History WesternAnimation / WallE

—->--'''Put on your Sunday Clothes''', from ''Film/HelloDolly''

->''"Did you think you'd escaped from routine\\
By changing the script and the scene?\\
Despite all you made of it\\
You're always afraid of the change\\
You've got a lot on your chest\\
Well, you can come as my guest\\
So come on down\\
Come on down''"
-->--'''Music/PeterGabriel''', "Down to Earth"

-->''"Did you think you'd escaped from routine\\

->''"In the summer of 1994, there was a lunch. Me, John Lasseter, Pete Docter and the late Joe Ranft all sat down. ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' was almost complete, and we thought, 'Well, jeez. If we're gonna make another movie, we gotta get started ''now''!' So at that lunch, we knocked around a bunch of ideas that eventually became ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' and ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo''. The last one we talked about that day was the story of a robot... named WALL•E."''
-->-- '''Andrew Stanton''' in the teaser trailer

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:GO-4]] gets kicked out a window and smashes onto the deck]], but they do show the impact, making this an aversion -- maybe even a subversion, since it had such a clear setup. Even more so because some people might think [[spoiler:he'll land in the pool that's shown just before he smashes into the ground ''right in front of it.'']] Either way, [[spoiler:he was gonna die, be it the floor or the water.]]

In 2105, humans leave the [[EarthThatWas now-inhospitable Earth]] while they enjoy a five-year vacation cruise in space so it can be cleaned up by an army of "Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth class" robots or WALL•E for short. Seven centuries later in 2805, one robot -- the WALL•E in the title -- is still collecting junk and living with his pet cockroach. One day, WALL•E is going about his business as usual when a spaceship drops off a much more modern robot. Her name is EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) and WALL•E is smitten at first sight. When the ship comes back and picks her up, he stows away. The return trip brings him back to the remnants of humanity, and that's when things get ''really'' complicated...

[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} After 700 years of doing what he was built for, he'll discover what he was meant for.]]]]

Selected in UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry for preservation in 2021.

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* ForceFieldDoor: The "inmates" at the repair ward are held in cells protected by a forcefield. When WALL•E accidentally damages the controls with EVE's ArmCanon, all the malfunctioning robots are set free.

* PostKissCatatonia: WALL•E completely freezes the first time EVE "kisses" him.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Most of the defective robots' problems could be dangerous to passengers or obstructive to operations on the Axiom...and then there's the faulty beautician robot, who just has awful taste.

** Forthright mentions that humans will suffer loss of bone density and other side effects from micro-gravity, all of which is certainly true in real life. But the ''Axiom'' clearly possesses ArtificialGravity set at or close to Earth standard, so it cannot be blamed for humans collectively atrophying into the state they're currently in. Then again, Forthright may know better and is simply fudging the truth.

** [[InvokedTrope Used deliberately]] to show the passage of 700 years. All pre-launch humans are live-action actors, while everyone on the Axiom are pudgy CGI characters. The gallery of former captains shows them morphing slowly from one to the other as complacency and weight build up.

* BetaCouple: John and Mary, two humans who meet after their respective routines are inadvertantly disrupted by WALL•E.

** AUTO does this again when he notices that WALL•E is trying to prevent his attempt at stopping A113.

** WALL•E plays with a fire extinguisher he finds in the trash and discovers that the force it exerts can easily knock him over. [[spoiler:He remembers this experience while in the evacution pod about to self-destruct as he deliberately grabs the fire extinguisher off the wall and uses it propel himself while in space.]]

** When AUTO evades explaining why the plant is classified, the captain finally orders him to comply and breaks out a death glare confirm that he is serious. AUTO relents.

* DesolationShot: The first five minutes of the film consist of wide-shots of the ruins of Earth's civilizations and towers of trash.

* AccidentalAstronaut: The rocket that brought EVE to Earth returns to retrieve her after she successfully finds a living plant. Too late to be brought inside the spacecraft, Wall-E grips the rungs of an access ladder on its outer hull as the rocket roars out of Earth's atmosphere on its way to deep space towards the ''Axiom''. Good thing robots can survive in the vacuum of space.

