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"MEET THE ROBINSONS" (2007) (voices of Daniel Hansen, Wesley Singerman) (G) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Minor Heavy *Moderate Minor Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate None Minor None *None Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Minor None Mild Moderate Moderate QUICK TAKE: Animated Comedy: A 12-year-old orphan and failed inventor finds his world turned upside down when a 13-year-old takes him into the future in hopes of fixing a time-space continuum problem caused by some villains' nefarious plans. PLOT: Lewis (voice of DANIEL HANSEN & JORDAN FRY) is a 12-year-old kid who, like roommate Goob (voice of MATTHEW JOSTEN), has grown up at an orphanage under the care of Mildred (voice of ANGELA BASSETT). He dreams of being adopted one day, but the strong inventor streak in him always, if accidentally, undermines any such family future. Accordingly, he's decided that since he had to have seen his mother long ago when she left him at the orphanage, he must have some memory of her in his head, so he invents a memory scanner to allow him to see an image of her. Unbeknownst to him, however, his machine has drawn the interest of two people from the future. One is the Bowler Hat Guy (voice of STEPHEN JOHN ANDERSON), a snide if somewhat dimwitted villain whose desire to steal the invention and pass it off as his own is really controlled by "Doris," a mechanized bowler hat with nefarious intentions. The other is 13-year-old Wilbur Robinson (voice of WESLEY SINGERMAN) who inadvertently allowed Bowler Hat Guy to steal one of his father's two time machines to make this trip back into the past. Needing to fix that mistake as well as a related problem with the time-space continuum, Wilbur takes Lewis into the future where the would-be inventor meets the rest of the Andersons. While his mom, Franny (voice of NICOLE SULLIVAN) is grounded and his inventor dad Cornelius (TOM SELLECK) is often busy, the rest of his immediate and extended family -- including Carl the robot (voice of HARLAND WILLIAMS) -- is a large and rather eccentric bunch. Ending up hopping around through time, Lewis ultimately learns what it's like to have a family as well as the lesson of never giving up, all as he and Wilbur must contend with the villains' nefarious actions and desires. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? It's a good bet many younger ones will want to. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: G Presumably for not containing material that would warrant a higher rating. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: LEWIS is a 12-year-old orphan who's discouraged about never being adopted as well as his many failed inventions. Once Wilbur takes him into the future and he meets various people there, he sees his future in a different way. WILBUR is a 13-year-old kid who takes Lewis to the future in hopes that he might help him remedy the time-space continuum crisis he's created. BOWLER HAT GUY is the snide if somewhat dimwitted villain who wants Lewis' memory scanner invention, but really is controlled by Doris the hat. GOOB is Lewis' droopy roommate who's often tired due to Lewis keeping him up all night with his inventions. MILDRED is the woman who runs the orphanage and tries to encourage Lewis not to give up hope about being adopted. FRANNY is Wilbur's mother who's the normal one in their large and zany household. CORNELIUS is Wilbur's inventor father who instills in Lewis the notion of never giving up, and learning from one's failures. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this G-rated, animated comedy. No profanity is present (although one such possible word has been replaced by various written symbols), but various colorful phrases are, along with other potentially imitative behavior. A cartoon drawing (of an ad) shows a buxom woman in a bikini, while an old man is briefly seen in his boxers. Violence consists of various bits of slapstick, some hitting of others, and a scene where a topiary T-Rex suddenly comes to life and tries to eat some people. While played for action-based comedy, that scene and a few others (including one brief one featuring zombie-like people) might be rather intense for younger viewers, but probably no one else. Various bad attitudes are present, as is a little crude humor, while some frogs appear to drink and some people raise a toast, but we don't know what's in their glasses. Thematic material includes talk of orphans and orphanages, while a boy laments that no one seems to want to adopt him. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there's some of that late in the film. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, some of the flying and other action scenes might induce such a reaction. In an old "Chip 'N Dale" cartoon (that may or may not precede the main movie where/when you see it), the following occurs: The term "stupid." An elephant nearly steps on one of the chipmunks when he places peanuts below its foot to crack them open. Donald Duck fires peanuts at the chipmunks from an elephant's trunk like machine gun bullets. Donald runs face first into a wall, and one of the chipmunks then imitates the silly, dazed grin on his face. And one chipmunk hits the other on the head. