In Disney/Pixar's new spectacular animated
adventure "Wall-E," a determined robot in a world abandoned by
mankind, discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek
search robot named Eve (Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator).
Eve comes to realize that Wall-E (or Waste
Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) has inadvertently stumbled
upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to
report her findings to the humans who have been eagerly waiting
on board the luxury spaceship Axiom for news that it is safe to
return home. Meanwhile, Wall-E chases Eve across the galaxy and
sets into motion one of the most incredible comedy adventures
ever brought to the big screen.
Eve is a sleek, state-of-the-art probe-droid.
She's fast, she flies and she's equipped with a laser gun. Eve,
also called Probe One by the Captain of the Axiom (the enormous
luxury mother ship which houses thousands of displaced humans),
is one of a fleet of similar robots sent to Earth on an
undisclosed scanning mission. Eve has a classified directive and
she is determined to complete her mission successfully. She
hardly even notices her new admirer Wall-E. One day, frustrated
with not finding what she is looking for, she takes a break and
makes an unexpected bond with this quirky robot. Together, they
embark on an amazing journey through space.
Animating Eve posed its share of challenges
for Pixar. With only two blinking eyes and four moving parts,
she required a lot of advanced thought and just the right subtle
movement. Designed to look like a futuristic robot, Eve is the
epitome of elegance and simplicity.
"We wanted her to be graceful," says director
Andrew Stanton. "There are different ways to convey what is
masculine and what is feminine in this world and we felt that
she should be fluid, seamless, she should have attractive
feminine qualities."
Animator Angus MacLane explains, "While
Wall-E's movements are more traditional with motors, gears and
cogs, Eve is this sleek egg-shaped robot who moves through the
use of magnets. Every frame and composition has to be cheated
ever so slightly so that it's pleasing to the eye. She has this
gracefulness and elegance in the way she moves which you'd
expect in a technically advanced robot."
Supervising Animator Steve Hunter adds, "Every plane change,
every angle, and even the way her head curved around to the back
when rotated had to be posed in a certain way to make it feel
right. Everything with her had to be really, really subtle.
Basically, she consists of only four parts, and two eyes that
blink. We had a lot of discussions about how she would move
using her arms. We treated her almost like a drawing in some
ways and came up with just the right poses to express emotion.
It's pretty amazing how much you really read into her."