So I thought let’s run it tonight in stead.

by Karel Segers

My unconditional love for Pixar kicked in when I realised I had made the unforgivable mistake of missing The Incredibles in the cinema. My commitment to the gang of Emeryville was complete a few years later with Wall-E.

Ironically, that film ruined the chances of an animated short film I had produced in the years leading up to the release of Wall-E. (Our film features a lonely ‘Pupp-E’ on an abandoned hot and rusty planet. Then a shiny, aggressive droid lands – and they ultimately become friends… Sounds familiar?)

ANIMATION IS NOT A GENRE

Have you ever wondered what Wall-E‘s genre is? If you answered ‘animation’, please don’t repeat this in the presence of the Pixar guys. Animation is an art form, not a genre. To me, Wall-E is Chaplin-esque romantic comedy. Its main character’s goal: to hold Eve’s hand as seen on TV.

Wall-E is Chaplin-esque romantic comedy

Wall-E is teeming with wonderful moments but my favourite is the Mid Point. In a great movie, you’ll always have a great Mid Point. Aspects that characterise the mid point are often an unusual setting, a change in the main character’s approach and in the movie’s energy. Sometimes the film takes a different direction altogether, which is surely the case here. You could almost say that the second half of Wall-E is a different film.

SEX AT SIXTY

Where the latter half of the movie is all about the return to Earth, the first half of Wall-E completes the storyline that brings the little green plant to the mother ship.

Wall-E has saved the plant but is blasted into space. When he drifts off, risking to lose connection with the mother ship, Eve goes to his rescue. When they meet, Wall-E hands her the shoe with the little plant inside that will allow for Earth to be re-vegetated. Eve responds with a hug and between the two robots we see a brief spark – the kiss. This is the obligatory ‘sex at sixty’ moment, reminiscing the days when screenplays were around 120 pages. Still, each romantic movie has a kiss or love-making scene around the halfway point.

This is the obligatory ‘sex at sixty’ moment

And here is our movie moment. The kiss is followed by a delightful scene of pure cinema, with Wall-E and Eve dancing through space and touching the hearts of the people on board of the mother ship. When the captain sees them, he asks: “Computer, define ‘dancing’!”

At the end of three minutes of spell-binding beauty, we are introduced to “Burn-E”. He is the little hero in the short film that accompanied Wall-E in cinemas and now on the retail disk. Burn-E is stuck out on the ledge behind a closed door when Wall-E and Eve return to the mother ship. If you haven’t seen the short film, check it out. You want to know why he is there… and what he’ll do next.

This is another little masterpiece and testimony to Pixar’s insane storytelling talent.

– Karel Segers

(first published for ScripTips – with thanks to Brooke Trezise)

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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Of the movies I have seen, I fail to find any truly great. I won’t go in detail as I suspect there will be an abundance of articles critical of the winner in each category.

Closest to timeless comes WALL-E and despite the fact that the film has ruined the chances of my own recent short animation (co-written with and directed by Rodney March) I am happy WALL-E won the statuette.

Our film TIN CAN HEART has more than a few aspects in common with the first 40mins of WALL-E. We completed our film a few weeks before the release of the latest Pixar pic but by the time the film festivals received it, they saw the similarities as a lack of originality.

Such is life.

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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