Pixar’s Wall-E entering the Criterion Collection

Pixar’s Oscar-winning WALL-E (2008) is coming to The Criterion Collection this November, marking an unexpected but welcome collaboration between the animation giant and boutique home video label. WALL-E will be spine #1161.

As per The Criterion Collection:

We’re proud to announce our first collaboration with Disney and Pixar: WALL•E  (2008), directed by Andrew Stanton, enters the Criterion Collection on 4K UHD this November! A high-water mark of digital animation, Stanton’s prescient vision of a rapidly oncoming dystopian future, packaged within a dazzling pop-science-fiction love story, is an urgent fable for our troubled millennium.”

Criterion typically announces their new releases to the collection in the middle of the month, with the November 2022 releases having been unveiled on August 17. Singling out September 8 for the WALL-E announcement was most likely done so to coincide with Disney+ Day.

The special features:

• 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

Interestingly, The Criterion Collection only has five other animated movies in their collection, the first of which was Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox (spine #700).

WALL-E hits shelves courtesy of The Criterion Collection on November 22.

What are your thoughts on WALL-E entering the Criterion Collection? Which other Pixar movie would you like to see included?