Meet the Robinsons (2007)

I saw Meet the Robinsons in the theaters and really enjoyed it, giving it an immediate 5-star rating. I saw it again on DVD during the weekend before Thanksgiving and for me it remains a spirited and fascinating tale of intelligence, creativity, drive, and self-determination (accomplishing one's dreams). It's really a superb story of hope, love, and faith, as child prodigy Lewis finds the family that will adopt and love him and lead him to the future he (learns through time travel that he) will create as a hugely successful inventor. The color palette and architectural design of our pint-sized hero's future world is a wildly inventive Art Deco gone Technicolor and based on the wonderfully illustrated book by James Joyce, A Day with Wilbur Robinson. Almost every character is as idiosyncratic and manically original as Caffeine Patch Lady, who is just a stitch (for laughs and, for Lewis, in time). Don't miss Coach either. The voice talent is all excellent, esp. Lewis, his childhood roommate Goob, and Bowler Hat Guy, though I did not recognize any of the talent names beyond Angela Bassett as the nurturing foster mother Mildred, Adam West as Uncle Art, Nicole Sullivan as Franny, and Tom Selleck as Cornelius. Some have commented that the movie seems to get confused in the middle after introducing all the family members, but I was able to follow all the hyperkinetic action and I was impressed with how well-delineated so many characters were presented. The scenes with the T-Rex and the Cuisinart bowler hat are exceptional. The music is memorably awesome and performed by three of my all-time favorite artists (the genius Danny Elfman himself, the ineluctable Rufus Wainwright, and the soulful Rob Thomas) in addition to the All-American Rejects' driving and unforgettable performance of "The Future is Alive Today." The DVD's bonus features include a making-of production that actually shows how the movie was made using conventional and CGI animation and, more importantly, discusses the creative inspiration behind the story's themes of adoption and Lewis's mantra of hope and faith: "Keep moving forward." Disney has a real winner here in a story I look forward to watching over and over again. 5 stars.