Review of Meet the Robinsons (2007) by Doctor P — 23 Aug 2011

1st in the Lasseter Era.

At this point John Lasseter (Head Honcho if you will, from Pixar) Had been placed in charge of the animated films from Disney animation considering that this film was already past midway through development, an extra year was given to better the film,in fact 60% of it was scrapped and redone, so the question is did they improve it? Also worth noting was that this was the first film to carry the Disney Animation opening logo.

The graphics on the film are a notable improvement over the previous cg film from the studio. The humans look a little plastic like, and don't have much detail, but everything else looks great the amount of detail put in the surroundings and clothing is great. The character designs aren't interesting, but they aren't exactly bad. The only character who actually looks pretty good is the villain who looks like a homage to Dick Dastardly from various Hanna-Barbera cartoons, but more on him later. Continuing from "Chicken Little" this film provides a sort of 2D like movement, it's a little improved but still not very amazing( To this critic it wasn't really perfected in a cg film until "Horton Hears a Who" for any that are wondering), so all in all the animation could be best described as suffice.

The film's characters have their charms, Lewis the protagonist is voiced by Daniel Hansen and Jordan Fry (the latter being brought in for changes in the story) who voice him well enough, the character is not the most interesting protagonist from the canon but he certainly has heart to his character, something that was lacking in some of the previous films. The Bowler Hat Guy is voiced wonderfully by Director Stephen J. Anderson, providing a goofy villain reminiscent of old school cartoon TV show villains( mainly Dick Dasterdly), also quite possibly the most entertaining Disney villain in quite some time. The Bowler Hat Guy is someone you see as more of a comical character from the beginning, yet grows to be one the audience might feel sorry for considering revelations as to what led him to become evil, and as more is revealed you still get the laughs while also beginning to realize that maybe the true menace isn't him as it is someone hiding behind him(or lying on top). Everyone else does a well enough job and well provide a good laugh. There's a good in-joke in the film about someone who provides a small cameo, it won't be mentioned by who in this review, but the film gives an obvious hint.

The story has heart to it(added thanks to Mr. Lasseter) which can result in a teary ending for some. Young orphan Lewis is a genius who just wants his mother, but when a problem appears at his chance of finding her he's sent to the future where he meets a family so strange and weird, now he must find a way back to his own time while avoiding a man who plans to ruin his life. The ads for the film did not really do justice for the film, making it look like another "Chicken Little" kind of film, when it actually was actually more heartfelt and provided humor that wasn't so pop culture reliant. The film is not perfect though, there's a reason why there's a lot of hate for the film (aside from the "it's cg! and cg suxor and ztuff" rant some of the more ignorant give) and it's mostly from the middle act. Admittedly the middle act while not the worst is just not really fitting with the first and final acts, though there's good humor in those acts the middle one acts more silly and just wastes some time. Still it's not all that bad so some may get through it without being too annoyed.

"Meet The Robinsons" is a huge improvement over the last film, though it is still one with mixed reactions, if more time was allowed from exec John Lasseter, the middle act could not only have been improved but the film would have been more effective for everyone. Sadly the deadline when he stepped in was only a year away.

Up Next: American Dog Directed by Chris Sanders... wait what do you mean no Mr. Lasseter?