WALL•E

OregonLive.com has an awesome spoiler-less preview to Wall-E! A poster there reportedly saw Pixar's next film at the Lloyd Center - along with John Lasseter!

Here's the scoop:

Monday evening a few friends and I saw what I presume was one of the first test screenings of Wall-E at the Lloyd Center. John Lassater was sitting behind us.

Pixar has done it again. I never saw Cars, didn't have much interest, yet I feel I should now see it at least once. Ratatouille was simply lovely and Wall-E is just as good if not better in it's own special way.

Wall-E has a much darker tone than any other Pixar film thus far. People complained about this aspect in the focus group (see morons!), but I think they were failing to see that the tone was very much intentional and serves the story and the final outcome.

The film is nearly dialog free for the first half, and the first 30 to 45 minutes is just spectacular. There is no dialog, just simple actions and character's expressions of Wall-E, the cockroach Hal, and this robot that appears named EVE.

To go into the details of the story would ruin some of the enjoyment, but for a film that was roughly 80% complete with a plethora of storyboards and partially completed animation throughout, I was completely immersed!

As the film was a work in progress the score was a temp track amalgam of John William's scores including some Star Wars cues (very subtle, discrete ones), some Superman music, music from Star Trek 2, Punch Drunk-Love(!!!), Brazil, and a few other films, but it worked so brilliantly I would almost rather see the film released that way, despite the inability to do so. I believe there were even a few bits and pieces of Gabriel Yared's score from the Lives of Others.

Ultimately this film is a very large step in direction towards animated features that are geared towards both children and adults and further raising the standard of quality Pixar films that much higher above the competition. There are no 'it' celebs of the moment in the film, nor a catchy pop song on the soundtrack as you would expect from Pixar, just quality storytelling.

[source]

There you have it!

There are now 2 books up on Amazon.com for pre-sales. They are: The Art of Wall-E and Learn to Draw Disney/Pixar's Wall-E.

There you have it!

Somebody on YOUTUBE got their hands on a promotional video for Wall-E. Inside: first looks at EVE and AXIOM! For right now, this is the only place you can see this behind the scenes video. Thanks goes to sister-site JVPN for digging this up.

Check it out!

UPDATE: The video has been removed. However, if you missed it, I did get some screen-caps. Click here to see them.

Have a nice day!

Here is the official synopsis of Pixar's next film, Wall-E:

What if mankind had to leave Earth, and
somebody forgot to turn the last robot off?

"Academy Award®-winning
writer-director Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo”) and the inventive storytellers
and technical geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios (“The Incredibles,” “Cars,”
“Ratatouille”) transport moviegoers to a galaxy not so very far away for a new
computer-animated cosmic comedy about a determined robot named WALL•E.

After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL•E
(short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in
life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named
EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to
the planet’s future, and races back to space to report her findings to the
humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home).
Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the
most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.

Joining WALL•E on his fantastic journey across a universe of
never-before-imagined visions of the future, is a hilarious cast of characters
including a pet cockroach, and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots.

Filled with surprises, action, humor and heart, WALL•E was written and
directed by Andrew Stanton, produced by Jim Morris, co-produced by Lindsey
Collins and features original and innovative sound design by Academy
Award®-winner Ben Burtt (“Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” “E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial”)."

The awesome new teaser is out! Click here for links.

Enjoy!