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SYNOPSIS:
Join a brillant young inventor named Lewis as he sets off
on a time-travelling journey to find the family he never knew.
In the fantastical world of 2037, hip-hopping frogs and dogs
that wear glasses are as common as talking dinosaurs.
In an amazing twist, Lewis discovers that the fate of the
future rests in his hands but he can't save it alone, he'll
need every bit of help he can get from the wonderfully wacky
Robinson family who help him learn to keep moving forward
and never stop believing in himself.
MOVIE REVIEW
At first
glance, I didn’t feel particularly enticed by the “Meet
the Robinsons” poster and to make matters worse, the
recent slew of Disney’s outputs seem a notch lower than
it’s usual standard. Somewhere out there, a certain
company by the name of “Pixar” simply rules the
animation genre in recent times.
But…notice
I used the word “but”. With the acquisition of
Pixar, everything seems positive again including many stand-alone
Disney projects that were in pre-production prior to the takeover.
Rumours has it that “Meet the Robinsons” among
many of them has to undergo countless re-writes and changes
under the watchful eye of John Lasseter, the newly-appoint
animation chief.
We couldn’t
justify that in the commentary or from the director’s
interview but we do know from the horse’s mouth that
the project has its fair share of ups and downs through the
years.
To be
fair, “Meet the Robinsons” isn’t that bad
in fact it surprises me that the Disney’s spirit is
still there. With a “Keep Moving Forward” theme
in mind, director Stephen Anderson has crafted a sincere story,
at times poignant. Our main protagonist, Lewis is an orphan
who’s passionate about inventing and also keen to look
for his birth mother. But he has other things to worry about
when a swaggering young man named Wilbur came to his life
and brought him to the future.
I’m
sure the animators have a wild time coming up with the futuristic
world set in 2037. The designs are loud, radiant, bursting
with energy. And as if to jab the current theme park’s
infamous Tomorrowland, the animators came up with a tongue-in-cheek
Todayland.
However,
I just don’t feel comfortable with the bunch of bizarre
characters of the Robinsons family. Weird, wacky and the inclusion
of a bunch of singing frogs don’t help either. Perhaps
that explains why I’m living in the year 2007.
Without
giving much away, the antics of Wilbur and Lewis will touch
your heartstrings especially the latter. And take note of
the Bowler Hat villain who has more to offer than the Sinatra-like
singing frogs.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
There are 3 Deleted Scenes, each
accompanied by the director’s intro and explanation.
Almost all of the sequences are unfinished and portions that
are not included in the final cut are shown in black-and-white.
Keep
Moving Forward: Inventions that Shaped the World
is a short educational featurette that touches on the invention
of glass, paper, famous inventors such as Thomas Edison, Wright
Brothers and of course our dear Uncle Walt Disney. Did I say
the inclusion of cute Disney’s animation snippets is
a plus too?
Two
Music Videos, which featured Rob Thomas’s
“Little Wonders” and “Kids of the future”
by Jonas Brothers, are included. Jamie Cullen who sang one
of the many theme songs is surprisingly missing.
Okay
this one for the kiddos. The Family Function 5000:
Family Tree Game is an easy game which will distract
young viewers for a short period while the adults struggle
with their housework.
Inventing the Robinsons is a 20 minutes making-of
feature that touches everything from the adaptation from the
original book by William Joyce to the music composed by renowned
Danny Elfman.
The
Audio Commentary by Director Stephen Anderson
is chockfull of information nuggets that you seldom encounter
any quiet slots during the track. Anderson himself who was
adopted as a child has such affinity to the script and Lewis’s
character that he stayed more than 4 years with the project.
And yes, this man is pretty talented as the voice of the Bowler
Hat Guy that he makes frequent appearances during the commentary.
Of course there are the usual crop of trailers featuring Disney's
upcoming releases such as "Ratatouille" and "Enchanted"
to round up the DVD.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visually, the colours for this DVD transfer are bright and
rich. There isn’t any noticeable artifacts or dirt to
mar your viewing experience.
The
audio and sound effects are particularly strong in the futuristic
sequence. Clarity of the dialogue is not an issue and Elfman’s
score is tremendously active and fun-loving from the speakers
as well.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
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