draft 2

ENG3029

Dr. Marquardt

Research paper

Lexia Wang

0871440

Intertext in Wall-E

Abstract

     Pixar’s Wall-E (2008) is a movie that relies on other movies to shape its meaning. In particular, it features excerpts from the upbeat, optimism and sunny movie named Hello Dolly! (1957). The two movies starkly contrast with each other, providing two very different pictures of the world--one is bright, happy and sunny, with only about sweet love and happiness between human beings, another is a post-apocalyptic landscape from which humans have been removed from the earth entirely, floating alone and isolated on a constructed space vessel in the space. Wall-E uses a period of Hello Dolly! in order to shape its meaning. This paper will explore the ways in which Wall-E uses the intertext to define the landscape and the people in it and the effect of the intertextuality.

Literature review

     Pixar’s Wall-E is a lovely and happy film with a little sad. It relies upon other films to shape its meaning. It tells a story about a robot on the earth falls in love with a robot named “Eva” form the outer space. There is a post-apocalyptic landscape from which humans have been removed entirely, floating alone and isolated in the space. And in Wall-E, there is a period which is very happy, noisy and delight from Hello Dolly!.

     First of all, let us define the word “intertext”. Interext is the relationship between texts or a text in relation to other texts, esp. a text drawn from other texts or the text drawn form; also a text within a text or texts which is “intermediary”, such as a commentary. As Conradie Marthinus points out in “Anonymous vs. acknowledged intertexts: A relevance theoretic approach to intertextuality in print advertising”, on the basis of Wilson and Sperber's (2004) conceptualisation of informative and communicative intentions in inferential communication, as well as Crook's (2004) contention that creating links of the above-mentioned nature represents a common strategy in contemporary adverting, the article pays specific attention to the degree to which an advert provides consumers with grounds on which to infer that the communicator intends to make a specific intertext relevant to the advert's meaning. So the intertext works in adverting.

     There is an example of intertext. Friedman Allen says in the book “The Amida’s Biblical And Historical Roots: Some New Perspectives”, “The claim that [a particular verse] is the intertext [for a given prayer] implies that the liturgical text is to be understood in light of [the Biblical source]. The correct construal of meaning takes place in the mind of the reader who juxtaposes both texts… In other words, the meaning of the liturgy exists not so much in the liturgical text per se as in the interaction between the liturgical text and the biblical intertext.” According to Friedman Allen’s idea, the intertext implies a text’s meaning by using other text.

     Another example of intertext is the book “Defying: Boundaries: Met text Anintertext in Two Novels by Carmen Boullsa” by Akrabova, Maria. “By showing how the intertext stresses the interrelated concepts of body…making them key in understanding the creative process in general and woman's voice/writing in particular.” So intertext is an important way to shape meaning in writing.

     Hollander Phillip points out in “Hear O Lord: Poems From the Disturbances of 2000-2009” that “The visual perception of sound referred to in this verse has long been understood as a cross-sensory metaphor intended to convey the wondrousness nature of divine revelation, something deemed absent from modern life… Consequently use of this intertext helps Cohen convey the wonder felt by expecting parents at the first sighting of their child, as well as the clarity of vision and revelation of purpose that comes with it for so many parents.”

     Conradie Marthinus and  Hollander Phillip have the same idea that intertext works in shaping the works’ meaning. And as we get that intertext works in adverting, it can help to build up and shape meaning. There are many intertexts to shape characters in writing, advertising, movie, play and so on.

     Waetjen Jarrod, Gibson Timothy A. say in “Harry Potter and the Commodity Fetish: Activating Corporate Readings in the Journey from Text to Commercial Intertext” that there are commercial intertext in Herry Potter. “Potter that subordinates Rowling's critique of social inequality and materialism while amplifying those moments in the texts that celebrate the "magic" of commodity consumption. Our conclusion discusses the role such corporate activations might play in the struggle over how commodity production and consumption will be understood in the wider social field.”

