Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-review by Professor Popinjay

(2008)

Is Wall-E the perfect movie? Or, more accurately, is Pixar a production company that produces only perfect movies?

While Wall-E may not be my favorite Pixar movie, Wall-E is cinematic perfection in my opinion. Everything was done right. It’s funny. It’s dramatic. It’s subtle and nuanced, not overwritten. It has love. It has important lessons. It has live action clips from the 1969 film “Hello Dolly”. What’s not to love!?!

I hear a lot of people bewildered at the appearance of a live-action Willard Scott being present in this film, often stating he’s the only live-action character in an animated movie. That’s not true though. The clips of “Hello Dolly” were also live action. It all fits together so well, you almost don’t notice you’re watching a live-action film in an animated movie.

That’s one more reason I love this film. “Hello Dolly” is great from start to finish and Wall-E promotes it! “It Only Takes a Moment” being sung by Michael Crawford (of Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera fame) and Marianne McAndrew is such a lovely song and fits this film perfectly as I’m sure the creators of Wall-E knew all too well. I don’t care if the only films you watch star a furious Vin Diesel and fast cars, you simply must sit down and watch that Barbara Streisand musical! You may love it or be miserable throughout but once it’s over you will have watched it and that’s no small thing. Plus it comes with the added bonus of understanding Wall-E all the better. That alone makes it worth the watch!

I referenced Wall-E in a recent rant connected to “Tall Tale” and shan’t get into that aspect again other than to say, this film makes me anxious about being too idle. I do NOT want to become a chair riding media zombie… I mean more so.

I do have a question though: If these humans barely know what plants are, what are they eating on this luxury space-cruise liner they’re all on? I imagine they have robots taking care of all that. I HOPE they have hydroponics going or something. It just seems to me if they had the ability to sustain life on this huge ship, they would have the ability to sustain life on their junk-covered planet. Well, I’m overthinking this and there’s probably some factors that I don’t know about because I’m certain this is a perfect movie with no plot holes whatsoever.

I can’t think of much to say about Wall-E beyond gushing about it. And so me thinks I shall bid thee good morrow and lay my pen to rest for the eve. Presently I do attend a gratis play by the bard and the end of intermission doth come thither… crap! I forgot to switch out of Elizabethan! Oh, well, what’s done is done.