-
Website
http://dev.screenrant.com/ -
Original page
http://dev2.screenrant.com/enough-already-with-the-wall-e-short-circuit-comparisons-vic-1372/ -
Subscribe
All Comments -
Community
-
-
Top Commenters
-
Popular Threads
"From the creators of 'Scary Movie' and 'Superhero Movie' comes 'Cute Animated Robot Movie'... "So cute you wish you could pinch it's cheeks!"'
Coming to a theater near you 6 months after they have the idea...
I bet Wall-E is a better movie than Short Circuit, although Short Circuit did have Steve Gutenberg... I'll have to think about that one
the Robot is the same thing without the height.
Some hands, same neck, same bottom/treads, and eyes/head.
I can take a robot and take away its long joints and say its not a ripoff too, lol
That droid also looks like Jonnny5.
^
They decided to make a cute robot and well this seems to be a popular angle. I don't think it will hurt this film but the comparisons will only grow as more images come out.
I'll have a neat robot post tomorrow here:
http://floatinglightbulb.blogspot.com/
Best,
Ben
They have similar shapes for some of their parts, but that's about the extent of the similarities.
To me, when someone rips off a design it's usually in an attempt to cause confusion with the original in an attempt to leech off of its success. Now Short Circuit wasn't a horrible move, but nobody in their right mind would think it was so successful that it would be worth trying to ride its limited coattails (22 years late, I might add).
That said, there's about as much resemblance between these two robots as there is between Arnold's Terminator, Bicentennial Man's Andrew, and the androids in "I Robot" (especially the first two).
"Look! They all have humanoid form, two eyes, legs and arms! Fraud! Rip Off!"
way back when, I made the comparison. I don't think it is a bad thing, just that the "ring" of the names Johnny and WALL-E, are strikingly similar. As well as the head, tread and so on. I think the insult is the denying of these facts. I think we all could appreciate a "Well Crap, now that you mention it.", not "I was playing with a pair of binoculars and there is nothing but a slim chance that Short Circuit had any affect on my design". Come on Vic are we to believe that this man is that stupid.......does he believe we are that stupid.
Thanks Vic, another great Rant.
Smitty
Wall-E's head does look very binocular like especially in the movement we've seen of it from trailers and previews. Johnny 5's head always reminded me of the shape of a VCR player.
The only things they have in common are lenses for eyes and tracks for feet.
Don't worry Wall-E, R2's got yer back and that robot from Lost In Space is gonna give Johnny 5 some trouble when he gets back to Earth, yo.
word
Is
Steve Gutenberg involved in any way?
Let's all say to King pixar , no you don't look anything like Johnny 5.
Lest he strike us wafes down.
Infact, i dont care if they copied anything as long as the movie is great which it will be for sure.
Now when I see the clips of the movie what really blows me away is how similar his personality is to Johnny Five, especially when compared to the early parts of Short Circuit where Five was all inquisitive and non-verbal and obsessed with things like insects - butterflies and grasshoppers. His vocalizations are even similar.
But I have to admit to having drawn and written things and then a long while later realized how much they are like something else I have already seen without realizing it at the time I created them. I don't think it makes me guilty of rip-off as much as homage or - even more likely - subconscious recall of something that made an impression on me.
I'll just finish by quoting Ecclesiastes: "There is nothing new under the Sun."
You were right the first time you saw it. ;-)
Despite the similar appearance between those two droids, I will still enjoy the Wall-E movie! For now, I'm gonna buy Short Circuit 1 and 2 to watch before Wall-E comes out.
Flash forward twenty some odd years. As I’m waiting for Juno to start, I watch this tiny robot named Wall E appear on the screen and immediately think “That’s Johnny 5!”
Are they different? Of course! Wall E is definitely cuter. But the point is they are similar enough so that just a glimpse of Wall E conjured up the memory of a movie I haven’t watched in over 20 years. I didn’t even have to think about it! Of course this comparison won’t matter in the long run because, as others pointed out, Short Circuit wasn’t really all that successful to begin with. The similarity will have no impact on the plot behind Wall E either. Unless the plot behind the two movies are similar. Then I’ll be really mad. Still, I just wish Stanton would come right out and aknowledge that there is a striking similarity between the two and admit he got the idea from Short Circuit. Its called acknowledging your sources and if the creator of Wall E would only do that, then maybe we could all just stop with the Johnny 5/Wall E comparisons.
but take out the lightning and military aspects of Short Circuit, and you have not only a robot that looks similar, but the main concept is the same. A robot programmed to help humans fix their own mankind made problems, that gets a personality of his own and shows us the audience how amazing life and love is.
hmm.. really makes you think doesm't it
So, that's all I have to say really. Well, I'd also like to say that I can't believe the creator is flat out denying the similarities. ha
Buttheads!