     Intertextuality is the shaping of a text’s meaning by another text. For example, intertextuality is an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another. In the movie Wall-E, people in the future are all fat like a ball. There are many kinds of drinks, and all they eat is drink. The drink is a kind of intertext. It shows that the people in the future are all accustomed to junk food. Just like the intertext in advertising, it can catch the audiences’ attention.

     After knowing the intertext, the two movies are important. First of all, Hello Dolly! is a musical movie. There are a lot of songs singing and happy dancing. It creates a kind of delighted and happy environment. People meet people; they make friends and fall in love with each other. The movie is filled with a lot of people’s love, fun and happiness. As Rachel Carrasco-Mendoza says in “ Hello, Dolly! a delightful and lively musical”: “Hello, Dolly! is based on the play The Matchmaker, by Thornton Wilder, and music and lyrics are by Jerry Herman. The playhouse production is filled with tuneful melodies, including Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Before The Parade Passes By, So Long, Dearie and Hello, Dolly!, the title hit. Several lively dance routines accompany the songs and a witty dialogue keeps the play moving along at a brisk pace.”

     However, when talking to Wall-E, it is not so happy. Wall-E lives alone in the earth. What he does everyday is clean trash. It is concerned about the environment problem. Telotte.J.P points out in Animating Space From Mickey to WALL-E, “Enthusiastically attempts the impossible-- discussing the importance of 'space' in animation, from the physical to the philosophical... and succeeds marvelously, providing a means for exploring how animation has reflected society's views on what is and is not permitted when it comes to films showing us versions of our own realities.”

     Wall-E is a movie which discussing about the environment problem deeply. It is not only a story, but also a lesson to people. People’s movements that misusing of resources, cutting down the forests and damaging the environment, lead to the end of the earth. Finally, people have to live in a spaceship without touching the nature. And in the end of the movie, people come back to earth for they find a plant. The plant is a kind of intertext. The plant is a very normal thing in today’s earth. However, in the movie, the plant is invaluable, it represents the hope of life in the earth. As Murray Bobin.L says in “That’s All Folks? Ecocritical Readings of American Animated Features”, up until the film’s end, the film provides a dystopic and mechanistic perspective in which wall-e acts as a comic hero who empowers an apathetic human race, transforming a hell on Earth into a home by following a narrative of environmental adaptation. Trough the robot hero Wall-E, the movie tells us that if we don’t cherish the nature today, the nature would revenge us in the future. The most helpful thing in the book is that the thinking about the relationship between human being and the environment, and also a new understanding of environmental and animated cinema.

     When talking about the connection between Wall-E and Hello Dolly! , Wall-E uses a period of Hello Dolly! in order to shape its meaning. And the period is a short dancing music video. Music in Wall-E helps to create a kind of sad and lonely environment.

     Hall Alice points out in “The Social Implications of Enjoyment of Different Types of Music, Movies, and Television Programming” that the way that an individual's enjoyment of various kinds of music, movie, and TV programming can influence an observer's expectation of that individual. There is a young adult online survey found that about another person's style preferences change impact of information across genres. Some genres, including jazz, comedy movies, television comedy enjoyment, often to improve personal expectations, while enjoying other people, including heavy metal music, anime movies, and television soap operas tend to lower them. Affect the findings relative to the use and satisfaction of view, as well as qualitative research on audience reception discussed previously. From these, we can know that music has great effect to people.

     When talking about the music, Conrich Ian says in “Film’s Musical Moments”, “the scope of this collection is indicative of the breadth and diversity of music’s role in cinema, as is its emphasis on musical contributions to ‘non-musical’ films. He thinks the relationship between music and movie. In the movie Wall-E, when Wall-E sees people dance on TV, the bright and happy music is a kind of intertext. It creates a happy and roman tic atmosphere and highlights that Wall-E’s lonely. In this way, the audience would feel that Wall-E is lack of love truly. There is diversity of music in movie, which makes the film interesting and vivid.

