WALL-E Blu-ray ‘exactly represents’ Pixar’s vision

Release to offer advanced video/audio quality, interactivity

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 11/6/2008

NOV. 6 | WALL-E landed a big theatrical punch, but filmmakers believe it will pack an even greater wallop on Blu-ray Disc because of its advanced video/audio quality and exclusive interactivity.

Director Andrew Stanton believes Blu-ray uniquely matches the technology precision once only available within display equipment at WALL-E’s Pixar Animation Studios production home.

“This is the first time where a format exactly represents how good a film looks in the building here,” Stanton said during a recent press tour at Pixar’s headquarters in Emeryville, Calif. “It used to be that you’d only go downhill from here after [creating films in the studio]. We sweat over every pixel.”

Pixar general manager Jim Morris added, “This is a filmmaker’s dream. They didn’t think that anyone cared about that level of technicality as much as they do, and now they are happy that people do.”

The $214 million-grossing Pixar movie will be released Nov. 18 in single-disc ($29.99) and triple-disc versions ($39.99) on standard-definition and in double-disc ($35.99) and triple-disc editions ($40.99) on Blu-ray. The triple-disc sets will offer downloadable digital copies of the film as well as bonus features about the film’s robot heroes, including Web vignettes and an interactive storybook, plus a documentary on Pixar.

Because the WALL-E main robot character doesn’t speak, communicating solely through electronic blips, Blu-ray’s advanced sound best conveys the film’s story line, Stanton said.

“With Blu-ray, you get the maximum impact of how the sound really is,” he said.

Stanton is proud of the film’s soundtrack, overseen by Ben Burtt, who is famous for his work on the Star Wars franchise.

“The nice thing with Burtt is, he’s the father of modern sound design,” said Stanton. “We thought he’d be sick of robots … but he became 80% of the cast.”

Morris is especially looking forward to trying out the BD Live interactivity on WALL-E, the first Pixar film to feature Web-enabled features.

“I’ve never used it, but it’s not on a lot of titles yet,” Morris said. “But there is a lot of excitement around it.”

Also exclusively on Blu-ray are WALL-E games, picture-in-picture commentary and a ‘geek track,’ in which crew members dissect the film similar to critiques on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

“I particularly like the games on Blu-ray,” said Morris. “It’s like Frogger or Pac-Man, which have simple graphics and sound and brings you back to the old arcade days. And there have always been director tracks, but with Blu-ray, if Andrew is talking about design, you can see the images that he’s talking about.”

WALL-E’s DVD, as well as Blu-ray, contain added value over the theatrical.

One featurette details how WALL-E’s bloated future people originally were envisioned as giant green jelly drops, before eventually evolving into more of a traditional human form.

“At the beginning, they were gelatinous creatures, but it became clear that they needed to have eyes, ears, fingers … they needed to be grounded in reality. That’s all explained on the DVD,” said Jason Deamer, WALL-E character art director.

Burtt explains how WALL-E sounds were invented in another featurette. As WALL-E relies so little on dialog, Burtt needed an immense number of sound files, totaling 2,600, to move the WALL-E plot. That is the most he has ever used, noting that even such sound-heavy films as Indiana Jones usually require just 700.

Unlikely contraptions were used for WALL-E’s sound, such as a hanging slinky device becoming the laser gun for character Eve. A police taser became the clicking noise of the WALL-E cockroach. Exercise balls rolling down stairs was the backing track for the humans sliding around the ship.

“After Star Wars, I thought I was done with robots,” recalled Burtt. “I wanted to move on to doing artistic arthouse films. And I did do Munich and was glad there were no spaceships. But Andrew pitched, and he put such heart into it.”