The buzz surrounding Disney/Pixar’s latest movie venture, Wall.e, reminds me of when Toy Story and Monsters Inc came out first.
Wall.e is an adorable robot who live alone in a post-apocalyptic world until shiny, modern robot Eve (pictured) arrives. The movie has already taken in US$62.5m in its opening weekend, making it a box-office hit.
The thing about box-office hits these days though is they can be completely eclipsed by the arrival of new video games, which is what happened with Indiana Jones when the latest installment of Grand Theft Auto came along.
Wall.e, however, is not planning on losing any sales in the market: THQ Games is bringing out the Disney/Pixar game on all major consoles including the Wii and Xbox 360, as well as for the mobile phone, Windows PCs and the Mac.
This is standard for most big Hollywood movies but THQ hopes to draw in the punters by offering brand new storylines and massive virtual environments not seen in the film itself.
Adults tagging along with the kids to see the film will appreciate the many references made to Apple. After all, Steve Jobs was CEO of Pixar before he sold it off to Disney and, incidentally, Jobs is Disney’s largest shareholder.
Poor little Wall.e must charge up on solar power every morning but when he ‘wakes up’ he sounds like a Mac being booted. Eve, on the other hand, looks like she was designed by the guys behind the iPod. She is slick, white, streamlined and makes me want to rush out and buy the white version of the iPhone 3G (subliminal marketing perhaps?).
By Marie Boran
Pictured:Eve, the iPod-like robot who befriends protagonist Wall.e
