Meet the Robinsons
Buena Vista Pictures
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A quirky 12 year old orphan named Lewis wants what most kids take for granted – parents and a place to call home. He has gone through 124 adoption interviews with no luck of finding a home. A budding though accident-prone inventor, Lewis builds a time machine that ends up being the key to his past – and future. Along the way he meets Wilbur Robinson and his eccentric family; and discovers that the most important way to conquer one's past is to keep moving forward.

Meet the Robinsons, loosely based on the book "A Day With Wilbur Robinson" by William Joyce, is an adventure that zips viewers to a zany, fabulous future filled with flying cars, robots, and time machines.

Meet the Robinsons is not really a movie for younger kids (say 10 and under) who may not appreciate the self-referential and sarcastic humour. The movie is wacky and wildly random, moving from hipster singing frogs ala Frank Sinatra, to spoofing asian martial arts movies. While not laugh out loud funny, it is a clever movie, though the writers' self awareness of how witty they are permeates throughout.

While the typical Disney feel-good themes are apparent: the importance of family, believing in yourself, and moving forward – the movie's space-time continuum angle could prove to be complicated for most youngsters.

At first, I was annoyed at Lewis' seeming lack of endearing qualities; however, the movie's climax gives a huge payoff, making for an entertaining and thoroughly intelligent ride.

Video: How's it look?
Widescreen 1.78:1, Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions (a nice TV is essential to get the full effect of the wondrous animation).

Audio: How's it sound?
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound (turn it up to get the true feel of the whimsical music).

Extras: What additional goodies are included?

• French & Spanish Language Tracks
• French & Spanish Subtitles
• Deleted Scenes – Find Out What Got Cut and Why (there are three deleted scenes including interviews with the director and key creators)
• Inventions That Shaped the World – Meet Real-Life Visionary Thinkers Who Changed The World (Informative and interesting featurette about significant inventions such as the wheel and the printing press, etc.)
• Family Function 5000 Game – Help Lewis Before his Family is Erased Forever (a memory game where you get three chances per question to guess correctly)
• Music Videos: "Little Wonders" performed by Rob Thomas, "Kids of the Future" performed by Jonas Brothers
• Inventing the Robinsons – Follow the Development of the Film from Concept to Creation (Interviews with author, director, designer. Interesting trivia: the director Stephen Anderson's own story mirrors Lewis' in some uncanny ways)
• Audio Commentary – by Director Stephen Anderson

Closing Thoughts
Themes of fate, responsibility and potential, infuse the plot with significance, making sure that you too, will be glad to meet the Robinsons, over and over again.


Review brought to you by our friend Anh. Anh Chu is a writer, preditor (tv speak for producer/editor) and not actually a bodily function like her name implies. You can reach her at choochoochoo@hotmail.com.