WALL-E (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

WALL-E is the official soundtrack for the 2008 movie of the same name, and was released three days before the film. The soundtrack features compositions by Thomas Newman, who previously worked with Pixar on the soundtrack for Finding Nemo, as well as a song for the credits by Peter Gabriel. In addition, the album features a cover of the classic song “La Vie en Rose” by Louis Armstrong, as well as “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and “It Only Takes a Moment” from the theatrical version of Hello, Dolly!.

Since WALL-E features very little dialogue in its first act and long stretches of minimal dialogue throughout the course of the movie, the music plays a large role in telling the narrative of the film. Newman’s instrumentals perform this task well by giving the music a presence in the film, describing an atmosphere and the feelings of the characters without exposition. This combined with the use of songs nostalgiac of America’s golden days presents a unique style for the film that is one of its most fondly remembered traits.

The soundtrack won two Grammys for “Define Dancing” and “Down to Earth”, and “Down to Earth” and the soundtrack as a whole were both nominated for Academy Awards. However, WALL-E and “Down to Earth” lost at the Oscars to Slumdog Millionare and its track “Jai Ho” respectively.