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Is Pixar's 'Wall-E' The Most Expensive Silent Movie Ever Made?
Posted by Defamer Hollywood at 6:05 AM on June 24, 2008
There exists a certain type of filmgoer (I know him intimately, for he is me) whose weakness can be summed up in four words: "Robots with Human Emotions." This sort of film fan grew up on movies like Short Circuit, thrilled to videos like Bjork's "All Is Full of Love," and even has been caught defending A.I. Artificial Intelligence (you take the good with the bad, people). A 30-second clip of Pixar's Wall-E could drive a man like this to tears, but for the other 99% of the population it will provoke nothing but head-shaking, for the $180 million Wall-E contains virtually no dialogue.
How will moviegoers react to a CG hero who isn't voiced by Jack Black or Will Smith — a character who can say little besides a chirping recitation of his own name? Sound designer Ben Burtt hopes they'll take a cue from decades past:
"We all thought about Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton," Mr. Burtt said, "this energetic, sympathetic character who doesn't say a whole lot. Most animation is very dialogue heavy. There's dance, constant talking, punch lines. We used to wonder: How will we prepare the audience?"
While we have faith in the Pixar brain trust to solve such a problem, we hope they won't follow in the footsteps of Short Circuit 2's notorious, cut-for-TV robot hate crime. Johnny Five...dead...?
- With Wall-E, Pixar Moves to More Somber Ground [New York Times]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
regisgoat
Posted 7:15 AM 24/6/08
It's a great movie, easily Pixar's most mature film. It's rather dark and sophisticated, and it has the genuine melancholy of the classic silent film. It's not all mute, anyhow: there are humans galore in the second half of the film. Probably said too much already.
regisgoat
Cam/ron
Posted 7:07 AM 24/6/08
It's refreshing to see a CGI movie that lacks a gazillion pop culture references that are supposed to entertain baby boomers (i.e. fucking Shrek 3).
Cam/ron
shag_carpet_bomb
Posted 7:02 AM 24/6/08
I wouldn't underestimate the kiddies, my 2 y/o is a huge fans of the Pixar Shorts, One Man Band is his favorite. Those guys can say more with a shrug and an eyeroll in under 4 minutes than most filmmakers can say in an assplosion packed 2 hours.
shag_carpet_bomb
TurdBlossom
Posted 6:58 AM 24/6/08
Props to Pixar for doing what Disney ultimatley chickened out of doing with "Dinosaur"
TurdBlossom
Cam/ron
Posted 6:54 AM 24/6/08
Hey, thanks for reminding me of the sick fucks who assaulted Johnny 5.
Cam/ron
Cam/ron
Posted 6:52 AM 24/6/08
From the trailers and clips I've seen, there is a kind of a dialogue where the robots utter humanlike noises to each other (think R2D2). Burtt definitely has a shoo-in for an Oscar.
Cam/ron
LBJeffries
Posted 6:39 AM 24/6/08
On my drive to work every morning I pass the giant Wall-E billboard at Franklin and Highland, and every time I see it I tear up a little. Not because I think the movie will be particularly sad, but because I anticipate that the Pixar storytelling and Iron Giant-likeness will overwhelm me.
I am unstable maybe.
LBJeffries
TryThisAtHome
Posted 7:49 AM 24/6/08
@shag_carpet_bomb: My kids love One Man Band too! Fabulous. Zero dialog. Cant' wait for Wall-E.
TryThisAtHome
harshmellow
Posted 7:37 AM 24/6/08
After I saw the longer trailer last week I was excited. Now hearing that they were inspired by Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and silent movies!?! Pixar is going hit it outta the park again. I showed my 9-year-old son The General about a month ago and he loved it. I don't know who is more excited about this--him or me!
harshmellow
pureblarney
Posted 7:26 AM 24/6/08
Roeper called it "the best movie of the year." I know now that I'm going to have to build a levee for my tear ducts.
pureblarney
Juancho
Posted 7:19 AM 24/6/08
I went from being dubious about this film and its premise to rabid anticipation about a month ago. Looks excellent.
Juancho
kookla
Posted 8:15 AM 24/6/08
When I saw the billboards for this, I thought to myself, "Son of a gun, Pixar has run out of mammals and amphibians and now they're animating talking walls!" True story.
kookla
RobotDoc
Posted 11:13 AM 24/6/08
Also does anyone else think Johnny5 inspired the segway?
RobotDoc
RobotDoc
Posted 11:10 AM 24/6/08
Johnny 5 assault, I saw the second one when I was about 8 years old and that scene scared the monkey jebus out of me, nightmares and everything. Wall-E better not cause similar scars!
RobotDoc
alitcofsky
Posted 11:06 AM 24/6/08
$185 million? That would make it the most expensive animated film ever. Have a hunch that must be an error.
alitcofsky
Cam/ron
Posted 12:26 PM 24/6/08
@alitcofsky: I've read that the budget is around $120 million, which is the usual Pixar budget.
Cam/ron
pdn
Posted 3:32 PM 26/6/08
Robots with human emotions? My fave was always Jinx from Spacecamp. A talking robot golf ball who only wants to send his buddy Joaquin Phoenix into space. Awesome.
pdn