I don’t watch movies. Or TV. Yeah, I know, I’m a riot at cocktail parties. Good thing I dance funny or I’d never get invited anywhere.
But my kids watch the occasional movie. (What? A mom’s got a get a break sometime. You think this website runs itself? My kids DON’T NAP.) And ever since they saw the official WALL-E trailer, that one has been on the top of their list. But I’m cheap and lazy. And cheap. And I don’t like loud noises – my children provide me with enough daily screaming for 3 slasher movies. And I’m cheap. So they probably won’t see it until it comes out on DVD and Grandma buys it for them.
I have to admit, as far as movies go, this one seems pretty cute. I’ve been leery of children’s movies ever since we took the lil’ nippers to see Happy Feet – a movie ostensibly about dancing penguins that would have been more subtle if they had just put Al Gore’s face on each penguin and turned the movie into a slideshow and then back into a movie. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good recycling bin and I totally want the ice caps to stay put so us and the Russians can fight over them for centuries to come but don’t lure my children in with dancing cartoons and then fill them up with adult propaganda. That’s why we have obnoxious relatives, duh.
So when Reader Shellie e-mailed me about taking her 4 cutie-pie blank slates to see it, I was very interested. She says:
We went to see “Wall-E” tonight. The writers weren’t shy about trying to get their point across. The movie takes place 800+ years in the future where the earth is so trashed, we have to evacuate and all humans are morbidly obese and rely on technology for everything. (Granted we already see that, it just isn’t the majority of the population.) Anyway, I have never seen Disney to make such a statement on obesity – or anything else for that matter.
Much to my kids’ delight, I trekked over to the Disney site and watched all 5 million video clips of WALL-E they have posted there. Research, smesearch – that is some funny stuff. I giggled right along with my kids (check out the vaccuum vignette). WALL-E is cute! Like I want to snuggle-wuggle his little metal self cute. Like I keep saying “waaallll-eeee” even though my kids are all upstairs (playing in the toilet?) because it’s just so cute.
At the Disney site we saw robots. And lots of garbage ringing the earth. And space ships. But no people! I wanted to see one of those wheelchair-bound fatties that Shellie mentioned. Strangely, you see not a single glimpse of them in the entire official trailer. There are a few brief flashes of faces in some of the other clips but no obesity.
Is Disney hiding their agenda? I’m confused. Any of you see this show yet? And what’s your take on propagandizing to the preschool set?
WEIRD.
when i read your title i thought you were going to make fun of wall-e for being chubby and i was going to yell at you cause im pretty sure he is the cutest non-puppy animal i have ever seen.
I thought disney thought everyone was skinny and gorgeous and princessy.
im curious now.
http://www.groundedfitness.com
wall-e isnt an animal. im not sure why i said that.
its been a long day. i worked 14 straight hours.
Aw, girl! You just made my whole night. Loved the comment. Now go to bed!!
I wanted to see this anyway – but now I really have to go so I can report back!
The media/moviemakers/news/ads/newspapers/magazines are evil?
We all get propoganized every day a million times. We don’t even think for ourselves any more.
Primal is going great. Maybe I’ll really go primal and finally turn off the TV (like you!)! I did last night, right after Anthony Bourdain ate some chicken feet and other nasty stuff.
I have to agree with Shellie. They were definitely making a statement about obesity and laziness with this film. The cartoon people were so used to being on their floating chairs and doing nothing that when it came time to do something they were so big they couldn’t stand up on their own let alone walk.
They made it so obvious that my daughter even commented on it after the show. Like you, I hadn’t seen any of that in the trailers so it caught me off guard.
On the plus side, Wall-e and Eve were too cute!!
Missy
at22 – I don’t think propaganda is necessarily evil and I do realize that we are “preached to” every day by a variety of sources but I am a grown-up. I feel differently about people sneaking it in on my kids. They are so young as to be unable to differentiate fiction from reality & marketers know that and take advantage of it. Good for you turning off the TV! Really – it has made my life SO much better.
Missy – thanks for the second opinion!
Interesting…I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s on my list of things to see when the go to the $2 theater. Because I am also cheap.
