In 1994 Stanton, Lasseter, and other Pixar founders met to discuss the future of the company as Toy Story was poised for theatrical release. During that lunch they discussed four potential follow up projects:A Bugs Life, Monster’s INC., Finding Nemo, and the story of a lonely robot who was abandoned on earth for 700 years. The last idea was delayed for a few years because of the immense challenges that were required to make the film work. The animators needed to create an immense photo-real world (not just a child’s bedroom this time) and the director needed to create a 30 minute opening that featured a character alone on screen who couldn’t speak. As far as children’s animated movies go, this is practically an experimental film. But that type of bold artistic experiment is exactly what should be expected from Pixar.

Writer/director Andrew Stanton is one of the unsung heroes of Pixar. While Lasseter has achieved fame for founding the studio, and Brad Bird is widely considered to be the finest director working in animation today, few people even know Stanton’s name. This is unfortunate because not only is Stanton one of the most important and prolific writers working at Pixar, but he also directed the company’s most successful project to date (the academy award winning Finding Nemo, which made $860 million world-wide). Wall-E is a project that the director has been cultivating for over a decade and it sounds creative enough to push Brad Bird off his pedestal as the resident Pixar genius.