Ultimate Wall-E Review

Oct.24, 2008 in Robotic Toy, Top Christmas Toy 2008

The future is now; and, not surprisingly, kids are the ones leading the pack. They lead the world of innovation through the toys that interest them, the toys they’ve been asking Santa for since the day after Christmas last year.

This time, they want Ultimate Wall*E, the robot created by Disney and Thinkway Toys inspired by the adorable Wall*E movie (by Disney-Pixar, of course). This real robot (isn’t that an oxy-moron?) includes a remote control that allows kids (and adults too, I’m sure) to program their very own Wall*E’s movements. Like a video game, button patterns on the remote control can direct Wall*E to do different things. Voice activation properties can yield similar actions (like a well-trained dog). Your robotic buddy can also follow the sound of your voice when it detects that you’re near; this is appropriately called “Follow Me Mode.” In addition the remote control and voice activation system, Ultimate Wall*E also features touch and infrared detection sensors, for navigating a room with obstacles (and probably a lot more).

What is perhaps the creepiest part of all (at least to this robot-phobe) is that, according to the press release from Disney Consumer Products, the toy is “capable of several emotional states and thousands of combinations of movements.” A robot with emotions? Sounds like this best selling Christmas toy might be the answer to the child without any friends. But it’s completely understandable why any other kid might want someone to buy Ultimate Wall*E for them, and with a retail price of $190, it’s not exactly a ludicrous request for some gift-givers.

Unfortunately, as one blog commenter noted: while Ultimate Wall*E can do a lot of amazing, entertaining things, it cannot compact trash—and that’s what the character in the movie was designed to do. Perhaps the reason for this is to convey the message to Wall*E’s potential owners that you can do much more with your life than what other people intend for it.

Or maybe the creators just thought kids wouldn’t be interested in compacting trash.