Long-established as the leader in creative, endearing and enduring animated features, such as Toy Story (1995), The Incredibles (2004) and Ratatouille (2007), Disney Pixar's latest offering, from Oscar-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton, tells of the havoc that ensues when boy robot meets girl robot, falls in love and follows her across the galaxy.

“The movie is essentially a love story”, says Stanton. “WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) is the robotic housekeeper we all wish we had, left behind on Earth to clean up humankind's garbage while mankind took their hols, some 800 years in the future.

Unfortunately, that vacation never ended. Little WALL-E builds himself a house, makes friends with an indestructible cockroach, and all seems peachy. Until another robot, EVE (Elissa Knight), makes her entrance – and she's the most beautiful thing that WALL-E's ever seen...”

The distinct resemblance to ET that WALL-E (who's voiced by Ben Burtt) bears is probably strictly intentional, but Stanton has stated, for the record, that he based the robot's design on a pair of binoculars that he was playing with at a ball game - indeed, the love-struck 'droid's features do consist of two large, surprisingly expressive lenses. And Pixar geeks take note - the Pizza Planet truck, which has a cameo in every one of the studio flicks, makes its Hitchcock-esque appearance in the film's first 20 minutes. Keep your eyes peeled...

The film has already hit the jackpot in the US, earning $62.5 million in its first three days – and the reviews have been glowing. Said the Los Angeles Daily News: “The film’s visions of a ravaged, abandoned future Earth and a mechanized, corporately controlled space ark/pleasure cruiser are stunning, hilarious and hit their pro-green, anti-consumerist points remarkably hard.” The Wall Street Journal’s film critic, meanwhile, raved: “I must drop my inhibitions about dropping the M word – especially since I’ve already used magnificent – and call WALL-E the masterpiece that it is.”

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