MEET THE ROBINSONS MOVIE
There's such a flood of colorful imagery towards the beginning of the movie that many audiences will have no clue what's going on. But the story itself takes a long time to get going, not the least of which because Lewis' quest - to find a family - is obscured by a lot of visual flourish, and more than a few completely nonsensical comedic sequences. Notwithstanding its 3-D animation, the film seems custom-designed as part of Disney's classic storytelling tradition: the main character is without parents or a proper family, and stands out from his friends because of some irrepressible, larger-then-life personality quirk. And when a strange teenager named Wilbur (Wesley Singerman) shows up claiming to be from the future, Lewis finds himself ensconced in a race against time - not to mention through it - to stop his mysterious adversary from changing the world into an industrial wasteland. But it turns out that his invention was sabotaged by Bowler Hat Guy (Anderson again), so named for his animatronic chapeau. After a memory maker designed to recall his mother's face fails to produce the desired effect, Lewis trashes the device and abandons hope for either new parents or the identity of his biological family. During one encounter, for example, he tries to pitch his peanut butter and jelly sandwich maker only to dispense an allergic reaction to a peanut-phobic adult. The story follows Lewis, an orphan whose tireless imagination frequently proves to be an obstacle when interviewing prospective parents. As satire, homage or just throwback entertainment, this combination of Back to the Future and The Incredibles is one of the better animated films produced in recent months. When Lewis, the main character, asks why, Bud replies, "Because his insurance wouldn't cover contacts." Somewhere between ironic post-modernism, contemporary self-reference and classic convention, Meet the Robinsons offers a solidly engaging tale about family values. Anderson, who also directed the picture) points out a dog that is wearing glasses. During a sequence where audiences are actually meeting the Robinsons, Grandpa Bud (Stephen J. There's a joke about halfway through Meet the Robinsons that more or less encapsulates the animated film's tone and technique.