I’ve seen my fair share of cartoons in my day, but the ones that have inevitably captured my attention are the ones that are a touch on the violent side. I’m talking about Saturday morning cartoons like Spider-Man, Transformers, X-Men, and TMNT. At the same time, I can enjoy the odd 3D Pixar-style feature film like Open Season, and I was very pleasantly surprised by my recent adventure through the multiplex, watching Meet the Robinsons, a Disney animated flick voiced primarily by unknowns like Daniel Hansen, Laurie Metcalf, Don Hall, and Stephen J. Anderson. They did manage to snag a couple stars like Adam West and Angela Basset, though.

Meet the Robinsons

The premise is that Lewis is an orphan who hasn’t exactly had much luck in the adoption department. Several families have come to visit him at the orphanage in his 13 years on this planet, but none have picked him up because, well, he’s a little odd. He loves to tinker and invent things, but none of them work. He sprays peanut butter and jelly all over a man who is allergic to peanuts, for example. I won’t ruin the details for you, but by chance, he finds himself in the future with the very eccentric Robinson family, being chased by “Bowler Hat Man.” A few twists and turns ensue.

I know, it sounds super generic, right? It sounds like every other animated movie out there with its sight gags and such. That’s partially true, but the story and jokes are actually well done, getting me to actually be engaged (and laughing) throughout the one-and-a-half-hour running time. As an added bonus, they showed a classic Disney cartoon from the 1930s as free pre-show entertainment. Laugh to Mickey, Donald, and Goofy before laughing to a bunch of characters you’ve never met before.

The trailers make this movie seem quite lame, and while Meet the Robinsons may not be as memorable as Beauty and the Beast, or even Toy Story, it does a very good job at doing what it needs to do and that’s to entertain us. I particularly liked the scene with the T-Rex.

3.5 stars out of five