D52–Meet The Robinsons

When it was announced, in the midst of a growing animosity between Disney and Pixar, Meet the Robinsons was framed as the film that would differentiate the two companies. Disney claimed that it’s key advantage was that they could animate humans properly. The Incredibles was soon to be released, so they were comparing mainly to the relatively stiff looking humans in the original Toy Story and the horrendously animated humans in Ice Age (conveniently ignoring the strong human animation present in Toy Story 2). Fortunately for both Disney and Pixar, Bob Iger’s second move upon being named CEO (after buying back the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit) was to purchase Pixar. One of the immediate benefits of this acquisition was the Pixar Story Trust, the name for the group of longtime Pixar writers and directors who began consulting on story for many other Disney films, with Meet the Robinsons being one of the first.

That story polish is likely what salvages this film. It’s clear that much of it was originally hung purely on the zaniness of the Robinson family. Fortunately, though, enough character development was incorporated to give the film an emotional core. The result is a surprisingly good film. The plot is unique and entertaining, and there are plenty of laughs, most of them from the aforementioned zaniness. The animation is good, but still somewhat primitive by today’s standards, and the overall colour palate is a little washed out for my taste, resulting in a slightly unfinished look.

When I saw this film in the theatre, I had very low expectations. The trailers didn’t look particularly inspired, and the studio’s previous CG effort was underwhelming. Those low expectations likely helped allow the film to surprise me with its quality, and I can out having enjoyed myself and pleased with the film. Revisiting it today, I don’t get quite the same rosy impression. It’s still a decent film, but the pacing could use a little tweaking, as it sags a bit in the middle. It’s still an enjoyable film, but it’s also somewhat forgettable. In the end, this is a good effort and a very clear stepping stone for the studio as it moved forward with its CG division.

Original theatrical trailer

Up next: Bolt (2008)