Citizen Power

Wall-E was a great movie, one of the best I saw last year. I rented it because I liked the cover art! and I like animated movies that are very well done. Not knowing exactly what it was about, I was completely entranced with it and didn’t get up until it was over. Imagine a future of obese people who don’t exercise and eat all day who only get around on scooters — sounds frighteningly like the present day, in some ways. Imagine a planet covered in its own garbage. At least we aren’t quite there yet.

So I’m glad it’s been nominated for six Academy Awards today. It’s an futuristic, environmental warning movie with some politics thrown in, and yet it was a huge hit and did very well last year, and deservedly so.

“Wall-E, the little robot who saved Earth, is having a big day - six Oscar nominations have been bestowed upon the film for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year, Original Score, Original Song, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Original Screenplay. These six nominations tie the film to Beauty and the Beast, long considered the best animated film of all time, and the only animated film to have ever been nominated for Best Picture. I wrote a review of Wall-E last June, and discussed its environmental ramifications.

Though “Wall-E” campaigned for a best picture and a best director nod, the film was passed over. “Clearly, and unfortunately, the Academy chose to follow tradition and ignore ‘WALL-E’ in the Best Picture and Best Director categories,” said the Pixar blog. The film will certainly win Best Animated Film (sorry, “Kung-Fu Panda” and “Bolt”), and is a top contender for score and song, where it is only up against “Slumdog Millionaire.”

By sheer volume of nominations, “Wall-E” will go down in the record books as one of the best-ever animated films. It was also the fifth-highest-grossing film in the U.S. in 2008, so its green message was spread far and wide, and was met with critical acclaim on hundreds of top-10 lists. If “Wall-E” wins big, it will have a place in movie history both for its beauty and its message.”

From USNEWS blog.

Now we need a movie or two like this every year until everyone in the public understands that environmental movies are not dull and boring or somehow associated with Al Gore! Environmental issues are associated with common sense, with humanity and with a concern for the future generations. As Wall-E shows in an amusing and sweet way, preserving the planet for the people to come is a human rights issue.