While you are talking about Fiction and Movies, I was talking about
Real Robot technology and design. but if that's what you understand,
What about the Tanks in the Terminator movies? Again similar because of the tracks
nothing else. WallE looks more like those then Johnny 5. Now let look at Webster's definition
of similar, 1 : having characteristics in common : strictly comparable ; 2 : alike in substance or essentials.
Nothing there about being Identical or look a like. You kids need to go back to school and learn English
words and there meaning.
WallE is similar, NOT the SAME
Webster's SAME: 1: resembling in every relevant respect 2: conforming in every respect.
It's a movie, enjoy it for what it is and wait for the NEW Short Circuit Movie coming soon.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929281/
Vic
It's nice to see that you know how to use a dictionary though ...How did someone your age figure out how to use the copy and paste feature? Just wondering? By-the-way JJ I prefer the Oxford definitions for your future reference..B'bye and "HAve A Nice Day :) "
Where, how and why A. Stanton got his ideas is between the owner of Short Circuit rights(Sony TriStar), Pixar and the courts.
And they have not filed any law suits so far. But with your own logic, the only thing SIMILAR with J-5 and WallE are the tracks and the binocular eyes. WallE is animated, has a small box for a body with no shoulders, no neck, no lasers guns over his shoulders and no eye lids. WallE does not get his LIFE or PERSONALITY from an electrical shock. So by YOUR LOGIC, they are not the same character. The only thing violated is yours and others sensibilities because you fell in love with a fictional Robot who came to "Life". And you got your feels hurt because this is NOT a J-5 movie. Like I said in my previous email there is a new Short Circuit movie coming out in 2010. You can wait and enjoy it and this new wonderful WallE movie or you can continue to BEAT WallE with a Bone like the MONKEYS at the beginning of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. "Nice monkey..... put the bone down now.... BONZO is on the late movie!" HA HA HA!
However, the article is about how similar Wall-E and J-5 are, NOT about which character is better. That last post ^^^ was completely useless. If you're going to make it personal and insult someone with your smart *ss remarks do it somewhere else. (That goes for the both of you)
Yes JimJim please don't respond. It's not worth your time. Disagree? Email me but don’t post it here unless it's ABOUT THE ORIGINAL TOPIC.
My comments have been on topic. Although the 2001 comment, which was not understood, was about the GN's trying to change the topic to his berating others for not having his opinion. I have not insulted or attacked anyone. And I had no intention to responde to GN last comment.
There have been actual robots designed with the "binocular look" to give them stereoscopic vision, and I'm pretty sure the military has been using treads to navigate rough terrain for more than a couple of years.
Function determines form and that's how they arrived at Wall-E's design, much like how the designers of Johnny 5 must have arrived at theirs.
Vic
I posted a while back. First, I still haven't changed my mind: There's nothing new under the sun. Next, I promise I'm just about the biggest Short Circuit fan there is - I saw it at 7:05 pm on Saturday May 24th 1986 at the Hardy Court Cinema in Gulfport Mississippi. The trailer before the movie was "Ruthless People" starring Danny DeVito. I met the producer of Short Circuit in 1990 and the creator of Number Five as well as Tim Blaney (his voice) in 1991. I also met Number Five in there somewhere. (He's bigger than he looks on screen)
I saw WALL-E on opening night and it's brilliant! There were even some details in it that made it like Short Circuit and for me that made it even more fun. Any Short Circuit fan who dislikes WALL-E for being similar is doing themselves a disservice. It would be like refusing to see I, Robot because Sonny looked too much like C-3P0. And how many robots have there been that reminded us all of R2-D2?
The plot of WALL-E is decidedly different than that of Short Circuit. The point of SC is "What if a robot came to life and had a soul?" In WALL-E that's a given. WALL-E's problem is not that he's alive; it's that he's alone. And one of the most wonderful things about this character is that he remains nothing but character. He has almost no dialogue, he remains delightful the way Number five was before he learned to talk and then became more of a one-robot show.
I think WALL-E is born of the same mindset as Number Five - we want this robot to be practical yet somewhat attractive to the audience. He has to look cute but be completely functional. In fact WALL-E accomplished this more effectively in my opinoin. Of course Number Five had a much more complicated role, so it was more difficult to make him practical as a super-versatile mechanical soldier and still make him lovable (he seems more lovable than practical to me), but he was probably the first real success at doing this for a movie. And the Pixar guys did't have to build their root, so they could get it to do whatever they needed and still remain 100% practical as a trash compactor. In fact, building a robot as powerful, agile and versatile as WALL-E would be difficult even now - 22 years after Short Citcuit.
