Meet the Robinsons (2007) Reviews

• Disney 'keeps moving forward'...

  cjd-162007-03-31

  The tagline of this movie is perfect... because it describes exactly what Meet the Robinsons means for the Disney Feature Animation studios... a step forward. Disney had been on a slide in the last few years... they were beginning to make cheap comedy movies with thin characters and story lines. I am happy to report that those days are over. Now, I'm sure many are wondering just what kind of influence John Lasseter has had on this film... and I can report that it is all positive. This movie could easily have been just as pointless as Chicken Little and The Wild... it could have been another thin comedy... but it wasn't. Here we finally have somewhat of a return to Disney's old style, where they make the audience laugh but also have a deep story with real-life problems and great characters. And I am happy to report that the humor is actually made with wit! There are no fart jokes, no potty humor, and the sidekick characters don't annoy the heck out of you. The first part of this movie, where we first see Lewis and Goob growing up at the orphanage, and then Lewis is whisked away to the future, is where all of my complaints lie. The beginning is very rushed, and does not give you a chance to really get to know Lewis or his feelings before he is whisked away into the future. And once he gets there, everything remains rushed. You meet the entire Robinson family in only about two minutes, and it's slightly overwhelming to have that much thrown at you. The opening of the future part is the part of the movie where you see what it COULD have been... a comedy that did nothing for you, and tried to overwhelm you with endless one-liners from wacky characters. But then the movie turns serious, the plot begins to unwind, and pace is much better. The characters become deeper and more realistic, their motivations and personalities shine through, and the storyline becomes absolutely fantastic. By the end of the movie, you really feel like you have been on an adventure. The main character shows hope, he develops and grows quite a bit through the course of the film, and there is a very uplifting message, from Walt Disney himself, to keep moving forward. So, overall, this is great family entertainment. The animation is quite good, much better than most other studios, but I don't think it's quite as great as some critics have made it out to be... maybe because I didn't get to see the 3-D version. But for me, it was the story that made the movie. Combine the great story, witty humor, and fun animation, and you have a movie that is definitely a step in the right direction for Disney. The motto could not be better placed... keep moving forward, and keep looking for better and better films from Walt Disney Pictures in the future.

• Disney is getting back on the right track

  AvBaur2007-03-22

  I'm writing reviews for a German movie website and thus got into a press screening of the new CG animated Disney movie "Meet the Robinsons" in Munich a little while ago. I'm a big animation fan myself and love many of the old Disney movies, although lately I've been more impressed with Pixar's films than anything Disney had to offer in the last few years. However, the story of this one is actually quite interesting and not as uninspired and generic as Disney's last traditionally animated feature Home on the Range or as messy as their first CG outing Chicken Little. It offers a number of nice surprises and even a good plot twist or two without causing too much of the old time-traveling headache. The humor also works quite well, although many of the jokes seem to be aimed at adults and little kids might not get all of them. (Didn't bother me, though…) Most importantly, this film does not contain a single fart joke nor any talking animals or even animal sidekicks (except for those singing frogs you might have seen in the trailers, but they're really not the same thing). I don't know how close this adaptation is to William Joyce's novel "A Day With Wilbur Robinson", as I've never read anything Joyce has written, but it all works pretty well and manages to be an exiting and entertaining family adventure movie. One aspect of the movie that works particularly well is the design. The buildings, machines and landscapes of the future really look totally cool and have a very own look that is inspired by Joyce's illustrations and various visions of the future from the 50ies and 60ies. They're beautifully rendered, too. Furthermore, the animation is pretty awesome. The movements of the quirky characters are very fast but funny and cleverly stylized. The best example for this is the Bowler Hat Guy who moves in a unique style that makes him look like a giant Spider. This really is a welcome change from the hyper-realistic motion capturing stuff we've been seeing in a lot of movies lately. The character design isn't so bad either. However, the humans don't look quite as good as the ones in The Incredibles, the stylization of some characters makes them look a little too artificial for my taste. The voice-acting, which relies on solid voice actors and luckily doesn't involve any fancy stunt casting, leaves nothing to be desired. Danny Elfman's score is pretty fine, too. I could have done without the cheesy pop songs that were played at some parts of the film, though. Altogether, I highly recommend seeing this warmhearted family film to any animation fan. It might not be as good as my Pixar favorites The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, but it sure is a lot better than most of the other studios' wisecracking-and-farting-animal flicks. With Pixar's John Lasseter pulling the strings at Disney's animation unit now, they finally seem to be getting back on the right track and I'm looking forward to their next projects, especially the traditionally animated The Frog Princess. One last thing: as some of you might have heard, Disney wants to start putting original animated shorts in front of their feature films again. Meet the Robinsons kind of makes a start by showing the old Mickey, Donald & Goofy short Boat Builders in the beginning. It's a great experience to see one of those on the big screen again and the kids in the audience apparently loved it.

