Ben Burtt gives mechanical characters feelings we can hear without forgetting they are machines. His voice work in WALL·E is exceptional acting, built from small changes in sound rather than speeches explaining what the character wants.
Fi1m perspective
In WALL·E (2008), Ben Burtt lets us hear a machine trying to make itself understood. A small change in the robot's voice can suggest eagerness or caution, all without losing the sense that these are machines. We rate this performance so highly because Burtt keeps both the feeling and the machinery audible. Opposite Elissa Knight's EVE, he gives the courtship enough uncertainty to make each attempt at communication matter. The sounds are simple to follow, but there is nothing perfunctory about them.
Burtt had been giving machines voices long before that courtship: his sound design for Star Wars (1977) included R2-D2's vocalisations. His collaborators include George Lucas and Steven Spielberg; he designed the title character's voice for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). His work on the Star Wars films continued through the original trilogy and the prequels, where he also edited some episodes; voice performance is one part of a broader craft. He draws on recordings of objects, animals and motors, as well as human vocal performance combined with electronic processing. On WALL·E, he was also supervising sound editor, bringing those skills to a film in which a robot had to hold our attention as a romantic lead.
Andrew Stanton gives that performance room, with a patient romance and long stretches in which almost nobody speaks. We were moved by WALL·E's exchanges with EVE because Burtt makes the effort of being understood so audible. Stanton and fellow screenwriter Jim Reardon provide a clear purpose for the sounds: these two are trying to reach one another.
WALL·E's later action is less distinctive. The quieter exchanges give him more interesting work to do than the busier passages. That is where we would send anyone curious about him as a performer. Watch WALL·E for the romance, and give the small sounds as much attention as the pictures.
Biography
Benjamin Burtt Jr. is an American sound designer, film editor, director and screenwriter. He was born on 12 July 1948 in Jamesville, New York.
Burtt worked as sound designer on the original Star Wars trilogy (1977–1983) and the Indiana Jones series. He served as supervising sound editor and sound designer on the prequel trilogy, and edited Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). He has also contributed to films including Alien (1979), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and WALL·E (2008).
