Curb Your Enthusiasm actor Jeff Garlin has joined the cast of Pixar's latest venture, WALL-E.  The upcoming CGI animated feature film, set in the future, follows the story of the last robot on Earth, whose main task is to clean up the litter caused by rampant consumerism.  In the process, he falls in love with Eve, a robot from a probe sent to Earth to monitor WALL-E's progress.

Also part of the cast is Fred Willard (Everybody Loves Raymond, Mad About You).  Willard will play the CEO of the BuyNLarge Corporation, an incompetent company that supplies the clean-up robots.  His role will be the first non-animated character to appear in a Pixar film.

WALL-E is not the first film that features both Garlin, who plays Jeff Greene in Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Willard.  Both actors appeared in the 1999 comedy, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, which starred comedian Mike Myers (Saturday Night Live).

Like Willard, Garlin has had previous experience working as a voice actor.  He has lent his voice to characters in such productions as The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators!, Crank Yankers and King of the Hill.

Aside from his work on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Jeff Garlin is also known for his portrayal of Mort Myers on FOX's Arrested Development.  As for the big screen, his credits include Daddy Day Care, Bounce, Hooked and After the Sunset.

WALL-E, wherein Jeff Garlin will reportedly voice the Captain, is written and directed by Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life).  The film is being perceived as a huge risk for Pixar, as the first third of the movie does not contain any dialogue.  Nevertheless, the film has been receiving positive buzz from moviegoers.  It will be released in 2008.  In the same year, The Rocker, a comedy featuring Garlin, Rainn Wilson (The Office) and Christina Applegate (Samantha Who?), will also be released.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: www.animated-news.com, IMDB, www.hollywoodchicago.com
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