• "Back to the Future" meets "The Incredibles"

  mapar2007-03-31

  Somewhere Walt Disney must be smiling. "Meet the Robinsons" is the perfect, unlikely marriage of manic, absurd humor, eye-popping visuals and honest-to-goodness emotional depth. It is a close cousin to the first "Back to the Future," yet it feels completely original at the same time. The 3-D animation works seamlessly within the story. It is not played for a cheesy gimmick (like, for example, "Spy Kids 3-D"...groan). In fact, it is so well integrated into the narrative that you could almost take it for granted, so it's a good thing that at the heart of "Meet the Robinsons" there is a wonderfully entertaining story. In typical Disney fashion the central character is a motherless (and in this case, fatherless) youth -- however this time it is not merely a device whose sole purpose is to leave him unencumbered to embark on his own adventure. In fact, his orphaned status and quest to find the mother that left him at the orphanage as a baby IS the point of his journey. But there's no room for sugary sap here, thanks to an almost unending stream of quirky characters and plot twists. Of course stories like this can't succeed without a great villain. In this case the filmmakers have managed to craft a bumbling villain who is simultaneously hilarious, sympathetic and just menacing enough to keep the tension going. He reminded me of Snidely Whiplash, Mack the Knife, and the magician from Rankin-Bass' "Frosty the Snowman," all rolled into one. This movie has all the seat-of-your-pants fun of a great amusement park ride and still manages to make you (well...me) cry at the end. The deft combination of love and laughs results in a movie that stays with you well after the lights have come up, leaving you wanting more. It is rare nowadays for and entire audience of moviegoers to spontaneously burst into applause at the end, but that's what occurred when the credits began to roll for this film. "Meet the Robinsons" is loaded with enough heart, rapid fire jokes and blink-and-you'll-miss-them sight gags to make it worth repeated viewings. We can't wait for the eventual DVD release -- hopefully in 3-D. Come to think of it, we REALLY can't wait, so we're going to see it again on the big screen.

• I was pleasantly surprised at how much a 50's something mom of a teenager liked this movie.

  mummy992007-04-02

  I went to the theater this afternoon to catch an R-rated film and goofed on the times. The only movie available in my time frame allowed was Meet the Robinsons. I reluctantly bought a ticket and was pleasantly rewarded with a movie experience that reminded me very much of my childhood. When we got to go to the movies in the 50's and 60's, there were trailers, followed by the newsreel and then a cartoon before the main attraction. The non-three D version started with non-R rated trailers, followed by a Mickey Mouse cartoon (loved it!) and then the main feature. It was very entertaining to sit back and relax and not worry about the good guys dying, the amount of slaughter that would be portrayed, or that there wouldn't be a positive message at the end. As an adult, there were enough references to keep me entertained and from the sounds of the kids in the theater, they were obviously enjoying this movie. I would highly recommend it to all but the crankiest movie-goers, and I personally loved the quote from Uncle Walt at the end of the movie. When I was little, our whole family watched Walt Disney every Sunday and I particularly remember when it changed to Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Walt Disney was a man ahead of his time and I really miss his adventurous spirit and inquisitive mind. He introduced and ended each episode and I really enjoyed seeing him every week. I wish that Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color was still on every week and that new episodes would still be made.

• All round feel-good family movie

  checkbox2007-03-25

  I saw an advance screening of 'Meet The Robinsons' today with the family and all of us thoroughly enjoyed it. After getting a bit sick of recent CGI animal flicks (with the possible exception of Flushed Away), this was a refreshing change. An intriguing storyline revolves around orphan Lewis who, as a 12-year old, is an up-and-coming inventor, and dreams of building a time machine to find out who his mother was. He meets a mysterious boy Wilbur Robinson who tries to save him from the equally mysterious man with the bowler hat. We are then drawn into a time travel story that, while having as many paradoxes as Back To The Future, ends with some interesting plot twists. We saw the movie in 3D - and while there were a few "especially for 3D" visual effects, such as flying food - the 3D was not overdone and did not detract from the story.