What Do The Critics Say?

"The characters are beautifully drawn and engaging, and in the madcap world in which Lewis is taken, he feels more at home than he has ever felt. And this weird and scintillating family shows him genuine affection. Fast paced and hip, with plenty of zip, "Meet The Robinsons" is good entertainment that satisfies as Lewis finds his place and his family and manages to change a few things along the way." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "3-D is an acquired taste I've never acquired, but the success of Robinsons isn't contingent on effects, but on wit and emotion." John Anderson NEWSDAY "If you stick with it, it's an enjoyable film, a futuristic puzzle with an ending worth the trip for those who make it there." Bill Goodykoontz ARIZONA REPUBLIC "Like many worthwhile movies, this one's about the longings of the heart, and the happiness that comes when those longings are fulfilled. The 3-D and singing frogs are extra. Wo, wo, wo." Phil Kloer ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION "Computer-generated ingenuity and a strong story line brighten the zillionth unexamined delivery of ameliorative Disney boosterism: Never mind the past, always go forward." Ella Taylor L.A. WEEKLY "Meet the Robinsons is an exuberant entertainment and a fine addition to Disney's animated library. The picture's mantra, "keep moving forward", is a worthwhile and fitting piece of advice that also could be talking about the evolution of the studio's glorious computer animation, which excels with each new release (even more so in the aforementioned 3-D). Strikes the right notes as a fast-paced comedy, a touching but not saccharine slice of life, and a valuable learning tool for children." Dustin Putman THEMOVIEBOY

"Especially in 3-D, pic has an im-mensely sharp, vivid look (sans glasses, the projected image is fuzzy in spots, focused in others), and the filmmakers have taken to heart the "Keep Moving Forward" attitude, attributed in an onscreen postscript to Walt Disney himself, in the way they keep the momentum revved up. Unlike some frantic animated efforts, "Robinsons" is never exhausting, but neither is there anything resembling a dull moment. Voicings are spirited -- helmer Anderson himself performs the chief villain, among other roles, and Danny Elfman's score, aided by other musical elements, further augments the energy level. Will keep children of all ages wide-eyed and on their toes." Todd McCarthy VARIETY "Plot-wise, Meet the Robinsons grapples with that old and tricky sci-fi conundrum: If you travel back in time and interfere in your own history, does it change your fate, and the fates of friends, family and the world to be? Picture-wise, "Meet the Robinsons" is dazzling. Lewis' present day cityscape has a tidy geometry about it, in contrast to the future inhabited by the crazy Robinsons gang, with its sleek, curvy architecture, verdant expanses of garden and genetically engineered amphibians. Simply put, it's terrific." Steven Rea PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER "One of Hollywood's most utilised inventions - the time machine - sends audiences on another adventure in Disney's latest animated motion picture "Meet the Robinsons". Take the kids to meet the Robinsons over the Easter break. 7/10." Jonathan Pedreira OUR BRISBANE "Surprisingly hip and wacky, Meet The Robinsons has enough comedic 'business' to amuse the adults while the kids must be wetting their pants. The technical achievements become invisible in the rush of story, and the visual stimulation is intense enough to keep our eyeballs greased. Walt Disney stood for fantasy on screen and this is a loving tribute to his legacy. The film is preceded by a classic Mickey Mouse short, just to get us in the right frame of mind." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE

