It amazes me that this has happened. It’s been almost 50 years since these songs were written, and they’re gonna have new lives. You don’t ever expect that in a lifetime. You’re very blessed if you have one “Hello, Dolly,” but to have “Hello, WALL•E” now is more than you dare to dream about.

—Jerry Herman, who wrote Hello, Dolly, on the revitalization of his musical in WALL•E. What a refreshing sentiment, in this era of perpetual copyright and hyperinflated ego, that someone would just be thrilled that people get to enjoy his work generations later.