Meet the Robinsons

'œMeet the Robinsons is surely one of the worst theatrically released animated features issued under the Disney label in quite some time,' said A.O. Scott in The New York Times. Filled with plot clichés and animation gimmicks, this frenetically paced movie takes its place beside recent Disney disasters Chicken Little and Treasure Planet. Lewis—a character cobbled together with parts from Jimmy Neutron, Harry Potter, and Jerry Maguire's pint-size Jonathan Lipnicki—is an orphan with a talent for building wacky machines. In a science-fair mix-up, he travels to 2037, where he encounters a family of eccentrics. Meet the Robinsons is part of an unfortunate trend, said Peter Hartlaub in the San Francisco Chronicle. The quality of cartoon flicks has taken a dramatic dive in recent years. For some reason, studios seem to think that both kids and grown-ups value cleverness and visual effects over plot and heart. While the detail and realism of films such as Over the Hedge and Flushed Away 'œcontinues to improve, the scripts are routinely forgettable.' Though Meet the Robinsons' plot may not be original, its retro-cool vision of the future is, said John Anderson in Newsday. As soon as we jump forward a few decades, the animators rev their creative engines and even the jokes get funnier. It becomes 'œsomething Mel Brooks and Philip K. Dick might have dreamed up while smoking old Marx Brothers movies in Lewis Carroll's bong.'

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