* AdvancedCivilizationHollowImagination: Humanity has devolved into this; they eat liquid meals from cups, stare at screens all day (to the point of talking to one another via video chat when they're literally sitting next to one another), and have no imagination or creativity. WALL-E's presence helps to shake a few residents from their stupor.

** When EVE's ship picks her up and leaves Earth, Sputnik 1 is shown as one of the satellites in Earth's debris field that WALL-E's body catches before they all float away into space. Sputnik 1 only orbited for a few months in late 1957, reentering the atmosphere in burning up in January 1958, by the movie's events in 2805 it would not have been orbiting with other more modern satellites.

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:GO-4]] gets kicked out a window and [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath smashes on to the deck]], but they do show the impact, making this an aversion -- maybe even a subversion, since it had such a clear setup. Even more so because some people might think [[spoiler:he'll land in the pool that's shown just before he smashes into the ground ''right in front of it.'']] Either way, [[spoiler:he was gonna die, be it the floor or the water.]]

* GunTwirling: EVE twirls her ArmCannon the first time she uses it, giving WALL-E enough time to duck for cover.

* HomeworldEvacuation: Humanity pollutes the Earth to the point where it's too toxic to sustain life. As a result, humanity leaves the planet in ships like the ''Axiom'' to cruise the stars while worker robots clean-up the planet. It was estimated to take 5 years but ended up taking a lot longer.

** Subverted with AUTO. Despite being a bit cold, mechanical and omnious, he never "goes evil" and intentionally tries to kill humans. He was simply following his orders to the letter and those orders didn't account for the Axiom sitting in space for 700 years.

* ImprovisedMicrogravityManeuvering: In one of the signature scenes, Wall-E and Eve "dance" through space ouside the Axiom. Wall-E uses a fire extinguisher, while Eve can propel herself.

* LotusEaterMachine: The human spend their lives in a Lotus Eater Spaceship... sort of. Unlike most examples of this trope they're perfectly aware of the fact.

** Shelby Forthright. Which can also be read as "shall be forth right" which is full of HypocriticalHumor as virtually everything the man says is dripping with the insincerity of corporate/political salesman. [[spoiler:Only his A113 directive message has any honesty to it and even then the order hides that Operation Cleanup failed from the passengers and takes away their right to choose their future.]]

* MourningADeadRobot: After WALL•E is badly damaged during his adventure on the Axiom, EVE frantically repairs him. However it appears that WALL•E has rebooted to his default factory settings and suffers from MindReformatDeath unable to remember the moments he had with EVE and resumes his normal garbage collecting functions. EVE believes she has lost him and gives him a "goodbye" kiss that ignites a static shock, [[DisneyDeath this brings back his memories and restores WALL•E to his pre-damaged self.]]

* NoEndorHolocaust: The elaborate closing credit sequence was added after the main film was completed, after test audiences thought that there would be no hope of rebuilding an ecosystem and civilisation on the devastated Earth and all the humans would die in the attempt.

* NoWaterProofingInTheFuture: The robot that ''supervises the swimming pool'' is not waterproof. Note that John and Mary were the only two people actually ''using'' the pool. And it doesn't seem to do much besides say rules. Averted elsewhere, as WALL-E and EVE are caught in a downpour in one scene and look no worse for wear.

** In the escape pod sequence, EVE's eyes go wide with horror as she realises WALL•E (and the plant) can't get out of the escape pod before it deploys. Seconds later, WALL•E, already alarmed to see the ''Axiom'' receding into the distance and struggling with the pod's throttle, goes even ''further'' into "Oh God, I'm completely screwed" mode when he sees that GO-4 has armed the pod's SelfDestructMechanism... which will detonate in 20 seconds and cannot be turned off.

* PanFromTheSkyBeginning: The movie begins in space with "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" playing, then it zooms into Earth from above, on which we see WALL-E moving along, then it zooms down to the ground and we see that he's cleaning up and [[DiegeticSoundtrackUsage playing the song on his radio]].

* PronouncingMyNameForYou: After WALL-E is unable to pronounce her name correctly, EVE repeats her name over and over again to try to get him to say it right. He never quite gets the hang of it.

