WALL-E Weekend
a Mini-Peter Adventure transcribed by Nikki

2 July, 2008: All this over a song and a robot!

     We found out a few months ago that Real Peter was writing and recording a song for the new Pixar movie, WALL-E. Mini-Peter didn't know what Pixar was, but he was thrilled about the new song at the very least! He's never had the attention span for full-length movies, but when I told him how cool Pixar's movies were, he promised he'd try watching the whole movie.

     As I've mentioned before, I'm a projectionist at a movie theatre. Mini-Peter came to work with me once and learned about the projection booth in his adventure The Mini-Projectionist. When I told him we had a life-sized WALL-E display to advertise the movie, he had to come in again and "meet" it.

     As June 27th, the magical release date, drew closer and closer, Mini-Peter got more and more excited. He decided that he wanted to see the first show on the first day it came out. I was working night shifts all weekend, but I was excited too, so I agreed that we could get up early on Friday to see it.

     On Friday morning, Mini-Peter was jumping up and down all over my bed at 8am, wearing his best Orange shirt that he saved for very special occasions. There was no way he was going to let me sleep, so I gave in and got ready to go. I reminded him to bring his hoodie in case it got cold in the theatre, and we were off. We arrived very early. So early, in fact, that there was nobody in the box office yet.

     "Where are they?" he asked worriedly. "Have they forgotten to come in today?"
     "No, they wouldn't forget. It's too early. They'll be here soon, just relax!"

     So we waited in the car listening to Ovo until finally someone arrived to let us in. Our tickets were free because I work at the theatre, but there was no such luck at the concession stand. Mini-Peter had been saving his money, so he had enough for popcorn.

     "You can't possibly eat that much popcorn, can you?" I asked.
     "Of course I can!" he assured me.
     "Well okay... it's your money."

     We got the best seats in the house and Mini-Peter got comfortable with his popcorn. Somehow, I ended up holding his hoodie, which he didn't need after all.

     As the lights went down, he gasped with excitement, and I put my camera away for fear of being dragged out and accused of pirating. Mini-Peter was absolutely enthralled for every second of the next two hours, cheering and laughing and crying and cheering some more, until finally the end credits rolled.
     "This is it!!" he squealed as the new song played. He jumped to his feet and danced around all over his chair, even singing along once he had learned the chorus. When the lights finally came up, his popcorn bag was empty and his heart was full of pure joy.
     "Let's watch it again!" he begged. "Please??"
     "I still have to work later, Mini-Peter. Please let me go home and rest first. Maybe we can come and see it again tomorrow."
     "Ohhhh, all right," he agreed, still too happy from the movie to be disappointed by anything.

     I half expected Mini-Peter to sneak to work with me again, but he didn't. I got home to find that he had spent the entire evening telling his fluffy friends all about this wonderful new experience called "going to the movies". They'd gone online and watched the trailer a few dozen times, and they'd even gone into my iTunes account and purchased "Down To Earth" so they could listen to it again and again. Now Teddy, Kitty and Lugnut all wanted to see the movie, too! I managed to talk them into seeing the second show of the day instead of the first so I could get a whole eight hours of sleep before having to work again on Saturday night.

     This time, they all chipped in for candy instead of popcorn.

     "Is Buncha-Crunch okay with everyone?" Mini-Peter asked, and everyone agreed, so we took our candy and found exactly the same seats we'd had the previous day.
     "Are you ready?" Mini-Peter asked his friends.
     "Yes, I can't wait!" exclaimed Kitty.
     "This is so exciting!" cried Lugnut.
     Teddy was too excited to speak - he just stared at the massive screen in anticipation and awe.

     "They were all captivated and entranced by the animated robots and the wonderful futuristic story, and they all danced and sang along to "Down the Earth" when it finally played at the end. I dropped them off at home and went back to work my eight hours, and I found them that night sound asleep, dreaming happily, mumbling about WALL-E and EVE and the lazy humans and the crazy rogue robots.

     While one trip to the movies was plenty of excitement for the others, Mini-Peter just couldn't get enough. He talked me into going again on Sunday - this would have to be the last time, I told him, and he agreed. This time, he got an Icee, and drank almost the whole thing before the movie even started. "It's like food in a cup," he giggled, referring to an item in the movie.
     "I hope you haven't completely missed the point of the story," I said suspiciously, wondering if maybe buying goodies every time we came had been a mistake.
     "Of course not! It tastes good as a treat, but I could never live on this stuff. It just reminded me, that's all."
     "Okay," I laughed. "Now make sure you really enjoy it this time, because we're not coming to see it again. We'll buy the DVD when it comes out, but that won't be for months.
     He nodded quietly as the lights went down and the trailers started.
     As I looked over at Mini-Peter during the movie, he was so spellbound by every instant of it that I simply couldn't resist taking out my camera, carefully making sure that the flash and sound were off and that no-one was watching. I had no intention of photographing the movie, but I just had to get a picture of Mini-Peter watching WALL-E and EVE dance out in space.

     I put my camera away and watched the rest of it with him, enjoying it every bit as much as the first time - maybe even more. It was a beautiful story with adorable characters and a powerful lesson, and it had lived up to every expectation I'd had and more.

     As the lights came up for the final time, Mini-Peter just stared at the screen for another minute. He sighed a bittersweet sigh that I understood all too well, but it's just another of life's difficult lessons that magic moments must pass. After all, if we spent our whole lives doing exactly what we wanted to do, we'd lose the ability to appreciate it, and we wouldn't get try new things or see the little magic all around us. That was just one of many important lessons that this movie taught, and as we left the theatre, I could tell Mini-Peter had learned it well.

     "Thank you for taking me to see the movie," he said on the way home. "It's been one of the best weekends of my life!"
     "You're very welcome," I replied. "I had fun too, even though I'm tired."
     "If you're not too tired tomorrow, do you think we could go for a walk?"
     "I think that could be arranged. Why do you want to do that?"
     "I want to look at flowers and maybe try starting my own garden again."
     "That's a great idea. Maybe if the sky is clear at night we can go stargazing, too."
     "Do you know all the constellations?"
     "I used to know most of them, but I've forgotten a lot. I get too busy to notice the sky, but I've always loved it. I'll have to dig out my books so we can learn everything again."
     "That sounds wonderful!" He sighed with a smile.
     I sighed too, and smiled at the thought of stargazing again. Looks like even I can do with a good reminder of lessons I thought I already knew.