I posted a short video clip of WALL-E’s encounters with a BuyNLarge Vaccume earlier today, without the knowledge that this short would be the focal point of Disney/Pixar’s WALL-E Super Bowl advertisement. I am reposting, because the Super Bowl spot saw the addition of Woody and Buzz Lightyear (from Pixar’s Toy Story) sitting on a couch watching WALL-E’s antics on the television.
I am probably the biggest supporter of this film, but it worries me terribly that Disney (or is it Pixar) seemingly has no faith on the concept to sell itself. If you remember, the first teaser trailer had a preamble story about how WALL-E was one of the big ideas created at that lunch meeting, the same one where Toy Story and Nemo were born. And now this latest bit, I’m getting the strong feeling that the company doesn’t have faith in the audience to understand the idea behind this latest Pixar story. Instead they are hoping to give the film (what the people in the industry call) “the rub” from the companies’ other films and personalities. You could say I’m searching, that I might be reaching, but I believe this to be true.
Anyway, watch the new advertisement below, and remember, Wall-E hits theaters on June 27th 2008.
Our server is getting slammed, please watch the video via the embedded player above for now.
February 3rd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
They did this for Lilo & Stitch too, hmmm.
Makes you think, doesn’t it.
Maybe they’ll have more Pixar personalities introduce our friend WALL-E.
February 3rd, 2008 at 7:43 pm
cooool
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Today is Pixar Animation Studio’s 22nd Anniversary!
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:50 pm
…it worries me terribly that Disney (or is it Pixar) seemingly has no faith on the concept to sell itself.
I think it’s probably being done this way - at least initially - for a few reasons, perhaps primarily because WALL-E is purportedly a darker, more expressionistic movie that might very well be a hard sell to a mass audience. The Super Bowl crowd is a terrific target, and showing them something familiar and comfortable isn’t a bad idea and doesn’t necessarily imply a lack of confidence. I think WALL-E will signal something different for Pixar, something deeper, more satirical, more cinema-like than the already extraordinary product they’ve created so far. If that means they have to pander a bit to get my attention - by using familiar triggers and focusing on the “cute” factor - then I don’t mind so much.
And besides, it doesn’t so much hurt to remind audiences about Buzz and Woody, whose next exploits will likely be teased just two Super Bowls from now.
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Buzz sounded like Buzz, but Woody didn’t sound like Hanks. I can’t wait for this movie, I honestly thought they must of been starting to run out of original ideas, and it doesn’t look like they ever will.
~Vaughn
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:06 pm
I totally agree, I was a bit sad to see Disney (I assume it is Disney pushing it) feels they need to slap the name Toy Story on every Pixar film.
And on the comments about the voices I agree, Buzz seemed to be Buzz, but Woody was off.
-Owl
February 3rd, 2008 at 11:15 pm
And the music in the spot was also used both in the Bee Movie spot and movie…
But still, Pixar have yet to fail!
/donTom
February 4th, 2008 at 2:59 am
Pixar? fail? Right.
even with CARS, they are still # 1
February 4th, 2008 at 3:48 am
pixar got me hyped for wall-e AND toy story 3…talk about two birds one stone
February 4th, 2008 at 4:07 am
Actually guys, I believe this may be Pixar doing the marketing. Apparently they were so unhappy with Disney’s marketing of Ratatouille, they were going to do all the marketing themselves. I don’t know if it starts with Wall-E or a later project.
Anyway, when CARS is Pixar’s WORST movie (and is still 100x better than Bee Movie or Hoodwinked or Robots or Shark Tale et al.), you can count on me being there day one.
February 4th, 2008 at 5:54 am
I think they were getting the Toy Story thought back into people’s minds for when they release Toy Story 3D… that way they can push both Buzz and Woody along with their new creation Mr. Wall-E
February 4th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Wall E is going to be my favorite movie of all time, I just know it.
February 4th, 2008 at 9:22 am
ah, correction, Buzz and Woody are watching football not Wall E
February 4th, 2008 at 11:53 am
I’m not to worried about it. In all past pixar movie trailers they usually say, “from the makers of” and proceed to list all of their other movies. They have not done that with any of the wall-e trailers, and this is the first throwback to any of their old movies.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
now that i have read this article 5 times, I realize this author is not making any sense to me. What the hell is he talking about when says
“that the company doesn’t have faith in the audience to understand the idea behind this latest Pixar story. Instead they are hoping to give the film (what the people in the industry call) “the rub†from the companies’ other films and personalities”
Am I the only one who thinks this movie looks comepletely different from all the other Pixar movies, thus making it more of a hype?
Also in the beginning of the article:
“…but it worries me terribly that Disney (or is it Pixar) seemingly has no faith on the concept to sell itself.”
What the hell is that all about? The marketing looks like it is just about to pick up. But it’s going to be a family movie so what’s with the “sell itself” crap? Am I missing something here from being too tired to function at normal capacity during my (as of now) slow moving job?
Someone decipher this author’s rant for me please.
February 4th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Pixar/Disney also has 3-d versions of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 coming up soon, followed by the release of Toy Story 3. This is not them trying to sell Wall-E by saying “Hey we used to make popular movies, so come see this!”. This is them reminding everyone about Buzz and Woody, so everyone will be all primed up to go see THREE toy story movies in movie theaters in the space of about six months.
February 4th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
wait, you didn’t like that they used toy story to sell the movie in this commercial but when they mentioned that and 3 other pixar hits in the previous trailer it didn’t bother you?
i think you think about this too much. no offense.
February 4th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Jay: it’s my job to examine the studio’s marketing decisions and analyze. That said, yes it did both me that the teaser trailer also didn’t have the guts to let WALL-E stand on it’s own. Read the whole article, I clearly stated that.
And let me make something clear: I don’t mind them saying “From the studio that brought you Toy Story, Finding Nemo…” That’s normal. Using characters from your other franchises to prop up a new movie shows a lack of faith in the new product. And don’t get me wrong, I think Pixar knows they have a great story, and a great movie. That’s why it bothers me so much - they believe that a great story, great character, can’t sell himself, and have instead used “the rub” to transfer interest.
February 4th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Any American film company that can sell a film with a difficult french word like ratatouille can sell anything. I’m not sure they are struggling with the story, the Superbowl spot just seems like animation-by-committee along the lines of a modern day Star Wars Holiday Special.
I’m looking forward to the film, the trailers are wonderful!
February 4th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
aaaawwwwww!! he’s so cute! I want Wall-E :)
February 4th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Thankfully, Pixar makes cartoons instead of fx laden live action wannabes like that flop beowulf. And with the exception of Cars, which is a fine film, makes films for both kids and mature audiences (I though Cars was the first Pixar film to appeal to kids first. But who cares? the film has been a HUGE success). Rumour is that Walle has no dialogue as we know it in the film (some sites claim it has some, but very little). The animation is amazing, and the art direction different than anything out there.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
you’re worried that disney isn’t going to promote this movie enough, and nobody is going to see it? quit being dramatic.
February 12th, 2008 at 3:09 am
Did Tim Allen & Tom Hanks do the voices? Or not?