* RagnarokProofing: While Earth does look like a run-down mess, it's pretty clear that Buy n Large really built things to last from still-functioning advertisement boards to mostly-intact buildings that look as if only 70 years, rather than 700 had passed. This can justified through the world having forms of advanced technology like anti-gravity, starships, artificial gravity, working A.I., and regenerative food buffets, which indicate the likelihood of stronger and more durable building materials. Also most structural damage is caused by vegetation and water. So a dry, barren Earth with minimal rain would allow structures to last longer.

* ShuttingUpNow: Not said outright, but when WALL•E tries to enthusiastically points out that EVE is featured in the "Caution: Rogue Robots" warning, she responds by blasting the screen it's on. WALL•E scrunches up as if to imply this.

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: EVE eventually falls in love with [[NiceGuy WALL-E]] for his kind and nature and his complete devotion to her.

* ThereWasADoor: After [[spoiler:repairing WALL•E back on Earth]] EVE decides the door is too far away and blows a hole in WALL•E's ceiling to get him some sunlight.
* TheseusShipParadox: It's implied that the WALL•E has at one point or another replaced every part of his body from the spart parts he keeps in his house, except his motherboard. So, by the end, when EVE replaces his motherboard after it gets severely damaged, WALL•E acts like any other garbage disposal robot [[spoiler:until EVE kisses him. Which raises the question of where does his personality reside and how was it restored if his motherboard was replaced?]].

* WhiteAndGreyMorality: The heroes are the titular WALL•E, a [[CuteMachines friendly and lovable robot]] with a sense of curiosity, and EVE, who started off as cold and demanding until she TookALevelInKindness. The humans of the story, once jolted out of their reverie, [[spoiler:proceed to repair the earth with new found love for nature and life. The CEO of Buy n Large is more panicked and shortsighted than anything.]] The closest thing the movie has to an antagonist is [[spoiler:[[PunchClockVillain AUTO, but he simply does as he's programmed to do, as do any other "evil" robots.]]]] At the end of the day, there are no clear villains, but there are clear heroes.

* AIIsACrapshoot:
** Subverted with AUTO. Despite being a bit cold, mechanical and omnious, he never "goes evil" and intentionally tries to kill humans. He was simply following his orders to the letter and those orders didn't account for the Axiom sitting in space for 700 years.
** The robots in the repair ward, all of them are malfunctioning and some of their behaviors are dangerously violent.
** WALL•E is a case of A.I. going right. He was originally designed to have a limited range of operation i.e. find, compress and stack trash. But after 700 years his programming expanded to give him a child-like wonder and curiosity of the junk surrounding him so while he still carries out his directive, he also collects things he finds interesting and befriends a cockroach.

* AnAesop: LivingIsMoreThanSurviving. Also, [[GreenAesop don't destroy the planet with pollution]].

* MediumBlending: The humans of the past, such as the [=BnL=] CEO, Shelby Forthright or the cast of "''Hello Dolly''" are live-action. The humans of the future are computer-generated. The creators have said that redoing all the "''Hello Dolly''" scenes in CGI would've taken too much effort, so they just blended the film images into the scene. This is later {{lampshade}}d in the scene of the portraits of the various ''Axiom'' captains, which shows the captains shifting from photo-realistic to cartoonish over time.

* OfficialCouple: WALL•E and EVE are a solid item by the end.

* RobbingTheDead: When WALL•E notices his treads are wearing out, he passes by a non-functioning robot of the same model and sees that its treads are still good. Cut to the next scene, where WALL•E is rolling back home on his new treads. The stockpile of spare parts in his trailer was probably similarly acquired.

* SceneryGorn: Many loving shots of the ruined, abandoned, and frankly extremely bleak-looking megacity at the beginning of the film.

* ShortDistancePhoneCall: The first two humans WALL•E meets are videoconferencing in their hoverchairs... which are right next to each other. It serves to emphasize how everyone on the ship is dependent on their gadgets to the point of being unaware of what's going on around them.

* SolarPunk: As the credits roll, we see that the newly-returned humans build a society that's a lot healthier for themselves and the world.

