The heros journe

1
The heros journ-e

• Cinematic storytelling in pixars Wall-e

2
The ordinar-e world

• Environment barren, solitary, lifeless
• Motivated exposition
• Dead wall-e units provide spare parts, establish
  wall-e as lone survivor
• Automatic Commercial saturation, reveals
  backstory, consumption to destruction

3
The ordinar-e world

• Hero has traits
• Tenacious
• Respect for life
• Hero has a need
• Alone
• Longs for companionship
• Hero has weaknesses
• Breaks down
• Needs maintenance
• Needs power charge

4
Call to adventure

• The herald the plant
• Life in a mechanical world
• Foreshadows the arrival of EVE
• Everything will change
• as a result
• Eve arrives
• Fulfillment of the
• heralds announcement

5
Call to adventure

• eve as threshold guardian
• Has own directive, does not involve wall-e
• Powerful, cannot be defeated only persuaded
• eve as shapeshifter
• The anima, the power
• of the feminine
• dangerous, alluring

6
refusal of the call /meeting with mentor

• refusal
• Wall-e initially fears the arrival of the
  rocketship, eve
• hides from call
• Who is the mentor?
• hello, dolly
• Supernatural aid love
• Wall-es desire for
• connection drives him
• forward

7
Crossing the first threshold

• Wall-e cannot cross until he deals with the
  guardian (eve)
• eve cannot be defeated
• Must be won over
• Wall-e must incorporate
• the guardian into himself
• literally takes eve into
• his home
• Wall-e follows eve
• into the special world

8
Tests, allies, enemies /approaching the inmost
cave

• Concurrent development
• As wall-e enters the belly of the whale (the
  axiom) he
• encounters allies
• and obstacles
• One frustration
• after another leads
• to greatest danger

9
Ordeal / reward

• In the escape pod
• Wall-e is brought to the brink of death in his
  battle with the shadow (the auto pilot)
• Hero and reward (plant) are nearly destroyed in
  self-destruct
• seQuence
• Hero outwits death
• and reclaims the reward

10
The road back

• Wall-e and eve try to fulfill the directive
• They are pursued and obstructed at every
• turn in their efforts

11
resurrection /return with the elixir

• Together wall-e and eve must return humanity
  (life itself, the elixir) to the ordinary world
• Wall-e must give his own life in order to
  accomplish this
• mission
• The same supernatural
• aid (love) that gave
• wall-e the strength to
• cross into the special
• world alone can resurrect
• him in the end

12

• Fulfillment of the heros need is the ultimate
  elixir companionship