The Pixar character who was inspired by a great Hollywood artist

In the world of animation, it is extremely common to find characters that were inspired by real-life people. Popeye, for example, was based on Frank “Rocky” Fiegela resident of Chester, Illinois, the creator’s hometown, Elzie Crisler Segar. Mate, from “Cars”, was inspired by a construction superintendent named Douglas Keever.

In addition to ordinary people, many characters also end up receiving inspiration from great characters in the entertainment industry. As examples, we can mention the Genie, from “Aladdin”, who was based on the actor Robin Williams; Aladdin himself, whose appearance was based on Tom Cruise; the princess Snow White, whose reference was the actress Hedy Lamarramong many others.

On certain occasions, however, the inspiration may not be so clear to the public, making the information a curious fact — just as happened in a popular Pixar animation: “Wall-E”.

Inspired by a cinema legend

Released in 2008, “Wall-E” presents the story of a beloved robot created to compact trash, who lives alone on Earth after the planet becomes uninhabitable due to high levels of pollution, and ends up gaining a new purpose with his arrival. of a more modern robot: Eva, which makes Wall-E face an intense journey across the galaxy.

In an interview with AV Club (via DitoCinema) in the same year the animation debuted, Andrew Stantondirector responsible for the film, revealed that one of the team’s biggest challenges was animating a robot that didn’t have lines, but could express its story without needing words.

“We told ourselves we should look to the masters, because these people have had decades to become the best storytellers without having to resort to dialogue,” he explained. “So we watched a Charlie Chaplin movie, a Buster Keaton movie, and sometimes a Harold Lloyd movie, every day at lunch for almost a year and a half, with the writing and animation teams. And we became familiar with all of his work.”

It was in this way, based on great names in silent cinema, mainly in Charlie Chaplin with the works “Tempos Modernos” and “A General”, that Pixar managed to develop “Wall-E”, meaning that, in the first 39 minutes of the film, the film does not have dialogue.

Andrew he also reflects that, over time, people would have become “lazy” and started to rely only on dialogue to convey a message, completely forgetting about body language.

“We stopped asking ourselves what we couldn’t tell in a completely visual way. These guys [Chaplin e Keaton] they were just… everything seemed possible to convey. And we realized how much of this direction and work was lost with the emergence of sound. People got lazy and just relied on dialogue to get things across.”

One of Pixar’s biggest hits, “Wall-E” grossed more than $521 million at the global box office, according to data from Box Office Mojo (via ScreenRant). Today, the film is available for streaming through the Disney+ platform.

Also read: Why did it take Pixar 14 years to make ‘Wall-E’?