Wall-E was a great movie. If you don’t agree then your soul is as black as pitch, and you should remain at least 50 yards from children at all times.
I got this toy for my son some time before the movie had come out. He had seen the trailer and then once I was in the toy store he had to have him. But Interaction Wall-E didn’t get a lot of attention in our house until the movie came out. After I came home from the movie I ran downstairs into the playroom, grabbed Wall-E. The movie was something special, and this toy deserved a second look.
The basic premise of Wall-E is that he is a trash robot, left behind on a polluted, abandoned earth. There were many Wall-E units at one point, but he appears to be the last one operating. Each day is the same as the next, collecting trash, and creating cubes which are then stacked way into the sky. Every once in a while, Wall-E comes across a curiosity from the civilization that lived here years ago. Through these items he develops a personality. He is very curious, and even creates a collection of items that he has come across in his travels.
In the future, a robot collects toys. Think about that for a minute.
One day, Wall-E’s routine is interupted by a probe ship from outer space. The humans are living on a cruise ship, and it sends out probes to look for vegetation samples, a sign that the earth is ready for them to move back. One such probe is the little white robot EVE. Wall-E falls in love with EVE, or whatever passes for love with robots, and thats how the story begins.
The InterAction Wall-E toy is a voice activated animatronic toy. This means that Wall-E can “hear” you, and will react with physical motions – head and arm movements. The toy is solid and nicely done. The treads are rubber and roll manually, but he cannot move around on his own. The front panel opens and there is a decal that shows the trash that compacts inside of him.
The body is a weathered yellow cube, but not as dirty as seen in the movie. Most of Wall-E is here – there are buttons on the top that can activate lights and sounds, as well as a button on the back. On the bottom there is a three way switch that goes from Off/Try me/On.
InterAction Wall-E’s arms can be removed and can be repositioned to a spot lower and more forward on the body, however only when they are inserted in the upper holes do they move automatically. Each hand has individual articulated fingers, but not individual finger joints. The head has a small bit of movement, but the instructions on the back ask you to not move it because of the possibility of damaging the internal mechanism. I’m sure all those little kids who can’t read will pay attention to this.
The InterAction gimmick is nicely done, and it really makes the toy a lot of fun. When Interaction Wall-E is in the on mode, he can hear you talk through a small microphone on his chest. You will know when Wall-E hears you because his eyes will light up as it detects sound. A few seconds later, Wall-E springs to life. Unfortunately, he doesn’t specifically answer you, he just responds to sound in general.
However, should you get the InterAction Eve, the two can babble on and on to each other for hours.
In short, the Thinkway InterActive Wall-E is a lot of fun, for both kids and the adults.
InterAction Wall-E features
- Eyes that light up
- Head and arms that move
- Sounds that include the original movie voice and sound effects
- Responds to you when you talk to it (any loud sound really)
- You can push it along or it will react when you press a button
- Interacts with Interaction Eve which is sold separately
- 7 inches tall