Wall-E is a classic children’s film and watching it again after many years, the experience was a little different. SA Katie brought up an obvious but easily missed detail that there is absolutely no dialogue for much of the film. I think it’s because there was no one on Earth except for Wall-E. There was no one to talk to. It was silent because the Earth had been so neglected that people no longer lived there. I also noticed how the Buy n Large Corporation logo was plastered everywhere. It seemed to own and control everything. After humans leave the Earth, BnL continues to govern their lives. They mindlessly listen to their screens, switching their suits when “blue is the new red.” The movie is also an image of what our Earth could look like due to climate change if we don’t start trying to regulate our impact on the environment. Wall-E is a little eerily too close to home.
The thing I like about Disney movies is that you can watch them at any age. Even now that I’m 19 I still watch many of the new ones. Sometimes it’s for a reminder of childhood like Finding Dory and Incredibles 2. Sometimes it’s for the emotional rollercoaster like Coco and Moana. But now I can laugh at some of the jokes that I may not have understood when I was a kid. Like the slow moving sloths scene in Zooptopia. But now that I’m older, I can easily pick out the clever jabs at society and hidden, overarching messages in these movies.
I agree that watching Disney movies as an adult is a different experience than watching as a child. The hidden messages and jokes are more interesting as an adult because as children we cannot truly understand. WALL-E for example, was a least favorite movie of mine when I was a kid but after rewatching it, the movie became a new favorite. The strong message about climate change and global warming resonated with me on a personal level.
It’s crazy how the meaning of a movie can change as you yourself change as an individual. I agree that watching Disney movies as an adult is a much different experience. I too now laugh at jokes that as a kid I did not understand.
I haven’t seen Wall-E in a long time, but I remembered as a kid watching it and being annoyed that there was no talking. To me it made the film boring. However, after I read your post I can see what the significance of that silence meant.
Watching Disney movies at an adult age is something I do as well. They have taught me many lessons from when I was a kid until now. Also, I agree with the concern for global warming and how our planet may one day fall to the catastrophe shown in Wall-E.
I always find it so interesting to rewatch old classics from my childhood because Disney always seems to leave some Easter eggs with hidden meanings that adults only understand. It makes me wonder, while it can be seen as a marketing tactic to keep the moms and dads in the theater interested, how many lessons like this one did I miss as a child when enjoying cartoon movies? It’s an interesting insight on subliminal messages, and how we need to be more aware of the problems facing our society today.
I definitely agree that it was interesting to re-watch Wall-E and see how similarly/differently I react to it. While the film still has its fun, youthful, Disney energy to it, I felt that its direct parallels to today’s world made the film somewhat dark and deeply dystopian. It’s nice that, more and more, Disney and Pixar seem to be making films that provide such valuable social commentaries and are recognizing the power and responsibility of their far-reaching films.
WallE was a great movie! There are so many bits and pieces that show it is such a thought out and beautiful movie with an important message. As adults I think we can increasingly understand the importance of the film, and catch the bits of humore we missed as children! Pixar movies are fantastic, go Disney!