Comments on: Just Don’t Say the ‘E’ Word

By: Stark Raving Beale

Stark Raving Beale — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:46:57 +0000

I actually think he has a valid point. This IS going to send mixed messages to children after all. And if Devin’s right about the level of control Stanton and Lassiter have over marketing (he intimated something to that effect in a post on the forum), they just might be bloody hypocrites.

By: Fidel

Fidel — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:48:44 +0000

YAY…WALL-E…CAN’T WAIT. No matter what I read, nothing can discourage me from wanting to see this as soon as possible, and then probably three or four times more.

By: Andre

Andre — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:02:23 +0000

I agree with Ryan and Bebe… he’s just trying to separate himself from the pack by going into a non-issue. So it’s okay for “Finding Nemo” to have truckloads of toys, but not okay for “Wall-E”?

he sounds like a guy who thinks he’s making a huge difference by not drinking Coke or eating at McDonald’s (or any bland and useless way of “standing up to ‘The Man’”).

In the end, this is Disney for Christ’s sakes, the weird thing would be if there WEREN’T any toys.

It’s a non-issue.

By: Tufas

Tufas — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:38:07 +0000

Sigh… CHUD.com is NOT what it used to be.

And by the way, only in a country overthrowned by The Worst Administration Ever ™ and its own Political Propaganda would an environmental message become a faulty factor for buzz, not an inspiring one….

We are, indeed, moving dangerously close to a new world we did not expect so soon, and America needs to wake the f* up

By: RRA sponsors Soylent Green: The Breakfast of Champions

RRA sponsors Soylent Green: The Breakfast of Champions — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:12:23 +0000

elessar, there was a SNL sketch back in the early 90s about SOYLENT GREEN and its sequels…..in each clip, Phil Hartman is Charleton Heston, and they outright spoil GREEN.

“This typing paper is made out of PEOPLE!!!”

Hell, anyone that ever sees GREEN, by the midway point, everyone has figured out what the substance is made of except for the hero…which really hurts that film.

By: Ryan Adams

Ryan Adams — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:45:26 +0000

Happy Feet

· overt environmental message
· subtle endorsement of “alternative identity”
· charming
· hilarious
· crowdpleaser
· enduring classic
· Oscar winner

It’s a pretty sick society that abhors moral messages and deeper meanings in works of art.

“…the best one could hope for is that the generation of kids seeing the movie will one day grow up to have some friggin’ decency, which today’s generations don’t when it comes to environmental stewardship.”

Word, bebe.

I guess there are some parents who not only refuse to teach their kids about difficult subjects, but also get their hackles up when anybody else tries to teach them.

Sucks for them if that’s their attitude.
They’re gonna miss a brilliant movie.

By: Bebe

Bebe — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:39:48 +0000

This is a non-story. It’s clearly a quality flick, and the movie’s storytelling and subtext will speak for themselves. The quality of the movie has zero to do with whether Stanton recycles. Disney makes toys in unregulated sweatshops in China – that’s a fact. They all do. Pinning that phenomenon on Wall-E is opportunistic at best and reeks of “filler.” If these themes do exist in Wall-E, the best one could hope for is that the generation of kids seeing the movie will one day grow up to have some friggin’ decency, which today’s generations don’t when it comes to environmental stewardship.

By: elessar

elessar — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:39:09 +0000

Thanks for spoiling Soylent Green, RRA! Oh, well.

I need to check out some of those films (especially Silent Running and THX-1138).

SO looking forward to Wall-E.

By: RRA is Incredible

RRA is Incredible — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:33:19 +0000

Ryan Griffin, well its Devin Feraci…what you expect?

This was the same guy who gave thumbs down for BATMAN BEGINS…alright, fine, you don’t care for comic book movies. Not everyone does.

Then he goes later that summer and writes a solid write-up for FANTASTIC FOUR…which was a pretty terrible picture. My mind boggles!

Anyway, I’m still shocked that Devin didn’t piss and moan about the Ayn Rand Objectivism ideology within THE INCREDIBLES.*

*=Still a great movie, and only time that ideology made any sense ever to me in any context.

By: RRA drove right into the Wall-E

RRA drove right into the Wall-E — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:29:14 +0000

Funny fact: CASINO ROYALE was the biggest 007 hit picture ever, but never hit #1 in American theatres….all because of HAPPY FEET.

As for the message, hey Devin, its a fucking early 70s sci-fi-esque story…and those pre-STAR WARS Hollywood science fiction movies all had a message of some kind.

THX-1138* – Finding individuality in a policed-conformed society

SILENT RUNNING – Save the mother fuckin trees man!

SOYLENT GREEN – Don’t fuck too much, or overpopulation will make us eat old people.

PLANET OF THE APES – Do WW3, and you’ll become some ape’s pet.

LOGAN’S RUN – Breaking your self-held ideals of the world as you mature.

ROLLERBALL** – Sports used to disguise/shift focus away from societyal problems.

*=Great movie, I can’t believe that same director would later shoot something like THE PHANTOM MENACE. What the fuck?

**=Ignore the 1970s art deco, and its a tale still eeriely relevant for today’s time….lot more than its retarded remake. Plus, James Caan is badass.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:12:47 +0000

I could see them saying stuff like this to ward off negative reviews from people who don’t feel that kids films should be used as vehicles for political messages. It’s a pretty good strategy because people who want to see these messages are going to see them. And the people who don’t want them can move on. Either way, it’s going to be a really entertaining film. I saw about 15 minutes of it at WonderCon and it was great.

By: Ryan Griffin

Ryan Griffin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:56:36 +0000

I think Feraci is taking the piss out of the movie just because he can, looking too deeply into anything there. If there’s one single reason that the Earth is covered in garbage, it’s not because there’s some environmental/political slant. It’s simply so Wall-E can go through it and interact with all our stuff. It’s character building, and it’s amusing to see him come across objects familiar to us and use them incorrectly. Of any Pixar movie, I believe this one is more about building character than any of them. They’ve already been doing this through the marketing with the little shorts, some of which have been posted on this site.

By: Sam Juliano

Sam Juliano — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:26:01 +0000

Interesting piece here……..but in the case of WALL-E, the buzz and exposure has been deafening, so even if there is a pointed perception that there is a spoon-fed agenda befind all the hoopla, I think the die has been cast.
Everywhere you look—on buses, on huge billboards—on subway station panels—on bus stop plexiglass you see nothing but WALL-E all over Manhattan. If this promotion isn’t the most thorough ever, it certainly pushes close. And as was pointed out two weeks ago in a previous post from Sasha, WALL-E has the additional benefit of early critical praise, making this entire venture a can’t miss….a win-win situation in the making.