Example

     Wall-E is a 2008 American computer animated science fiction romantic comedy movie produced by Pixar Animation Studios. And the director is Andrew Stanto. The movie Wall-E tells a story about a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up the waste and trash covering on the earth in the future. He lives alone on the earth and the only thing company him is his pet—a cockroach. One day, he meets a white egg-shape robot named EVE. He fells in love with EVE, who also has a programming task to find live plant on the earth. Then Wall-E follows her into space and they go to the space vessel. They come over many difficulties. In the end, they change the destiny of human being and earth. And in the movie, all robots are like human being—they have free will and emotions similar to humans, which develop future as the movie progresses. 

     As for Hello Dolly!, it is a musical with lyrics and music. It is based on Thornton Wilder’s 1938 farce The merchant of Yonkers. And the director is Jerry Herman. It tells a happy story. The main character Dolly makes a living by the way, which she calls “meddling”-- matchmaking and many sidelines, including dance instruction and mandolin lessons. After many interesting stories, finally it comes to a happy ending – four couples Dolly and Horace, Cornelius and Irene, Barnaby and Minnie, and Ambrose and Ermengarde live happily. Hello Dolly has qualities of light and happy freshness and imagination. It is famous for its warmth, happiness color and high spirits.

     The period of Hello Dolly! used by Wall-E is a group of people dancing happily together. In Wall-E, it is in 2805. Earth is covered in trash because of too much population. Wall-E is a trash compactor robot to clean trash in the planet. He has been in the earth alone for many years. His life is boring—get up, go to compact the trash, go back to home, play with his pet cockroach and sleep. When there is problem, He manages to remain active and healthy by fixing himself using parts from other robots and units. Apart from his regular duties, he has some hobbies. He likes to collect things and artifacts of human civilization inquisitively and keep them in his home, which is a storage truck. He has many collections; and one of his favorite collection is the video tape.

     One day when Wall-E does his work, he finds a growing plant. Later, a big space ship gets landed and deploys Eve. Eve is an advanced robot, which is white and egg-shape. Her work is searching for plant on earth. Then Wall-E falls in love with the initially cold, hard and hostile EVE, who softens and befriends him gradually. When Wall-E brings Eve to his house and shows her his collection, Wall-E plays the videotape.

     People sing and dance happily in the videotape. Eve and Wall-E look on the screen peacefully. There are all dusts and trash outside the Wall-E’s home. However, inside the home, there are warm lights and happy music. The live-action clip of the song “it only takes a moment” from Hello Dolly!, which inspires Wall-E to hold hands with Eve.

     This song “it only takes a moment” from Hello Dolly! is an intertext. In Hello Dolly!, it is a happy and lovely song. A group of people gather, smile and dance together. It creates a bright, happy and sunny environment, with only about sweet love and happiness between human beings. However, in the movie Wall-E, the more happiness in the video, the more loneness Wall-E feels. Through contrasting, the song makes Wall-E feel alone and he wants to tell Eve his love. So Wall-E holds hands with Eve.

     However, when Eve sees the plant in the home, Eve stores it inside herself automatically, and goes into the spaceship to retrieve her. And Wall-E does not understand why she act like this, so he follows her and becomes confused. When Eve's automated ship returns and collects Eve back to the space vessel, WALL-E decides to follow Eve.

     Except the song “it only takes a moment” from Hello Dolly! is an intertext, there are other examples about intertext in movie. In the Disney movie “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”(1996), the character Baker is from “The Beauty and the Beast.” It tells a tragic love story. Esmeralda falls in love with Phoebus, whom Frollo attempted to kill in jealousy after knowing him trying to seduce Esmeralda. In the end, When Frollo laughs during Esmeralda's hanging, Quasimodo pushes him from the heights of Notre Dame to his death. Quasimodo stays at Montfaucon, and finally dies of starvation. And about several months later, the tomb is opened, and these skeletons are found.  As someone tries to separate them, Quasimodo's bones turn to dust. They died together.

     In the Disney movie “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, the street scene also shows Belle from “The Beauty and the Beast.” By using Belle that is a famous character in the famous movie  “The Beauty and the Beast”, it can help audience to understand the movie better. It makes the scene in the movie beautiful and colorful. What’s more, adding the character from other movie can also make the movie vivid, funny, attractive and active.

