8. Wall-E
Wall-E was originally conceived way back in 1994 when Toy Story was nearing completion and Pixar heads were seeking ideas for follow-up projects. After numerous writing problems, work on Wall-E never substantially started until well into the 00's as there were numerous glitches arrived around the conceit and character. Wall-E ended up developing into Pixar's most adult and socially conscious venture yet as ecological concerns are a huge art of the plot which has led to the film being championed and criticised by members of both political wings. The politics in the film does not get in the way of the typical Pixar spirit, and it exists deftly in the subtext of the picture and it is handled gently enough so that kids take notice and adults don't get irritated. The fascinating picture is keenly influenced by silent movies, as much of the first half of the film features no dialogue and only music, which is both a good and a bad thing. Wall-E is a truly beautiful movie that explored the art of communication as for much of the movie characters only integrate through body language and the landscape. The movie also communicates with the audience in a unique way, as the dialogue contemporary audiences are used to is replaced with music and robotic noises. With a lack of dialogue, the movie has to set the right tone and atmosphere to work which Andrew Stanton does perfectly as you are enamoured by the intimacy of the piece. Wall-E explores loneliness and love in a sophisticated fashion and signalled the more mature movies Pixar would make over the next few years (Up and Toy Story 3). Whilst Wall-E may be a personal favourite, it failed to connect with children like their previous films and some found it boring and inaccessible, which makes it the animated Silent Running. Wall-E will get better with age, and thematically, it does lean towards an older audience, but it's just too good not to be universally accepted. And Terry Gilliam loves it, which must count for something.