Zac Syverson, Justin Bocklund, Gwen Becker, and Tenzin Lhabu

Instructor Kaser
English 120
10/12/15

Rhetorical analysis on WALL-Es

stance on Environmentalism
Overview
Pixar released the film WALL-E in
3,992 theaters in United States, on June 27th
2008. On opening weekend the film made
over $63 million and was ranked #1
(BoxOfficeMojo). Worldwide, the film
grossed $521 million on a $180 million
production budget. WALL-E was written by
Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton, and
directed by Andrew Stanton. The film
features WALL-E (Ben Burtt), a small waste
robot, who left to clean up the mess of the
abandoned earth that is now covered by
products produced by the Buy N Large
corporations. WALL-E is mesmerized with
the trinkets of Earths history that he finds
while alone doing his job. One day EVE
(Elissa Knight), a reconnaissance robot is
sent to Earth to find proof that life is once
again sustainable. While on her mission,
EVE runs into WALL-E. They take a liking for each other. WALL-E shows EVE
something that he has found, a living plant. From then on, WALL-E and EVE go on their
greatest adventure across the galaxy.
Influences
In WALL-E, genres such as science fiction, silent film and animation crisscross to
enhance the impact the movie has on its audience. Futuristic dystopia is a main
influence throughout the whole movie. The movie shows how the world is left behind
with tons of garbage left and humans are forced off the planet to survive. This then

plays into the idea of Environmentalism, showing how humans in the movie turned the
planet into a garbage hole. They also show it when the captain does everything he can
to stop the robot from preventing them from going back to Earth to live there once more.
Then there is the issue of obesity. Obesity is seen throughout this whole movie, you see
people hovering around in chairs and never walking. They dont even play sports
themselves, the robots do for them. At the end you see them change that and start
walking after they return to Earth.
One of the bigger influences in the opening scenes is silent films. During this part
there is no talking and the music is less
modern (McGovern). Sci-fi films also play a
big part as well, with WALL-E being
influenced by the characters from Star Wars
such as R2-D2 and C-3PO. Also, one of the
biggest influences in this movie was from the
movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, where
AutoPilot is influenced by and pays homage
to Hal 9000. Religion also plays a small part,
where the director is Christian and names
EVE after the Adam and EVE from the bible. Axiom is also influenced by Noahs ark and
EVE can be seen as the white dove that flies away and brings proof of land, where in
the movie EVE brings proof of vegetation on planet earth to the Axiom.
Issue
The biggest issue in the movie WALL-E is environmentalism; where WALL-E, a
robot, is sent to clean up the earth. The definition of environmentalism is the advocacy
of the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment (MerriamWebster.com). Taking care of the environment we live in is becoming a very important
issue, but also a problem we tend to overlook. A plot twist we learn is that the mission to
clean up earth had been disbanded a long time ago, as earth was deemed unfit to live
in and too dangerous. This shows how we look at problems in our present time, we tend
to ignore problems, and when the problem becomes too much we tend not to
acknowledge it. As we know, the resource
we have will not last forever and the more
we pollute them the less time we have.
Another big issue that WALL-E looks
at is our reliance on technology. Where the
more we become connected to technology
and its ability to bring us together, it also
drives us apart and isolates us even more. With the examples of the people on the ship
always together but never facing each other and talking to each other in person, but

rather facing their screens instead. This shows just how much we have become reliant
on our usage of electronics.
Corporatism is an issue in WALL-E and a seen
in the movie by the company Buy N Large. This
company has their name on everything from old gas
stations on earth to the Axiom. When WALL-E is on the
ship and starts his adventure there, you see Buy N
Large everywhere on the ship.
This just shows how big this company is and how they basically stood in for the
government and built a ship to live on and supplied that ship. This is a great allusion to
our current government style, in which many people complain how government officials
are swayed more by corporate benefits and donations for their party than being swayed
by the voters and people who vote them in power. The problem with that is, now
corporates are now influencing government on what they want accomplished. With Buy
N Large now dictating how the rest of humanity lives their life, it is a great example of
how growing issues of corporatism is dictating our lives, for good or bad.
Rhetorical Objective
The movie uses color and story to show a movie that is involved with
environmentalism and corporatism. With Pixar known to make animated films with
hidden meanings, this one is full of them and that results in this movie falling under
persuasion. In the movie, they are trying to persuade people to start talking and thinking
more about environmentalism as an issue we face today, right now. Also, with
environmentalism, they inform you of what could happen without it, the world will get too
polluted and we will be forced to leave the planet and all life could die out.
They use color to persuade us to see how
our world can end up if we continue to disregard
the effects we have on our world, but they also
use color to show hope in our situation. With the
image on the right we can see the bleakness in
the world of WALL-E but also use the rays of
light hitting the bright green of the leaves to show
that all is not lost. If we do not realize what we
are doing to our world, we will be forced off the
planet like the people in the movie, which then
brings up another issue.

