
ways; children are learning a language, but their letters are being
taught with BnL terms. The passengers and ship crew don’t know
why they are there, as evidenced by the Captains statement on
the 700th anniversary. They don’t even know what pizza is.
In short, the Axiom has been abandoned as well, and its inability
to change has led to its own problems, as subtle as they are.
7. Animation Method
Pixar blends hyperrealistic environments with
cartoonish characters, creating a dissonance
of tone.
The humans and advanced robots are very
cartoonish and stylized in their proportions
and textures, but exist in very realistically
rendered environments. The Axiom is a
hybrid of these two methods; it is a very
realistic facade, smooth lines and curving
edges, that acts as a distraction from the
reality of Earth.
Wall-e is a blend of both, with an animated,
stylistic motion and manner attached to a
rusting carapace that frequently falls apart.
This creates an effect of juxtaposing idyllic
behavior and realistic scenarios, and casts
Wall-e into the role of an agent of change. his
presence as an avatar of the reality the
humans have forgotten helps to bring about
the events that return them to reality from a
false paradise.
8. Use of Color
There is a very distinctive color palette used in the film;
The harsh earth tones of Earth,
and the jewel tones of The Axiom
Both of these palettes serves to reinforce the respective tones of
the environments.
Earth is a harsh wasteland, littered with decaying, sunbaked trash,
and the palette creates a sense of desolation and decay, but also
of uniformity. The lights and found items of Wall-e’s collection,
Eve, and the plant all stand out against this dun background. Any
color is covered over by dust and faded to mute pastels, except for
these important items.
The Axiom, by contrast, is all about color, that is often distracting..
The water is as blue as the artificial sky, the whites are
unblemished and bright, lots of appetite inducing colors (red,
yellow, orange) are around areas of food. all of the colors are
clean and crisp as well, and are not faded or blemished, as on
Earth.
This contrast furthers the nature of both environments as shown in
the Animation Method slide, but is taken a step further with their
similarities; the muted colors of earth are dirty, faded shades used
on the Axiom, showing that there is a relationship between the
two, and that one is caused by the other.
9. Sound Design
Sound plays an important role within the world of Wall-e as well;
specifically there is a vastly different sound design for each character that
reinforces their personalities and objectives.
Wall-e does not speak until it meets Eve, and even then its voice is made
from modulated sounds rather than articulate speech. Wall-e uses noises
to indicate things to other beings. Furthermore, his “voice” and various
noises are distorted and garbled, as though his voice box was damaged.
This reinforces his character of being a survivor of the Earth wasteland,
of being something constantly recycled.
Eve, by comparison, has the capacity for fairly articulate speech,
although her voice is still not human. This also reinforces her character,
being a product of humanity, of being a representation of the hopes of
humanity itself.
The other robots use the same sort of “noise speech” that Wall-e uses,
this speech often reflecting their purpose; alarm noises, monotonous
beeping, etc. this serves to illustrate that they are merely extensions of
their intended purposes, with no true autonomy, unlike Eve and Wall-e.
There are robots that use human speech, but this is instead a function of
their purpose, rather than true communication; the teacher robots, and
safety robots, all spout prerecorded or prerendered lines of dialogue.
The only other exception to the robots is Auto. Auto speaks, much like
Eve, in a mimicry of human vocalization. but while Eve has cadence and
intonation, even human-like non-vocal cues such as laughter, Otto has a
monotone speech generator akin to a text to speech translator. This
shows an aural indicator of its rigidity, which indicates its contribution to
the Dystopia aboard the Axiom.
Examples of Wall-e’s
speech:
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=QHH3iSeDBLo
Examples of Otto’s speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=xNsCDspCOk4
Examples of Eve and Wall-e:
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=Cnv-iFhdlqE
Examples of all robots:
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=iHwIFGi3WPU
10. Hello Dolly!
Featured prominently in the film are references to the 1968 film
version of the broadway play Hello Dolly!, a show primarily about
the need to escape from the life one has come to know and
embrace new experiences and opportunities. The theme of this is
important to Wall-e, who not only yearns to be amongst the stars
and leave behind the earth, but to find love. Wall-e actually uses
the film to learn human-like emotions of affection and love, as
evidenced by his reactions and desire to hold hands whenever he
views the film. It shares this film with Eve as one of its most prized
possessions, showing great concern when the tape is damaged.