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Various frogs have what appear to be drinks at a miniature bar. After a frog eats a fly, he states, "What a buzz." The Robinsons raise a toast (as does Lewis), but they pour the unknown liquid on their own heads and faces. BLOOD/GORE Lewis watches (in shock and disgust) brain surgery performed in a hospital, but we don't see the actual work (or anything bloody or gory). Various characters travel through the Robinson's house via the toilets and related plumbing (we just see them pop up out of them). Goob has a black eye from an unseen beating he took from other players for dropping a pop-fly during a baseball game. A frog states he has to pee. Wilbur's mom has a bruise on her head. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE "Doris" the bowler hat sabotages Lewis' invention, causing a blade to fly off, strike an overhead light, and create additional chaos, including a fire-ant farm to fall on the PE coach's head. Bowler Hat Guy steals Lewis' invention with the intent of passing it off as his own. Goob has a black eye from an unseen beating he took from other players for dropping a pop-fly during a baseball game. Wilbur admits he lied to Lewis about taking him to see his mom in the past. Bowler Hat Guy lies to Lewis to convince him to get into his time machine. We learn that Doris wants to take over the world. About his mom, Wilbur says he was "ratted out by the old lady." FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed here and under "Violence" may be unsettling, suspenseful, or scary to younger viewers, but probably no one else. Any of the film's scenes may come off as more intense if seen in 3-D. We see a flying bowler hat that then has metal, crab-like legs come out from the bottom (that might be unsettling or scary for younger viewers, especially as the hat -- "Doris" -- sabotages Lewis' invention). Wilbur moves Lewis toward the edge of a building (on the roof) and then shoves him off, and Lewis falls but lands on something invisible in midair. It turns out to be a time machine flying saucer. The steering wheel on Wilbur's time machine flying saucer pulls out, causing the ship to go out of control and then crash-land in some dirt, but Wilbur and Lewis inside it are okay. A huge, one-eyed octopus-type creature opens the door at Wilbur's place, startling Lewis (but it's the family pet/butler). Doris the hat tries to cut a chandelier to fall on others, but is interrupted. A suddenly animated and full-size T-Rex topiary charges at and crashes through a window, trying to get Lewis. During this attack, one family member sends a train into the dinosaur, the family octopus-type creature battles it, the T-Rex is tripped, and a huge amount of pizza dough covers it. But it escapes and knocks others around, and grabs a flying saucer and pulls some of it apart. It then chases Lewis into a corner, but its big head and small arms prevent it from getting him. It then chases and tries to eat Wilbur, but Lewis saves his friend in the dinosaur's mouth. As the time continuum changes, Wilbur is sucked away in a vapor. We see an altered future where the bowler hats have taken over and several of them attack Bowler Hat Guy (just off camera). The Robinson family is then a bunch of zombies coming after Lewis. He gets in a flying saucer time machine, but they push it off the side of a building. It free falls until Lewis gets it started and flies off, but a huge bowler hat then pursues him. Doris the hat moves spinning blades towards Lewis, but when he says he won't invent her, she vanishes into nothingness. GUNS/WEAPONS Doris the hat moves spinning blades towards Lewis, but when he says he won't invent her, she vanishes into nothingness. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "You and me both, chief," "These guys are a bunch of bums," "Science geek," "Ah, that's good Joe" (meaning coffee, but said about something else), "Okay, Mr. smarty pants," "Dude," "Don't sass me, boy," "Suck it up," "You're crazy," "Flat-head," "Any-who," "What's your name, fruit head?" (said to Lewis since he has an arrangement of fruit on his head), "Ring-a-ding-ding," "Puke face," "Booger breath," "Keep moving forward," an incomplete "You can take your rule book and stuff it up your..." "You bunch of goons," "I gotta go pee," "What a good buzz," "That repulsive, half-witted boy," "You idiot," "Get up, you pansy," "This dino's deep-dished," "I have a big head and little arms," "Easy-peezy," "You stink," "Shut up," "Are you nuts?" and "Ratted out by the old lady." Goob accidentally blows an air horn in his own face. A teacher has many caffeine patches all over her arm (so that she can stay up, but that cause her to be ultra-hyper) and smacks one onto another teacher's head. Grandpa Bud wears his clothes backwards. Uncle Gaston fires a meatball at his sister who blocks it as if in a martial arts film. Meatballs and then some sausage hit others. After a frog eats a fly, he states, "What a buzz." The Robinsons raise a toast (as does Lewis), but they pour whatever the liquid is on their own heads and faces. