- "Because at BnL, space is the final fun-tier!"
- —Shelby Forthright in BnL promo
Shelby Forthright is a character in WALL•E.
WALL•E[]
Shelby secretly informing all AUTO units that Operation Cleanup has failed.
Shelby Forthright was the CEO of the megacorporation Buy n Large in the early 22nd century. Under his lead, he pushed his company to expand its efforts in making humanity's world easier, more comfortable and pleasant. However, with its advancements in technology, the corporation caused garbage problems to amass due to consumerism facilitating the corporation. In 2105, Forthright came up with a plan to evacuate Earth, as it was too choked with trash. He also proposed Operation Recolonize, in which trash compactor robots and mobile incinerators would clean up the Earth while humanity stayed aboard starships like the Axiom. However, after a few years, an exhausted and disappointed Shelby Forthright was convinced that the operation had failed. He felt that the air was too toxic to supply life on Earth, so he decided to cancel the operation and let mankind live in space forever.
He secretly sent Directive A-113 to all AUTO units without informing the other BnL Captains. After the evacuation of Earth, Shelby Forthright's fate is left unknown though it is implied that he left aboard a ship to join the citizens in space, since he is heard saying, "Let's get the heck outta here" when he puts on an oxygen anti-toxic mask before walking off.
Unbeknownst to Forthright, the cleanup actually was successful as plant life began to grow on earth. it is presumed that Directive A-113 was shut down afterwards once AUTO was disabled, allowing other ships to return to Earth without any conflict from their autopilots.
Trivia[]
- Forthright is long deceased by the time WALL•E began, as it had been 700 years since he had ordered the pilots to stay in space.
- He is the second live-action character to appear in a Pixar film after the goldfish Chuckles in Finding Nemo, through Chuckles just appeared as a non-moving photography. Director Andrew Stanton shot Fred Willard's scenes personally and described Forthright as "[a] lovable car salesman." Willard reprises his role as narration for some of the bonus features (the BnL shorts) on the WALL•E DVD and Blu-ray.
- His name is a play on the phrase "shall be forthright".
- Shelby Forthright has somewhat of a resemblance to former US president Ronald Reagan, who died in 2004, 4 years before WALL•E's release.
- Shelby Forthright showing his fingers could be a reference to former U.S. President Richard Nixon's famous "I'm not a crook speech".