The Wonderful World of WALL-E

They act surprised. A movie is made, it doesn't adhere to the same old, same old. It's a tad different and the pundits, the talking heads, the people in search of a topic to espouse, all proclaim that this could be a disaster, a $180 million enterprise down the drain.

Well, this past weekend, Pixar's new film WALL-E showed the gas bags,  regular film goers know a good film when the see one.

Underneath WALL-E there is more than some well done animation. You have heard how there is virtually no dialogue in the opening 40 minutes or so. That's true. What is on the screen is deftly realized, smartly done and enjoyable entertainment. It's classic comedy in the tradition of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle and Wile E Coyote. One person I spoke to said it simply, "Pixar makes smart, adult films disguised as kiddie films." This is classic comedy.

WALL-E reminds anyone who loves film how expressive the moving image can be without words. This basic tenet is how the industry went from a novelty to cultural juggernaut. A hundred years ago, moving pictures did not have dialogue and still millions of people paid their money and watched film. They weren't less sophisticated. They understood the vernacular of film, the moving image. WALL-E brings that back and guess what? We still love it when it is well done.

I was smiling to myself throughout that first 40 minutes. The film is charming, dense and exquisite. How did this happen? How is that Pixar, the maker of the film, can make incredible films, one after the other without a failure? Think about their plot lines. A gastronomically inclined rat desires to be a top line chef. The monsters in our dreams are really nice critters. These are not the stuff normal Hollywood dreams are made of. What is Pixar doing that's different?

The love film.Yeah that sounds too easy, but when you look at Hollywood's studios, they don't love film. They hardly understand what works and what doesn't. Why do you think they have focus groups, marketing gurus and spend millions on publicity? They simply don't know. If they did, they would be making more money than they do.

Pixar, on the other hand, loves film. They shut out the marketing nay-sayers or the alleged experts. They rely on what they like and then craft it into a well thought out piece. They are craftsmen.  If we are lucky, Pixar releases one film a year. It takes a long time for an idea to shaped, reshaped and then created.

A year or so back, Pixar was sold to Disney. Disney has lost it's creativity. Disney needed to buy Pixar because Pixar is the new Disney. Disney needed the mojo Pixar has to maintain its dominance in the world of animation. 

What is amazing is how this shotgun marriage has bloomed. Disney has not tried to Disnefy Pixar, to turn it into a mindless clone spitting out marketing opportunities or developing new rides for the theme park. In it's acumen, Disney has fostered Pixar's unique personality knowing it is that personality which creates the marketing opportunities and the theme park rides.

How long this will last is a question unanswered. Yet no matter how long it lasts, I hope I will sit in a theater, watch a Pixar film and have this stupid, contented grin splitting my face. I love nothing better than seeing a well made film.  

Garen has been sitting in the dark for over 30 years as an film exhibitor, consultant and reviewer. You may have seen him on NE Cable or some other Boston station.  More likely you heard him pontificating about films on FrugalYankee. com, NPR, TKK, RKO, New Hampshire Public Radio, or any number of other stations he's been on, but one thing is certain, he loves, and knows, film.