WALL-E Becomes First Pixar Film Inducted Into the Criterion Collection

Pixar films have been lauded for decades for a number of reasons, but the studio is now adding another accomplishment to the list of accolades, as 2008’s WALL-E will become the first film from the studio to join the Criterion Collection. The Criterion Collection was founded in 1984 with the goal of highlighting the greatest cinematic achievements in history, delivering the selected films the highest quality home video releases possible, evolving across various mediums. To date, fewer than 1,200 films in cinema history have been inducted into the Collection, with the upcoming release of WALL-E bringing with it a wealth of behind-the-scenes features that chronicle how the beloved adventure came to life. WALL-E is now available for pre-order and hits shelves on November 22nd.

Criterion describes the film, “A high-water mark of digital animation, this prescient vision of a dystopian future is packaged within a dazzling pop-science-fiction love story, making for an urgent fable for our troubled millennium. It’s the twenty-ninth century, and humans have long since fled Earth for outer space, leaving WALL•E, the last functioning trash-compacting robot, to go about the work of cleaning up a pollution-choked planet, one piece of garbage at a time. When he meets EVE, a fellow automaton sent to detect plant life, the pair are launched on an intergalactic quest to return humanity to Earth. Transporting us simultaneously back to cinema’s silent origins and forward light-years into the future, WALL•E is a soaring ode to the power of love and art to heal a dying world.”

Along with new special features, the film earned all-new artwork from Jason Reich commemorating its induction into the Criterion Collection.

Special features on the release are as follows:

• 4K digital master, approved by director Andrew Stanton, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film, presented in both Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+, and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
• Alternate 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and stereo soundtracks
• Two audio commentaries: one featuring Stanton and the other, character supervisor Bill Wise, coproducer Lindsey Collins, story artist Derek Thompson, and lead animator Angus MacLane
• New programs on Stanton’s cinematic influences and production designer Ralph Eggleston’s color scripts
• Tour of the Pixar Living Archive with Stanton
• Behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, including segments from early animation reels
• The Pixar Story (2007), a documentary by Leslie Iwerks
• More than a dozen documentaries exploring the film’s production and robots
• Anatomy of a Scene: The Plant, a masterclass with Stanton
• “WALL•E”: A to Z, a new program featuring Stanton and coscreenwriter Jim Reardon
• Deleted scenes featuring commentary by Stanton
• A Story (1987), a student film by Stanton
• BURN•E (2008), a short film by MacLane
• Trailers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• English descriptive audio
• PLUS: An essay by author Sam Wasson; selections from Stanton’s sketchbooks, script notes, and drawings; and artwork from the WALL•E team

WALL-E is now available for pre-order and hits shelves on November 22nd.

Will you be adding the film to your collection? Let us know in the comments!