WALL-E

Director Andrew Stanton's animated Pixar entry WALL-E begins in the far distant future when robots have become responsible for most of the work once performed by human beings. After hundreds of lonely years on Earth fulfilling the mission for which he was programmed, WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class) finds new purpose in life when a robot from outer space named EVE (short for Extra-Terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) arrives and discovers that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to Earth's future. EVE races back to a galaxy far, far away to report her findings to self-exiled humans eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home. When WALL-E realizes that EVE is gone, he follows her and naturally gets into more trouble than you can shake a tractor beam at. Oscar-winning sound designer Ben Burtt (who recorded many of the film's sound effects in a junkyard) supplies the “voice” of WALL-E, with Elissa Knight as EVE. Other voice work supporting players include Sigourney Weaver, Fred Willard, Kathy Najimy, and John Ratzenberger. Boasting Pixar's trademark excellent animation and “characters” who seem more human than some of their three-dimensional counterparts in live-action movies, WALL-E is highly recommended. (E. Hulse)