YouTube Finally Pulls Full Pixar Movie After It Already Got Over 1M Views

On August 22, 2024, YouTube user Jupiter uploaded the full Wall-E movie to the video-sharing platform under the title “Wall E Full Movie!” After 3 days, the video had 1.4 million views, as evidenced by a screenshot taken by X user Bob Pony, who was perplexed by how it evaded YouTube’s content ID.

YouTube responded to Bob Pony’s post five days after the Wall-E copy was initially uploaded. “Jumping in here: thanks for flagging this. the vid has now been taken down,” TeamYouTube wrote on X. However, Bob Pony seemingly debunked YouTube’s claim, sharing a screenshot revealing that the initial uploader made the Wall-E copy private. 

Bob Pony also defended themselves against claims that they had reported the video to YouTube. “One more thing I’ll add to this tweet, others claimed I’ve reported to YouTube. [I] did not. To be honest, that video was bound to be taken down eventually, especially with the amount of views it has got. I’ve originally made this tweet just to just [sic] show the wildest thing I’ve seen on YouTube,” Bob Pony wrote in response to several X users blaming him for the Wall-E copy being removed. “Also I didn’t even [mention] any of YouTube’s official accounts in this nor DM’d them about it. Some social media manager accidentally misworded it.”

YouTube’s failure to promptly remove the video is likely baffling to Bob Pony and others due to the platform’s reputation for quickly removing content that violates its content policies. Disney—the parent company of Pixar Animation Studios—is also notoriously protective of its copyrighted material. In January 2024, Mashable reported that Disney retracted a copyright claim on voice actor Brock Baker’s Steamboat Willie video on YouTube. The video featured the entire Steamboat Willie film with Baker’s remixed audio track playing over the footage. Baker successfully disputed the swiftly issued copyright claim, his case likely bolstered by Steamboat Willie entering the public domain on January 1, 2024.

It’s still unclear how Wall-E, a movie that’s earned its place on our best romance in sci-fi list, remained on YouTube for so long without being detected. Bob Pony and other X users can only speculate that the uploader found a loophole in the system or the YouTube team simply missed it.