Wall-E (2008) Pixar Animation Studios

94 Pages

Screenplay by
Andrew Stanton
Jim Reardon

Original Story by
Andrew Stanton
Pete Docter

A great opening on page 1.

Very concise action lines.

Extreme brevity and clarity.

Very much sets the tone of the movie.

Wally is introduced straight away.  He's getting on with his job, compacting trash.

If you've seen the movie, then you'll know there isn't very much in the way of dialogue.


An important moment occurs on page 4 when Wally watches the video.  He watches the characters on screen hold hands.  He mimics them and holds his own hands.  A little foreshadowing, he's after some company of his own.  Someone to hold hands with.

While out doing his work, Wally discovers something important on page 7.  He finds a small plant in the early stages of growth.  Something living in this desolate landscape filled with mountains of trash. 

Pages 8 and 9

A very important turning point for Wally.  Eve arrives.

Wally and Eve meet on page 11.  A brief meeting between them. 

Everything is going smoothly for Wally, he's getting to know Eve until he brings out the small plant on page 17.  This is when it all changes for Wally.  This is what Eve has been looking for, signs of life on the planet surface.

In his attempt to rescue Eve, Wally climbs onto the Recon ship and scales the outside on page 21.  This is the start of Act 2.  Wally is leaving the world he knows behind and entering a new world in an attempt to rescue Eve.

Very clever on page 25 with the character M-O, this is a new world with order and no chaos.  As soon as Wally arrives he throws everything into chaos.  M-O is disgusted with all the contamination, leaves his line and proceeds to clean.  The first sign of things to come.  Change.

A great glimpse of how the human species has evolved since leaving Earth on page 26.  Not very far it seems.  They don't appear to have learnt anything from their previous mistakes that eventually led to  them evacuating a desolate trash filled planet.

Things don't look good for Wally on page 51 when he discovers Gopher placing the plant in the pod and traps Wally inside it.

Wally escapes before the pod explodes on page 53.  Eve is shocked, but Wally can't die.  And he isn't, he uses a fire extinguisher to propel himself past her, much to her relief.

A low point precedes a nice high point for Wally and Eve who end up kissing each other on page 55.  Could this be a false victory?  It can't be that easy?  They still have to get the plant to the Axiom Superior.

A great moment on page 84 when the ship tilts to one side and the passengers reach for and grab each other.  The act of holding hands, something Wally and the passengers haven't done for a very long time.

Very clever on page 92.  This all works because it's been set up and hinted at all through the story.  Wally doesn't remember anything, no matter what Eve does.  Until, until she grasps one of his hands in hers.

Check out page 4.  Wally wants to hold hands with someone, he wants a friend.

On  page 93, Wally notices them holding hands.  This is what he's always wanted, this is what he dreamed about when he watched the video of the two people kissing on page 4.  Setups and payoffs.

If you're considering writing a screenplay with minimal dialogue and want to learn how to write action lines that won't bog down the reader.  Read this.  The action lines are sparse and written with clarity and brevity.  Each word has been meticulously chosen to convey what's happening and help the reader visualize what's going on.

When Eve and Wally do communicate, they don't just make beeps.  They actually get lines of dialogue.  Even though when they do communicate they do beep, the reader can see what they are saying, this gives the reader empathy for the characters.  You empathize with what they're saying.

This is very much a movie about the visuals.  It has many themes running through it.  The two main ones deal with friendship, companionship and bringing humanity back from the brink to save the Earth.  If we work together and learn from our mistakes we can fix this and restore Earth.  Look at what we've become and look at what we could be.

Definitely worth a read, watch the movie and reread the screenplay.

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