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Dec 24, 2009

The Really Drawn-out Blog Cabins Decennial Spectacular: #7

Decennial, in case you're not hip to the term, means 1. relating to or lasting for ten years, or 2. occurring every ten years. It's really a word that we should hear more often. Anyway, this will be my series where I count down my favorites from the last decade, and since I don't plan on it taking 10 years to finish, we're going to go with the second definition.

Previous day's posts:
12/21: Intro/#10: Idiocracy
12/22: #9: Children of Men
12/23: #8: Pan's Labyrinth

Number 7 on the RD-oBCDS is...

Wall*E (2008)
Pixar released seven feature films during the last decade. Six received a Best Animated Feature nomination from the Academy (this number will reach seven in a few short months when Up joins the team), four of which went on to win (Cars and Monsters, Inc. being the exception; again, this number is likely to climb to five). All but Cars has a Rotten Tomatoes score of > 95%. All but Cars has a worldwide gross of >$500 million. And all this is a long way of saying that any number of them could (should?) be in this spot, specifically either Finding Nemo or The Incredibles.

So what puts Wall*E ahead of them?

Good question. It comes down to a few things it was able to do: a) make you fall in love with a robot, b) leave you even more speechless than the film with a wordless 20-minute intro, and c) incorporate a preachy message...without being overtly preachy (the link to Idiocracy doesn't hurt, either). In addition, by being the newest of the three - and by being the only one set outside of our atmosphere - it's able to capture your eyes just as much as it did your heart.

(But it's really close. I feel like no matter which was chosen, it would have been the "wrong" selection.)


6 people have chosen wisely: on "The Really Drawn-out Blog Cabins Decennial Spectacular: #7"

JLG said...

You won't get any arguement from me. This one is the best.

Nick said...

Again, this one is on my list, too... today's list, actually. And, ironically, your explanation is incredibly similar to my own.

Colin Biggs said...

I would've been tempted to put UP, but WALL-E works well here too.

ratatouille's archives said...

Bonjour! Hello! Fletch,

I watched Wall-E for the first-time this year (even though I received the film for X-Mas last year) and it was a really fascinating animated film.

I agree wholeheartedly, with your critique of the film and why it is included on your list too!

By the way, Joyeux Noël-Merry Christmas!
and may you and Mrs. Fletch,
have a pleasant, and safe New Year too!
DeeDee ;-D

Fletch said...

JLG - Argue, damnit!

Nick - Great minds and all...

Fitz - I really liked Up, and am one of those that specifically enjoyed the first half more than the second, which got a bit kiddie. Very good, but not even in my Pixar Top 3.

DeeDee - Merci beaucoup, et Joyeux Noel a vous, aussi!

Patricia Perry said...

Fletch - No arugument here either. "Wall-E" was a near-miss for my list, easily made the Honorable Mention category for all the reasons you list here. It is delightful.