Meet The Robinsons

LEWIS is an orphan with a genius IQ and a passion for inventing. His offbeat nature and unintentionally disastrous inventions keep him from obtaining the one thing he longs for the most; a family to call his own. He believes his only chance is to find his real mother, so he invents the Memory Scanner, a machine that will extract his only memory of her. WILBUR ROBINSON is a mysterious stranger from the future whose biggest flaw is self confidence, cocky attitude and fast talking banter are also his greatest assets. They enable Wilbur to stay one step ahead of his adversaries. Knowing that Lewis holds the key to the future, Wilbur whisks him away in his time machine where the two battle a ferocious dinosaur, mind controlled frogs and evil villains all in an effort to save the world as Wilbur knows it. CORNELIUS ROBINSON is Wilbur’s father and is known as the 'founder of the future'. He is an amazing inventor and the beloved owner of Robinson Industries. FRANNY ROBINSON is Wilbur’s effervescent mother who has discovered a way to teach frogs how to sing and play big band music. CARL is the suave Robinson family robot, serving the family’s every need with wit and charm. In addition, he has the unfortunate job of constantly getting Wilbur out of trouble. Carl also has a way with the ladies, and by ladies, we mean the dishwasher, the coffee maker and the teapot. GRANDPA BUD may seem weird to the outside world but inside the Robinson house, he just views life a little differently; and likes to wear his clothes backward while constantly searching for his teeth. GRANDMA LUCILLE can really “bake those cookies,” according to Grandpa Bud, but that’s just his way of saying she loves to disco dance. In truth, Grandma Lucille is as far from a typical cookie-baking grandma as you can get. UNCLE ART is a heroic-looking intergalactic pizza deliveryman who takes his work very seriously. His mission in life, as he pilots his spacecraft through the solar system, is to deliver the perfect pizza within minutes anywhere in the galaxy. AUNT BILLIE has been obsessed with toy trains since she was a little kid. Now that she’s all grown up, she still plays with toy trains. Only now they’re life-sized and travel all through the Robinson house. UNCLE GASTON likes to shoot himself out of a cannon and race Aunt Billie’s train. UNCLE FRITZ and AUNT PETUNIA have a strange marriage. She’s very cranky and endlessly tongue-lashes Uncle Fritz. She is also a hand puppet. UNCLE JOE likes to workout by watching exercise shows on TV, all from the comfort of his recliner. COUSIN LASZLO paints murals as he flies around in his propeller helmet. COUSIN TALLULAH is a fashionista who wears a skyscraper hat. LEFTY is a one-eyed purple octopus and the family butler. UNCLE SPIKE and UNCLE DIMITRI live in the ceramic pots on the front porch. They are sort of the Robinsons’ human alarm system. Touch their pots and they scream.

