Life of Guangzhou - Pixar Strikes Gold Once again with the Year's Best Romance

When Disney purchased the acclaimed independent animation studio Pixar a few years ago, the fear was that it would become "Disneyfied," and that the decidedly edgy current that wove its way through almost all the studio's films until then would be excised. It's managed to hang on and maintain its personality, and with the exception of Toy Story 2, steered clear of reliance on sequels and franchises. It's for these reasons Pixar's yearly offerings are so eagerly anticipated. (Sadly, there are rumors of a third Toy Story and second Cars.) Even if it doesn't really work (A Bug's Life), it's at least going to be new and different. This is the studio that made a movie about restaurant pests (Ratatouille) into bitingly witty, family-appropriate entertainment.

WALLE is, without a doubt, next year's Best Animated Feature, though speculation about a Best Picture Oscar nomination is a touch of hyperbole. However, WALLE is a surprisingly effective futuristic romance and sci-fi satire, as well as being one of Pixar's more daring experiments. Beginning on a scorched Earth hundreds of years in the future, the battered, dusty WALLE (waste allocation load lifter Earth-class) continues to carry out his purpose-built duty. He compounds garbage into tidy cubes and then stacks them skyscraper high, and he does this every day to a futile end. Humanity has long since abandoned the poisoned planet, and WALLE, having clearly developed sentience in the interim, has only a cockroach for company. He's a lonely romantic that watches bits of Hello Dolly every night before "bed," and stargazes through the smog. When EVE (extraterrestrial vegetation evaluator) touches down on a classified mission, it's love at first... blip? Scan? Beep? Whatever, it's love. Of course, she'll eventually have to leave, and WALLE will chase after her and get mired in a conspiracy of silence before living happily ever after.

What makes WALLE so affecting is the resonance of WALLE's situation. He seems far lonelier that Will Smith did in I Am Legend; something about the rigid programming that compels him to continue on in his fruitless task is heartbreaking. He cleans up the mess, day in and day out, but the only "person" to share his simple pleasures with is a roach (a universal apocalypse joke if ever there was one). Director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) quite bravely builds a melancholy, nearly photo-realistic wasteland for WALLE to exist in for 25 minutes before there's any traditional dialog - which isn't to say the film is silent. WALLE's various squeaks and electronic coos, when partnered with Thomas Newman's score, say as much about his state of mind as any words could. Ben Burtt is one of the "stars" of WALLE, and as one of Hollywood's most adept sound designers Stanton and Co. couldn't have done better. Burtt leapt to prominence by giving R2-D2 a voice in Star Wars, and clearly the man knows how to bring life to a robot.

Too often filmmakers of modern animations are so concerned with packing in as many self-conscious pop culture jokes and ironic gags that audiences feel bludgeoned with wit - or they feel like fools for not getting every obscure reference. WALLE has its gags, but never to the degree they distract from the central story. And the ones here are welcoming: WALLE bears more than a passing resemblance to Short Circuit's Number 5 - something this generation's parents taking children to the film will recognize; when WALLE gets a full solar charge he thrums like a Mac; the venerable Rubik's cube makes an appearance; and Sigourney Weaver is the voice of the ship's computer.

But the strength of the film remains in the budding romance between WALLE and EVE, with some help from a sneakily satirical second half adventure. WALLE is a more vivid character than a lot of others out there right now, and the good girl/boy from the wrong side of the tracks dynamic between he and EVE is amazingly affecting. EVE is also a woman unto herself, just the kind of self-assured girl you'd expect to come from the shiny future, and she inspires WALLE to transcend existence and actually live. And they are really, really cute together. When we finally get to see the bright future super-conglomerate BNL has wrought, Stanton's talons start to show. The race of slothful, technology-dependent nafs that humanity has become is as amusing as it is biting. But the comment goes down wrapped inside bright colors that beautifully contrast the gray-browns of old Earth, and so it barely registers. But it does.

It may seem strange to refer to WALLE and EVE as "he" and "she," but the film makes the suspension of disbelief so effortless it's really the only option. That Stanton has avoided condescension and cloying sentiment also goes a long way to making the film the delight that it is.

WALLE opens in Hong Kong today.

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