Meet The Robinsons

March 31, 2007

Rated: G Runtime: 102 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Disney has two divisions making computer-animated movies these days, Pixar and Walt Disney Feature Animation. Pixar is a tough act to follow, but the other division’s first theatrical complete-CGI debut, Chicken Little, was impressive.

Now comes the even more impressive Meet the Robinsons.

Instead of the usual Disney single-parent kid, this time the protagonist is an orphan, hoping to get adopted by a family so he can leave his orphanage. He’s also a genius inventor, and he’s readying his latest invention for his school’s science fair.

Enter two time travelers from the future, a kid who wants his invention for good, a bad guy who wants it for evil. It’s like a less violent version of The Terminator.

Eventually our hero gets catapulted to the future, where he meets the future-kid’s eccentric family in their equally eccentric house. They’re something like the science fiction version of the family in Frank Capra’s You Can’t Take it With You.

Little kids are going to like this for the 3-D and the slapstick. Older kids will be able to actually follow the convolutions of the time travel plot. I’d think that there might be an age range in-between who are left a little bewildered by it though.

The voicework is nicely done, without being overpowered by trying to get too many recognizable voices.

A lot of Pixar’s movies are movies for adults that can be enjoyed by kids. This is the reverse, it’s definitely a kid’s movie, but there’s plenty of humor which adults will enjoy.

And the animation is stellar. On many screens this is being released in 3-D, not just in IMAX theaters. The 3-D is very impressive; special glasses are still required, but they’re a far cry from the old red-and-green lense glasses.

Posted by Mack Guffin | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, Adam West, Angela Bassett, Comedy, G, Laurie Metcalf, SciFi, Theatrical, Tom Selleck