The Inside Story Just in the nick of time, right on the start of school holidays across the nation, Disney have come to the rescue of little and big kids of all ages with this futuristic, colorful, wickedly wonderful film (in 3-D at selected theatres), "Meet The Robinsons", based on William Joyce's acclaimed book, "A Day with Wilbur Robinson". It's a tale of identity and a longing to discover ones family which is centred around a little boy genius named Lewis, who was abandoned on the steps of an orphanage as a baby. He finally gets his wish when a brash young boy names Wilbur whips him off to the future. "The theme of our film encapsulated into one phrase is this: keep moving forward," says Steve Anderson. "Through meeting the incredible Robinson family, our orphaned hero Lewis learns to live for the future, to live for where you are going next and for all the things you can do, instead of getting stuck on the things that didn’t work in the past." The film is jam-packed with delicious characters including orphanage caretakers, singing frogs, eccentric grandparents, morphing robots, boyish heroes, an evil bowler hat, a talking T-Rex and more. "What I love about the Robinsons is that they’re adults but they live life with all the zest, fervor and uninhibited playfulness of kids," Anderson explained. "The Robinsons believe that if you have a dream, you should just go for it. So if you want to wear your clothes backwards; why not? If you want to shoot yourself out of a cannon – fantastic! They’re very funny because their reactions are so unpredictable, but they are also an inspiration because they live their lives in ways you would never expect and do things no one else does." The genisis of "Meet The Robinsons" goes back to William Joyce’s illustrated book, "A Day with Wilbur Robinson" which presented a portrait of a family unlike any other. A family of madcap inventors and dreamers who considered having family robots, a singing frog band and an octopus for a butler completely normal. Though the book offered a very simple story, the real draw was the world it created, filled with all kinds of hilarious and surprising details that riveted readers of all ages. Joyce's story incorporates one factor that has fascinated many of us; the ability to time-travel. Anderson says he was intrigued when he read the script. "I was drawn to the idea that Lewis travels to a future you almost never see, one that’s prosperous, creative and optimistic. He gets to see that the possibility is there for the future to be beautiful and brilliant and a vision of real hope." Lewis's fabulous journey started when Walt Disney Feature Animation asked Anderson to try something so unprecedented, so groundbreaking, they called it "The Experiment". This entaled taking the script and story-board the whole thing from A to Z. "You have to understand that this was previously unheard of at Disney" says Anderson, who managed to complete the task in just six months. "It was a huge mountain to climb but our story crew had no fear in achieving it." So how did the fledgling director end up in the voice cast? Anderson admits he got so into the process of developing the characters that he ended up performing the voices for three of them: the bumbling Bowler Hat Guy; the delightfully unusual Grandpa Bud and, the fashionable Cousin Tallulah." Another to get the all consuming enthusiam bug was Disney veteran and the film's Head of Story, Don Hall. "I’ve never seen another movie like this. It’s a completely unique experience," he says. "There are many familiar elements from Disney movies in that it’s about families and adventure and hope; but they way they’re all thrown into the mix together is completely new and different." And what was the response after six months work on "The Experiment"? "When we showed the storyboards on reels to the entire animation team it was a scary moment but the response was overwhelming," recalls Anderson. "In my entire career at Disney I’d never heard of such a swell of support for a story." And it seems everyone loved the characters. Producer Dorothy McKim, who also worked on "The Experiment" found that "meeting the Robinsons for the first time was an exhilarating experience. "Meet The Robinsons" is comedy but it’s got so much soul," McKim says. "Lewis and the Robinsons are all inventors, so everything they do is inventive, which made for an incredibly creative process." So what is the formula for success that has graced Disney through generations of moviegoers? "The strength of Disney movies has always been the characters, that’s what they’ve given the world," Anderson says. In the case of "Meet The Robinsons", the central character Lewisis sure to capture audiences hearts. "Lewis doesn’t really belong in the present world, so he’s the brightest thing in it," notes art director Robh Ruppel ("Brother Bear"). "He’s red, yellow and blue and he’s always clashing with the world around him until he arrives in the future, where he fits right in." What "fits right in" for "Meet The Robinsons", besides the captivating storyline, the breathtaking animation and the collection of characters is the 'make or break factor': The 'voices'. No matter how good your story is and no matter how good your animated characters are, if the voices don't fit, you're in trouble. "I’m so excited about the cast that we have," says Anderson. "They have taken these wonderful characters even beyond what we imagined." Academy Award ® nominee Angela Bassett, portrays Mildred, the sweet and patient caretaker at the 6th Street Orphanage. "I really appreciated this story about a little boy who’s looking for a family and about how there’s many ways to make family," Bassett says. "As a new mom, I found it especially appealing." Golden Globe ® and Emmy ® Award winner Tom Selleck, portrays Cornelius Robinson. "I admire that he’s someone who knows what counts and believes wholeheartedly in his family, no matter how unusual they are," Selleck notes. "It was a very fun challenge for me as an actor to imagine being in his world." Children’s book author Harland Williams (Lug in the animated feature hit "Robots") voices the mechanically complicated family members, the household robot Carl. "For my voice, I was inspired by the idea that Carl is always excited and ready to go," he revealed. "He doesn’t drink coffee, but he’s been dipping into the high-grade oil, man, and that makes him a little hyper!" Dr Krunklehorn is voiced by multiple Emmy® Award winner Laurie Metcalf (recently seen in the TV hit "Desperate Housewives"). On seeing her character in full animation she said, "I was just ecstatic because I couldn’t take my eyes off hers. I love her facial expressions and I thought she was an amazing actor thanks to the work of the animators." The voice of intergalactic pizza man Uncle Art is provided by veteran star of screen and television Adam West, the star of the hit TV series "Batman", who says he "was knocked out by the screenplay’s humor. I thought it was so witty and a wonderful family story." The Robinsons are quirky but they also have a lot of the qualities and characteristics of real families. These characters are so inventive and interesting, they’re going to be loved by a lot of people." Ethan Sandler ("Crossing Jordan") provided not one, but eight voices for "Meet The Robinsons". With so many voices, what formula did he come up with to know whether they were 'working' or not? 'With each different voice, I would just try to make Steve Anderson laugh," he said noting, "if he was laughing, then I knew I should just keep doing that!" You know, I've only scraped the barrel here and I hope that this taste of what went into the film has whet your appetite and that you will find yourself, no matter what your age, encouraged to take in this futuristic production. And if you kept your glasses from the 3-D versions of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" or "Monster House", go see it in 3-D because it does add a very special dimension to "Meet The Robinsons". Synopsis

Lewis is a boy-genius and an orphan with a love of gizmos and gadgets and an undying hope of finding the family he never knew. But Lewis’ journey is about to take him to a place even he couldn’t have imagined, a place where the impossible no longer exists: the future. When Lewis encounters a mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson, he’s in for the time-travel of his life and will be whisked off to meet a family unlike any other, the sublimely fun and futuristic Robinsons, who will help him to discover a series of amazing and heartfelt secrets about his own limitless potential and where his future lies. But his incredible trip will also bring him into conflict with a villain who gives evil a bad name: the bungling Bowler Hat Guy, who steals Lewis’ only way home. Now aware of what has happened Lewis makes a bold decision, he'll return home and change the events which have so far shaped his life.