That issue is that they also inform you about is obesity and the effects. They
show you that if obesity gets out of hand, then people could lose bone density and even
the ability to walk. The movie is telling us that the more dependent on technology
humans become the less independent we are. In WALL-E, the writer and director use
the focus on a robot to disguise the messages they are trying to portray in a more
discreet way that is more appealing to kids and families. By disguising the messages as
robots and making them more appealing to the kids, they are able to get the message
across much easier.
Genre(s)
The directors used different genres to convey the main message that they
wanted the audience to see. They use these different genres to influence and get the
audience to re-evaluate the situation of our own world, and the same problems that we
face in the world with our situation with increasing concern over global warming and
climate change.
The first genre that everyone sees when they first watch WALL-E is that it is an
animated family movie (IMDb). Animation movies are easy to recognize because they
are made from many drawn images that are then made into color scripts then
transformed into the loveable movies we know through animation software (Pixar). They
use animation to make it easier for adult messages to
be easier to handle as animated characters that they
can like.
This is also a romance movie. In the movie the
main character WALL-E falls in love with EVE
(IMDb). Together WALL-E and EVE go on an
adventure, another genre used, to go tell the humans
that Earth is now able to sustain life and they can
come home. The futuristic dystopia shows another
genre that is in WALL-E, this is the genre of scifi/fantasy (IMDb). The futuristic dystopia helps with
the objective and message of the movie by showing how our actions can influence the
world we live in. They also mix these two genres to tell another subplot which is
between EVE and WALL-E, where it tells the story of two robots falling in love in a
desolate land.

Audience(s) in

Pixar, usually known for animated films, knew

who their target audience was, with their PG rating their
audience is primarily aimed at children around the age
of 6 and 13. That also doesnt mean that parents will not
enjoy this, Pixar knowing that parents will be there with
their kids, make the movie to cater to them as well. Their
primary audience is children and their secondary
audience being the childrens parents.
For the secondary audience (the parents and
older teenagers) there are references from older movies such as AUTO, influenced by
HAL 9000 from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. They include references to older
movies to first let the secondary audience know that they are being acknowledged, but
they also use the genre of sci-fi to convey their messages such as showing the
wasteland of earth and how consumerism and how the way we live have long term
effects on our world.
For the kids, there is obvious humor and comedy in which is suitable for children.
The main robots are geared towards smaller kids so they look more appealing and
friendly. Another way that the movie connects with smaller children is the way that
WALL-E makes them laugh, such as when M-O the cute little white robot would run into
other robots on accident. Many kids understand his humor and can relate to it
somehow.
Logos
Everyone in WALL-E is too reliant on technology and because of that they dont
walk, talk to people in person, play sports, and think. Already having talked about how
WALL-E uses a lot of color and animation to influence the audience and make an
impact on them, we see this come together to showcase the theme in many scenes in
this movie.
A great scene in which the theme is
shown is when the robots do most of the work
that humans in the past might have done and
the scene shows how now humans cant eat
and move around without the help of robots.
They would then go to the large swimming pool,
but would carry on doing nothing but stare at
their screens and watch movies and talk to their
partners through the screen. This is important to show because it shows how our
reliance on technology can contribute to our ruin as people. How this reliance can
encase us in a false sense of security and false sense of connection with people.

In the movie they show how consumerism is all around. BNL, the company who
built the space ship and are responsible for the destruction of earth, implant their
company everywhere. There is one scene where a robot is teaching the alphabet to
kids, and for examples of the letter they use a word that relates to them or their
products. For example, they say B is for Buy N Large, your very best friend. This
scene shows how from a very young age, humans are brainwashed into becoming
reliant on products made by BNL, and allows BNL to exert their influence on the human
population in the Axiom.
One more scene shows just how far
the people of earth have looked the other
way when it came to taking care of our earth.
In the scene we see a newspaper that says
the earth is covered in trash, and that it is a
global emergency. That quick scene shows
how humans currently view the
environmental problems we have. This
shows how the people of WALL-E didnt do anything about the trash on the earth and
the effects they had on their world until it was too late to do anything. Scenes like this
influence how the audience should rethink how they view the problems of climate
change and rethink how we should react to nations destroying the planet.

