Hello, Wall-E!

After watching Pixar’s Wall-E (2008), it wasn’t the stunning visuals that stuck with me well after viewing. Nor was it the complex story of the struggles of humanity and its Earth, or the technology dreamt of in the film. Rather, it was the music. Through the use of songs from Jerry Herman’s 1964 Broadway Show “Hello, Dolly!”, Director Andrew Stanton weaves the classic musical throughout the soundtrack to help tell a compelling story of love, adventure and growth.

The first song curated to us as viewers is, “Put On Your Sunday Clothes”, a ballad about two young men wanting to get out of Yonkers for a night and kiss a girl. Stanton could not have chosen better for an opening song, as the first lyrics, “Out there,” pair well with shots of open space: constellations, galaxies and planets. The juxtaposition of the past (old-fashioned music) versus the future (space exploration) really set the tone of adventure for me. As a fan of “Hello, Dolly!”, I knew that “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” was a song with curious naiveté at the center of it, which could not better describe our protagonist robot! In the musical, the young men long to have one day off from working as clerks in a shop, and end up traveling to New York City to have a night full of fun, adventure and love. Wall-E does the same, as he journeys to the Axiom and helps humans and robots alike along the way. His connection to the song and its meaning is shown through various shots of the robot humming the lively tune while perusing his collection of trash-treasures. This shows Wall-E’s naive fascination with exploration, as he collects rare items he doesn’t always understand, but wants to (i.e. the spork, rubik’s cube). Wall-E also goes as far as to record the song so he can play while he works to clean up Earth. Not unlike our musical protagonists, Wall-E finally gets a day off after something intriguing happens, and he is launched into adventure. Wall-E also unknowingly uses this song to rally a group of malfunctioning robots, and the tune is used as a symbol of hope. When he plays it, the misfit robots are able to band together in a scene where they take on the Customer Service bots operating under AUTO’s orders. “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” adds a sort of naive optimism to the film, which Wall-E displays constantly through his actions.

The second song used from “Hello, Dolly!”, “It Only Takes a Moment”, conveys Wall-E’s lack of connection and desire for love. In the scene of Wall-E in his home, he is seen watching the 1969 film adaptation of “Hello, Dolly!”. As two main characters hold hands and sing, “It only takes a moment, to be loved a whole life long.” Wall-E clasps his robotic hands together. This shot shows his yearning for a connection with something else. Further on in the movie, as EVE is rewatching past footage, she too sees this scene and holds her hands. This shows her similar longing for connection. At the end of the movie, EVE repairs Wall-E to find out his memories and personality are gone. In a final attempt to recover his being, EVE hums the tune of “It Only Takes a Moment” and kisses Wall-E. This action sparks his memory bank and he is restored back to normal. “It Only Takes a Moment” shows the desire for love from both Wall-E and EVE, which motivates each characters actions. Wall-E goes to the Axiom in hopes to be with EVE, and EVE repairs Wall-E in hopes to connect with him. The inclusion of this song throughout pivotal points in the plot demonstrates its value to Wall-E and EVE as well as to the narrative of the film.

The connection of the character Wall-E to the soundtrack of “Hello, Dolly!” helps the viewer understand his inner dialogue without using conventional dialogue. “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” gives us insight into Wall-E’s curiosity of the world beyond Earth, and “It Only Takes a Moment” shows us his motivation for his actions throughout the film. Both songs add to the films ability to express human emotions through unconventional dialogue as well as enrich the narrative of the film as a whole.

Works Cited

WALL-E. Directed by Andrew Stanton. Pixar, 2008.