Hello, Dolly !: Music Analysis

The immediate nostalgia of the classic 1969 musical, Hello, Dolly!, is combined unexpectedly with extensive beauty of space as WALL-E begins descending into an even more unexpected image of life on Earth.

The film could almost be classified as a modern silent film, excepting the small moments of dialogue that become more frequent when the humans are introduced, and this silence focuses the audience visually on the film before them: details aren't pointed out, Wall-E's purpose isn't defined by voice-over narration, and Eve doesn't explain the jump from humanity today to the humanity of the film. Instead, the audience must pay attention to the actions and elements of each scene to understand what has happened, what is happening, and, in some

cases, what is going to happen.
The use of music from Hello, Dolly!

juxtaposes the true past with this version of the future. The 60s era is referenced often, even in the jingle for Buy N Large superstore: "Buy n Large is your super store, we've got all you need, and so much more". The jingle is reminiscent of the bouncy and catchy jingles from commercials in the fifties and sixties, combing friendliness and the perfection of barbershop quartet harmonies. Aside from the automatic playing of the jingle as Wall-E passes it on his way, the soundtrack of Wall-E's journey is Thomas Newman's iconic score. Working hand-in-hand creatively with director Andrew Stanton, Newman creates a score with themes motivated less by character and more by events as they happen on the screen. The only character theme repeated more than twice is Eve's theme, featuring feminine high strings, which is repeated the third time in the end credits. Peter Gabriel's song "Down to Earth" uses the bass and drum figures from Eve's theme in an attempt to maintain the pattern created by Newman throughout the film and to blend the song with the score. "Down to Earth" features the return of humanity to Earth in various styles of animation, based on art styles from the history of mankind, such as cave drawings, Van Gogh, and even 8-bit video games.

Outside of film's amazing score, effective minimization of dialogue, and the beautifully rendered animation, Wall-E is a film that presents many common Pixar themes while supporting some new ones along the

way.
The initial indication of Wall-E as a true Pixar film is the emphasis on non-human beings. Every Pixar film features a non-human character, or characters, as sentient beings: the ants of Bug's Life, Dug and Kevin in Up, the toys of Toy Story, the cars from Cars, and soon, even an individual's emotions themselves. In considering themes, this one is arguably the most important to the plot of the film. These robots, beings not usually considered to have emotions though the idea has been fictionally explored, must convince the audience of their souls and personalities. For Wall-E, his curiosity and hunger for sentiment provide the backdrop in which the audience begins to empathize with him. As his relationship grows with those around him, especially Eve and M-O, the audience is quickly convinced that robots, indeed, can fall in love, can feel sadness, and have their own free will outside of their initial purpose of creation.
The relationships formed between the robots and mankind provide an interesting juxtaposition. In some ways, humanity has become the insentient being, oblivious and indifferent to the world around them until they are disconnected from their screens. The human race has become reliant on their technology, no longer innovating for the future and no longer maintaining awareness of their past. In an almost comical scene, the captain of the Axiom spends several minutes searching the computer database, beginning with an interest in Earth's soil to the foods commonly eaten - like pizza - and finally to an explanation of dancing. The cultural history of Earth has clearly been left behind, just like the planet itself, and yet this human reintroduction to dancing is juxtaposed with robots actively dancing outside of the Axiom, as beings motivated with emotion enough to do so. With this odd reversal, a symbiotic relationship is begun in which a balance must be created between technology and humanity - humans must again realize their own potential as living beings rather than simply going through the motions for another 700 years.