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A tiny amount of suspenseful music occurs in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY None, but we see a written array of symbols used to denote a curse word (we don't know what word it is). SEX/NUDITY A tanning salon coupon shows a side view of a buxom woman in a bikini top. Grandpa's fire-proof pants burn and turn to ash, revealing him in his boxers. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES A hooded mother drops off an infant at an orphanage in the middle of the night. Lewis states that he's been through 124 adoption interviews, that he's 12-years-old, has no future, and that nobody wants him, including his own mother (from the past when she left him as an infant at the orphanage). Lewis wants to remember what his mom looked like since he saw her as an infant, so he wants to build an invention for that. Lewis goes back into the past and sees his mom drop him off (as an infant) at the orphanage, but he's okay with that this time. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Inventors and inventions. Time travel. Orphans and orphanages. What it means to have family. Mildred telling Lewis to get out of the past and look into the future. Lewis tears up his invention notebook in frustration of nothing working the way it's designed. Bowler Hat Guy telling Goob to let hate be his ally. The comment that from failing, you learn, and the related notion of not giving up on one's dreams. VIOLENCE Lewis' peanut butter and jelly machine accidentally shoots just that all over a couple that's interested in adopting him. The man then has an allergic reaction to the peanut butter and the woman must inject a syringe into his leg to stop that (played lightly rather than realistically). One of Lewis' inventions explodes in a classroom, leaving him looking charred (played for comedy in a montage). "Doris" the bowler hat sabotages Lewis' invention, causing a blade to fly off, strike an overhead light, and create additional chaos, including a fire-ant farm to fall on the PE coach's head. Wilbur moves Lewis toward the edge of a building (on the roof) and then shoves him off, and Lewis falls but lands on something invisible in midair. It turns out to be a time machine flying saucer. The steering wheel on Wilbur's time machine flying saucer pulls out, causing the ship to go out of control and then crash-land in some dirt, but Wilbur and Lewis inside it are okay. With the headset of the memory scanner stretched too far, it suddenly snaps back toward the machine, yanking a CEO along with it, and he zips along a table and crashes into Bowler Hat Guy. Moments later, Bowler Hat Guy is out on the street when the machine suddenly hits him on the head (after being thrown out after him). Uncle Gaston fires himself from a cannon into a pillar, with the latter then falling onto him. The aunt/wife puppet on Uncle Fritz's hand hits him on the head. Lewis and Wilbur run into each other. A window closes and lands on Bowler Hat Guy's nose. Goob has a black eye from an unseen beating he took from other players for dropping a pop-fly during a baseball game. Uncle Gaston fires a meatball at his sister who blocks it as if in a martial arts film. Meatballs and then some sausage hit others. A suddenly animated and full-size T-Rex topiary charges at and crashes through a window, trying to get Lewis. During this attack, one family member sends a train into the dinosaur, the family octopus-type creature battles it, the T-Rex is tripped, and a huge amount of pizza dough covers it. But it escapes and knocks others around, and grabs a flying saucer and pulls some of it apart. It then chases Lewis into a corner, but its big head and small arms prevent it from getting him. It then chases and tries to eat Wilbur, but Lewis saves his friend in the dinosaur's mouth. Doris ties up Lewis. In the past, we see a pop-up baseball hit Goob on the head as he stands in the outfield, asleep. Doris the hat pushes Lewis along. Lewis punches Wilbur on the shoulder for lying to him. A hook or something similar goes through Carl the robot's chest, leaving a hole there (but he's otherwise okay). We see an altered future where the bowler hats have taken over and several of them attack Bowler Hat Guy (just off camera). The Robinson family is then a bunch of zombies coming after Lewis. He gets in a flying saucer time machine, but they push it off the side of a building. It free falls until Lewis gets it started and flies off, but a huge bowler hat then pursues him. Lewis kicks and grabs Bowler Hat Guy. Lewis grabs Wilbur by his ear. Reviewed March 22, 2007 / Posted March 30, 2007

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