10 Things You May Not Know About WALL-E

WALL-E’s name was going to be W.A.L.-E., but Steve Jobs didn’t like that particular spelling, so it was changed to the familiar WALL- E. But what does WALL-E mean? A reference to Walt Disney perhaps? Actually, the name is an acronym for Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth-Class. We guess that means that “loadlifter” was one word in the original spelling!

 

 

 

WALL-E’s “voice” was created by legendary sound designer Ben Burtt, most famously known for creating the sounds of R2-D2. In the course of creating WALL-E’s different sounds, Burtt recorded 2500 pieces of audio, more then twice the number he recorded for Star Wars.

 

 

 

And what were some of those sounds? They included a hand-cranked electrical generator (to create the noises WALL-E made while moving about), an automobile self-starter for when WALL-E went fast, and curiously, the sound of cars being wrecked at a demolition derby. A demolition derby?? Yes, that’s how Burtt recreated the sounds of WALL-E compacting trash!

 

 

 

 

However, the most recognizable sound to most viewers was the familiar Macintosh start-up chime that sounded when WALL-E has fully charged up. Coincidentally (or not), the design of his companion Eve is highly reminiscent of Apple’s distinctive product design.

 

 

 

 

Finally, when WALL-E runs from the shopping carts aboard the Axiom, Burtt went straight to the source to create the clattering sound effect. He and his daughter actually went to a supermarket, placed a recorder in a shopping cart, and sent it careening down a hill!

 

 

 

WALL-E’s main coloring was yellow, the better to mimic the typical coloring of a construction or maintenance vehicle. (Remember that WALL-E was a utilitarian “machine” whose only purpose was to collect and compact trash.) Since WALL-E himself was largely yellow, Production Designer Ralph Eggleston avoided using that color (as well as green) when designing the color palette for the background settings in the film, particularly those on Earth. As a result, the garbage-strewn Earth is largely devoid of color.

 

 

 

 

As with most Pixar characters, WALL-E makes a cameo in another Pixar release, the short film Your Friend the Rat that was included with the DVD release of Ratatouille.

 

 

 

The concept of WALL-E’s distinctive eyes came at, of all places, a baseball game! Inspiration came from a pair of binoculars director Andrew Stanton was given at an Oakland Athletics/Boston Red Sox game. He was so mesmerized by them that he missed an entire inning of the game.

 

 

 

At one point WALL-E was going to have elbows, but it was quickly realized that a robot whose sole function was to pull garbage into itself would have no need for them. Not to mention that test animations of him waving (with elbows) made him look flimsy. Instead, Animation Director Angus MacLane had the idea to attach his arms to a track on the sides of his body, similar to the inkjet printers his father designed.

 

 

 

WALL-E had quite a collection of gadgets and gizmos in his “home,” but his most prized possession was an old VHS tape of Hello, Dolly!, which instilled in him the concept of love, which he would ultimately convey to Eve when he reached out to hold her hand, reminiscent of his favorite scene from the old film.