Bienvenue chez les Robinson

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.

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.

"Meet the Robinsons" it's a good animated movie that coursed correct Disney Animation Studios, after a series of miss hits.

The story has some great messages and the overall movie had some good characters. but it was away from being great! The animation looks like is a different studio's production and the art decoration is rather pour.

Not to be negative, I recommend this one to every family and every animation lover, it's just not the best thing you will ever witness.

Lewis is an 12-year-old orphan who is always inventing things. However, in a science fair, he meets Wilbur, a 13-year-old boy from the future who is chasing after a Bowler Hat Man who came to the past to steal Lewis' invention, a machine that shows memories. When he steals it, Wilbur takes Lewis to the future, as Wilbur explains he is chasing the villain due to him stealing a time machine. This would lead to an adventure where Lewis meets Wilbur's family, The Robinsons, and stop The Bowler Hat Man from changing the future.

This is a horribly underrated film. The characters are actually enjoyable, especially the members of Wilbur's family, from Uncle Art, the galactic pizza delivery guy voiced by the late Adam West, to Tiny The T-Rex, each character has an unique personality and talent. Also, the film is beautifully animated and teaches a lesson: keep going forward, despite your failures. This is worth checking out.

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.