Line #14 TearJerker/WallE


1	!'''As a Main/TearJerker page, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per wiki policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!'''
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3	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_wall-e-disneyscreencapscom-100961_1512.jpg]]
4	[[caption-width-right:320: "No..."]]
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6	Considering that the movie is about seeing [[AfterTheEnd the Earth in a state of ruin due to garbage]], and a [[HopeBringer single plant being a beacon of hope for humanity]] returning to the big blue planet, ''WALL•E'' is bound to tug at the heart strings.
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10	* The [[http://www.impawards.com/2008/wall_e.html teaser poster]] shows WALL•E standing atop a pile of garbage, with no company other than Hal Roach, giving a lonely stare up at the night sky. Couple this image with the tagline about WALL•E searching for a purpose greater than that programmed into him, and you have an intriguing, slightly depressing image of what to expect from the film.
11	* The first 20 minutes of WALL•E, introducing one of the most lovable characters of all time trapped in the most hopeless and depressing situations of all time. It gets better, but still...
12	* Watching WALL•E shut down for the night inside his little cubicle (identical to the ones where he stores his various treasures), one realizes that all those little compartments were meant for other WALL•E machines. There presumably were so many and yet it's implied the one we follow is the only one left after 700 years. It's left unclear if there was a general shut-down signal or all the others simply slowly broke down over the centuries, but it would seem like WALL•E is the last survivor.
13	* Think about what it was like for WALL•E to wake up for the first time, being able to think and feel and live and all he has to experience it with... is absolutely nothing, with no one. And what is WALL•E's objective (picking up trash and making them little compact boxes) turns into a very subtle, but grand show of ''how very long'' he was there, and how ''lonely'' he must have been.
14	** Which paints his falling in LoveAtFirstSight with EVE into a much darker, more depressing picture-- he was probably so desperate for companionship that he would have felt immediate affection for any newcomer just by virtue of their mere existence.
15	* WALL•E's call for Eve when he races off to 'save' her from the ship, or at least go with her. It just really helps to demonstrate how much he already cares for her, if he's willing to go off to some incredibly distant place with literally no idea if he's going to be coming back or not out of sheer devotion to her.
16	* Outside of WALL•E's interactions with them inspiring out of the box thinking and actions by both humans and robots alike, you can see little actions by the machines, outside of WALL•E's influence, indicating they're already more than their directives allow, such as the alarm bot cordoning off a fallen John. Its directive is to inform fallen humans that an assigned helper bot is on its way. When John pleads for help, it very subtly looks at him before going back into stance. It can and WANTS to help but that is not its intended directive by the system in place. At some point, just like WALL•E, ALL the robots became sentient but have been locked to their directives for hundreds of years unable to express themselves beyond it.
17	* The scene when EVE is deactivated and waiting for the ship to come back, but WALL•E keeps standing there with her, carrying her to work, and trying to hold her hand.
18	* When the shuttle exploded, and EVE, thinking WALL•E was destroyed, let out a [[LittleNo little: "no...no..."]].
19	* The look on the Captain's face after he's gone on his WikiWalk, discovered how awesome Earth is, and then realizes what's become of the once-beautiful, lush planet. This is probably the first time he's ever really thought about Earth in his entire life, and to see him go from completely ecstatic about the prospect of returning to Earth to completely and utterly bewildered as to its degradation is heartbreaking to see. It's {{Anvilicious}} to the nth degree, but ''damn.''
20	-->'''Captain:''' Wait, that doesn't look like Earth. Where's the blue sky? Where's the grass?
21	* The scene when AUTO reveals the taped message from the CEO, Shelby Forthright, ordering all the autopilots to stay in space as Operation Recolonized failed. The optimistic and energetic CEO has been reduced to a jaded and disheveled shell.
22	** The contrast of his appearances during the movie is also noteworthy. In the beginning, Shelby is peppy, sharply dressed, outgoing, and looks optimistic throughout. But in the A113 message, his hair is a mess, his clothes are disheveled, and he has a gas mask over his neck. The tone of his voice is one of despair, [[BrokenBird and the poor man just looks broken]]... It's evident in the final video that he, and by extension [=BnL=], has crossed the DespairEventHorizon, and believe that humanity can never come back to Earth.
