Wall-E Blu-ray disc review |

Next Tuesday, Disney-Pixar will release the monumental animated film Wall-E, Blu-ray hi-def and DVD.

Oscar-winning director Andrew Stanton’s touching story of Wall-E, is a masterwork of animation and technical achievement on par with Pixar’s very best movies. Wall-E proves that a film loaded with technology, can still be heart-felt, enjoyable and unbelievably fun for children or adults. As I have mentioned in previous Blu-ray reviews, CG animation transfers tend to be stunning, and Wall-E is a perfect example of that. The transfer itself is flawless. The colors are bright, vivid and vibrantly ride across the screen.

As Wall-E’s lonely days as the last functioning robot on Earth are interrupted with the arrival of EVE, viewers are immediately taken into this complex world of rusty machines and quirky characters. Wall-E and EVE’s adventure spans across the galaxy with amazing visuals and eerie predictions about the future of mankind.

The movie’s voice cast includes Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Elissa Knight (Cars), Sigourney Weaver (Alien), John Ratzenberger (Toy Story), Kathy Najimy (King of the Hill) and Fred Willard (Chicken Little). Academy Award-winning sound designer Ben Burtt (the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises) provides the endearing voice of Wall-E, the little robot who never quits.

Wall-E will be offered in five robust versions to choose from. You will be able to choose from two Blu-ray disc versions and three standard definition DVD versions. Each home entertainment release contains the feature film and a payload of fantastic bonus features, anchored by the all-new animated short film Burn-E, the story of a stalwart repair robot by the same name who is determined to do his job, but is foiled at every turn by Wall-E’s adventures aboard the Axiom.

Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth class (aka WALL E) and Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator (aka EVE)

Below is a detailed list of the colossal amount of Special Features on the Wall 3 Disc Blu-ray Set, which alone make Wall-E worth the cost in this format.

Presto: The Pixar original theatrical short that accompanied the Wall•E theatrical release, about a star magician’s ego that provokes some clever revenge from his neglected rabbit co-star.
Animation Sound Design: Building Worlds from The Sound Up: Ben Burtt, the acclaimed Oscar-winning sound designer, introduces viewers to the art of sound design using examples from Wall-E and historic footage of the early Disney sound effects masters at work.
Audio Commentary by director Andrew Stanton.
Deleted Scenes, Easter Eggs and More
Robots: Find out everything about the film’s robot heroes, including hilarious web vignettes, the names and functions of all of WALL•E’s malfunctioning misfit robot friends and an interactive storybook packed with kid-friendly challenges.
Behind the Scenes: Six exclusive featurettes give fans an insider’s view of the making of WALL•E, including the film’s visual design, character development and musical score, plus the story behind the special effects challenges and a look at building the robot characters that populate the film.
Buy n Large Shorts: Straight from the BnL archives, five revealing short films provide insight into the inner workings of the company, from its humble beginnings to the intergalactic plan that launched EVE into space. Learn how to operate the Axiom, find out about the company’s line of “robots ‘for every need’” and hear the story behind the Earth Exit Plan.
The Pixar Story, A Documentary by Leslie Iwerks: The first in-depth look at the most influential animation studio of its time, The Pixar Story goes behind the scenes of the groundbreaking company that pioneered a new generation of animated feature films. Academy and Emmy Award-nominated director Leslie Iwerks uses never-before-seen footage from the Pixar library, along with historic archival animation and first hand accounts by animators, studio executives, directors, producers and voice performers to chronicle the remarkable company that revolutionized an industry
Early WALL•E development test, includes animation tests and how animators built Wall-E’s “quirks”.
DisneyFile Digital Copy: Allows the viewer to enjoy Wall·E via a computer laptop or other portable device, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment also is adding a special “DisneyFile” Digital Copy of the movie, enabling DVD and Blu-ray owners to receive a digital version of Wall·E in their choice of iTunes or Windows Media formats.

Plus these Blu-ray only groundbreaking interactive features:

Cine-Explore: A viewing option in which filmmakers comment on Wall-E while you’re watching, accompanied by behind-the-scenes visuals, that sync with the movie. this was very reveaing, but I wouldn’t recommend making this feature active on the first view of the film, because it’s so entertaining and informative, it tends to distract one from the movie itself.
Geek Track: An additional commentary full of obscure references, little known trivia and lively sci-fi discussion, this pop-up silhouette in-movie feature gives viewers a peek inside the minds of some of the more passionate geeks at Pixar.
The Axiom Arcade: A retro suite of video games with a Wall-E twist, including Eve’s Bot Blaster, Wall-E’s Dodge & Dock, M-O’s Mop-Up Madness and Burn-E’s Break Through.
3D Set Fly-Throughs: Cut-away illustrations of the Axiom and Earth sets provides viewer access to HD set fly-throughs from ten of the film’s most detailed locations.
Disney BD-Live Network: Disney’s BD-Live Network is just one of the many ways U.S. movie lovers, families and loved ones can continue to stay connected and engage in their favorite movies.
– Movie Chat: Communicate with your friends on-screen using any text-enabled device such as a laptop, desktop or PDA device such as a Blackberry, iPhone or most other cell phones. Your chat session will appear over the movie and occur in real-time while watching the movie together.
– Movie Mail: Blu-ray owners will be able to record a personalized video message of themselves, superimpose that capture into a pre-selected clip of the movie, and send it off to a friend, colleague or relative. This specific feature enables the Wall-E Blu-ray Disc owner to personalize a very special greeting as never before.
– Movie Challenge: Users will be able to test their skills against online players in a synchronized, real-time, online trivia game while watching Wall-E. There is always a Movie Challenge game in progress to join, regardless of the time of day.
– Disney Movie Rewards Live: Wall-E Blu-ray owners will be able to accumulate reward points by participating in any Disney BD-Live Network activity. In return, viewers can redeem points for exclusive content such as ringtones, avatars, previews of upcoming movie trailers, downloadable extras and many more exciting possibilities.