Review of Meet the Robinsons (2007) by Jeff B — 05 Apr 2011

Meandering back to H'Wood?s Golden Age, history will prove that the content of cartoon short subjects like Looney Toons was decidedly aimed at a mature audience. It was only with the legendary rise of Walt Disney?s family-friendly animated division that these waters became muddied. Ironically, Disney is responsible for the likeable but flawed Meet the Robinsons, a concoction borne during the interim of their on-again/off-again partnership with computer animation house Pixar. With successes like Toy Story and Finding Nemo, Pixar (and Disney by default) perfectly walked this precarious tight wire, providing hilarious quality films that could be enjoyed equally by children AND adults. Meet the Robinsons seems so hell-bent to be a part of this movement that it occasionally misses its mark. The story, though original and clever, often proves too convoluted for children and too pedestrian for adults.

In the PG-rated Meet the Robinsons, an orphaned boy genius travels forward in time to meet his future family.

Meet the Robinsons incorporates so many characters into the storyline that moviegoers may need a scorecard to keep track. The movie makes light of this by giving the audience a recap soon after introducing this roster of miscreants. Making a joke about having too many characters, however, does not excuse the fact that the movie has too many damn characters. Still, the movie demonstrates a few shining moments seemingly influenced by the biting Pixar wit. This may be the only time in film history with the following claim: A mind-controlling bowler hat and short-armed dinosaur steal the show.

Bottom line: This Robinson does not seduce.