Disney is back. Well, not entirely back. Not yet. They still have a lot of redeeming to do, but if "Meet the Robinsons" is any indication, they are heading in the right direction. From the opening Mickey-Goofy-Donald cartoon to the final quote by Uncle Walt himself, this is the first Disney movie that I've seen in a long time (aside from Pixar's creations) that actually felt magical.
Lewis is an orphan/prodigy inventor who is trying to find his mother. The harder that the kindly head of the orphanage tries to find a family for Lewis, the more he looks to math, science, and his memory machine for his salvation and hope for a family. Then, there is time travel, a greasy-haired villain, sausage cannons, people flying in bubbles, and evil bowler hats that want to conquer the world and turn it into a scene from "Terminator." After many adventures and a couple nice little plot twists, everyone gets what they deserve and all live happily ever after.
The good:
1. The Mickey-Goofy-Donald cartoon short was perfect. I am a Disney nerd at heart, and it bumped up the nostalgia factor in a good way.
2. There were so many beautiful moments visually. I really enjoyed the opening shot of the young mother leaving Lewis on the doorstep of the orphanage, complete with rain storm. (On a side note, why are orphans always left at orphanages on dark and stormy nights?) Also, I suspect that the futuristic city was somewhat inspired by Tomorrowland at the Disney theme parks.
3. Much like "Night at the Museum," Lewis encourages kids to learn, invent, and apply what they learn in school to achieve their goals. What makes "Meet the Robinsons" better than many other recent kids movies is the absence of fart jokes, double entendres, and dated pop culture references. My mom, a teacher, loved this movie and asked why Disney has not made more movies like "MTR." Even though Disney has not had as much success in recent years, I told her that "MTR" gave me reason to hope.
4. I love it that even when Lewis fails, the family still supports him and cheers him on. With so many parents obsessed with having "winning kids," it's nice to see a movie where they say that it's okay to fail, so long as you "keep moving forward."
The bad:
1. The script could have used some more work. There were parts that felt a bit frantic and cluttered, particularly the "meet-the-family" montage. I liked the montage, but it could have been better.
2. Why did they introduce the fire ants girl at the science fair and then not do anything with her? Her moment onscreen was hilarious, and then she disappeared for the rest of the movie! She was a little Goth girl who had an army of fire ants at her disposal, and they did nothing with her character? Shame on you, screenwriters.
3. On the other side of the coin, there is one character that this movie could have done just fine (and maybe even done better) without. I hated the robot sidekick. He served very little purpose and struck me as obnoxious and wholly unnecessary. I suppose that the screenwriters felt that every time travel/futuristic movie needs a robot and that they needed to fulfill their obligation. C'mon, people! You don't need to have every futuristic cliche in your movie to be credible. Lose the robot.
Now, whom would I recommend this movie to? I recommend it for families that are sick of your run-of-the-mill animated movie, Disney nerds, and anyone who considers themselves a kid at heart. With the exception of the reasons above, I fully enjoyed this movie. True, it is not perfect, but I have three words for the makers of this movie and the rest of the people working at post-Eisner Disney: "Keep moving forward."