The Warning Signs: An Analysis of Wall-E 

In 2019, technology and consumerism is an obvious part of the human lifestyle. Day in and day out, people are consumed by technology and the craving for bigger and better things. Andrew Stanton, the director of Wall-E, recognized this issue and thus created the movie Wall-E as a warning sign for mankind. Wall-E is a movie in which earth has been trashed and all the humans have left to live on a ship in space.

Wall-E is the last robot left on Earth, and his job is to clean up the earth.

One day, Eve comes along and both robots end up going back to space. Throughout the journey of Wall-e, Scranton shows that humans are consumed by technology and consumerism, and therefore neglect the world around them. Wall-e gives warning signs to humans by showing the overuse of technology, how people let consumerism control them, and by using biblical references.

The first way Scranton gives a warning sign to humans is by showing that humans are too consumed in technology.

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For example, all the people of earth now live on a ship in space called the Axiom, which is one hundred percent controlled by technology. On this ship, all humans sit in a hoverchair in which they can watch tv, video chat, order food all day, and basically do anything while never leaving the comfort of their chair. When they need to brush their teeth or do any human activities, they simply have one of the many robots on the ship do it for them.

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Even the umbrellas by the poolside are technology based. Since humans sit in their chairs all day long, the lack of physical activity has caused them to be very obese and unable to perform basic human activities by themselves. For example, the captain of the ship tries to talk to a book manual, not realizing that it wasn't a robot (Wall-E 0:48:44-0:48:58). Even when John, one of the passenger on the Axiom, falls out of his chair, he is not able to get back up on his own; a service robot is called to help him up.

In addition, Wall-E accidentally bumps into Mary’s computer, causing it to break. When her computer breaks, she is finally forced to look outside of her screen and see the world around her for the first time. Mary did not even realize that the ship has a pool until that moment (Walle 0:42:07-0:42:13). Scranton did this to his characters in order to warn people of today that if they do not stop relying so intensively on technology, the world portrayed in Wall-E may very well be a close future. Another way that Andrew Scranton gives a warning sign to mankind is by showing that people let consumerism control their lives. In current society, everyone wants the next best thing. People are always searching for something “bigger and better” and they want it right now.

Today, the world is overpopulated with commercials, advertisements, and billboards promoting the next greatest products. Scranton shows this in the first few scenes of the movie where Wall-E is going about his day and the viewer sees that all the businesses and signs say “Buy n Large” on them (0:03:45-0:04:05). Buy n Large was the company that controlled everything in the movie; all the stores, gas stations, and later viewers find out that Buy n Large is even the owners of the Axiom in which the human now live on. A Buy N Large sign was even planted on the moon. This relates to the big corporations of society today that seem to own everything in the world.

In Wall-E, the passengers are surrounded by the Buy N Large brand and are always ready for the corporations next great product. Just like the companies of today, that promise to make your life so much better if you buy their products, Buy N Large uses the slogan “Buy N Large. Everything you need to be happy” (Wall-E 0:40:21-24). In addition, Scranton relates Buy N Large to today’s society's consumerism by scenes in which the passengers are eager to try the newest products. One example of this is when the speaker on the Axiom says “Try blue. It’s the new red.” Immediately, all the passengers tap their computer screens in order to jump on the offer, and suddenly they are all wearing blue bodysuits instead of red ones (Wall-E 0:41:38-0:41:45).

Lastly, Andrew Scranton shows how much consumerism is taking over lives by using a scene in Wall-E in which babies are introduced to Buy N Large. While the babies are being taught their alphabet by a robot, viewers hear “B is for Buy N Large. Your very best friend” (Wall-E 0:41:17-0:41:2). This shows that even from a young age, products and companies are shoved into human’s lives. Scranton created the company Buy N Large in Wall-E to warn today’s society not to let consumerism control our lives. Lastly, Scranton uses biblical references as a warning sign that humans should respect the Earth and each other before its too late. Andrew Scranton uses his movie Wall-E as a symbol for the story of Noah’s Ark in the Bible.

In the Bible, God punishes the people of Earth by sending a great flood. God spares Noah and his family and tells Noah to build an ark that will keep his family and the animals safe. Later on, Noah sends out a dove to search for vegetation. The dove brings back an olive leaf, which lets Noah know that it is safe to start life on Earth again (The Holy Bible: Genesis 6-9). According to an article by The Dream Of Pixar, in the movie, the Axiom is a symbol for Noah’s ark because it keeps the passengers safe while Earth is destroyed. In addition, Eve is a symbol of the dove because Eve was sent to Earth to find a sign of life to report back to the ship, to let the ship know it was safe to come back home. Eve comes back with a plant that Wall-E found, which when put into the Axiom control center, sends the ship back to Earth (“Wall-E Religious Themes”).

Scranton symbolizes the story of Noah’s ark in his movie Wall-E to warn people of today to take care of the Earth and be nice to each other before it is too late. Each day, society is taken over by consumerism and technology, which leads society to neglect the world around them. Andrew Scranton created Wall-E to warn humans about the overuse of technology, consumerism, and the neglection of our world. Scranton uses obese passengers who rely on robots to symbolize how people of today are so dependent on technology. He uses the made-up brand Buy N Large to show how society lets consumerism control them. Lastly, Scranton uses biblical references of Noah’s Ark to warn people to take care of the people and world around them.

Work Cited

  1. The Holy Bible: ESV Study Study Version. Crossway, 2011.
  2. “Wall-E Religious Themes.” The Dream of Pixar, 11 Mar. 2011,thedreamofpixar.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/wall-e-religious-themes/.
  3. Wall-E. Directed by Andrew Stanton, performances by Ben Burtt and Elissa Knight, Walt Disney Studios, 2008. DVD.
Updated: Dec 13, 2021
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The Warning Signs: An Analysis of Wall-E . (2021, Dec 13). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-warning-signs-an-analysis-of-wall-e-essay

The Warning Signs: An Analysis of Wall-E  essay
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