However, the film takes on another role, becoming a symbol for
freedom from the shackles of BnL itself. The opening song, Put on
Your Sunday Clothes, is used again and again as initially a
leitmotif for Wall-e itself, when his presence aboard the Axiom
begins to disrupt normalcy. But then the song is used by the
damaged and malfunctioning robots, as they parrot the tune back,
turning the song into a sort of battle cry, each of them parroting it
after helping each-other to escape the forces of Auto.
The film then takes on another quality after Wall-e’s resurrection,
as Eve attempts to use it to help Wall-e remember. Ultimately it is
not the film that restores Wall-e’s memories and personality, but
what it represented to them: love and affection.
11. Progression in Culture
The ending credits of Wall-e show what happens after the events of the film, and present a resolution to the Dystopia that
was initially present both on earth and on the Axiom. The animated images show the survivors tending to the planet, crops
being planted, and civilization returning, but not in the same way it had prior to the events of the film. The art styles of the
animation are significant, mirroring the progression of art in our world; paleolithic style cave paintings give way to egyptian
wall art, Mesopotamian vase and mosaic designs, renaissance era sketches, and finally impressionistic oil paintings. This
shows that the culture of earth has been allowed to grow and change, as the people who made such art are exploring
themselves culturally as well as exploring the world physically. The stagnation of Dystopia is gone, and new life may
flourish, as new life is literally growing out of the remains of the past.
12. Impact of Technology
The set of Wall-e first takes place in what seems to be a post
apocalyptic Earth, yet it is almost obvious that the fall of
Earth was by the humans themselves and not some alien
invasion. We see traces of trash everywhere and bombarded
with advertisements from BnL. Once Wall-e steps into the
Axiom, he enters a whole new world of advanced technology,
but covered with new advertisements of the same company
we saw earlier, BnL.
From the movie, we can see that all the human inhabitants of
the Axiom are completely out of shape and are totally reliant
on technology. They rely heavily on the robots around them
to do small simple chores for them, which eventually led to
this man falling off his hover chair. He falls off his hover
chair, and automatically calls for help to the robots around
him. The picture on the bottom right shows that he’s only
focusing on the robot, unaware of his surroundings, much
like the lady Wall-e encounters that exclaims “I didn’t know
we had a pool!” after Wall-e disrupted her signal to her
computer. For 700 years, the citizens of the Axiom have
been indulged and spoiled by technology and the robots, but
this is also a future that may be happening right now with our
current rise of technology and how the internet is affecting
our current social life
13. Technology and Society
With technology getting more and more advanced with each
day, humans are growing lazy along with it. Right now there is
you can virtually do everything right on your smartphone; maps,
dictionaries, media player, camera, shopping, taxes, banking,
games, chatting, read books, check the weather and time, and
browse the internet (which leads to so much more).
This rapid development in technology can be (and is by many)
viewed as a negative impact on our social lives. In the film,
everyone is focused onto their screens, and disassociates
themselves from the world around them. The two men that
Wall-e meets is an example of how the internet and technology
brings us away from the real world while they talk to each other
via a program similar to face time when they are literally
hovering next to each other. By constantly consuming and
being sucked into the viral world, the humans of the Axiom
have become enlarged and unhealthy not only from their time
in space, but also because of their lack of exercise. The Axiom
is a depiction of how our current state of technology can
ultimately result in a society where we may eventually lock
ourselves in our rooms and live life by the computer. Robots
are doing all the jobs, and the only man working is the captain,
and even he has the luxury of the robots and a hover chair.
14. Climate Issues
When dealing with the climate of the movie, we can first start off
by talking about earth. Earth is this low life planet. Everything
seems to be dying. There seems to be this loneliness in the earth,
but not just from any human activity but from nature. The clouds
are so gloomy and just out of color. We also get to understand
that planet earth is now this wretched world in which the only
thing that lives in this plant is old abandoned buildings, robots that
don’t work anymore, and just a bunch of trash. These things have
made the climate just this gloomy world.
But when we observe the climate in the space shuttle we could
see that we get this boring environment. The climate isn’t so
wretched. There is more life to the space shuttle. The people in
this space shuttle build an environment in which is not happy but
boring and broad. The climate hasn’t evolved much from that of
earth. It only has gone from a one to a three. The reason that this
is so is for the reason that we can see that people have evolved
into these lazy independent humans. They become too reliant on
technology which makes this movies climate not so good.
