Meet the Robinsons (2007) (G)

Meet the Robinsons (2007) (G)
Directed by Stephen J. Anderson
Voices: Angela Bassett, Adam West, Tom Selleck, Harland Williams

Daughter Says:

Meet the Robinsons, a quirky family full of wisdom and funny jokes, but that's not the real story here. The real story is about a young kid named Lewis who wants to be an inventor. He starts out as an orphan who wishes for someone who would except him for who he is. But who is there to stop all of Lewis' dreams from coming true, none other than "the bowler hat guy". (Gee what a lame villain name. Maybe these guys needed another writer). Lewis is sent to the future to stop "the bowler hat guy" (Oh so taunting...not) from ruining everyone's future.

I won't tell you too much because I can't remember it all. I had the most trouble with remembering all the character's names. To write this review I had to refer to a source to remember just the main character's name, little less the secondary characters' names. Other than there being too many characters the overall story wasn't too horrible. I thought the story was really sweet. Lewis got what he wanted and so did "the bowler hat guy". (Wow it sounds lame down in this paragraph too, hmm maybe they should have rethought that).

I thought this movie was a wonderful kids movie. I highly suggest it for younger children around the ages of 5 to 9. (My brother really enjoyed it).

Rating for Meet the Robinsons: ***.

Daddy Says:

The first feature length animated film from the newly-formed Walt Disney Animation Studios (after Pixar left), Meet the Robinsons was in production for four years. I'd like to say that it's worth the wait, but the best I can offer is it's not too bad. A movie that lists seven writers for the script is one that you know wasn't a smooth ride from the start.

It probably would have made the movie too long to go into more of the characters that populate the quirky Robinson family, and I can see why there needed to be a lot of them, but I do wish that at least some attempt had been made to explain how they all got to be that way. When we meet the Vanderhof family in You Can't Take It With You, we accept their quirks because it is part of their family creed to support everyone's talent, no matter what that talent may be. The family motto of the Robinson's is "Keep Moving Forward", which still doesn't explain why one of them delivers pizzas, but thinks he's a superhero. As the villain of the film often says, I don't think they really thought this one all the way through.

I've seen a lot of time travel movies and TV shows, and I think I've got a pretty good idea about how it's supposed to work, at least as far as messing with the future goes. But I'm pretty sure that if you know how the future's supposed to be, even going so far as to have a great bonding moment with yourself as an adult, that things aren't going to turn out just the way you plan.

Oh, well. Put your brain in neutral and enjoy the show. It's well-animated, well-voiced by the actors, and is probably worth a rental. Just could have used a few more writers, I guess. Or one really good one.

Rating for Meet the Robinsons: ***3/4.