2008 Summer Arts Preview

Opens June 27

On an Earth long abandoned by humans, one little dustbuster keeps picking up the trash. The compact critter is code-named WALL.E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter — Earth), and he's the funniest, most soulful entity you're likely to meet in movies this summer. His encounter with another robot, the sleekly feminine EVE, forms the valentine heart of this science-fiction love story. Stanton, whose Finding Nemo remains Pixar's top-grossing movie, playfully challenges audiences with WALL.E's first 45 minutes, which has virtually no dialogue, yet communicates its humor and feelings as directly as Charlie Chaplin's best silent films. The Earth scenes are non-talking, but in no way silent — WALL.E's mechanical voice and most of the movie's other aural components are the work of Ben Burtt; he's been recognized as the medium's presiding wizard of sounds since the original Star Wars, for which he created the voices or noises of the creatures, droids and swishing light sabers. Like the early shorts of Pixar creative boss John Lasseter (Luxo Jr., Red's Dream), this one is the story of a machine with palpable human emotions. In that sense, WALL.E is the company's most sophisticated toy but its purest, most personal movie yet: ultimate Pixar.