Pixar’s new movie Wall-E is about (SPOILER ALERT) a crass consumer culture that eventually ruins the planet by completely covering it with pointless garbage. Humanity, unable to consume itself out of an environmental crisis, moves to space, where it endlessly vacations on giant cruise-ship like habitats. The planet is governed by a huge Walmart-esque mega-store called “Buy ‘N Large.” In order to celebrate this anti-consumption message, Disney has apparently been giving out cheap plastic watches, and has launched a “Buy ‘N Large” website where you can buy movie merchandise. [Slog]
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@ajamison: That’s exactly what I was going to say.
@neuracnu: Dude, that’s not a spoiler. That’s the basic premise of the movie, shown in any number of trailers and commercials for the film.
The best movie to come out of Hollywood in a long time.
The marbles it takes to skewer your audience by ridiculing the very actions they are taking as they watch your movie (that cost $10), wow, just wow. The humans in their space chairs knocking back jumbo sodas? Everyone in the audience looks alarmingly down at his tub of popcorn and coke. But the magic of the movie is so strong, the story telling so tight and the effort so evident, the viewer finds himself hoping the film never ends, even as it ridicules the very group that is its target.
I don’t think Disney’s promotional material is part of a grander social commentary — I think they right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. I also think this film is Pixar’s way of basically telling the world it is semi-ashamed to be part of Disney.
You can always eat the watch when the battery runs out.
@Darklighter: I agree it is not a spoiler but I wouldn’t say it is shown in the previews. All the previews I see for any movie never tell you what the movie is about or give any clue about the plot of the movie. They try and shove a bunch of eye candy in the preview and then the ignorant public is expected to run out and see it.
Of course, if you’re bothered by the anti-consumption message, you could always focus on the religious theme instead. Or the Romantic comedy aspect of the movie. Or the technical achievements, or the film-buff allusions to movies such as 2001.
What is the sound of one irony… irony-ing?
So the kids have their Wall-E and we grownups have Idiocracy. I’m content.
@Ash78: That movie was beyond idiocy. It gave me cancer from how stupid things were. Hell, the smart guy was pretty fucking retard as well.
@linus: Like rai-i-aiiiiiiin on your wedding day?
@donkeyjote: That was sort of the point. Did you actually pay attention to the whole thing?
@Cupajo: I know that was the point. It worked too well. It just reinforced my belief that the general population = stupid.
My main point was that the main character was pretty fucking stupid and naive as well.
Consumerist should do a segment on Xanadou Shopping Pill:
“…the much-heralded Xanadou pill, which BnL claims simulates the ‘euphoric shopping experience’”
@notallcompaniesareevil: meh, Idiocracy did it better.
@notallcompaniesareevil: Isn’t this Pixar’s last film w/Disney? I seem to remember back in the Toy Story days that Pixar wanted to break from Disney, but Dis was going to hold them to their contract of X movies with them. I think this is the last one under their contract. Anyone?
@amed01: Nope, they signed up a brand new big contract with disney and this is the first movie released under it.
Pixar wanted to break from Disney because Michael Eisner wanted to get incredibly hands on and forceful in making decisions about Pixar and their films. So Pixar was looking to get out ASAP. Then Michael got the boot from being CEO of Disney. When ROBERT A. IGER came in he recognized that Pixar was a Golden Goose and basically said we will give you more money and essentially complete independence if you stay with Disney. So Pixar signed a new contract.
@amed01:
You remember incorrectly. In the Toy Story days, Pixar didn’t have anything to do with Disney. Disney didn’t buy Pixar until 2006.
@Tmoney02: Actually, Ratatouille was going to be on another studio, before Bob Iger renegotiated the contract…
@Manator Is Sorry: Ahh thanks for the correction! I watched a great documentary on the very beginnings of pixar to the present a month or two ago. I guess things are starting to get a bit hazy already.
@Tmoney02: You should watch Leslie Iwerks’s documentary “The Pixar Story” – she’s also the grand-daughter of legendary Disney Animator Ub Iwerks.
@donkeyjote: Of course he was stupid and naive. You’re still not getting it; the whole idea was that he was the typical 21st century lazy asshole (the only smart thing about him was that he was smart enough to stay out of the way of all the other idiots). But by the 26th, everything had been dumbed down so far that he was Einstein compared to everybody else.
@iMe2: hahahaha i forgot the issue at hand already! them advertisementers are tricky tricky
@notallcompaniesareevil++
@Manator Is Sorry: 99% sure thats the one I watched. Excellent Documentary! And I want to work in a building/campus as beautiful as pixar’s.
@amed01: Yet Steve Jobs controls both *Evil Laugh*
@HeartBurnKid: I wouldn’t picture him as a lazy asshole. Just stupid. I mean, he was in the military and volunteered for a special project. Not exactly “lazy”
@girly: Carbon credits has to be the scam of the century. Talk about playing on guilt. It’s not verifiable and you know somebody is taking all that “green” to the bank.
@atypicalxian: as long as they don’t’ start selling human credits i think we’re good…..
@Jaysyn: It’s like Finding Nemo, a movie that pictures the tribulations of fish in tanks that want to be in the ocean, resulting in near-decimation of clownfish in natural habitat because children want them as pets.
People are functionally retarded.
just saw Wall-E last night. it was amazing. but yeah, the irony of a company recently purchased for 7 billion dollars putting out an anti-consumerist film isn’t lost on this guy.
@donkeyjote: No, he was “volunteered” for the project by his CO. Until then, he was perfectly happy to stay the hell out of the way of everybody else.