Lagardère Publishing: All aboard for WALL-E’s world

Pixar Studios won our hearts with Finding Nemo and Toy Story. This summer, Pixar takes us on a trip to the futuristic world of WALL-E, a little robot whose mission is to clean up Earth, which has long since been deserted by humanity. Wandering through a desolate landscape, he conscientiously performs his assigned task…until the day he meets EVE, his feminine alter ego. Call it love at first beep: WALL-E is determined to win her heart! When his beloved is called back into space to finish her mission, the little robot doesn’t hesitate for an instant, setting off in hot pursuit on a series of fantastic adventures.

This new Pixar Studios charmer is full of nods to sci-fi classics (including Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey) and the world of information technology – which is understandable, in light of Pixar’s history. Established in 1989, the studio was the joint creation of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and John Lasseter, a former Disney animator. Jobs’s buyout of Lucasfilm’s computer graphics division, an entity devoted to research on and development of new technologies, undoubtedly influenced the new studio’s strategy, which focused exclusively on the creation of 3D animated movies. In 1995, the studio produced Toy Story, the first feature-length film made entirely via computer. The film’s commercial and critical success – it won a Special Achievement Oscar in 1996 – paved the way for rival studios, which followed suit with Antz and then Shrek in 2000. For the past 10 years, full-length computer-animated features have flourished. In a market that now seems saturated, however, Pixar’s features stand out for the quality of their screenplays and the humanity of their virtual characters. WALL-E, whose theatrical release is scheduled for 30 July 2008, undoubtedly rises to the same high standard.

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