The Verdict "Just in time for the school holidays, Disney comes to the rescue with another entertaining film in two formats. Standard animation and fabulous Disney 3-D. "Meet The Robinsons" has a universal appeal that will grasp childrena and adults alike: an orphaned boys search for a mother he'd love to meet and a family he has never known. It's colorful, futuristic, filled with colorful characters, many of whom are a tad eccentrics and as for the future, well it never looked better. Until ...? Well, you'll just have to go see it to find out. Disney: you've done it again. Great fun for all the family. If you can afford the extra expense go see it in fabulous Disney 3-D. Older Disney fans who take in "Meet The Robinsons" might just recognize a few well known voices. 3 1/2 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "MEET THE ROBINSONS" stars the voices of.......
Golden Globe Best Actress & NAACP Image Award ® winner Angela Bassett ["How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "The Score", "Music of the Heart" and "Supernova"]; Harland Williams ["Dumb and Dumber", "There’s Something About Mary", "Because of Winn-Dixie" and "Employee Of The Month"]; Adam West ["Animaniacs", "Rugrats", "The Simpsons" and "Chicken Little"]; OBIE Award winner Laurie Metcalf ["Desperately Seeking Susan", "Leaving Las Vegas", "Runaway Bride" and "JFK"]; Jordan Fry ["Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Counter-Fit" and "Raising Flagg"]; Daniel Hansen ["Being John Malkovich", "Trust Me", "The Big Day" and "Stuart Little 2"]; Nicole Sullivan ["Buzz Lightyear of Star Command", "Monsters, Inc", "Guess Who" and "The Ant Bully"]; Kelly Hoover ["Dream on Silly Dreamer" and "Chicken Little"]; Steven J Anderson ["The Emperor's New Groove"]; ["Ice Age: The Meltdown" ""Over the Hedge" and "Barnyard: The Original Party Animals"] and Emmy® and Golden Globe Award winner Tom Selleck ["Three Men and a Baby", "In and Out", "The Love Letter" and "Quigley Down Under"] as Cornelius Robinson.
"MEET THE ROBINSONS" was .......
directed by Stephen J. Anderson ["Meet The Robinsons"]; from the book by William Joyce ["Buddy"]; adapted by Jon Bernstein ["Ringmaster" and "Beautiful"]; art direction by Robh Ruppel ["Mulan", "The Emperor's New Groove", "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" and "Treasure Planet"]; casting by Jen Rudin ["Brother Bear", "The Incredibles", "Chicken Little" and "The Wild"]; executive produced by John Lasseter ["It's Tough To Be A Bug", "Monsters, Inc", "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles"]; and Clark Spencer ["Lilo & Stitch"]; original music by Danny Elfman ["Sleepy Hollow", "Corpse Bride", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Charlotte's Web"]; produced by Dorothy McKim ["Meet The Robinsons"]. Who's Voice Is Who?

Angela Bassett Daniel Hansen Jordan Fry Matthew Josten John H H Ford Dara McGarry Tom Kenny Laurie Metcalf Don Hall Paul Butcher Tracey Miller-Zarneke Wesley Singerman Jessie Flower Stephen J. Anderson Ethan Sandler Harland Williams Kelly Hoover Adam West Nicole Sullivan Aurian Redson Joseph Mateo Tom Selleck Joe Whyte

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Mildred Lewis Lewis Michael "Goob" Yagoobian Mr Harrington Mrs Harrington/Receptionist Mr Willerstein Lucille Krunklehorn Coach/Uncle Gaston Stanley Lizzy Wilbur Young Franny Bowler Hat Guy/Tallulah/Grandpa Bud Doris/CEO/Spike/Dmitri/Laszlo/Fritz/Petunia Carl Aunt Billie Uncle Art Franny Frankie T-Rex Cornelius Reporter

Run Time 94 minutes Rated G [AUST] Copyright ©2007 - Touchstone Pictures - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2007 - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved