Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures

Robot Story

WALL-E is produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures.

You know Pixar—the studio that pioneered computer animation with Toy Story, made bugs and monsters relatable, and found Nemo. Back when they were planning adventures for Woody and Buzz, they planned ideas for all these films, including WALL-E.

Computer animation might look effortless, but it took over three years for WALL-E to hit the screen after animation started in 2005. It came out in 2008, squished between Ratatouille (2007) and Up (2009). Only at Pixar does this mostly silent robot protagonist fit right in between a rat-turned-chef battling a food critic and an old square and a little round boy on a globetrotting adventure.

The Enchanted Apple

In 2006, following the release of Cars, Disney's distribution deal with Pixar ended. To keep anyone else from teaming up with the animation giant, Disney bought Pixar, and then led by famous critical thinker Steve Jobs, for a handful of pocket change—$7.4 billion. Well, it's pocket change for an empire that owns ABC television and, as of 2012, Lucasfim and Marvel. Perhaps we'll see WALL-E cameo alongside R2D2 in the next Star Wars movie.