     And in the Disney movie “Aladdin”(1992), there are many interesting intertext. The film narrative teenagers 'Aladdin' adventures, ordinary people Aladdin and his friend little monkey lived a happy and comfortable life. However, one day there is an accident. Aladdin gets a flying magic carpet and a lamp. He begins to have a lot of amazing magic abilities. He becomes the handsome prince Aladdin; and he wins the hearts and minds of Princess Jasmine; but the evil sorcerer Jafar was abducted lamp and princess. With the help of his friends, Aladdin overcomes himself and rescues the Princess Jasmine.

     As we know, “Aladdin” is a movie with magic atmosphere. There are a lot of interesting and amazing things like the flying magic carpet and the lamp. And there are many intertext to help shape the movie Aladdin’s meaning. There are some examples. The Beast in Aladdin is from “The Beauty and the Beast”. There is a character called Sebastian is from the movie “The Little Mermaid”. Otherwise, in the movie, there is a magical place—Zeus’ temple. The Zeus’ temple and other settings around it are all from Hercules.

     There are various kinds of intertexts in “Aladdin”. For it is a magic movie, it needs to create a colorful, interesting, vivid and magical atmosphere. In other words, using different characters and scenes from other movie works is good for shaping the movie’s meaning.

Findings

     The period of Hello Dolly! — the song “it only takes a moment”  used by Wall-E is a group of people dancing happily together. In Hello Dolly!, it is a light and happy song. A group of people are smiling and dancing together. It creates a bright, happy and sunny atmosphere, with only about sweet love and happiness between human beings. When watching the video, we would be moved by the bright environment and feel happy.

     However, in the movie Wall-E, it is totally two different scenes. For Wall-E lives and works alone in the earth, he wants to see many people and do some interesting things. He is a robot; he does not know dancing before. He is just moved by the happy environment. He is eager to feel loved. The more happiness in the video, the more loneliness Wall-E feels. Wall-E finds the movie on video "It Only Takes a Moment" and the clip of the actors holding hands. Through a visual way, audiences know how Wall-E understands love and conveys it to Eve. Through contrasting, the song makes Wall-E feel alone and he wants to tell Eve his love. So Wall-E gets up the courage holds hands with Eve.

     The song “it only takes a moment” is an intertext. In Hello Dolly!, it represents happiness, companion and love. However, in the movie “Wall-E”, the song sets off a sad and lonely environment. The song is about two active and naive young men looking for happiness and love, which is rightly similar to Wall-E's hope for companionship. What’s more, using the happy song can highlight Wall-E’s loneliness. The song plays an important role in helping to shape Wall-E’s meaning by using another movie.

     According the examples, we can find that there are many good Disney movies using intertexts to shape meaning. They use characters, buildings, music and so on, to enrich the movie. Both of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Aladdin” use characters or scenes from other movie. And Wall-E uses the song “it only takes a moment” is another lively example. There are many benefits to use intertexts in the movie. First of all, using famous characters and scenes from other movie can help to improve popularity. It can arouse audiences’ interests. Secondly, it plays an important role in shaping movie’s meaning. Using intertexts is a good way to make the movie vivid and lively. Thirdly, it can help audiences to understand the movie better. When audiences see some things they familiar with, they would be more interested in the movie. Audiences would be personally on the sense. Otherwise, it can also improve the sense of identity.

Conclusion

     Pixar’s Wall-E uses the song “it only takes a moment” from Hello Dolly! to shape its meaning. The two movies starkly contrast with each other, providing two different pictures one is bright and happy, with sweet love and happiness between human beings, another is a lonely post-apocalyptic landscape. By using the period of Hello Dolly!, Wall-E makes audiences understand the movie better. And there are many movies using intertexts from other works. The intertexts can help to shape meaning and make the movie vivid and lively. It is effective in catching audiences’ eyes. What’s more, it can also improve the sense of identity.