Disney usually has some sort of moral to their movies, but “don’t be a lazy bum” is a new one.
Oh my gosh! It’s a freakin’ cartoon! And if we lived in space for that long our bone mass would be massively reduced! They even show that in a little x-ray sequence in the movie!
I took my kids to see it because I am a major movie junkie! They loved it and weren’t at all concerned about the fat people.
But seriously, if all we do is sit around sipping our meals out of a large cup and looking at our private tv screens how can we expect to be thin?
Just go an enjoy it for the stinkin’ cute film that it is. Forget about moral codes and messages – it’s just sweet! Think about instead how great it is that a beautiful high-tec robot falls in love with sweet little Wall-E!
My husband and I saw it (no, we don’t have kids, we just like cartoons) last weekend. I liked it, it was fun, and while the anti-obesity message was strong, I think there was another underlying message of individuals needing to be responsible and capable for themselves and to help the world (not necessarily “the planet”. The obese humans in the film were coddled to the point of being like infants, they even had cute/creepy pudgy baby feet. Once they attempted to leave their hovering Lazy-boy chairs, they lurched and toddled like a baby trying to walk for the first time. they had spent so long in a technological bubble, they needed to re-learn what most would consider basic human skills, such as social interaction and walking, and beyond that, building and farming.
Personally I thought it was a message against our disconnected society more than it was against obesity. That being said, it was a very good movie, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and it didn’t strike me as shoving anything down kids throats. But i don’t have kids, so maybe my take would be different than a parent’s?
Haven’t seen it, and probably won’t for awhile. We also don’t own a TV, and our boys get movies sometimes on the tiny portable DVD player (on the computer if we’re feeling really generous), and most of the movies they watch are ones purchased for them by grandma. And they’ve been watching WAAAAAYYY too many while their sisters and cousin have been here, and I think the cord for the player is going to mysteriously get lost when they are gone, but I digress. 🙂
It seems like every kids movie that comes out has some group attacking it for its message. Narnia? Christian propaganda. Golden Compass? Atheist propaganda. Horton? Sexist and anti-homeschooling (wow, weird combo).
Yes, movies today do seem to have a lot more to say about the culture than, say, Snow White, but kids are going to get from it something different than what we think they will. If it bothers you too much, fine, but if you let your kids visit someone else’s house they are going to get some sort of “propaganda” or message other than what you are telling them.
Personally, I’m MUCH more bothered by the fact that in so much mass media today the kids all seem so disrespectful of their parents and the humor comes, so much of the time, from insult jokes directed at loved ones. I’d let my kids watch both Narnia and Golden Compass and not worry too much about how it will impact their religious choices. And even though we’re planning on homeschooling, the “pouch-schooling” kangaroo in Horton just had me rolling my eyes, not launching on internet protest.
The much bigger question for me is how I convince my husband that I MUST go see the new X-Files movie, and then get somebody to go with me (no babysitter), because I have never been to a movie alone and the idea scares me.
My husband and I took our 6 and 4 year-old boys to see this movie this past weekend. The whole family enjoyed it, despite the previously hidden agenda. My oldest definitely picked up on the anti-obesity and pro-environmental aspects of the movie. I am all for movies creating a platform for discussion, but I don’t think that it would have hurt Disney to give hints of this in the trailer. On the plus side, there’s nothing scary enough in the movie to give my 4 year-old nightmares, like some of the other Disney movies have a tendency to do. Why does bad guy have to be so scary?
I haven’t seen it yet (stuck at home with baby) but my husband took the kids and the first thing he commented on was the obesity. I’m not too concerned about the propaganda because we love the old Willy Wonka movie and that is chock full of preachy propagandanizing Oompaloompas. But maybe we would be more sensitive to this if we were more overweight ourselves? I don’t know…
Taking out the kid factor, this is one of the oldest futuristic theories in sci-fi. Man gets smart, improves technology, gets lazy, gets stupid or insane, etc.
But I can’t wait to see the film. My husband said it is great.
I think that the preschoolers wont be able to put 2 and 2 together to realize that they need to stay fit. I think that the messege is for the parents to remind them that their kids are the future and they need to train them corectly so that they will not end up like the humans in the movie
I have not seen the movie yet..I will definitely be watching it in a different light when I do.
