WALL-E, Andrew Stanton's 2008 Pixar masterpiece was more than just your average feel good family story. The film, set in the distant 2805 at a time when excessive consumerism has left the earth a global trashdump forcing all humans to evacuate to luxury starships to survive. Humans now live dependant on technological assistance in every facet of their lives and have become obese and apathetic in nature avoiding all physical and personal contact with eachother.
WALL-E, our awkward protagonist is a robot left behind on earth to stack and organize the garbage (and whom bares a striking resemblance to 1986's Short Circuit robot Johnny 5 :D). All other robots have perished and WALL-E has only a cockroach with him on earth for company. He has it would appear developed sentience and experiences human emotions such as curiosity (in collecting relics of forgotten society) and compassion (for care for his insect companion's safety) in the start of the film, and even displaying infatuation, adoration, loyalty and love (for EVE) as the story moves forward. This character progression, although never outrightly addressed in the movie raises the questions "what is humanity? What defines love? And what is the soul?" among others.
We have an artificial being who has come into a sense of self awareness and now displays our most valued emotions in a time when the essentially "real" beings, that is humans, have denounced them completely for cold mechanical convenience. The beauties with which we define ourselves as a species such as art, culture, history, intelligence have been tossed aside. Humanity as it is on the starships is living simply to be alive and does not aspire for anything more, so have they not in turn given up what it is to be human?
Is it the self awareness that brings the idea of the soul? A level of consciousness that must be attained to form an inner self. Does our eternal manifestation rely on the idea of higher mental function and spiritual acknowledgement. Or is it something more? Everything in our known universe is made up of atoms, does the soul then reside in them, and then it could be argued in turn within everything? That would leave us with the idea that the essence of spirit and "soul" are a part of everything in this world, self aware or not, living or dead. That we are all connected spiritually constantly with everything from the air to our toaster.
Is it the presence of this soul that offers then the ability to love? Or is that love is created by the soul. To feel an attraction, a pull to another being. Bringing meaning to the undefined and rewriting logic. What is that love and who has the ability to feel it?
WALL-E poses these questions in a subtle way that offers no bias. It is the foundation of good thinking, leaving the concepts and ideas open for your own interpretations. It is provided in a manor that all audiences can enjoy and relate to, even if they don't fully understand why they feel that connection. It is WALL-E's simple grasp and presentation of these core human emotions that allows it to be such a marketable piece of philosophical and social commentary and such an important part of our cinematic history.