Joe Morgenstern: WALL-E for Best Picture!

Film criticJoe Morgenstern says exactly what I was thinking after I saw WALL-E the first time... and the second time...

If the pattern of the past seven years prevails, "WALL-E" will be nominated for the Best Animated Feature category; if justice prevails, it will win. But "WALL-E" isn't just an animated feature; it's a great motion picture by any measure, and has already been hailed as such -- by critics who've called it a masterpiece (I'm one of them), by audiences who watch it in a state of enthrallment (which is one notch up from enchantment). In keeping with its singular distinction, Pixar's latest gift to movie lovers should be a candidate for the most prestigious award, Best Picture, when Oscar time rolls around. And the time to start the drumbeat is now, because the path to that nomination is strewn with prickly practicalities and marked by timeworn doubts.