As a Nightmare Fuel page, all spoilers are unmarked as per wiki policy. You Have Been Warned!
No Fridge Horror on this page!
WALL-E may contain beautiful animation, eye-popping scenery (on Earth, in space and onboard the Axiom) and a masterfully tender tale about robotic lovers fighting against the odds towards a better tomorrow, but don't let that distract you into thinking there will not be any moments like this in this "kid's flick". Per Pixar tradition, man-made and artifactual horrors beyond our comprehension will inject themselves into your mind forever... as long as you're not in a sobbing fit.
- The tone of the movie in general can be very unnerving for some to watch. The first half comprising zero spoken dialogue save for the robots' occasional Pokémon Speak and the odd pre-recorded ads that echo in the distance is extremely bleak. As beautiful as the scenery is, it's a relief to find genuine living humans aboard the Axiom.
- AUTO's reaction to the Captain preparing to set the Axiom on course to return to Earth: Throughout the whole movie, AUTO has spoken in a Machine Monotone (similar to other text-to-speech voices without emotion), but when it becomes clear the Captain is set on taking the plant himself, that's when things go south once AUTO utters the final two lines below...Captain McCrea: AUTO, EVE found the plant. Fire up the Holo-Detector.Captain McCrea: You know what? I should do it myself. (Starts rolling his hoverchair towards the elevator.)AUTO: (In an unusually stern tone) Captain. (AUTO zips over to block the Captain's way to the elevator) Sir, I insist you give me the plant.Captain McCrea: AUTO, get out of my way.AUTO: We cannot go home.
- For that matter, The Reveal of what Directive A113 actually is: With the efforts to clean up Earth's pollution failing and toxicity levels still rising, Buy-N-Large's CEO ultimately gave up on getting humanity home and determined that life on Earth had become unsustainable due to the increasing environmental hazards. The A113 protocol announcement sent to the BnL autopilots is pretty much one big Found Footage Apocalyptic Log: The video feed is damaged and glitching out, the reflected flashing of emergency lights can be seen in the background, the people can barely be bothered to even open with the company's signature jingle, and BnL CEO Shelby Forthright himself has gone from a peppy, Sharp-Dressed Man to a Broken Bird of a mess, complete with a gas mask hanging from his neck for him to wear (and oxygen tanks strapped to his back) once he wraps up the broadcast because of how horribly toxic the air has become. Doubles as a Tear Jerker.
- It’s dark but the scrapped earlier version
is even more of a nightmare. The CEO is far more frantic and the sirens are blaring from the beginning. It has the glitching feed along with what looks like hazy air. He’s gasping and coughing and breathing from an oxygen tank the whole time as he struggles to get the message out. His voice is frantic and raised and he’s obviously afraid. He can’t even manage complete sentences and has to stop to breathe every word or two. At the end, the transmission cuts off abruptly as he yells “I want to live!”
- It’s dark but the scrapped earlier version
- Pay close attention to the portraits of the previous Axiom captains. AUTO starts off in the background, but slowly gets closer and closer over time, until he is staring right over the current captain's shoulder. All this time, AUTO was the true captain of the Axiom; the human captains were merely figureheads.
- They're also getting fatter... which is kind of fair given their environment, but also a bit disturbing to see.
- Then while McCrea is realizing the above, AUTO slowly slinks down right behind his shoulder, closer than ever. It's a very disturbing visual.
- WALL•E getting tasered by AUTO when he refuses to hand over the plant. It comes completely out of nowhere.
- The climax with the Axiom tilting, and several helpless screaming people sliding towards the wall. It culminates with one of the people mover trams sliding from its track and nearly crushing the passengers, before EVE barely manages to hold it up to save them. Meanwhile, AUTO turns the Holo-detector off. As it sinks back into the floor, WALL-E desperately tries to hold it up, but AUTO electrocutes the Holo-Detector button, causing it to slam down and crush WALL-E.
- After the Captain shuts down AUTO and rights the Axiom, EVE rushes toward the holo-detector to pry it open and free WALL-E, but it won't budge. When she finally gets WALL-E out by putting in the plant, he has been crushed like a tin can!
- More existential horror, but humanity becoming so utterly dependent on machines and hooked to screens all day and night that they have literally lost the ability to see anything beyond those screens (both Mary and John are shocked that the Axiom has a pool, despite passing by it every day of their lives) is a chilling prospect. The degrading attention span and being completely co-dependent on screens is a real issue as well, as per the mention as an existential horror in the start.
- It's a small moment, but if you pay attention, you can see at full-face value how insidious BnL's still active indoctrination is, because it literally begins from birth. During one scene when WALL-E is on the Axiom, he passes by a nursery. In that nursery is a robotic nanny reciting the alphabet to a class of infants. The 'A' is understandable, "A is for Axiom, your home sweet home". But what's the 'B'? "B is for Buy and Large, your very best friend." BnL has become so powerful and influential that humans are taught to treat it like a god before they can even speak.
- Similarly, how far does BnL's reach extend? Apparently beyond the film itself as the corporation's jingle appears as a Logo Joke... after the final Disney/Pixar Vanity Plate. That's right, the movie is supposedly a Buy-N-Large product, which carries some worrying implications for our own future...
