First Look: LEGO WALL-E Set Coming This December

In February, LEGO announced that a LEGO-built model of the lovable, titular robot from Pixar's WALL-E, designed by Pixar employee Angus MacLane, would be coming to stores later this year. MacLane designed and built the model while working on the actual WALL-E film and uploaded it to LEGO Ideas, a site where fans can share their own LEGO creations and, potentially, have them made into real LEGO sets.

The WALL-E model was approved by LEGO in February, and today we have our first official look at the finished product that will be on store shelves by Christmas. The model has been tweaked here and there from its original design to meet LEGO'S standards, and now even includes the iconic plant from the film. It will retail for approximately $40 and is expected to be released in early December, according to Smyths Toys. An official statement from LEGO regarding the pricing and release date of the set should be coming in the next few weeks, if not within the next couple of days.

I, for one, being both a huge LEGO fanatic and a Pixar aficionado, will be picking this set up the instant I see it. It's a must-have for fans of the beloved film and the studio, no doubt.

Look forward to getting your grabby paws all over a LEGO WALL-E this winter.

LEGO WALL-E Set Approved for Production

If you're a LEGO fan, you have likely heard of the website LEGO Ideas, formerly known as LEGO CUUSOO. The site allows builders around the world to submit their own ideas for potential LEGO sets. If their creation garners 10,000 supporters, it advances to the lengthy review stage, during which LEGO painstakingly examines the set to determine whether or not it is apt for mass production. In late 2013, Pixar employee Angus MacLane submit a LEGO model of Pixar's own WALL-E to LEGO Ideas, which reached 10,000 supporters this past summer.

WALL-E director Andrew Stanton poses with MacLane's model

Those familiar with Pixar and its employees will know that MacLane, director of  Pixar shorts BURN-E and Small Fry, as well as 2013's Toy Story television special Toy Story of Terror, is a huge LEGO buff - he even snuck in a LEGO Bunny of his own design into the aforementioned TV special. He built the WALL-E model while actually working on the film WALL-E way back in 2005 - almost a decade ago! After having met the required number of supporters on LEGO Ideas, the project entered the review stage, which takes several months, in July. Today, the LEGO Group announced which of the eight sets that were being reviewed up until now will be coming to stores. Rejoice, for WALL-E has emerged victorious!

Watch the official announcement video here:

According to LEGO, the pricing and release date, as well as the finalized design for the model, are currently being worked on, but expect this delightful plastic brick-built interpretation of the curious little robot to hit store shelves sometime next year, if not this year. Being both a big Pixar and LEGO fan myself, I was thrilled to hear this news and will be picking up the set as soon as it arrives.

Congratulations to the insanely ingenious Angus MacLane! If you're interested on some more background info on his WALL-E model, head on over to The Brothers Brick for a nearly seven-year-old interview with the man himself, and be sure to support his other project on LEGO Ideas - a 100% screen-accurate replica of the LEGO Bunny seen in Toy Story of Terror!

Fans Build Life-Size WALL-E Robot

People can be rather brilliant, sometimes. Check out this awesome video that was uploaded as a part of YouTube's Geek Week, where we are taken into the workshop of Michael McMaster, part of a group of rather intelligent film fans who brought movie magic to life by building a life-size WALL-E robot, identical to the one in the film in almost every aspect. And yes, their replica does indeed say the character's signature phrase, "WAAALL-E."

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just wishing all my readers a very happy Valentine's Day! Remember to show appreciation to all your buddies, because, after all, you'd be awfully sad without them! Remember how sad WALL-E was when he thought he had lost EVE?

Also, best Valentine's wishes from Paul Robin!

The "Adventures with Wall-e" blog continues to deliver fantastic pics featuring everyone's favorite little bot!

Happy Valentine's Day From Pixar Corner!

The Adventures of WALL-E

It's always great to just take some time and work on a hobby. Sometimes, something really amazing can come out of simply using free time to, say, photograph a tiny toy version of the beloved robot, WALL-E. Apparently that's what lots of people actually do in their free time.

Check out this blog on Tumblr, with a good set of creative pics of the adorable WALL-E doing everyday activities!

Also, on this Flickr page, another talented photographer has posted tons and tons of clever WALL-E shots.

It's great to see people that some of Pixar's characters serve as inspiration for many creative projects and ideas.

A round of applause to these photographers...and of course, to WALL-E.

Angus MacLane's LEGO Creations!

All Pixarians have their own little hobby. For example, John Lasseter loves collecting toys, and has mounds of them in his famous office at Pixar. Today we're going to be taking a closer look at one specific Pixarian's special hobby.

Meet Angus MacLane, directing animator of WALL-E, and director of the two shorts, BURN-E and the upcoming Small Fry. Angus loves LEGO, and is known to have made many unique pieces of art made out of the iconic building blocks. Here are a few...

Pixar's icon, the hopping Luxo lamp.

WALL-E, the adorable little robot.

Carl Fredricksen, the old man who was so determined that he soared the skies without ever leaving the warmth of his home.

The inseparable monster duo, Mike and Sulley.

BURN-E, the little bot from the short that Angus himself directed.

Of course, Angus doesn't just make Pixar characters out of LEGO, but he builds many others. Two of my favorites are his takes on R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Pretty impresive, huh? This is proof that Pixar employees have many other talents apart from animation and storytelling.

Do you have a special talent or hobby? If so, please do share it in the comments section!

Where's WALL-E?

Click to enlarge!

Anyone seen WALL-E? He's cute, box-shaped, and his eyes resemble a pair of binoculars...

Lee Unkrich recently tweeted this awesome illustration by Richard Sargent, and it's probably one of the coolest things I've seen all week. As you can see, it's titled "Where's WALL-E?", and features tons of famous robots from movies and TV. There's Rodney from Blue Sky's Robots, R2-D2 and C-3PO from George Lucas' Star Wars films, even Jimmy Neutron's robotic dog, Goddard, from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Of course, there's also EVE and M-O from Pixar's WALL-E...but where's WALL-E himself?

I'll tell you one thing; WALL-E is in the picture, but he's probably the most difficult to find in the whole illustration.

See how many of these iconic robots you can recognize, and see if you can find the #1 robot of all...WALL-E.