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John Gruber nailed it:

I have no idea why not. My four-and-a-half year-old son loved it. Rapt attention the entire time. That large stretches of the film have no dialog whatsoever does not make it difficult for children to follow. If anything, I've found that Jonas is much better at following stories which are told cinematically than those which are told verbally. I'd go so far as to say it's the best film for small children that Pixar has made since Toy Story 2.

The film is so good overall that it makes me wonder whether the Academy will have the balls to nominate it for Best Picture, rather than relegating it to the ridiculous and artificial "Animated" ghetto. The odds that there will be five better films released this year are slim.

Wall-E is the best film I've seen so far this year (and that includes any I've rented from Netflix). Carey is waging a one-woman battle on a forum she frequents against a bunch of parents who simply don't seem to "get it." They're arguing that the movie is "too complex" for kids, and that the lack of dialogue impedes the child's ability to comprehend.

It strikes me as if the opposite is true: a child is better able to comprehend the non-verbal cues, and many parents seem to have lost the art of deciphering things based on non-verbal clues. Though Wall-E, Eve, and the others are robots, they're animated and they have "body language" that speaks well to kids of all ages.

Nobody's eyes left the screen the entire time I was there, and when the movie hits the dollar theaters, I'm certain Carey and I will be going back to see Wall-E several times. Best Picture? It's got my vote at this point, and I certainly think it's Pixar's best. That's saying something because Pixar movies, like a good album, usually grow on me slightly.

P.S. Not that the movie was strictly or even primarily about the message of "leaving waste behind" or "laziness," but Carey and I found it astounding that, having just watched this movie, a mother and her two daughters that sat beside us left ALL of their trash - empty cups, empty popcorn bags, a few wrappers and candy boxes - just sitting there in and beneath their seats. Jaw-droppingly astounded.

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