The Bottom Line
Pros
- Beautifully animated with bright, eye-catching colors for kids
- Packed with powerful lessons for the young ones
- A sprinkling of jokes just for adults
Cons
- Overloaded with characters
Description
- Voices provided by Tom Selleck, Angela Bassett, Jordan Fry, Harland Williams, and Nicole Sullivan
- Based on the book "A Day with Wilbur Robinson" by William Joyce
- Director Stephen Anderson also supplies the voices of Bowler Hat Guy, Tallulah and Grandpa Bud
- Rated G
- Theatrical Release Date: March 30, 2007
Guide Review - Meet the Robinsons Movie Review
Abandoned as a baby on the steps of an orphanage, Lewis fills his formative years inventing a strange array of appliances. By the age of 12 he's been turned down by over a hundred potential adoptive families and it appears as though he'll never find a real home. But Lewis' sad tale changes when one of his bizarre devices prompts a visit from a teen from the future. Apparently Lewis is destined for greatness, if only he doesn't give up on himself. That lesson, along with others of equal importance regarding friendship and family, fill the 92 minute running time of Meet the Robinsons.
There's a lot of story packed into Meet the Robinsons and not much time is spent on any one element. While that's distracting for adults (it's kind of like watching a film that suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder), the benefit is younger audience members don't have the time to get bored with any particular character or scene.
As with most animated offerings, the Meet the Robinsons screenwriters lob a few jokes over the heads of kids, but nothing that takes the film out of its soft G rating. And as with most kid-friendly films, the animators throw in a little background animation adults will pick up on and get a chuckle or two over (including the very obvious Disneyland references and a nod at mob films).
Meet the Robinsons is basically just for kids and Disney knows that audience better than any studio currently in operation. Adults should only attend if they've got a young one in tow or are really into singing frogs and goofy dinosaurs.
Grade: B
