Wall E Movie

When Pixar first started working on "Wall-E" several years ago, the studio considered making the animated movie -- about a lovable robot on a future Earth -- without any dialogue at all. As the film's screenplay evolved, a few talking humans dropped in, but "Wall-E" is still distinguished by what isn't said, particularly in the movie's opening act.

Sigourney WEAVER is back in outer space. No, not as the intrepid Ripley of the "Alien" sci-fi blockbusters, but as a ship's computer in Disney's new Pixar Animation Studios film, "WALL-E," which opens June 27. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo"). "I think it was given to me because Andrew Stanton loves science fiction and is such a fan of the 'Alien' movies," says Weaver. "And he thought it would be funny after having such an important computer mother in 'Alien,' if I played the ship's computer.

Where is the love for "Wall-E"? The animated, futuristic adventure about a lonely, love-struck robot opened to rave reviews and topped the weekend box office with $63.1 million in domestic ticket sales -- the ninth straight No. 1 launch for Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar studio. But stock market investors gave Disney shares the cold shoulder Monday, bidding them down 37 cents to $31.20. Part of the problem is that "Wall-E," which 97% of critics endorsed, according to RottenTomatoes.

The GREAT thing about broadly ambitious movies that strike a chord with mainstream audiences is that they often inspire equally ambitious critical theories about their message and themes -- or, in some cases, about how the critical establishment has totally missed the boat about what's going on.