credit: videocrab

At one point or another, most people have an understandable fear of the control and the amount of knowledge that artificial intelligence can acquire. Are they just products of what humans put into them or can they grow to surpass us and, using their superior intelligence, destroy us? Regardless of these terrifying post-modern conspiracy theories, there is also a good side to all of this: imagine two little robots falling in love! Pixar Animation Studios’ upcoming film, WALL-E, is based around a robot romance in the future, starring robots who communicate without voices but with sounds that resemble speech. It promises to be a clever and light-hearted spin on a genre that can sometimes be heavy-handed and gloomy, and judging from Pixar’s reputation, it should be worth a visit to the movie theater.

Originally founded as one third of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm, Pixar was launched in 1979 under the name “Graphics Group”. Part of the original efforts of Graphics Group was to work on a program called Motion Doctor, which would allow traditional animators to make the transition to computer animation without spending a long time or a lot of money on training. Because of this system, Graphics Group was able to produce higher quality film sequences quicker, using experienced animators right away. Once the team had been assembled and the roles were assigned, they began to work on special effects as well as focusing much of their time on research. Advancements in the industry got the attention of Steve Jobs, who paid $5 million to George Lucas and purchased the team as capital in the company.

Under Steve Jobs, the Graphics Group was renamed Pixar, which is a fake Spanish word that means “to make pixels”. One of the reasons that Steve Jobs was able to purchase the team so easily was that George Lucas was having financial difficulties due to a recent divorce, a sudden drop in Star Wars revenues, and a box office disaster in his latest film. The newly-created Pixar focused on selling its high-end hardware called the Pixar Image Computer. Despite promotional efforts on the part of John Lasseter, a Pixar employee who showed the machine off directly at the computer graphics industry’s largest convention, and the patronage of Disney for the purpose of their secretive CAPS project, the Pixar Image Computer did not sell well.

The lack of sales meant that the company was in danger of going out of business, so the animation department, headed by Lasseter, began producing commercials for outside companies that featured computer animation. These included Tropicana, Listerine, and Lifesavers. Pixar also continued its relationship with Walt Disney Feature Animation, who would eventually become its most important partner. Disney was responsible for making a $26 million deal with Pixar Animation to create three movies, the first of which was Toy Story. This deal was the crucial factor in Steve Jobs’ decision not to sell the company, allowing it to reach its level of success today.

So WALL-E is part of the imagination of a group of people that have seems some tough times, but also plenty of success, as their eight Academy Awards would tell you. Set far in the future, the movie revolves around the last robot on Earth, a cute little guy who is programmed to pick up trash and clean up the environment. Because of Earth-dwellers’ bad habits, the entire planet became covered in trash, to such a level that everyone had to evacuate Earth, leaving the job to millions of robots to clean it up. The program, however, was not a success, and WALL-E, the little robot in question, is the only one of his kind left in the world.

So far, the story seems pretty morbid. After all, a cute little robot has been left all on his own on a desolate, polluted planet, programmed for an insurmountable task for which he, once again, is all alone. He is not even aware that he can stop working; rather, all he knows is that he has to clean up the planet until told otherwise. According to John Lasseter, though, the plot is not one that is concerned with heavy-handed robotic science fiction. It is a love story, one that evolves between the lonely WALL-E and EVE, a robot from a spaceship that comes to Earth to collect the last plant left in the world, which little WALL-E happens to have picked up in his efforts to clean things up. In a short span of time, though, this seemingly innocuous interaction between two robots turns into a full-blown romance.

The problem for WALL-E, though, is that EVE is not like him. She has not evolved to such a point to be able to develop these kinds of emotions, but he has. Therefore, WALL-E has to do everything in his power to win over EVE, who, according to director Andrew Stanton, is “a robot, cold and clinical”. Because of her inability to love in the way that WALL-E has evolved to have such feelings, it is something of an impossible battle for the lonely robot to overcome for her heart. But his persistence in continuing to clean the surface of the Earth, his hope for the future of mankind, and his love for the robot EVE will surely lead him to try his best.

An interesting characteristic of the film that should add another dimension to the story is the fact that there is actually little traditional dialogue. Rather, the robots “speak” much like we would expect: with beeps and other robotic sounds that resemble voices. Designed by Ben Burtt, this system of communication between the characters allows for a deeper immersion into the plot and a unique take on the whole system of storytelling. Each robotic character is represented by sounds that characterize their emotions. For example, a character named AUTO communicates with military sounds. The lack of dialogue also places the focus directly on Pixar’s superb animation qualities, which promise to tell the story even without the use of conventional methods.

A big draw for parents and children alike is the fact that Pixar movies tend to be a fun experience for the whole family. Children love the characters, the fact that it’s animated and that the plot is one that is accessible to them. Parents and older kids tend to enjoy the subtle humor and the silliness that accompanies Pixar’s films – everybody, no matter what age, can at least chuckle at the antics of Nemo and Dory in Pixar’s blockbuster Finding Nemo. WALL-E looks like it will continue in this vein, featuring the voice acting, at least in a cameo role, of Pixar veteran John Ratzenberger of Cheers fame and Sigourney Weaver, whose appearance in the film is a reference to her famous role in Aliens.

A love story between robots is truly an inventive concept, and judging by Pixar’s previous efforts and the uniqueness and lightheartedness of the plot, it should be worth the family’s time. The kids will love having a new Pixar character in their lives – along with the ubiquitous toys and merchandise – and it is always fun to see a movie with the family. WALL-E will hit theaters on June 27, 2008.