WALL•E

A robot love story with an environmental theme and a slapstick delivery, this charmer of a film is one of the most delightful and affecting animated movies you'll have the pleasure of seeing. Director Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo") and the animation wizards at Pixar transform deft slapstick gags and visual invention into a nearly wordless courtship of delicate mechanical dances and innocent expressions of robot affection. It's like Looney Tunes meets "Fantasia," a film that is a genuine joy for kids and adults alike.

The DVD release includes two bonus animated shorts: the hilarious "Presto" (a daffy battle of wits between a stage magician and a rabbit, which played before the film in theaters) and the new "BURN*E" (which takes place in the margins of WALL•E's odyssey). But if you want to learn why Pixar creates such magic, explore the supplements: the commentary by Stanton, the superb "Animation Sound Design: Building Worlds From the Sound Up" (a journey through the technical wizardry and artistic creativity behind the magnificent sound design, hosted by Oscar winner Ben Burtt), and the deleted scenes with Stanton explaining the hows and whys. There's much more on the "Special Edition" release: interactive games and activities for the kids; the terrific "WALL•E's Treasures and Trinkets" (five minutes of original short visual comedy gags); more excellent featurettes that illustrate just how much research, development, experimentation and detail goes into every aspect of the film; additional deleted scenes; and Leslie Iwerks' feature-length documentary "The Pixar Story." The density of detail and grace of the animation is served well by the Blu-ray edition, which offers a tremendous level of clarity and even more supplements, notably a "Cine-Explore" addition of picture-in-picture illustrations accompanying the commentary, and an alternate "Geek Track" commentary with four Pixar nerds discussing the film (with their silhouettes on screen a la "MST3K"). These are among the most involving and original supplements you'll find on a DVD.