“Out there,
Full of shine and full of sparkle,
Close your eyes and see it glisten Barnaby,
Listen Barnaby”
– “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” by Herman Jerry

When I first saw “WALL-E” as a kid, I remember balling my eyes out multiple times during the film. I didn’t quite understand why, but this story about an irrational robot had left a strong impression on me. I never forgot the film over the years and I recently wanted to come back to it and better understand how the film worked so well.

Seeing “WALL-E” after all these years, I’m astonished at how much is accomplished without relying on dialogue (something I really didn’t notice as a kid). It reminded me of Charlie Chaplin and Silent Era films that also had to push a story forward primarily by non-verbal means, lending them a timeless and universal quality which many films nowadays rarely possess. Furthermore, its incredible to see how the themes of this film have only become more relevant with time.

A few weeks ago, when I saw this film, I was at a point in my life where I felt extremely lost and hopeless. I’m currently in a gap year before medical school, and I felt as though I spent the last few months wasting the precious time I had. A time that I probably won’t see again in ages as I delve into being a Physician. I was worrying myself about the future with YouTube and Reddit, which only made things worse. Barely moving the needle towards being who I want to be, towards learning who I am, and most importantly towards not loosing my dreams in the pressures of medical school. Being at home in front of my laptop all day, gaining weight, reading the latest apocalyptic news about movie theaters and Physician job security; I was more disconnected with the world than actually part of it. Not really living at all. The worst part being that I knew all of this, and I didn’t know how to change, or if I could.

The opening shots of this film: the Earth, once beautiful and green, now polluted to the skies, really got to me. Not only was it a metaphor for what we humans were doing to the world, but it also felt like a mirror to what I was doing to myself. I empathized so deeply with WALL-E, the last remaining robot on Earth made to compact the trash left behind by us. He’s not like other robots, you can tell this one is built different. His child-like and innocent personality, his perseverance through this hell-scape (like a dandelion pushing through the cracks in the concrete). He’s authentic, he knows himself, and what he has to do. Even in a hellish landscape where everything has degraded, he continues to work. Hoarding nifty trinkets that interest him. Furthermore, he longs for something much greater. A feeling so beautifully captured by a moment where WALL-E looks up at the stars after a day of hard work.

I often think back to my grandmother and her way of life, and how much it showed me that my worries of today are nothing compared to being someone who is kind and thoughtful. There’s a scene when WALL-E is in space, chasing after his love Eve, where he plays with one of the rings of Saturn. The whole scene is bathed in an angelic blue haze as wisps of dust swirl around WALL-E’s hand, he looks on in amazement as the dust spirals backward into space. The scene doesn’t do anything to push the story forward, but it’s achingly beautiful. The wonder that WALL-E has throughout this entire scene reminded me of my grandmother (who has passed) and how she saw beauty and wonderment in the smallest of details. It reminded me of how I had forgotten to see the wonder in these small moments of my own life as of late.

It’s incredible how much of a visual film this really is and how effective it is because of it. I’ve seen many videos analyzing the messaging of the movie, from a sociological, ecological, biblical, and even conservative point of view (all of which have some merit even though Andrew Stanton himself stated he had no intentions of making any overt messages about any of these topics – though he did mention the Axion resembling Noah’s Ark and WALL-E being an olive branch to the people of the ship). However, one of the best things I learned was seeing the power of visual storytelling, and how it allows the audience to respond to a movie from within and figure out themselves what a movie, scene, or character is getting at. Such as in my case, also allowing them to have deeply personal experiences.

Over the past week, I tried to see every video I could on WALL-E and to learn more about this incredible film and how it was made. I got to learn about the insane attention to detail this film was given (the use of anamorphic lens and the “weight” given to the virtual camera so it could move like a real camera would), how the idea of a lonely trash compacting robot eternally doing his job developed in director Andrew Stanton’s mind for 12 years and how he used everything in his arsenal to move the story and establish his characters.

Dialogue is used sparingly, but when it is used, its done in clever ways. For example, the Axiom’s autopilot machine speaks a lot in the film, but its voice and speech is completely monotone and robotic. Indicative of the soulless existence that living on autopilot causes.

WALL-E is more than his programming of trash compaction, he breaks free to follow his love across the stars, and even begins to change those around him. Helping the humans, the other robots, and his love Eve break free of their programming. It was so hopeful to see. That it can be done even after 700 years of stagnation. That we just need to be shown, snapped out of it. That’s what Wall-E does in the movie, and to a larger extent that’s what the movie is doing to me. It gave me hope that I could do the same. I can stand up just like the Captain does, even if I hadn’t stood up in ages. Recognize where I have gone wrong and steal the steering wheel from the autopilot.

To me, WALL-E is a film about optimism and hope, about how love and following your heart and desires can overcome your programming and allow you to really live and see the wonder out there. Turn off your phones, the Internet, for a couple of hours and go see what the world has to offer. We would all lead more fulfilling lives if we did so.

After seeing the movie, I felt rejuvenated and optimistic about turning things around and I’ve even taken some positive steps towards living life a little more, focusing on who I am and how I am to others rather than being worried about the future and what may happen if things don’t work out. Needless to say though, the messages I got out of this film are easier said than done; however, it helps to have reminders and that’s what I think characters, films, and art like “WALL-E” really help to do. They not only deepen our understanding of ourselves and the life around us, but they also serve as reminders of what we’ve lost, who we can be, and who we are.

I’m not too sure what really got to me as a kid watching this film. Maybe I had similar struggles of feeling lost or maybe it was something completely different. That’s one of the beauties of this film, not only do I think everyone will respond differently to it, but your response to it might also change as you grow older. Whatever it may be, I’m glad I watched this film again and to have gotten out of it what I did. To step out of that line. To be who I am and to pursue what I love. Sometimes all we need is a reminder of that world out there.