WALL-E Emotions

On page 148, I was struck by the artist of "Petit Mal" talking about how he wanted to create a robot that was not only technologically innovative, but had "charm."  This reminded me very much of the 2008 Pixar movie, "WALL-E," where animators faced a similar problem: making the main character, an old rusty robot programmed to pick up trash, sympathetic and likable.

There is a fascinating article I found here (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/wall-e-real-character-article-1.294713) where the director of "WALL-E" was interviewed and talked about designing the character, from watching all of the "Charlie Chaplin" silent films to figuring out how to give WALL-E emotion through the smallest amount of dialogue and facial expression possible.  I loved the idea that the zoom lenses on his eyes (binoculars) were the aspects of his body that brought out his soul.

If anyone is ever interested in making a humane, personable robot, "WALL-E" might be a good source from which to draw inspiration!

Concept Art - The Many Faces of WALL-E!

Shanken, Edward.  Art and Electronic Media.  New York: Phaidon Press, 2014.  Print.