For those who don’t have a youngster in the house, aren’t a fan of cutting-edge animation, or just don’t get out much, you may be interested to learn that the movie WALL-E is perhaps the greatest environmental film of all time.

I write this not as a steadfast environmentalist (which I am) or a shill for the Disney Company (which I am not), but as a student of mass communication, in general, and of message framing and mass opinion, in particular.  

And, yes, I liked the movie quite a bit. Both  for what it is, and what it represents.

It wasn’t long ago (2003) that a small group of us were sitting in the cramped offices of a nascent ACORE spinning ideas of how to get the worlds of filmed entertainment in Hollywood and print publishing in New York to include environmental and renewable energy themes in their work. Today, wind turbines, solar collectors, and ecological stewardship are more and more common in movies and magazines. The message elite…those who package and shape thought by way of scripts, articles and fashion…have embraced the idea of making environmentalism cool and hip. And, by doing so, they're helping to push forward a massive social change.

I know this first hand, as our little company has been approached to make available some of our products for inclusion in two major motion pictures slated for 2009 (Transformers 2 and Mission Impossible 4). We haven't decided on whether to act on the opportunities, but the idea that Hollywood is reaching out to US is quite a change in message creation for the masses. And none too soon, I might add.  

WALL E does more in its 97 minute running time for the concepts of renewable energy, conservation, recycling, and consumer awareness than any 97 minutes I can think of. I would challenge my fellow Collectivistas to come up with a white paper, speech, ad, business model or lobbying effort of the last 30 years that does as much for communicating the awesomeness of solar power than does the 10 second bit that takes place in the first 30 minutes of this film.

 Released to near universal critical acclaim for its animation, story and general creativity, the film was produced by Pixar/Disney for $180 million with a global marketing budget estimated at 20-30% of that number. It’s now made $130 million since its release June 27th (10 days ago). Industry estimates are that the film will gross a minimum of ½ a billion dollars globally, and may well bring in nearly twice that much by the end of its theatrical run. Add in DVD’s, pay per view, and such, and it could make well over a billion dollars.

Whether it will or not I can’t say, but what’s fascinating is that we are now at a time where we can see the world  engaging in the act of mass opinion change; in this case, from how we have historically powered our lives to a new, cleaner, more earth-centric system.

There aren’t many times in life where you can look behind you to see what was, and forward to see what will be, but that’s exactly what’s happening at this time in history, as is evidenced by the production, release and embrace of a movie—ostensibly made for children and about two little robots in love—that tells  its story using the backdrop of a dark, dystopian future of an earth rendered nearly uninhabitable by lack of environmental care, and that calls out to you to consider where you stand in the midst of the change occurring around you.

Are you a free rider? Are you part of the solution? Or part of the problem? Are you an apologist for the oil and gas industry? Are you a lobbyist at Bracewell and Giuliani, paid to discredit climate scientists? Are you a political appointee, Assistant Secretary of Nothing, dragging your feet on global warming, air quality, progressive energy policies and true energy security?

While our matinee showing was heavily populated by kids of all ages, my wife and I were surrounded by 5 and 8 year olds; people who will, perhaps—if everything goes right-- never drive a vehicle that runs predominantly on polluting fossil fuels, and may actually get to Prom in a “plug-in electric biofuel hydrogen fuel cell solar charged” number made by a company that actually “gets it”. (A discussion as to whether that company has any chance of being one of the current Detroit-based crew is best saved for another day).

I won’t give away the plot or ending, but I will tell you that the film is both aggressively “green” and elegantly not. The viewer must decide.

The movie is sometimes uncomfortable to watch, with its themes of consumerism gone amok, the melding of corporations and government, and suggestion that humans lack appreciation for the difficult and natural in favor of that which is easy and packaged. But don’t get me wrong, it’s also a fun ride, and a joy to watch this gem of an American film, so don’t think you have it figured out before you even go see it.

That said, it’s possible that those people existing at the edges of the political spectrum will find things to dislike and diminish about the film—and this email.  I’m relatively certain that the defenders of our historically “brown” system will find much to pooh pooh about a silly cartoon with the temerity to suggest the current system isn’t working just fine. But I don’t think they really understand the meaning of a movie like WALL E, anyway.

WALL E means that the world has changed. That if last year you were still fighting on Capitol Hill to keep CAFE standards low, you just don’t get it. Or if you’re arguing against cap and trade (or some other pro climate effort) on behalf of the coal and gas industry, or industry in general, then the world has passed you by, bro.

If until this year you’ve been running a car company where people call your main product “The Extinction” or “The Bummer”, then you’re a dinosaur yourself, bub.

And, if you think it’s OK to spew filth into the air, make dirty money without regard for the only planet we have, and work to blur any intelligent dialogue about the need for us to move to a new system as fast as we possibly can, then you are, quite frankly, old.

And WALL E just ain’t for you, dude.

WALL E is for those kids born after 2000, who someday will ask what you were doing when the world changed. They’ll ask what it was like burning black rocks and liquids to heat your house and get to the supermarket. They’ll ask what a gas station was, and wasn’t it a drag to have to go to one all the time. They’ll ask why so many people had asthma and what acid rain was and that you please explain the Exxon Valdez; and why the people you chose to be in charge didn’t do more to clean things up and change things more quickly, and why you didn’t do a better job of choosing those leaders.

And I bet they’ll  ask, just to gauge whether or not you’re really “with it”, whether you’ve ever seen the best environmental film of all time.