New WALL-E Trailer with Live Action Humans?
Disney has released a strange new trailer for Pixar’s WALL-E. “Meet The Bots” introduces us to the many bots we’ll meet in Andrew Stanton’s film. The strange part is that it begins as a promotional video from the Buy N Large Corporation. For a few seconds we get to see what live-action humans look like on the luxury starliner (before they became giant couch potato blobs, or course). It looks very Happy Feet-ish.
Stanton confirmed last year at WonderCon that “There is a live action element involved” but wouldn’t reveal more, only insisting that “We’re not doing anything like Happy Feet.” Fred Willard later revealed that he appears on a television monitor as the live-action spokesman of Buy N Large. So it’s clear that the human characters that left earth use to look like live action humans (as opposed to the animated Captain played by Jeff Garlin). And we have since seen that WALL-E watches a live-action version of the musical Hello Dolly in his trailer full of human collectibles. So I’m very curious to see if this is actually part of the film itself.
Thanks to Reader Dustin R for sending over the tip.
Jericho cast and crew go to convention, but fans don’t
Jericho fans, it might be time to grab your nuts again.
Last weekend, Jericho fans got a special treat at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention: a stage filled with the cast and creators of the CBS drama. The only problem? Not many fans showed up at all.
The Showtracker blog at The Los Angeles Times says that this might be because the show is neither sci-fi nor comic book-ish, but I don’t know if that’s a good enough excuse. It has a certain mystery/action element to it, and the first season was certainly enigmatic in a sci-fi sort of way. And plus we’re talking about Los Angeles here, not a small town in Ohio, so I would think a lot more people would have showed up than did. Executive Producer Jon Turteltaub joked about the 80 fans in attendance making the ratings jump, but I don’t know if that was a funny estimate by him or an accurate number.
This is really unfortunate. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Jericho, but it’s quite a good little drama. I’d take it over 12 CSIs or another Law and Order any day. I’m just wondering how long CBS can justify keeping the show around (last week’s episode was down one million viewers from the season opener), unless they really care about people who Tivo the show and/or view it online.
Is it the time slot it’s in now (10pm)? Is it the show itself? Is it just the fact that networks have to start getting used to the fact that some shows just don’t get mega numbers but are still worth keeping around because the fan base is loyal and they’ll watch it in some way?
Fred Willard is The First Live Action Pixar Character
At Comic Con this year, WALL-E director Andrew Stanton confirmed that there would in fact be a live action element in the upcoming Pixar film.
“We’re not doing anything like Happy Feet,” said Stanton. “There is a live action element involved but that’s the most I can say.”
And that is a good thing because I thought the live-action integration in Happy Feet was very off putting. Last month actor Jeff Garlin added that he is the “only animated character that speaks” in the film. Garlin plays the Captain of a starliner ship, which most of humanity (now couch potatoes) call home.
“A lot of the film is silent and they’re robots so they make noises and such and there’s sound but I’m one of the only characters that speak – not one of them – I am the only animated character that speaks,” Garlin said. “There’s another character but I can’t talk about it. But I’m the only animated character that speaks.”
The film follows a small Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class robot (or WALL-E for short)’s fantastic journey across a universe of never-before-imagined visions of the future. We’ve wondered for a while now who this other character was and if he was the live action element of WALL-E. And thanks to Rotten Tomatoes, we now have the answer:
The Live Action Element of WALL-E is… Fred Willard. You know, the guy from the Christopher Guest mockumentaries. Apparently Willard plays Shelby Forthright, the CEO of the Buy N Large corporation.
“[Buy N Large] practically owns everything in the world. It’s kind of a take off on Wal Mart.”
You can actually visit the official website for the fictional corporation at buynlarge.com. So how will a live-action Fred Willard look in the computer animated world of Pixar? Well…
“I appear on a TV monitor but I’m more than a voice. Jeff Garlin is a voice but people are saying, ‘Oh, you’re a voice.’ No, I actually appear. People will say, ‘Oh, that’s Fred Willard.’”
Having the live-action human character on a monitor might be a lot less jarring than seeing a human interact with with the Pixar animated characters. Willard has already recorded his footage for the film, which hits theaters in June 2008.
Photo credits: Futuristic TV, Spaceship Hallway
Jeff Garlin to Voice the Only Animated Speaking Character in WALL-E
moviehole. “A lot of the film is silent and they’re robots so they make noises and such and there’s sound but I’m one of the only characters that speak – not one of them – I am the only animated character that speaks. There’s another character but I can’t talk about it. But I’m the only animated character that speaks.”
It has been previously revealed that WALL-E will feature some “live action people element,” but no details have yet been revealed. When director Andrew Stanton was asked if the live-action element would be anything like that featured in Happy Feet, Stanton set the record straight at comic con.
“We’re not doing anything like Happy Feet. There is a live action element involved but that’s the most I can say.”
I’m guessing that the other character that Garlin can’t talk about is the live-action character. Anyone have any more information on this? Email me or post in the comments. You can read A LOT more about the plot of WALL-E in our previous post.