Okay, so I'm still in the process of scanning my sketchbook on the computer. In the meantime...I have to let it out. I saw Wall-E on Saturday. I expected it to blow me away. And that it did.
There's a quote allegedly by Alfred Hitchcock that explains the difference between European movies and American movies. European movies start out with a shot of clouds, another shot of clouds, and then another shot of clouds. An American movie starts out with a shot of clouds, then a shot of an airplane, and then if the next shot isn't of the airplane blowing up, everyone will walk out of the theater.
Well, those "cloud-cloud-cloud" movies I thoroughly enjoy, and I imagined that one day through animation I could make a movie like that. A movie that would show that animation isn't its own genre, only its own medium. Too many people think of animation as being for kids, and involving talking and singing animals and witches and goblins. But why can't an animated movie deal with deeper issues? Why not an animated film noir? Or an animated courtroom drama?
Anyway, Wall-E makes a bold move in the "cloud-cloud-cloud" direction. There is hardly any dialogue really. The voice actor who gets top billing is a sound editor (the great Ben Burtt). So much of the story is told by nothing more than personality, Chaplinesque humor (the humor is so brilliant because it's so simple), and flawless animation. And yet it raises poignant awareness of human evolution (devolution?) toward technological dependence, epidemic obesity and tragic laziness.
Blade Runner, Minority Report, I Robot...and Wall-E? Most definitely.
The animated version of The Catcher in the Rye, anyone?
There's a quote allegedly by Alfred Hitchcock that explains the difference between European movies and American movies. European movies start out with a shot of clouds, another shot of clouds, and then another shot of clouds. An American movie starts out with a shot of clouds, then a shot of an airplane, and then if the next shot isn't of the airplane blowing up, everyone will walk out of the theater.
Well, those "cloud-cloud-cloud" movies I thoroughly enjoy, and I imagined that one day through animation I could make a movie like that. A movie that would show that animation isn't its own genre, only its own medium. Too many people think of animation as being for kids, and involving talking and singing animals and witches and goblins. But why can't an animated movie deal with deeper issues? Why not an animated film noir? Or an animated courtroom drama?
Anyway, Wall-E makes a bold move in the "cloud-cloud-cloud" direction. There is hardly any dialogue really. The voice actor who gets top billing is a sound editor (the great Ben Burtt). So much of the story is told by nothing more than personality, Chaplinesque humor (the humor is so brilliant because it's so simple), and flawless animation. And yet it raises poignant awareness of human evolution (devolution?) toward technological dependence, epidemic obesity and tragic laziness.
Blade Runner, Minority Report, I Robot...and Wall-E? Most definitely.
The animated version of The Catcher in the Rye, anyone?
2 comments:
I wholeheartedly agree. When I went to see Wall.E, I was absolutely blown away with the profound issues presented in the movie. I was thinking of you the whole time I was at the theatre, and how I knew you'd love it too. Thanks for posting such a well-written series of thoughts about the movie. :) You said it perfectly.
Why thank you.
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