GENRES: Kids/Family and Animation

TIME: 1 hr. 37 minutes

RATED: G

OUR THOUGHTS ON THIS MOVIE

(Recommended Age Group: all ages)

We really enjoyed this movie, however after seeing the obese humans on their hover couches, a few of us were thinking that perhaps a little exercise would do us some good. Although you can glean that message from the movie, (too much couch potatoing and computer chair potatoing can lead to obesity), that’s not the message of the movie.

The movie contrasts the love relationship between two hard working robots with the humans of the future who have become so linked into entertainment, social media and gaming that they’ve all but forgotten what it’s like to have face to face interpersonal relationships. Wall-E causes a woman’s holographic computer screen to disengage and she seems to see the world around her for the first time. The same happens with a guy named John and when the two of them meet and accidentally hold hands (something the screen writers use as a wonderful symbol of personal interaction and relationship), they look like they’re discovering something foreign but wonderful.

There are some great talking point opportunities in this movie. Here are a few:

Discuss how the movie is not saying that TV, gaming and the internet are bad, it’s saying that interpersonal relationships are better. Discuss why they’re better and what kind of balance we should look for.

Wall-E, after being alone for hundreds of years, recognizes the value of another person’s company, attention and love and he’s willing to put in the effort and work it takes to get it. Discuss how valuable the relationships in our lives can be and how we need to put time, love and effort in if we really want them to be rewarding.

Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love others. Discuss how since God is love and therefore completely unselfish, what he tells us is always for our own good not his. Therefore, the two things that he says are most important, must hold the two greatest blessings as well. Loving growing relationships with God and others (interpersonal relationships) are truly the greatest gifts and rewards this life has to offer.

The movie is a good reminder to us parents as well. Limiting and or nagging our kids about time in front of objects with screens is perhaps not as effectual as teaching them about the wonders of relationships and encouraging them to spend more face-to-face time. If your older kids tell you that they’re doing that through the internet, let them know that that’s great, but not the same. Like Wall-E showed us, if you can’t hold the other person’s hand (connect with them person to person) it’s just not the same level of relationship.

If your kids are very young and they don’t like being moved out from in front of their screened instruments, try drawing them away with some planned relational time with you. Young children learn the value of interpersonal relationships by experiencing the joy of hanging out with their parents and receiving their attention.

This movie is a keeper and would make a great Christmas present.

The soundtrack is also amazing and a recommended purchase for great family music. Here’s what Wikipedia says about the soundtrack.

“WALL-E is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, mainly composed by Thomas Newman and released on June 24, 2008. Orchestration is credited to Carl Johnson, JAC Redford, Thomas Pasatieri, and Gary K. Thomas. Newman previously scored Finding Nemo; almost all other Pixar films have been scored by Newman’s cousin Randy. The soundtrack features excerpts from “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” and “It Only Takes a Moment” (both sung by Michael Crawford) from the Hello, Dolly! soundtrack, and “La Vie en Rose” by Louis Armstrong, as well as an original composition, “Down to Earth” by Peter Gabriel. Also featured are the classical pieces “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and “The Blue Danube”, famous by their appearance on the soundtrack of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Neither Etta James’s cover of the song, At Last, nor Aquarela do Brasil which were used in the theatrical trailers appeared on the final cut of the film or the soundtrack.”