There are some movies that have you running out of the theatre as soon as the credits roll, and there are some movies that make you want to watch until the last credit rolls. Wall-e was one of the latter, it was a very enjoyable movie, and I was in no hurry to leave the cinema when the credits began to roll.

This was quite fortunate, since the ending credits contain some of the most creative scenes in the movie. The story of humankind is told in a series of images that tell of the progression of humans from the Stone Age to the Age of the Computer, if I may coin that last term. As I watched, I was pleasantly surprised to see works from the various schools of art that I knew and loved displayed on the big screen.

To be quite honest, I felt a bit like someone enjoying an inside joke. A lot of people were leaving the theatre, and those who remained paid little attention to the scenes unfolding — a sorry commentary on the state of art education in this country, but that is a topic for another blog post — while I sat enjoying some of the most creative scenes in the movie. I would go as far as saying that the ending credits of Wall-e are an art-form in their own right.

In this post, I will share with you some of the images that had me smiling with pleasure as the credits rolled. So, lets start with the first image that hinted at the awesomeness that was still to come.

Stage One: Stone Age

This is the first image that begins the journey of humanity’s progress from the stone ages to the present day. As soon as I saw it, something clicked.

The crude drawing of the spaceship and people coming out of it reminded me of the cave paintings that I used to pore over during the time I passed through my “UFO phase” — believe it or not, I once thought that UFOs had visited the Earth in the past, and I pored over books which contained cave paintings which purportedly proved this.

Below is an actual cave painting from the Magura cave in Bulgaria. As can be seen, the similarities are obvious.

When I saw this title card, I got a feeling that something special was about to happen. This was confirmed by the next title card.

Stage Two: Fertile Crescent Civilizations

As can be seen, this is an obvious reference to the first stages of human civilization, as exemplified by the civilizations of the “Fertile Crescent”. Specifically, this reminded me of Egyptian wall paintings. Even if it was not an exact match, it was close enough to the art of the Fertile Crescent and the Eastern Mediterranean to give the general idea of that stage of human development.

Here is an image of an actual Egyptian wall painting for reference, you will notice that the actual wall painting and the Wall-e title card are stylistically similar enough to get the message through to the audience.

Stage Three: Middle Ages

At this point in the movie, I got the gist of what they were trying to do and eagerly awaited the next title card. The next title card I recognized belonged to the Middle Ages. At least as far as I could tell, I came to this conclusion because the painting lacked perspective — it was essentially flat — and used a style that looked like stained glass. Below is the image from the Wall-e closing credits.

Here is an example of Middle Ages art to make this point clearer. The lack of perspective is there, but the image does not use stained glass, although stained glass was very popular during that period.

Stage Four: Impressionism

The Impressionism school of art received special favor in the ending credits, I will highlight three of the scenes that I immediately recognized in this section.

The image below reminded me of Claude Monet’s Sunrise.

Here is Claude Monet’s Sunrise for reference.

The next two Wall-e title cards combined features of several Van Gogh paintings, here are the Wall-e title cards.

And here are the Van Gogh paintings that inspired them.

Olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background — Van Gogh


Close up of Sunflowers — Van Gogh

Wheat Field With Cypresses — Van Gogh

Fifth Stage: Pointillism

This is the final “real” school of art represented in the closing credits of Wall-e, for some reason they did not use minimalism, surrealism or abstract impressionism, they also skipped the Baroque, Rococo and Academic schools of art. Here is the title card that represents Pointillism in the movie.

And here is the painting it was inspired by

The Seine At Le Grande Jatte — Georges Seurat

Final Stage: 8-bit Computer Art

The last stage of art represented in the ending credits is the 8-bit computer art stage. Here is the title card that represent this stage of art.

And there you go, that was the conclusion of one of the most creative closing credits I ever saw in a movie. The ending credits were actually part of the story, letting us know that humans prospered and thrived on Earth once they came back. I hope this blog post increases your enjoyment of this awesome movie. If you would like to read more about the art of Wall-E, I highly recommend this book: Wall-e Art. You could also check out my post on the environmental message of the ending credits here.

10 Comments

  • samer, July 7, 2012 @ 2:23 pm Reply

    i didn’t watch the film yet … But Awesome article made me excited to see it !! downloading it now ๐Ÿ˜€

    • Neotheone1981, July 7, 2012 @ 2:34 pm Reply

      Cool, it’s an awesome movie, enjoy ๐Ÿ˜€

  • Finx O'Mally, December 14, 2012 @ 11:35 pm Reply

    Found this by searching to find out who the artist were for the credits. I’ve always watched them everytime I watch the film, but never realised the depth of it. Thank you for shining the light on what was going on.

  • Jean-Louis Berthoud, January 25, 2014 @ 12:47 am Reply

    As I finished watching Wall-E for the “Idon’tknowhowmanytimes”th time, I finally paid attention to the amazing ending credits, and as I recognized some works of art, I admit in shame that some eluded me. Thanks for the in depth article about it. ๐Ÿ™‚
    May I just propose a few “alternate” analyses?
    1. What else / 2. Mesopotamian art 2′. Ancient Egypt / 3. Greek 3′. (Seeing how simple it is, I would rather say ancient Mosaic) Roman or Greek / 4. (Middle Age was skipped to go to the renaissance, Da Vinci style sketches) Renaissance / 5. (Quite clearly) Impressionism 5′. (Confused between Monet for the feel of the painting and tuner for the light shading used) 5”. 5”’. and 6. couldn’t have said it better. ๐Ÿ˜€
    Thanks again, let me know what you think.

  • Samantha Williams, May 12, 2020 @ 12:23 am Reply

    Do you or anyone know if there is an actual copy of the scene in a painting form that reminds you of Claude Monetโ€™s Sunrise?

  • VO, September 10, 2022 @ 1:21 pm Reply

    Glad I’m not the only one who noticed…

  • Pablo Saura Klein, March 15, 2023 @ 9:59 am Reply

    Hey, that’s incredible work!
    It’s moving to see that I’m not the only one to be touched
    by this beautiful piece of art.
    Yet, there is one thing I didn’t quite agree with in your analysis.
    The “Middle Ages” painting, I wouldn’t say, depicts stained glass.
    It instead reminded me of cobblestones.
    It’s just lovely to see the creativity and emotion such a team of colorful,
    incomparable artists can bring up.

    Have a great day friend!

  • Environmental Message of Wall-E and itโ€™s Ending Credits - Neotheone's Thoughts, May 6, 2023 @ 12:29 pm Reply

    […] about environmentalism and consumerism. It is also one of my favorite movies, one that I have written about before. Throughout the movie, Wall-E learns about the dangers of overconsumption and the importance of […]

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