Pixar is officially 39 years old this week – and to me, this will forever be its greatest movie

It’s hard to believe Pixar turns 39 this week. I don’t know about you, but I've certainly been a fan of the legendary animation studio for a long time — though I didn’t realize it had been that long. I guess time flies when you’re caught up in the magic of innovative storytelling and cutting-edge technology, both of which have helped Pixar develop and maintain a reputation over the years for heartfelt, visually stunning feature films that still resonate with audiences of all ages.

Of all the Pixar movies I’ve seen, there’s one I keep coming back to and that I never get tired of; in fact, with apologies to Pixar’s more recent standouts like Inside Out 2, I’m pretty convinced that one particular film from the studio — about a lonely, precocious robot who finds love and purpose while sorting through humanity’s wreckage — will forever and always represent for me Pixar’s single greatest triumph. I’m referring, of course, to Wall-E, from veteran Pixar director Andrew Stanton. 

The studio’s anniversary this week has served to remind me of two things. One, that Pixar’s has been a groundbreaking cinematic journey, completely changing the game along the way. And that Wall-E, released back in 2008, will be the standard that I unapologetically judge all future animated releases against. Whether they're a product of Pixar, or any other studio.

The movie is lots of different things, rolled into one. It’s a love story, an environmental cautionary tale, and a masterclass in visual storytelling — one with minimal dialogue. It brims with soul and is steeped in an aching, quiet beauty. The interactions between Wall-E and Eve are mostly electronic chirps and coos, yet they feel as real as any romantic human performance you could think of.

The movie’s basically wordless opening remains one of the most breathtaking sequences I’ve ever watched on the big screen, and certainly one of most memorable of all time from a Pixar release. When we first meet Wall-E, he’s the last functioning waste-collecting robot on a desolate Earth, trundling along with a heartbreaking sense of routine. He stacks mountains of garbage under a hazy, polluted sky —  yet, even amid the wreckage, he finds joy: A sprout of green life, an old VHS tape of Hello, Dolly!, and ultimately, the sleek and mysterious Eve, who arrives like an angel from the stars.

I always find myself enraptured by the small things each time I re-watch Wall-E. Like the subtle flicker in his eyes. The hopeful tremble in his mechanical hands. The contrast between the floating consumerist utopia of the humans’ spaceship, contrasted against the wasteland that the humans turned Earth into. There’s a delicate balance between despair and hope that pervades the movie, with scenes of the planet’s devastation also juxtaposed with Wall-E’s wide-eyed wonder. My favorite scene: When Wall-E is floating in space, holding on to the Axiom spaceship after having been launched from Earth.

He’d always looked up at the stars and dreamed about everything beyond. And now here he is, so innocent and hopeful that he can’t help reaching out and dragging his hand along a cluster of space debris — debris that’s comprised of blue, glowing objects. The scene is both magical and surreal, demonstrating Wall-E’s curiosity about the vastness of the universe.

The late Steve Jobs, who was the largest shareholder of Pixar's parent company Disney at the time, actually provided crucial feedback to Stanton during the development of the movie. “It took me a long time to get the second half of it right," Stanton told The Hollywood Reporter in 2020. "...I was at one of those lows where we’re in a meeting, and he said the front half’s genius, the second half’s crap. I don’t think he used that exact word, but that was the sentiment. That hurt, but he was quick to find me and kind of apologize and say, ‘I just think you’re on such a good path, keep going and don’t give in to your instincts.'”

Obviously, he got there in the end. As Pixar celebrates its 39th birthday, Wall-E stands as arguably the studio's most transcendent gem -- a story of love, resilience, and the rediscovery of what it means to truly live.

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Pixar is officially 39 years old this week – and to me, this will forever be its greatest movie originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 4 Feb 2025 at 20:47:48 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.