Meet the Robinsons
Year: 2007
Director: Stephen Anderson
Starring: Stephen Anderson, Jordan Fry & Wesley Singerman
Runtime: 94 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 18/10/21
Director: Stephen Anderson
Starring: Stephen Anderson, Jordan Fry & Wesley Singerman
Runtime: 94 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 18/10/21
Disney’s first forays into 3D computer animation were, to put it lightly, rubbish. Chicken Little sucked in almost every conceivable way, and The Wild was little more than a cheap imitation of Dreamworks’ Madagascar; so, to say my expectations for Meet the Robinsons (a film which very few people I know have even bothered to watch) were low is an understatement. Perhaps those low expectations are exactly what I needed, or maybe Meet the Robinsons is actually a pretty good film, because either way once the credits rolled I was pleased that I had finally gotten around to watching Disney’s forty-seventh Animated Classic.
Lewis (Jordan Fry) is a genius inventor, the only thing that holds him back is that he’s an orphan and has very limited resources to work with. But when he successfully builds a machine that displays forgotten memories, he becomes the target of a time travelling thief that wears a bowler hat (Stephen Anderson). Wanting to help Lewis before the timeline is irreparably damaged, Wilbur Robinson (Wesley Singerman) takes Lewis to the future to find his invention. But when Lewis falls in love with the Robinson family, he must decide whether to stay in the future with his new foster family or stop the past from changing.
Lewis (Jordan Fry) is a genius inventor, the only thing that holds him back is that he’s an orphan and has very limited resources to work with. But when he successfully builds a machine that displays forgotten memories, he becomes the target of a time travelling thief that wears a bowler hat (Stephen Anderson). Wanting to help Lewis before the timeline is irreparably damaged, Wilbur Robinson (Wesley Singerman) takes Lewis to the future to find his invention. But when Lewis falls in love with the Robinson family, he must decide whether to stay in the future with his new foster family or stop the past from changing.
Meet the Robinsons got off to a slow start and I wondered whether it was going to be another car crash 3D computer animation for Disney’s Post-Renaissance Era. But thankfully once the first act is out of the way it shifts gears into a really fun adventure film that has the ability to appeal to all ages thanks to its clever humour and excellent writing.
The film continued to get better as it went along too with some late story plot twists that recontextualise everything and pay off surprisingly well, leaving you with an ending that hits all the right emotional beats whilst also feeling fresh and original.
The Robinson family are an eclectic cast of weirdos that never fail to conjure a few laughs and it is a shame that the majority of them are relegated to background roles. Lewis is a fun lead character due to his creative nature and desire to learn, but his sudden loss of faith in his own creativity near the opening of the film takes some time to get over and it does get a bit grating with his constant self-deprecation. I understand that this boy has been shunned his entire life because people don’t think he’s good enough, but he persevered nonetheless until suddenly he just doesn’t anymore. I guess it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for want of a better phrase, but it didn’t match up to the character we had been introduced to at the start of the film.
Wilbur and Bowler Hat Guy are disappointing characters overall and the reason being that their true identities must be kept a secret for the big reveals in the third act to have the impact they do. Unfortunately, as a result neither character gets much development, which considering how much screen time they get means for most of the film we don’t know anything about them or have a reason to connect with them. This is perhaps the worst element of the film because there are a great number of ways that these two characters could have been developed without giving away who they are, but instead the generally good writing isn’t quite clever enough to allow for that.
Unfortunately, Disney’s animation team still aren’t hitting the same kind of stride as their competitors, with character models in particular looking simple and stiff. But it is a significant improvement over what was showcased in Chicken Little, and the retro-future art style makes the film far more visually interesting than The Wild. As a result, Meet the Robinsons is passable and has some really cool looking people and places, but it’s let down by the finer details.
Meet the Robinsons is an overlooked Disney Animated Classic that deserves more recognition than it currently has. The film definitely doesn’t hit the same highs as the early Post-Renaissance Era titles, but it is a film that will put a smile on everyone’s faces for the family to escape to the future for a short time. A step back in the right direction for Disney after a significant fall from grace.
The film continued to get better as it went along too with some late story plot twists that recontextualise everything and pay off surprisingly well, leaving you with an ending that hits all the right emotional beats whilst also feeling fresh and original.
The Robinson family are an eclectic cast of weirdos that never fail to conjure a few laughs and it is a shame that the majority of them are relegated to background roles. Lewis is a fun lead character due to his creative nature and desire to learn, but his sudden loss of faith in his own creativity near the opening of the film takes some time to get over and it does get a bit grating with his constant self-deprecation. I understand that this boy has been shunned his entire life because people don’t think he’s good enough, but he persevered nonetheless until suddenly he just doesn’t anymore. I guess it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for want of a better phrase, but it didn’t match up to the character we had been introduced to at the start of the film.
Wilbur and Bowler Hat Guy are disappointing characters overall and the reason being that their true identities must be kept a secret for the big reveals in the third act to have the impact they do. Unfortunately, as a result neither character gets much development, which considering how much screen time they get means for most of the film we don’t know anything about them or have a reason to connect with them. This is perhaps the worst element of the film because there are a great number of ways that these two characters could have been developed without giving away who they are, but instead the generally good writing isn’t quite clever enough to allow for that.
Unfortunately, Disney’s animation team still aren’t hitting the same kind of stride as their competitors, with character models in particular looking simple and stiff. But it is a significant improvement over what was showcased in Chicken Little, and the retro-future art style makes the film far more visually interesting than The Wild. As a result, Meet the Robinsons is passable and has some really cool looking people and places, but it’s let down by the finer details.
Meet the Robinsons is an overlooked Disney Animated Classic that deserves more recognition than it currently has. The film definitely doesn’t hit the same highs as the early Post-Renaissance Era titles, but it is a film that will put a smile on everyone’s faces for the family to escape to the future for a short time. A step back in the right direction for Disney after a significant fall from grace.