On DVD: Wall-E 3-Disc Special Edition (Pixar, 2008) November 30, 2008

Posted by thaswassup in DVD, Film.
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Continuing the tradition of pushing the limits of computer animation, Pixar has painted Wall-E into a masterpiece. Using mostly body language as a tool of communication between the two main characters, intelligent computer “cameras” and societal critiques (more on that in a bit), Wall-E can be enjoyed by everyone. 

The 3-Disc DVD comes with a never-before seen short (the impressionable Burn-E), a separate disc full of special features and a third disc containing the digital copy of the movie (think laptop and iPod compatibility).

The highlight of Disc 1 is the featurette about the movie’s sound design; composition, sound effects, and more. I was expecting some sort of info about the voices of Wall-E and Eve (are they kids? did they T-Pain that sumbitch?) and how they came to use the song from “2001: A Space Odyssey” (i was waiting for it, too dammit), and how they thought of the idea to use Apple’s “powering up” sound effect when Wall-E fully charges from the sun (c’mon pixar i was waiting for somebody to talk about that shit. it was genius!).

Disc 2 contains hella (HELLA) featurettes, one in particular that breaks down a scene with commentary by Pixarians (i just made that shit up), their role and how they did what they do. Turns out that for one small scene, about 30-40 heads are involved (shading the cockroach, animating the dust, painting the background, etc.) By the time the segment is over, you’re exhausted with all the thoughts of just how many heads were involved in the movie period. By the looks of these special features, Pixar employs hella white and asian people. I still have yet to watch “The Pixar Story” on this disc but I’m pretty sure it’s solid (without it being too “documentaryish”).

The packaging is solid, too. Sold as one whole piece, Disc 1 slides out of a pocket on the left side, opening up folder-style, with the rest of the discs opening up the same way on the right side. It comes with a code to activate Disc 3, so don’t lose that if you plan on buying it. The artwork is embossed, too.

Besides the obvious message in the movie for us humans to appreciate the environment and not take the earth’s natural resources for granted, there’s a lot of important underlying messages. Corporate monopoly, the threat of technology on humans, capitalism, emotional repression and detachment from self and “big brother” all come into play here. Placing the humans on a space “cruise ship”, complete with all types of stereotypical cruise culture (i would know, i was on one a couple months ago), was/is a clever scathing critique on class privilege and corporate media. Watching the special features and seeing who is behind all of this – a bunch of adult nerds of all ages – really makes you think about who this movies’ audience really is. 

If anything, watch this shit and learn to appreciate one of my favorite characters: M-O (Microbe Obliterator).

Oh, and wassup with Wall-E being dark, dirty and working class, while Eve is white, sterile and more intelligent? That’s racist, and a whole ‘nother post in itself