There are few things we love more than over-analyzing movies and TV. Words cannot describe the joy taken by turning a hyper-critical lens at something meant to be lighthearted… until its framework shows through and it can then be related to other ideas and theories. We find ourselves in a wonderful time where there are many a YouTube series doing just that, and Earthling Cinema, on Wisecrack, is certainly one of the best. In their latest video, they dive deep into what lies just under the surface of Pixar’s Wall-E and gives us all a whole lot to think about.

In Earthling Cinema, set sometime in Earth’s distant future, an alien character named Garyx Wormuloid analyzes Earthling “artifacts” that all pretty much turn out to be DVDs. Infusing irreverent humor along with often inaccurate “data” gathered from his knowledge of the planet, Wormuloid deconstructs films and then critiques the messages in them and how they might relate to philosophy, psychology, and whatever may have had a handle on the zeitgeist at the time they were made. The analysis of Wall-E touches on quite a few things we may have glossed over in the past, choosing instead to just enjoy one of the only Pixar films that can be tolerated multiple times in the same day when watching with the children in your lives. Notably, the video points out the film’s satirizing of how mass consumerism caused Earth’s initial downfall in the film, the human’s over-dependence on technology, and their eventual freedom from those technological shackles.

Thanks to Wisecrack’s commentary, what makes Wall-E even more interesting now is knowing how subtly things are shown to the audience. Wall-E’s introduction – and the introduction of Earth itself – is presented in a manner akin to silent films as a stark contrast to the loud and excessive lifestyles that ultimately ruined it. AUTO’s entrance is accompanied by Johann Strauss’ “The Blue Danube” as a nod to HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The humans on The Axiom (a word meaning “a universally accepted principle or rule”) having never wanted for anything, blindly follow whatever the machines tell them and have basically become overgrown babies due to their time in space and unquestioning nature. Even Wall-E and EVE’s roles are analogs to the biblical Adam & Eve as they’re vital to the re-birth of humanity on Earth with Wall-E impregnating the egg-shaped EVE with a plant that ultimately allows the humans to return home.

Is Garyx Wormuloid’s analysis of our Pixar artifact correct? Or is Wall-E just Post-apocalyptic Short Circuit? Or was that CHAPPIE? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Image: Disney