Of all the Pixar films that have ever been released I have only disliked two: A Bugs Life and The Incredibles, and even of those two there was only one that I had any real animosity towards (The Incredibles). Every other Pixar film has been either great or outstanding with the exception of Finding Nemo. Finding Nemo was neither great nor outstanding; it was an absolute masterpiece.

There is a reason Disney acquired Pixar for 7.4 billion dollars (that's billion with a B!), Pixar is the only major animation studio left that is making quality childrens films. They have picked up where Disney left off after Aladdin, and their films are as classic and timeless as any of the classic Disney films. When WALL-E was released and reviewed the word was going round that it was even better than Finding Nemo (a film that knocked my socks off). I didn't doubt this after I heard it, I just had to see it for my self. After seeing WALL-E for the first time, I have still yet to decide if it was better than Finding Nemo or not; but it was just as good.

Not since E.T. has there been such charm, wonder, and emotion from a character who can't talk. WALL-E cannot tell us who he is or what he dreams about; so instead he shows us. We follow him through an average day of cleaning up the mess we (the human race) have made and abandoned. WALL-E looks at everything in his world with awe and wonder from a diamond ring box (but not the ring) to the stars in the sky; and after a busy day he retires to his bunk where he watches the classic Hello Dolly film over and over again. We love him immediately.

The plot of this film is simple enough. Another robot (Eve) is sent to earth in search of her "directive". While looking for it she meets WALL-E who gleefully takes her on a tour of his world. After finding her "directive" Eve spends most of this tour in a state on non-consciousness, but that does not stop our tenacious WALL-E.

Eventually they return to outer space where the human race is lethargically lazing around the grand space ship "Axiom." I went into this film fully expecting an anti-consumerism hippie Greenpeace message. Surprisingly however, I didn't find that to be the case.

The human beings on the Axiom are not self indulgent consumers; they simply don't know any better. They have lived on the Axiom for so long they have forgotten how to live without automation. As soon as the auto-served drinks are knocked out of their hands and their personal view screens are taken offline, the citizens of the Axiom are shaken from their automated lives and wonder how they ever lived with such dependence in the first place.

The message did not seem to me to be one of total anti-consumerism. It seems to be the point that if we all turned off our Wiis or our internets for a few hours a day and looked around at the real world and what it has to offer, we would all lead more fulfilling lives. Not exactly a new message, but not a bad one either.

There is something to love around every corner of this film. Like Finding Nemo, there is no real villain here; the humans are optimistic and eager to return to real life on earth, the machines are three dimensional and charming, and then we have WALL-E and Eve. It is amazing how much real chemistry and warmth plays out between these two non-speaking characters. And the amount of tension and sentiment that is created in the climax is enough to make even the adult audiences get a little choked up (I admit to nothing).

WALL-E has "classic" written all over it. It is exactly what quality childrens films use to be; simple yet suprisingly deep with a cast of timeless and lovable characters that steal your heart. As was said above, most of the Pixar films have been great; but like Finding Nemo, WALL-E was a finely crafted masterpiece.