I just want to go on record that my undying love for Number Five is what make me appreciate WALL-E. I'm glad a big giant company like Disney is able to produce something so magical and make sure peopel see it. I think interest in Short Circuit has increased becasue of it and maybe one day Number FIve will get his due. Also - contrary to somethign written earlier in this threasd, Short Circuit was very successful in it's time. It ran the entire summer fo 1986 and was the number one video rental of 1987. That having been said, I think it was dreadfully mismarketed and could have been a phenonmenon. I know nothign that stupid will happen to WALL-E.
not that I disagree with you, but its not the treads that make it similar, its the triangular treads that are identical on the two robots.
Alot of the probe bots, demo bots and others used by military and SWAT don't have these triangle treads.
Anyways, Wall-E does look extremely similar in my opinion. But it doesn't bother me much however, I think I enjoyed Short Circuit more as well. I think Wall-E is living on artificial hype, because of the name 'pixar'. I bet if we watched it again, it wouldn't be special.
BUT this is what i don't get.. they would have had drawing and designs before they started filming.. you can't tell me out of the 100s of people working on that movie not one of them came up and said 'you know this looks alittle to similar.. maybe we should change it not to fool people'
I don't believe it was done on purpose it was just sloppy film making. and once they saw it they should have changed it.. but i do believe they are playing on it.. i wouldn't have giving this film the time of day i saw the poster and thought.. hang on..short circuit. so i guess there plain kind of worked as now i want to see it..lol.
You see that at first glance.
And there's no denying that, whatever the designer says. Words are not important, the outcome is.
A new movie about an Italian kid who most over to the west coast from the east coast who gets picked on in school who later befriends an Asian apartment complex handyman who teaches the Italian kid lessons about life along with the martial arts?
I really hate this decade.
2000-2009 is the lamest most UNORIGINAL decade ever.
I really cannot wait until 11:59PM December 31st 2009.
Wall-E Sucks
The entire 2000's decade sucks.
I am going to the store right now to buy me both of the Short Circuit dvd's.
I will never waste my money on any Wall-E dvds or related merchandise.
Vic
Here's the Kicker Sony OWNS all of them:
Sony Corporation of America (SCA)
Outline of Principal Operations
http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/corporatefact....
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group
- Columbia Pictures
- Sony Pictures Classics
- Screen Gems
- TriStar Pictures
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Television Group
- Sony Pictures Television
- Sony Pictures Television International
Sony Pictures Consumer Products
Sony Pictures Digital Production
- Sony Pictures Imageworks
- Sony Pictures Animation
- SonyPictures.com
Sony Pictures Mobile
Sony Pictures Studios
- Sony Pictures Studios Post Production Facilities
- DVD Authoring Center
- Worldwide Product Fulfillment
Crackle
Game Show Network
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios
Now we know why SONY won the DVD format WAR!! Can't wait to see WallE on BluRay in my living Room!
Later..
To ENTERTAIN us! Movies are made for this purpose alone.
I do like the similarities of both and like Virginia said She's very familiar with Johnny 5. I too am familiar with Johnny 5 as I make the Model of him, although it's very much like the one from the movie it has slight differences but still looks like it's from the movie.
As for Wall-e, I liked the movie and I really like the Toy Line from it! I myself and many others around the world only wished that some toy company would have made a toy version of Johnny 5 before Wall-e even came out, Then there wouldn't be all of this hype. Then again it all only helps promote both movies in the long run. Which isn't a bad thing!
This is what a toy version of Johnny 5 should have been done 20 years ago.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p75/milwauke...
Enjoy
Model Maker, milwaukeemachineman
Wall•E es una muy buena película.
Muy cretiva.
Wall•E es muy lindo y se ve muy tierno.
Im a graphic designer and 3d animator aswell, and Im sorry for this pixar dude... it may NOT be a 100% rip-off but the idea behind it is Johnny 5, and no, the HK Tank, cant be compared, cause it hasnt feelings!, and I cant believe a guy working at pixar has just seen once the "short circuit" movie!, cause its one of the first thing I thought of creating in 3D!, and all my friends has seen it at least 5 times in their life (and they are under 30 years old).
So dont try to fool people!, The ideas were a bit off this last months, and you did some research, and found Johnny 5, a possible design to try something new!... this is the real fact!
-------
In spanish:
No habría estado mejor una version de Cortocircuito en 3D que Wall-E?
Dudo mucho que el creador de Wall-e, no se haya basado en Johnny 5, y que diga lo que dice, me parece una payasada!.
