Pixar has come through with yet another brilliant exercise in global heartwarming.

In the year of our animated lord 2700, humans have long since vacated the uninhabitable planet Earth, leaving behind a crew of robots to clean up the mess. WALL-E machines (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifters, Earth-Class) are mobile trash compacters -- mini-bulldozers with brains. They were built to last for 600 years or so, back in the prehistoric 21st century.

Nowadays, there's only one functioning WALL-E left. Somebody up above forgot to turn him off, and like the Energizer Bunny, he's still wandering through the post-apocalyptic wasteland, gobbling up junk, spitting it out in nice little cubes and neatly stacking them up into scrap-skyscrapers.

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'Wall-E'

3 1/2 stars = Very good
Ratings explained

• Rating: G.
• Web site: 'WALL-E'

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It's a lonely job, and nobody has to do it. But WALL-E does it anyway. His name is pronounced "Wally," by the way -- like Wally and the Beaver. But there's no Beaver. Just one Cockroach -- the last living creature on Earth -- to keep him company on his rounds.

A robot's got to do what a robot's got to do. At least he sets his own hours and has a nifty if cluttered bachelor pad. It's full of the eccentric "special treasures" he has collected over the years (Rubik's Cubes, plastic forks, Zippo lighters), all neatly sorted and stored. And then, one day in the morass, he finds a fragile little green plant ...

That coincides with the sudden arrival from a distant galaxy of EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), a hi-tech "search robot" designed to detect just such unlikely discoveries as the plant. EVE and her sleek, decidedly feminine egg shape put dusty old WALL-E's crude skills (and fashion sense) to shame. But he takes her home, shows her all his neat stuff (and how to pop bubble-wrap pockets), presents her with the plant and hitches a ride with her back to the Spaceship Axiom -- whose "Buy & Large" corporate rulers control her as well as the universe.

Writer-director Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo") is obliged to one-up himself as well as his studio with "WALL-E" and miraculously does so, adhering to that magic formula of Pixar values: The hero -- with his binocular eyes and tank-tread feet -- is totally lovable. The story and storytelling are sensible. Humor and humanity -- the cultural jokes and insights -- are not neglected. The pace is fast.

Above all, the digital animation is fantastically imaginative, pushing the boundaries and the envelope of that art form in creating not one but two brave new worlds -- one of garbage, the other of encapsuled life on the Axiom, where humankind has turned into Big Boy fat people blissfully reclining on deck chairs, while the B&L corp tells 'em what to do (nothing) and think (also nothing), and robots do all the work.

It's "The New Fun-tier!" says "B&L" CEO-host Fred Willard (the sole human in the cast, via a video monitor). And this is the 700th anniversary of their five-year cruise!

Ah, but revolution always starts with a minor violation or two of The Rules. WALL-E and EVE crashing the party triggers a frantic hunt for "foreign contaminants," fun with fire-extinguishers, chase scenes galore, and Love Among the Ruins of Rogue Robots.

Speaking of love, the inspirational romantic conceit here involves the bizarre use of -- brace yourself -- "Hello, Dolly" tunes that WALL-E adores. "It Only Takes a Moment" was one of the sappiest love songs ever written, but for some reason it really rings WALL-E's chimes. He hums it -- a lot. "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" isn't much better, but we see and hear it a lot, too. "La Vie en Rose" is also invoked.

If nothing else, it puts to rest the stereotyped notion that only gay robots like musicals.

Actually, there's more music than speech in the whole film -- a virtual absence of dialogue until finale, just robotic cooing, oohing, ahhing and very funny expressions of fright or surprise. (For the record: Ben Burtt and Elissa Knight voice WALL-E and EVE; Sigourney Weaver does the Ship's Computer.)

The political agenda is obviously but gently green, with more than a nod to Stanley Kubrick's "2001" over-reliance on technology theme, as well as his techniques: The Axiom Captain's great reawakening scene comes complete with "Thus Spake Zarathustra" theme.

The only sharp edge is a nice pointed reference to -- well, no need to identify the source. It comes as things are collapsing around CEO Willard, and he frantically instructs everyone to "Just stay the course!"

But overall, the convenient truth of "WALL-E" is just about hope and huge fun.