15. Environmental Issues
The environmental issues of earth in this movie is very bad. As
we know the earth is all trashed in the movie Wall-e. We could
see that the earth is all trashed and just a waste dump. People
have left earth out to space so that earth could be cleaned. But it
is interesting to see how humans have left robots to clean the
mess of what humans have left. These actions just show how
responsible humans are in this world. We could also understand
that the environment in which humans have left is all polluted and
just dead. The earth has literally become this human waste dump.
Out in space we get an environment way different of that then
earth. The environment here on the space shuttle isn’t so dead
but more with life. But with the ways in which people have
approached the environment of the space shuttle has also made
it dead. We can see how humans have let technology overrule
the way of living on the space shuttle. They have ruined the
environment of the shuttle. They let technology take over their
minds to an extreme extent that people rely that technology will
do everything for them. They are being fed, transported, put
sleep, woken up, by all the technology that surrounds them.
Which has made an environment in which is not worth living in.
16. Carl Jung (1875-1961)
Psychoanalyst of the early twentieth century. He was an
early pupil of Sigmund Freud, but broke with him after his
disagreement over Freud’s idea that the main motivation
for human nature is sexuality. He went on to develop his
own views on the unconscious. motivation, and
classification of Human beings. He put forth the ideas of
extrovert and introvert, the idea of the anima , or the
feminine in male, and animus, the masculine in female. He
also put the theory out of the collective unconscious and
Archetypes. He termed the phrase collective unconscious
or primordial images, which are things innate within us from
every human from the beginning of time.
17. -A primordial image,
character, or
happening of events
that recur in literature
Jung used the term in
his idea of collective
consciousness, that
people are pre-coded
to be who they are
and fall into
categories.
Archetypes
18. Common Archetypes
-The Trickster- a human (usually male) having great appetites for food and women (sex). Usually
immoral or amoral.
Satan, Raven, Coyote
-Deity-Cultural dreams of our progenitores.
-Heroes- believing that some part of diving deity coming down to earth to save mankind. Usually
heroes have some part of divine within them;ex. Being half God half human, or being in allegiance
with deity.
Christ, Muhammad, Judas Maccabeus, Hercules, Odysseus
-The Flood- cultural myth that exists all over the world of a great flood, seen as a rebirth or cleansing
and a new beginning.
19. Archetypes used in Drama
In 16th Century Italy, The Commedia dell’arte was developed with stock
characters, or archetypal characters, used in improvising a storyline. The plot
was decided loosely, and the show was improvised through to add comedy in
each area.
Stock Characters included: Lovers, Comic Servant, braggart, and pendant.
Commedia dell’arte troupe, probably depicting Isabella Andreini and the Compagnia dei Gelosi, oil painting by unknown artist, c. 1580; in the Musée
Carnavalet, Paris
20. In Chinese opera, the color and shape of the
costume showed the status and emotional
state of characters. They would use stock
character ideals in productions.
Ex, status colors
Yellow-Emperor, Light Yellow- Royal Family,
Red- Nobleman, A young person- White, an
old person Brown, a brave and rustic person-
Black.
Ex. Character in Narrative
A Woman wearing a skirt around her chest, it
shows her emotions as fatigue, misery, or
fatigue.
A coquettish female character would wear
blouse pants or a blouse skirt.
Chinese Opera
21. Symbolism in WALL-E
Wall-E comes from a
mostly Judeo-
Christian society.
Therefore,
Archetypes in the
story will line up with
that type of
mythology
The battle between
good and evil
22. Main theme in Judeo-Christian Stories
The usual theme of stories in this archetype are
the state of the world being bleak, and god
sending someone to change the people.
Evil or the Devil, say “Eat, Drink, and be Merry
for tomorrow we die.”
But the prophet/messiah/saviour comes to
turn people to better things.
23. Common Judeo-Christian Archetypes
-Prophet/ Messenger
-Noah
-Moses
-Fatalistic
-Adam and Eve
-Savior/Messiah
-Resurrection (Osiris
and Isis)
-Communion
24. Noah
A large vessel is
used to transport the
rest of humanity and
protect them from a
large disaster.
25. Noah Continued
In the Noah Myth, a
bird is sent out to find
signs of life and
brings back an olive
branch. In the film,
Wall-E brings back
signs of life on earth.
