Throughout the 21st century, Earth was governed by the Buy n Large megacorporation (BnL), causing mass consumerism and covering the planet in trash by 2105. In an attempt to resolve the situation, Earth's population was evacuated on fully automated luxury BnL starliners to spend five years on a cruise in space while an army of trash compactor robots named WALL-E were left behind to clean the planet. The plan largely failed, however, forcing humanity to remain in space indefinitely. Seven hundred years later, only one WALL-E unit still functions, having survived by salvaging parts for himself from his defunct brethren. This unit has developed sentience and a sense of emotion, particularly curiosity, as shown by his quirky habits. These range from collecting interesting items in the garbage and domesticating a cockroach to watching the film Hello, Dolly! and playing its show tunes. One night whilst viewing the film, WALL-E becomes fascinated by a scene in which a man and a woman are holding hands. From this he learns the concept of two life forms falling in love and conveying their feelings for one another through a simple gesture, and yearns to experience it himself.