Wall-E: New Era for Nature in U.S. Animation

Many animated films trumpet environmental themes. Wall-E--Pixar's hit about a solar-powered, trash-compacting 'bot on a waste-choked Earth--didn't set out to be one of them. Originally, Wall-E took place on an intergalactic trash dump, says Pete Docter, who wrote the initial treatment. Yet in depicting a world so far from Disney's idyllic forests, Wall-E may herald a new era for U.S. animation in which nature has all but collapsed. Its hopeful ending portends a better future: Though damaged, the earth can be restored--if humans make an effort.
--Charles Solomon