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WALL.E - Talking to the talent behind the film

Disney/Pixar’s latest animation, WALL.E, was released in UK cinemas on 18 July and is proving to be a major hit with audiences.

Director Andrew Stanton, sound designer Ben Burtt, producer Jim Morris and actress Segourney Weaver, took time out to talk to John Miller about this cute and captivating robot movie.

Question: Jim, can we discuss the look of the film, which is clearly crucial for letting the whole audience enter into the world of WALL.E, and convincing them about its futuristic setting?

Jim Morris: We wanted WALL.E to have a ‘filmed’ look, and Andrew [Stanton] wanted to give it a heightened sense of believability so the audience felt they were watching a real movie with a cameraman shooting it.

Question:  Andrew, take us through the germ of the idea to actually having the Eureka moment, when you knew you’d hit the jackpot and made a film regarded as a masterpiece.

Andrew Stanton: Well, it was at a lunch in 1994 and we were in the middle of making Toy Story.  We said: “What if mankind left earth and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off?” The idea of something doing the same thing forever to me was like the ultimate definition in futility and I just thought it was the saddest character I have ever heard of.

WALL.E

Welcome to the wonderful world of WALL.E – the next Disney / Pixar collaboration that is set to follow in the footsteps of Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Ratatouille. This film has everything that we have come to expect from these genius animators, who incidentally, have netted staggering worldwide box office takings in excess of $4.3 billion* from their films.

Disney tales have often dealt with the dark side of human life – parental death, evil stepfamilies, the dangers of the sea. But WALL.E brings these issues bang up to date by looking at those facing the 21st century. The obesity situation; the growing isolation of individuals in society; the increasing power of brands over governments; the problems of consumerism and the effects on the planet of our throw-away mentality. All of these issues are rolled into a heart-melting love story of two robots.

UK Box Office 11-13 July

At the beginning of this summer, as industry experts surveyed the major movies scheduled for release, there was always one title that fell into the category of Unknown Quantity. The joker in the pack. Mamma Mia! may have succeeded on the London stage (and all over the world), but how many cinemagoers would line up to see a musical featuring Meryl Streep singing ABBA hits on a Greek island? As the release date drew near, the answer to that question became increasingly clear: lots.

Mamma Mia! The Movie opened at the weekend on £6.59 million, including nationwide Thursday previews plus takings from its one-week platform release at London’s Leicester Square Odeon. Stripping out the previews, the three-day figure is £5.21 million. This result is very similar to that of Sex and the City, which posted a three-day weekend of £5.12 million (plus whopping previews from Wednesday and Thursday). Sex and the City has gone on to gross nearly £26 million, and there is every chance that Mamma Mia! will match or exceed that total. Since it plays to a very broad demographic, including older cinemagoers, this kind of audience does not traditionally rush out to see films on opening weekend; it often takes its time. This all augurs well for Mamma Mia! and backers Universal.

UK Box Office 4-6 July

There may have been plenty of people staying in on Sunday to watch the nail biting men’s Wimbledon final, but cinemas across the land sure weren’t hurting. Powered by openings of both Hancock and Kung Fu Panda, takings surged.

Hancock confirms Will Smith’s status as the world’s biggest movie star. One of the few summer blockbusters not based on an existing property such as a previous hit film (Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), comic-book (Iron Man) or TV show (Sex and the City), Hancock relied solely on Smith’s star power, so its UK opening of £9.59 million, including Wednesday/Thursday previews of £2.96 million, is highly impressive. DreamWorks animation Kung Fu Panda picked up a tasty £6.07 million, including previous-weekend previews of £1.69 million. The two titles helped power the top 15 films to a collective £20.38 million, a nifty 78% up on the previous weekend, and 65% up on the same weekend from 2007, when Die Hard 4.0 and Shrek the Third managed just over £5 million apiece.

Kung Fu Panda

In Kung Fu Panda, Jack Black voices Po, a rather large and verbose panda, who dreams of being a martial arts expert. After gate-crashing a ceremony, he is selected by the wise turtle Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) to be the prophesised saviour of the village. A band of elite warriors, the Furious Five, are less than impressed that this clumsy amateur has displaced them and their life’s work, and neither is their Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), who has the unenviable job of training Po.

But things take a turn for the worse when the deliciously evil snow leopard, Tai Lung (Ian McShane), escapes from jail, impressively ‘out-kung-fu-ing’ 1,000 rhino prison guards. He is hell-bent on getting his paws on the ancient scroll, holding the key to ultimate power, and which the hapless Dragon Warrior, Po, is sworn to protect.

UK Box Office 27-29 June

In the summer months, Hollywood studios like to have at least one whole weekend to themselves when positioning their major blockbusters. This weekend just gone, Disney wasn't so lucky with the release of its second Chronicles of Narnia episode. When Universal first plonked Wanted onto the same date as Prince Caspian, Disney held its nerve, confident that the action picture based on a little-known graphic novel would prove little threat to its own franchise entry.

Or maybe the studio simply reasoned that the two films addressed such different audiences – Prince Caspian is PG, Wanted is 18 – they could peacefully co-exist.