23	* One moment comes halfway through the movie, when WALL•E is seen trying to rehearse an apology for EVE for all the trouble he's caused, but eventually gives up and just whispers, "Pathetic." Poor little guy.
24	* [[BigNo EVE's reaction]] when AUTO shocks WALL•E, after WALL•E refuses to give up the plant.
25	* After shutting the airlock in the waste facility, narrowly rescuing WALL•E, EVE and M-O, the giant WALL•As gather around to make sure the heroes are okay.
26	* In the waste disposal facility of the Axiom. WALL•E, on the verge of death due to him almost being drained of power, weakly attempts to give EVE the plant that she had searched for. In response, she tosses it aside, and reaches out to WALL•E...
27	-->"''Directive.''"
28	* WALL•E's DisneyDeath, as AUTO grows desperate to prevent the plant from being put in the Holo-Detector he forces it close, eventually causing WALL•E's track to slip into the crack between the descending holo-detector and the floor, crushing him.
29	* EVE throws the plant in the holo-detector, which opens it up and WALL•E's dead body flops right out. Immediately after, EVE rushes over to him, lifting him up a bit while whispering his name. Then she just shakes her head a bit in denial, whispering [[LittleNo "No..."]] before calling out to him. ''And she apparently still calls his name, holding him the entire journey back''. Not to mention how everyone else reacts to WALL•E's death. The reject bots and M-O all lower their heads and the humans follow suit. Mary, one of the passengers, cries into John, another passenger, while John looks on in horror. M-O, himself even whimpers and buries his head into his roller as if he were actually crying.
30	** A mondegreen actually makes this ''worse.'' During the hyper-jump back to Earth, EVE desperately calls out his name. But her voice is a little warped from the jump, and to the right ear, it sounds like what she's actually saying is ''"Don't leave me!"''
31	** Another mondegreen: EVE shouting for the other robots to get her the "Plant!" initially sounds like she's screaming "Help! Help!"
32	* The passengers take their first hesitant steps out of the Axiom and back to Earth... and you hear EVE's desperate cry of ''MOVE'' as she comes tearing out of the docking bay. That scene had begun with the humans awestruck and joyful at this new experience until she bursts through with WALL•E. They all immediately go silent, and the Captain removes his hat in respect.
33	* When EVE cradles a broken and dying WALL•E.
34	* When EVE blasts a hole in WALL•E's roof so that the sunlight can revive him, because she is too desperate to even waste three seconds carrying him outside. It gets worse when what happens next makes you question what that desperation was worth...
35	* WALL•E's loyal pet cockroach, who is ''still sitting on that same garbage pile'' when WALL•E returns. And the difference between the first time WALL•E rolls over him, and the second time.
36	* When EVE tries hopelessly to wake WALL•E up after he's become just another soulless drone. After the Axiom returns to Earth, EVE frantically flies back to WALL•E's home to repair and re-energize him. She's successful, but WALL•E does not recognize EVE, as it seems as if his memory banks were erased. He reverts back to his original programming and starts compacting trash. EVE tries to jog his memory back by showing off the random objects that WALL•E has collected but to no avail. After WALL•E spent the whole movie completely devoted to her, EVE feels as strongly for him as he did for her, and there's nothing left of him to see it. EVE gives up that he's coming back, and then she ''sings'' to him. Thankfully, EVE's goodbye kiss to him wakes WALL•E back up.
37	** Worst of all is the final squeak she gives to him. Again, to the right ear, it sounds almost like the word, "Please."
38	* The moment at the very end when EVE thinks that WALL•E's personality has been erased, leaving him as just another dead-eyed drone? Fortunately, it ends well thanks to the combined forces of DisneyDeath and ThePowerOfLove.
39	-->'''EVE:''' WALL•E, you OK? ''WALL•E!'' '''''WALL•E!'''''
40	* The end credit sequence where we are shown Humanity and robots working together in harmony to make amends, set to Peter Gabriel's "Down to Earth".
41	** Also, the fact that this sequence is done in different art styles starting with cave paintings and moving through Greek and Roman styles up to Impressionism. It's a poignant testament of what the humans have lost in the past 700 years, and what they're trying to rebuild.
42	** The very final shot is of WALL•E and EVE looking up at a tree. The screen then scrolls down for the credits, revealing the tree to be the same sprout from throughout the film.

Context TearJerker / WallE