Andrew Stanton has a new film set for release amid the 2026 movie schedule, and it’s called In the Blink of an Eye. Written by Colby Day, Stanton’s latest feature tackles the history of mankind by way of three interlocking stories set within the past, present and future. Of course, the Oscar winner is no stranger to telling tales set centuries from now, as he most notably did that with WALL-E. Stanton recently told CinemaBlend that the Pixar film did influence his approach to his latest directorial effort but not in the way you might think.
One of the storylines takes place in the 25th century and revolves around a scientist named Coakley (played by Kate McKinnon), who embarks upon a dangerous mission. Through those segments of the film, viewers get a glimpse of futuristic technology. It’d be easy to assume that WALL-E came into play when Stanton was developing the future storyline for In the Blink of an Eye. However, I was very surprised when Stanton told me during our recent interview, that the tear-inducing Pixar flick influenced a different story arc:
Yes, I thought of WALL-E but not on that storyline. I thought of it on the Neanderthals, because I knew they wouldn't be speaking anything that you would understand. And I had confidence that we could pull it off, because we pulled it off on WALL-E. And, as long as the inflections and the intonations and the language they spoke seemed to be authentic, we would accept it. And so that's where WALL-E came in for me.
That particular storyline takes place 47,000 years in the past and centers on a family of Neanderthals headed by Thorn (Jorge Vargas). As mentioned by Stanton, the characters communicate using a language that’s not English. Despite that barrier, it’s still possible to understand the basic gist of what the family members say to each other. It honestly didn’t occur to me that Stanton’s 2008 animated flick could’ve inspired his work on the past-based parts in his latest sci-fi venture, but it definitely makes sense.
Fans may remember that the first act of WALL-E (which is still regarded as one of the best Pixar movies) features minimal dialogue. And anything that is spoken between the eponymous cleaning bot and his mechanical crush, EVE, is essentially robot jargon. Nevertheless, the inflections help to make their interactions understandable and, as the film goes on, viewers find themselves rooting for the characters and their budding romance. So kudos to Stanton pulling off unconventional dialogue in a film once more.
Shrewd creative decisions like those are arguably a major reason why Stanton has earned some much respect from his peers and garnered critical acclaim throughout his career. In fact, Alex Woo, the director of 2025’s In Your Dreams, revealed that WALL-E taught him the importance of subtext, and that stemmed from the fact that much of that movie doesn’t feature clear dialogue.
I’d argue that if a movie’s content is powerful enough to evoke strong emotions in its viewers, then it’ll be felt in whatever language it's conveyed through. Certainly, Andrew Stanton and his collaborators are hoping that audiences will connect with a Neanderthal family just as they did with a couple of futuristic robots nearly two decades ago.
Check out In the Blink of an Eye, which will be available for Hulu subscription holders, starting on January 27. Also, anyone keen on checking out WALL-E can stream that with a Disney+ subscription.
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