* UniformityException: After scanning the plant specimen, EVE develops a blinking green "plant" light on her chassis, making it easy for WALL•E to distinguish her from the dozen or so other EVE pods on the exploration shuttle. Later, the robots in the robot repair bay place a red reset button on her, accomplishing the same purpose.

%%* AWorldHalfFull

* PostKissCatatonia: WALL•E completely freezes the first time EVE "kisses" him. [[spoiler: Inverted in the ending: a kiss is what wakes him up]].

** If you look closely, COM-T's keyboard is simply row after row of 1's and 0's.

* StupidlyLongFillerSound: Captain [=McCrea=] is asked by the bridge robot for voice print identification before an instruction manual can be accessed. Having no idea such a protocol existed, the Captain can only issue a bewildered "Uhhh ..." The bridge robot plays back this disfluency, and declares "Voice print accepted." Apparently, this protocol is a mere formality.

* NobodyHereButUsStatues: The climax of the film features a variation of this tactic. To be specific, [[spoiler:the Captain stands in front of his holographic picture so that he can ambush AUTO.]]

* StandInPortrait: How the Captain is able to hide from AUTO, as well as convince him that he has the plant. Makes sense, though, since we briefly see through AUTO's one eye and he has little depth perception.

** M-O saves WALL•E and EVE from getting sucked out into space by [[SpannerInTheWorks accidentally jamming the airlock doors with his body]]. In the climax, [[spoiler: WALL•E saves ''everyone'' by intentionally [[HeroicSacrifice jamming the holo-detector from closing with his body]].]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath:
** [[spoiler:GO-4]]'s death. We're shown how sentient and cute robots can be. Then one of them falls a few stories and smashes on the ground. Evil or not, it's still amazingly graphic for a robot.
** It may have been a DisneyDeath, but seeing WALL•E getting quite graphically ''crushed'' in one, swift motion was pretty wince-inducing.
** The SECUR-T steward bots that try to prevent WALL•E's group from getting to the holo detector. One of them gets blasted by EVE, one gets defibulated to death, and the rest get smashed into scrap metal after WALL•E cuts the restraints on the rogue HAN-S massage bot in the group..

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Humans destroyed the future Earth with rampant consumerism.

* DownerBeginning: We open to a vision of Earth as an apocalyptic wasteland.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** The repair ward is reminiscent of an insane asylum.
** When WALL•E first tries to hold EVE's hand and she pulls it away, his reaction is the same as a boy who stealthily tries to put his arm around a girl and gets caught.

* CueTheSun: Literally aboard the ''Axiom'': when the captain awakens somewhere around afternoon, he rewinds ''everything'' -- including the simulated sun -- back to morning so he can give his morning speech.

** At the beginning of the movie, before we've really gotten a feel for how developed WALL•E has become, he makes an innocuous distinction when deciding whether to place a spork with his collection of spoons or forks; he ends up placing it in between both. Computers are incapable of recognizing anything between a distinct On/Off parameter (that's how they're coded), so WALL•E comprehending a state in between two options demonstrates how he's advanced beyond his programming.

* SelfDestructMechanism: The escape pod WALL•E gets stuck in has its self-destruct switch activating, giving him 20 seconds to find a way out. The mechanism is activated by a big red button right in the center of the console, but there's no obvious way to deactivate the sequence.

* ThisCannotBe: "Not Possible!"

* TrueLovesKiss: [[spoiler:When WALL•E is essentially killed and then rebuilt by EVE, his memory is lost and EVE tries everything she can think of to bring him back. Nothing works, and she, giving up, finally sadly "kisses" him and the electric spark jolts his memory.]]
* UmbrellasAreLightningRods: The eponymous, chivalrous robot holds an umbrella over the hibernating EVE to shield her from the rain. WALL•E gets zapped by lightning this way at least twice in a row. Apparently, he's used to this, since he brought a stack of spare umbrellas.

* UglyGuyHotWife: Well, a worn, rusted trash compactor and a sleek, futuristic robot, anyway. As such, this counts as an {{invoked trope}}.