Wall-E is a little trash compactor on half tracks, who slaves away eternally, tasked with cleaning up the Earth. As he sets aside little souvenirs of humanity, much like a child would stash away a toy or intreguing rock, Wall-E develops a realization that something is missing in his life. His only friend a cockroach, Wall-E longs for true companionship.

Wall-E is Director Andrew Stanton’s follow up to the wildly popular Animated Pixar feature, Finding Nemo. The film tackles a lot of very real topics at once, including Environmental awareness, the corporate machine, the general trend toward gluttony and obesity as well as man’s dependency on modern technology but does so in a observational way while providing a fun story for children and adults alike. The real theme of Wall-E however, and the thread that runs through the entire feature is the universal need for companionship and love, as displayed in true anthropomorphic style between Wall-E and EVE.

Wall-E is a direct to digital transfer presented in the original 2.39:1 ratio. It is of course 1080p resolution and as is the norm with Pixar, takes full advantage of the Blu Ray Technology. The choice of colors as you meet Wall-E on the now barren, trash strewn planet Earth is perfect, as subtle shades of brown really set the mood and feeling of aloneness. Highly contrasting Earth, The Axiom transitions the film to a palette of vibrant colors and flashing advertisements, all perfectly rendered in HD. There is pure clarity on the metallic surfaces, and the crisp picture lends itself well to a host of robots, complete with metallic surfaces and edges that raise the bar a bit higher on what animators are capable of. This is a fantastic presentation and deserves to be seen in Blu Ray.

The audio on Wall-E is in English 5.1 DTS-HD. For a film that features hardly any dialogue for the first 30-40 minutes, the audio is amazing as there is so much focus on the background noises, clanks and creaks that accompany Wall-E as he goes about his assigned task. Even the aged musical number he unwinds to at the end of his shift sound so authentic, like a borderline ancient vhs copy of Hello Dolly! would sound in the future. The vocals are audio and the robot voices are distinct and have an authentic metallic sound to them. All of speakers are utilized quite well as the background noise makes you feel as if you are in the middle of the scene, especially in the on ship chases and the robot’s little dance in space.

There are a ton of bonus features on this release, including the nifty Digital Copy, so you can watch Wall-E on the go on your portable device of choice. The next feature I want to jump to is the fantastic documentary The Pixar Story by flimmaker Leslie Iwerks. I was fortunate enough to catch a presentation of The Pixar Story hosted by Leslie earlier this year and it is a fascinating look at what goes on behind the scenes with the creative minds at Pixar. Just an aside, Leslie Iwerks is the granddaughter of Animation pioneer Ub Iwerks. The Axiom Arcade is a cool collection of games utilizing the remote control. They are a lot of fun and some have the nostalgia of classic games incorperated. For example there is Eve’s Bot Blaster, an updated version of Asteroids,where the player maneuvers Eve around instead of the old reliable spaceship. Presto is the original theatrical short that played before Wall-E. I have to say that this was one of my favorite Pixar shorts to date. It is the story of a Magician and his hungry rabbit, who won’t cooperate until he gets to eat his carrot. Also included is Burn-E. Burn-E is a short that plays off of Wall-E and features a dedicated little welder robot who just wants to finish the job. The Blu ray als featues a picture in a picture storyboard comparison of Burn-E. The Geek Track features a Mystery Science Theater nod as Pixar’s Geek Squad join you for Wall-E and break it down for you, geek style! Cine Explore features Director Andrew Stanton presenting some fun behind the scenes information. Lots of Bots is a Seuss-esque storybook that is a lot of fun for the little ones. The Deleted scenes are good and although they do not add anything major, looked good and would have fit nicely in the finished film. Also included is a fun little 5 minute collection of Wall-E “outtakes” such as his adventures with various sporting equipment and his mis-adventures with a magnet. Animation Sound Design is a look at the role that sound plays in creating an animated feature and how the sound is blended to the finished feature. There are bios on all of the robots, Wall-E previews for upcoming projects and a lot more. I was unable to access it at the time of review but Wall-E also ushers in Disney’s BDLive Network, where viewers from a country away can chat, email and participate in challenges through the BD Network and the magic of internet.

I have had a lot of fun doing the Blu Monday this month as this is the second week in a row I have reviewed a fantastic animated feature. Wall-E is the best looking animated feature I have seen and a welcome addition to my Blu Ray collection. I absolutely recommend a cold purchase for all with children or with a child’s heart when it comes to animation as there is just so much detail to take in that you will want to watch it several times to see what else you missed the first time. Definately a keeper.

Highly Recommended

Bonus Features:
-Burn-E with Boards - picture-in-picture (BD Exclusive)
-Cine-Explor with director Andrew Stanton (BD Exclusive)
-Axoim Arcade: retro suite of videogames with a twist (BD Exclusive)
-Geek Track (BD Exclusive)
-Presto Animated Short
-Burn-E Animated Short
-Deleted Scenes
-Sneak Peek: Wall-E’s Tour of the Universe
-Animated Sound Design
-Audio Commentary with Director Andrew Stanton
-The Pixar Story by Leslie Iwerks
-Additional Deleted Scenes
-Wall-E’s Treasures and Trinkets
-BnL Shorts
-Lots of Bots Storybook
-Making of Featurette

Wall-E is available courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, beginning on November 18, 2008.

To switch for the Wall-E 3 Disc Blu-Ray Edition or to purchase it from Amazon.com, click here.