Thoughts on Meet the Robinsons

This is part of my series “Thoughts on Disney movies,” where I’ve gone back to watch all of the animated Disney features, starting with Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, and then share my thoughts on the blog.

Highlights: I do feel like Meet the Robinsons is kind of the sleeper hit of the mid/early 2000’s. There were some pretty rough Disney movies in this era (Chicken Little, Home on the Range, Dinosaur) – but Meet the Robinsons actually isn’t that bad! It has a sweet sort of storyline with Lewis, an orphan, trying to find his family. It’s also very funny in that super silly way. It’s interesting with the time travel and sci-fi sort of aspect to it. I also really like the “Keep Moving Forward” message. It’s based off of quote from Walt Disney and it’s a great lesson for kids (and adults, to be honest). 

Low points: The silly humor can occasionally make its way to just plain weird. I’m also typically just not a fan of time travel movies. They’re the type of thing that if you think about it too much there are so many plot holes. If Lewis meets his future self won’t that affect how the future unfolds?? Apparently not in this universe. But I tend to think too much about these types of movies. I also don’t know if I would have enjoyed it as much if it didn’t come after a couple of real stinkers.

The Music: While this isn’t a “musical” in the sense that there characters don’t sing, there’s still a number of songs. The first major one is is “Another Believer” by Rufus Wainwright which I actually quite liked. Wainwright is a pretty unique singer in terms of his style but I thought this was a nice fit and I liked the lyrics. Much of the score is written by Danny Elfman and Wainwright so it’s pretty solid.

The villain: Bowler Hat guy is a pretty entertaining villain. He’s got some evil motivations and of course an evil appearance – look at that bowler hat! Actually, Doris the hat is the TRUE villain here, who is basically using Bowler Hat Guy. In another shocking twist (spoiler alert), the villain is actually Lewis’s roommate from the orphanage, Goob! So there’s a personal vendetta going on there too.

Fun fact: The voice of the Bowler Hat Guy is actually the director of the film, Steve Anderson. He is mainly an animator and director, but he has voiced several minor characters in Disney films. In addition to directing and doing the voice for Bowler Hat Guy he was also the voices of Grandpa Bud and Cousin Tallulah!

Where in the World: There really aren’t many signs of Meet the Robinsons in the theme parks, though they would fit in pretty well in Tomorrowland. And I know they have a costumed character version of Lewis because I met him during the last Princess Half Marathon!

My rating: 6 out of 10. It’s nothing really special, but it’s funny and entertaining enough. And I like the message of “keep moving forward.”

Have you seen Meet the Robinsons? What do you think of it?