Bienvenue chez les Robinson

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.

From the second dark age of Disney the movies were rather hit or miss. Most of them lacked the same creative spark and wit of earlier productions, but once they hit rock bottom with the embarrasing Home On The Range and the ugly mean spirited Chicken Little they steadily rose from the ashes.

Despite having a pacing problem I wil not consider Meet The Robinsons a bad movie, because it's definitely more good-natured that aforementioned Chicken Little. The message is about believing in yourself and keeping your head up even when things seem hopeless. Its message isn't sugar coated or hammered in so credits to the writers for getting that right.

But yeah, as well intentioned as it might be, the pacing problem takes away the final punch that could make the movie a forgotten gem, but we get so many characters and jokes thrown at us from time to time that we don't get to know the side characters fully.

But overall a good expirience. Underrated? Yes. Masterpiece? No. But it has its moments which makes it worth your time.

Was a little "ify" about taking my 5 and 2 year old daughter's to this movie. Actually was concerned that it may not hold their attention. Based on some reviews, I honestly didn't think I would care for it.

Being a huge fan of Disney's work, but seeing their young target audience erode to the digital-only studios, I was hoping they'd come back to strong story lines.

Well, Meet the Robinsons was a surprise to me. Had a great story line, extremely visually appealing, awesome voicing (I do professional voice work so have a different appreciation for this), and an all-round great movie.

The only negative thing I must say (without spoiling the movie) is that when it came down to the part of the movie where it changes and you see much more of the hat in the future (again, don't worry.. no spoiler in this info) both of my daughters were pretty frightened and jumped to my lap. The visuals and content during this part of the movie really took on a different edge (color/music changes, etc.) As far as making it to frightening, I would hate in retrospect to see it changed to be a little more "small kid friendly". I would say that it might be a much better movie for children over 7 or 8 to see. I have to say again that as an adult, I thought it was really great.

One of the features of this movie I thought was clearly outstanding was the musical composition (and songs) that Danny Elfman (Nightmare, Corpse Bride, Simpsons, and a million other compositions) did. One particular song is such an awesome, up-beat, fun song that I really hope Disney puts a push behind it to give it radio airplay. (I'm also a former radio jock in Dover, Athens, Akron, Cleveland, Denver, Fort Collins, and Madrid-Spain) Certainly Elfman has written some great and memorable music ("What's This? - Nightmare Before Christmas), but I'd have to say the music in Robinsons is some of his finest.

I'd sum this all up in saying that, like the Disney tradition, this is story with great writing, great music, a lesson to be learned, and fun in general. It might be a little too much for the very little kids (even Beauty & The Beast or Aladdin had parts that could be frightening to very little kids though). I get (and hope) that Disney stays on the course they've moved with Robinsons. It's nice to see Disney getting back to their roots for story telling, yet moving forward (Shrek-like) with their animation and modern feel.

On a side-note: Ironically, the new opening cartoon (Mikey, Donald & Goofy build a boat cartoon) was made to feel very old by Disney. Audio was clearly intentionally "warbled" (for old-time 1920's/1930's affect). It was shot in 4x4 ration (not TV's 4x3 or Cinemascope) And drawn images were full of dirt-type flaws (specs that were on their drawings and not on the lens of the camera or projector and they "jumped" throughout the short cartoon). Very tradition cartoon which traces back to the Walt Disney roots. Wondered if it hadn't been placed to really show the contrast of the original Disney and the new Disney.

This is a movie like Big Hero 6. It is full of fun and wonder, I wish they had done a second. Love it :)

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.