I saw it after reading a post that criticized its stance on “fat” and I have to say that sometimes its taken too seriously. The movie is adorable and I won’t spoil it for you, but at one point someone in my party almost cried.
Yes, they do show that if you stop walking and swimming and eat all your meals through a straw and hover chair everywhere that you’ll be fat. They make a few digs at Wii Fit and the idea of virtual exercise, but honestly they are on the right track. Sometimes in a technology obsession culture we can lose track of the basic things in life.
INTERESTING!
now I have an excuse to go see it.
research!
Miz.
Disney films are almost exclusively parables or fables. The defining feature of parables and fables is the moral lesson. Lessons such as “don’t be lazy” and “don’t destroy the planet” seem far better lessons than what Disney has preached in the past: “Obedient women are good, powerful women are evil” and all the various lessons in genetic purity implicit in the stories about royalty.
Additionally, I think it’s good to show kids that not moving and eating unhealthfully leads to obesity. Similarly with the inevitable destruction of our planet if we continue on in our currently wasteful and destructive fashion. Seems like a good lesson for everyone. These things create opportunities for really great discussions with kids, even if you don’t agree with the message. What you as a parent say and do will have a far greater impact than any film.
I saw the movie. It was impossible not to notice that every human was obese and completely lazy… but I have to say that I didn’t think it was part of “propaganda” or a “hidden agenda” at all. I guess I thought of it more as social commentary. And because it was so obvious (and so true, and something that I feel very strongly about), it didn’t bother me one bit.
Also, the movie was freakin’ adorable. Loved it.
I’ve been amazed at the amount of comments being made in movies recently regarding weight… I can’t tell if I’m just noticing it more now or if its really starting to crop up a lot more, but both Get Smart and Sex and the City seemed to be FULL of statements regarding body image and the societal problems of being overweight. Its an interesting phenomenon.
Saw it last night with hubby and kids. The agenda isn’t hidden. Giant corporations (BnL in this movie) control the population (note the action of the characters about changing from red to blue) and that control leads to overeating (drinking), inactivity -> obesity and destruction of the environment. The human spirit can be revived and save everything. Stay through all of the credits and see how the humans recover. However, the Disney-esque pattern of tie-in marketing takes over toward the end of the credits to introduce the Wall-e video game you’re just gonna have to have. Finally, in the last second of the credits (really, the very last second before the film rolls to that sideways writing, blippy stuff) the BnL logo/theme song come back for a few frames to remind you that this movie is about the issues of big corporations influence on human society. Funny how the big corporations involved in this movie’s production are poking at themselves. Self-criticism?
What does “BnL” stand for? “Buy and Large”? Buy enlarge? Buy too much and become enlarged?
Incredibly layered messages in this movie if you have your eyes and mind open.
Best,
Cindy
It’s definitely not a light movie, although it has some VERY cute moments. I heart Walle.
And honestly, I know it kind of hits you across the head with the message and all, but doesn’t American kind of need that a bit? If we’re going to have propoganda out there, shouldn’t it at least inspire you to get moving, respect the earth, conserve our resources and think for ourselves?
Just saying. 😉
I haven’t seen this movie, but I’d like too – will probably wait until it comes out on DVD.
So I’m assuming the point of the movie is to say that laziness and trashing the plant are bad??? If so, do you think it will make people think? Or maybe we’ll just remember that cute little robot. (I can just see various WALL-E merchandise filling the stores… but wait, doesn’t that contribute to more *stuff*?!_
We have some screen shots of the obese Wall-E humans at CalorieLab, along with some comments on Disney’s publicity tactics. They seem to have gotten a little nervous after early leaks and toned down the message, as well as the nature of the advertising campaign.
In 1971 only 4% of 6-to-11-year-old kids were obese; by 2004, the figure had leaped to 18.8%. In the same period, the number rose from 6.1% to 17.4% in the 12-to-19-year-old group, and from 5% to 13.9% among kid’s ageing between 2 to 5. Include all overweight kids, and a whopping 32% of all American children now carry more pounds than they should. http://www.phentermine-effects.com