A Non-Comprehensive List of Comparisons Between WALL·E and Cave Story
So like about half of America, I saw WALL·E last summer and, to put it mildly, was rather blown away. To put in perspective just how blown away I was: I can count on one hand the number of movies I've watched more than once in the theater. Most of these were things I got dragged to with a group of friends, family, etc., after having already seen it; rarely, there would be a movie I enjoyed so much I watched it twice.
I saw WALL·E four times.
After about the third time, I started getting this niggling feeling in the back of my head that WALL·E was reminding me of something. I was a bit perplexed--as you know if you've seen WALL·E, it's a fairly unorthodox plot. Finally, though, it came to me:
Cave Story!
Check the node for more details, but the summary for you time-rushed E2 users out there is that Cave Story is an action game created by one man for the PC over the course of about three years. Pretty entertaining, rich story, good fun. And, it turns out, a game that shares a rather surprising number of similarities with WALL·E:
(WARNING: Major spoilers follow. If you haven't yet seen WALL·E or played Cave Story, though, your time would be much better spent doing one or both than reading this node anyway. If you insist on reading on, though: Quote is the 'male' protagonist of Cave Story, Curly is the 'female' protagonist. You probably know who WALL·E and EVE are.)
WALL·E: EVE saves WALL·E and MO from being compacted to death by launching up and out of a vast, cavernous space
Cave Story: Balrog saves Quote and Curly from being compacted to death by launching up and out of a vast, cavernous space
WALL·E: It is gradually revealed over the course of the story that WALL·E's objective is to save the inhabitants of a floating spaceship from their dependance on a substance given to them by a crazed computer
Cave Story: It is gradually revealed over the course of the story that Quote's objective is to save the inhabitants of a floating island from their dependance on a substance given to them by a crazed Doctor
WALL·E: WALL·E is a robot from 700 years ago with an intended function that is no longer applicable
Cave Story: Quote is a robot from far-past times with an intended function that is no longer applicable
WALL·E: WALL·E ties EVE to himself and takes her through a series of romantic situations
Cave Story: Quote ties Curly to himself and takes her through a series of perilous situations
WALL·E: WALL·E becomes seriously damaged near the end of the plot and must be repaired
Cave Story: Curly becomes seriously damaged near the end of the plot and must be repaired
Okay, that was getting a bit tenuous towards the end there, but it must be admitted that there's more here than one would expect between any two random stories featuring robots. Anyone know much about the gaming habits at Pixar?