A ver.. el tanque HK de Terminator 2, no es comparable!, ya que no es un robot con sentimientos que parece una persona (por los sentimientos) y buenas itenciones. y que dan algo de penilla.
Quien con una edad de entre 20 y 30 años como seguramente tiene su creador como minimo, no ha visto Cortocircuito mas de 2 veces!... y 4-5 si ademas te gusta el tema del 3D, y has estudiado animación, como el menda. (yo lo he hecho).
En fín, me parece una verguenza que un señorito Pixar tenga que mentir sobre su diseño, para no tener problemas!.
Y que conste que respeto a todos los que trabajan en Pixar, en especial a los españoles!!, y aunque es un sueño que no se va a realizar, me hubiera encantado trabajar ahí, para que engañarnos.
Quizas?, en vez de un modelador/diseñador, deberían meter a un brainstormer, con grandes ideas, de personajes e historias! (yo valdría) ;)
Ahí queda eso.
:D
O.o
I loved the movie short circuit when it first came out. I saw some of it again more recently and it hasn't aged well at all.
Wall.e is a fresh new movie and its a cartoon. You can get away with a lot more in a cartoon than you can in live action and have the audience buy into it. For this reason alone I think wall.e works better today. What really impressed me about the robot itself though was the way it could fold itself up into a tight cube and then extend all its parts out to still form a very functional and interesting character.
Call me a Pixar schill but I've loved everything pixar have done (except cars, they're allowed one mistake heh)and to read how Pixar are somehow a hollywood cog that churns out the same old crap is really unfair to what is one of the most creative and original companies working in movies today. Just look at their track record, it's incredible....s :p
One of the saddest experiencing of growing older (mid 30's) is seeing everything recycled and realizing that it was recycled even when I first saw it as a child. Same old crap, but I was too young to know it. Now there's hardly anything to watch on TV or in film b/c the target demographic is < 20. Each new generation gets to see the same old crap with only the faces changing.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but ripoffs are nowadays called "homages" (silent h), a French term used by people who wouldn't know an original idea if it kicked them in the nether-regions.
For me, one of my favorite movies is an early-80s film called "Electric Dreams"...a man buys a home computer and, after a series of mishaps, the computer becomes self-aware...it also ghostwrites love songs for the hot blonde cellist living upstairs and reasons that it is in love with her...as well as realizing the man is, as well.
Now, I thought this seemed familiar...although uncredited, it bears enough resemblance to Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s short story "EPICAC" that the heirs of Mr. Vonnegut's estate should sue Rusty Lemorande, the supposed creator of "Electric Dreams".
"Electric Dreams": Lonely nerd guy wants lady neighbor to look his way
-----------------------------------------
EPICAC: Computer wants to know what Love is, learns some, then writes love poems the guy submits as his writing.
"Electric Dreams": Computer wants to know what Love is, learns some, then writes love songs the guy submits as his music.
-----------------------------------------
EPICAC: Computer commits suicide to remove itself from the picture, having realized Love is give, not take; leaves poetry behind as gift.
"Electric Dreams": Computer commits suicide to remove itself from the picture, having realized Love is give, not take; leaves love song behind as gift.
EPICAC: 1952
“Electric Dreams”: 1984
It took me nearly a day to realise I've seen the design somewhere.
I've seen short circuit several times ages ago. Must've realised " on some subconscious level".
Although I have seen terminator too ;)
There's no need to be a jerk, ok?
Just because they're similar doesn't make Wall-E a ripoff of Johnny 5. For navigating variable terrain, tracks make sense - for focusing on distances near and far mechanically, a binocular design makes sense. As far as arms for manipulating objects, how many robots DON'T have them?
One could argue that "Short Circuit" ripped off the original "Terminator" movie as well.
Vic
I think that Syd Mead and Brad Bird (I think?) started with an idea for a mobile robot and came to similar design conclusions. Treads for mobility and the binocular eyes for expressiveness for a non-human character that was required to show emotion.
Vic
All this being said I first saw the movie and loved it and at the same time also realised it was playing off Johny 5. Do I care, no. Both were great movies, but as the point is credit should be given and that's that. I'm an artist myself and if someone got an idea from my work. I wouldn't mind as long as they gave credit to it. That's the point is the creator of Wall-E denies it. End of story. Get over it. He's not going to change. This is all over the net and if you deny the similarities, I'm not even going to give you the attention to say what you are. It's not worth it, because your mind won't be changed. Now to go get Short Circuit again.....
On that fine note I think I'll close the comments on this post. :-)
Regarding your Short Circuit 3 question, I haven't heard anything since last July when it was announced that the writers of the original film were working on a screenplay for another one.
Vic