Flight of the Navigator was indeed awesome. To this day, when given a task, I will often mutter to myself "Compliance!" Unfortunately, it is also horribly dated - it's an eighties movie through and through.

I know Wall-E is going to be awesome this year, but will it be a classic(like E.T.)?

I also like that Pixar always makes kid movies that adults can enjoy - I crack up every time he puts that bra on his head.

Since I have a vastly larger definition of "classic" than most people (I consider a lot of movies classics for many different reasons) I'd say I'm usually more forgiving.

Hmmm, last iconic movie I can think of? Well, sticking to animation, I'd say Incredibles, as it was a fresh and stylish look at the superhero genre. For films in general, I'd say Cloverfield definitely, as I sat enthalled for every single second of it and it's unlikely that I'll see another giant monster movie done that well in a long time. I would agree that the Matrix was iconic (I've also managed to completely banish the sequels in my mind) for many of the same reasons listed above: it was a refreshing and engrossing take on a familiar (some could say tired) genre.

I think an iconic movie manages what Brad Bird calls "the incredible and the mundane". It has moments of epic storytelling in a larger than life setting without forgetting the small and vulnerable characters at the heart of the story.

E.T. was iconic to me because it made me care (and yes, even cry - I was very young) about this little tiny alien and the growing friendship between him and Elliot. In the midst of spaceships, alien visitors, and government agencies, the movie is at heart the story of these two misunderstood weirdos finding a true friend in each other.

Cloverfield for all it's explosions, destruction, giant monsters, and army attacks is still just about a small group of friends and how they cope with the disaster. The Matrix, beyond the lobby scene and bullet-time is about a small group of aimless survivors finding in Neo a greater meaning and purpose for themselves.

With the giant science fiction background Wall-E is set in, and the love story in the middle of it all, I think it's quite possible that it could be an iconic film.

...or it could just be a cute little popcorn movie.

;)