Pathos
WALL-E uses color and story, and puts it all together to get a connection with the
audience that will have a lasting impact on them. WALL-E, being an animated movie, is
directed towards children and has a light tone, but for older audiences they can notice
the dark undertone in the movie.
One of the most important themes in
this movie is environmentalism, the colors
they used to show the state of the earth in
WALL-Es world is shown to be very brown,
bleak, and a neutral monotone color
scheme. On the image to the right you can
see WALL-E as he is roaming through the
streets and the immense amount of trash
and waste just scattered around. By adding
in the color of brown, dark shadows, and
also the positioning of WALL-E it gives us a feeling of uselessness. This is opposite of

the cool blue tones of space and EVE. The blue tones convey a sense of being calm
and serene. They make you almost feel free, which is why the directors used the
different colors depending on where you were in the movie.
You can also see how the story gets us connected early on with WALL-E, when
he grabs his lunch box before heading out to work. This is because of the presumption
that every morning as people grab their lunch and give their significant other a kiss
before heading out the door to work. Viewers build a strong emotional connection with
WALL-E as they follow his journey and what WALL-E endures just to be with EVE. Right
when they meet he is cowering behind a wall because he was scared of what was going
on. Some other examples are how he tries to protect her while she is waiting to be
picked up, or when EVE is getting examined and WALL-E thinks that she is getting
harmed he reacts the same way a human would, he goes to her rescue and tries to
save the day. There is also the time that he tries to hold up the floor so that they can put
the plant in the container, but he ends up getting crushed in the process. A viewer just
feels like crying because of how the movie connected the viewer with WALL-E.
Ethos
One of the things that help with the credibility of the movie WALL-E is the fact
that it is Pixar movie. Most people know exactly what you are talking about when you
say Pixar and people know what to expect when they find out that Pixar is behind the
film, Pixar is also known to be left leaning.
One of the ways Pixar shows its credibility throughout the movie is by
referencing older movies in which older audiences can connect with, such as dads and
moms that might be bringing their children to the movies for them to watch. This shows
that they know who their audience is and that they can deliver on any message they
need to send to their older generation. They know that the parents of the kids probably
grew up watching movies such as the 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and Star
Trek. A lot of the references in being to appeal to the secondary audience, but also to
bring a sense of nostalgia to remind them of the first time they watched the movies. All
of this is brought together to make an impact.

Pixar can also be known for being left leaning on a political spectrum on their
messages most of the time which will
also show that they know what kind of
audience they are usually targeting,
people who have a left leaning view on
the world. People also criticize Pixar for
this as well, because some people
believe that Pixar is trying to get kids to
have liberal views in their life. A great
example of this would be where their main
message is that climate change and industrial
waste is ruining the planet, which is usually a
liberal view in the political world.
Another example of left leaning views
that conservatives that complain about is how
they portray corporations. The movie criticizes
how corporations have too much power and influence on how we live but also on the
future of our livelihood. A great example of this is when we get a glance at a newspaper.
The newspaper shows how a CEO of a company is declaring a global emergency,
where it should really be a leader of a nation. This also alludes to the problem of how
companies and corporations have too much control and power.
Analysis Summary
The key message in WALL-E is how we, as humans, are destroying the earth
and if we do not start to take better care of the earth and start to protect the earth, it will
become what it looks like in the film. This message is good because recycling has
become a huge part of our society. Humans have finally come to the realization that
there is must to start reusing things because we can only bury garbage for so long and
have only so much room for landfills.
There is another message seen in the movie, it is one about humans and society
becoming too reliant on technology and it is affecting the health and brains cells of
humans. They show how with their advanced technology people do not walk around or
do anything for themselves. People do not even play sports themselves, like everything
else in their life robots play the games for them. From the lack of exercise people are
becoming very overweight and, according to the movie, losing bone mass. Brain power
is decreasing because people do not need to think for themselves anymore. This is
shown by the people seeing things differently once WALL-E knocks them off their
floating chairs. They then start to see things differently and they now have a greater
appreciate for everything now. This idea is also shown with the captain who does not
know how to operate specific things on his own ship.

Works Cited
McGovern, Bridget. "WALL-E: Pixars Lasting Tribute to the Power of Art." Torcom WallE
Pixars Lasting Tribute to the Power of Art Comments. Tor.com, 19 June 2012.
Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

"Pixar's Animation Process." PIXAR. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
"Pixar." Pixar. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
"Real Food Girl." Real Food Girl. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
"WALL-E and EVE Celebrate Christmas." Binary Moon. 30 Aug. 2010. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
"WALLE." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
"WALL-E (2008) - Box Office Mojo." WALL-E (2008) - Box Office Mojo. N.p., n.d. Web.
26 Oct. 2015.