26. Communion
The coming together in bringing
new life, as in the elements of the
eucharist with the Catholic tradition,
also found in Wall-E when they try
to plant the new plants together
27. Moses leads the Israelites through
the desert into the promised land.
Wall-E causes the change to lead
them to the old home of Humans.
Prayer of Moses after the Israelites go through the Red Sea -
Ivan Kramskoy
Moses
28. Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve are
the Parents of the
world. Eva and Wall-
E are the parents of
the new Generation
of Robots and
Humans
29. Savior/Messiah
In the Bible and the Torah,
the main theme is the act
of a messiah coming to
save the world. Wall-E is
the catalyst for change
when he goes to save the
plant, in fact saving the
physical world.
30. Resurrection
Christians Believe in the
resurrection of the Savior.
In Ancient Egypt, Osiris
was resurrected by Isis.
Wall-E, after rebooting is
reborn from Eva. Mary
Magdalene was the first to
see Jesus after his
resurrection.
Christus, LDS Visitor’s Center
31. Fatalism, Dystopia
Dystopia is related to
the world of sin, and
it’s lack of
progression, only
preying on their own
desires rather than
the greater good.
Eat, Drink, and Be
Merry for tomorrow
we die!
32. Fatalism, Dystopia continued.
Then a Savior comes
to disrupt the world of
sin, and send the
world into a place
without sin, paradise.
33. Fatalism, Dystopia continued
With his sacrifice,
defeating evil, he
sends humans
salvation of an
eternal paradise.
34. Fatalism, Dystopia
The world Wall-E works for
is a world stuck in a lack of
progression, a dystopia.
His sacrifice and
resurrection in the film is
seen as a final triumph
over a lost world.
35. Conclusion to Movie
In the conclusion of the movie we could see that Wall-e gets Eva… and
they live happily ever after! Now this ending is quite typical for your
average Disney movie, and also average to see in the American culture.
To simply see that the man gets the women of his dreams. That would
be simply just typical. But in this movie we get more than simply
romance and adventure. We get a clear understanding of how the
smallest things could make our world upside down. How the smallest
things could make such an impact to our lives that without those
smallest things we wouldn’t be able to live. Those small things in the
movie Wall-e would simply be the idea of technology which takes an
impact towards the idea of dystopia. We could see that humans in this
movie are so caught up with technology that they are blinded by the
things that are by far more important. We could also see that humans
have become ignorant because of the impact that technology has done
into the lives of the humans in this movie. The ignorance goes out in an
extent that people end forgetting what life is really all about…
At the end we could understand that we shouldn’t let the smallest things,
(technology,) conquer our ways of living; but use it for our good. To
extend in which we are able to balance it all. Technology and the world
that revolves around technology, such as Mother Nature, our friends,
family and what not.
36. Citations
Tan Ye (2008). Historical Dictionary of Chinese Theater.
Scarecrow Press.
"archetype". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica
Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/32765/archetype>.
Archetypes.Leeming, D. The Oxford Companion to World
Mythology
Oxford University Press 2005
Jung, Carl.(Brief biography)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, 3rd ed., Annual, 2002
Eric J. Arnould and Craig J. Thompson, Consumer Culture Theory
(CCT):
Twenty Years of Research Journal of Consumer Research, Vol.
31, No. 4 (March 2005), pp. 868-882
Thomas, Frank, and Ollie Johnston. Disney Animation: The
Illusion of Life. New York: Abbeville, (1981). Print.
Walch, Margaret, and Augustine Hope. Living Colors: The
Definitive Guide to Color Palettes through the Ages. San
Francisco: Chronicle, (1995). Print.
Park, Y. and Guerin, D. A. , Meaning and Preference of Interior
Color Palettes Among Four Cultures. Journal of Interior Design,
28: 27–39 (2002)
Catmull, Ed. "How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity." Harvard
Business Review (2008)
Thomson, Katherine. ""WALL-E": Inspired By "Hello Dolly"" The
Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 3 July 2008. Web. 7 Nov.
2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/03/wall-e-inspired-by-
hello_n_110618.html>.
WALL-E. Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2008. DVD.
37. Contributions
Aaron: Film analysis/techniques and definition of
Dystopia
Loren: Archetypes and Judeo-Christian Symbolism
Alex: Climate Issues, environmental issues, introduction
to movie and conclusion to movie
Princess: Technology and society/impact of technology
