The Movie
After filmmaker John Lasseter was appointed chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2006, he took an active role in guiding all of the animated films produced on his watch. On Meet the Robinsons 3D he is credited as executive producer, and while the story has some clever twists and a few witty jokes, it never comes together with the real originality and magic of a Pixar film.
Baby Lewis is left on the front steps of an orphanage, and he soon grows into a wacky pre-teen inventor whose creations never quite work as planned. (Where have I seen that before?) One the day of the big science fair he is being stalked by a tall man in a bowler hat, a mysterious chap with ill intent. Lewis' protector arrives in the form of a fellow adolescent who claims to be from the future, and before they can argue about it for very long, the two boys timewarp into the world of tomorrow.
It is a wild and wonderful future certainly, where (when?) Lewis meets a fun-loving family, and the young orphan wishes he could stay. But the laws of the space-time continuum along with Bowler Hat Guy, who has stolen a time machine and is making all sorts of trouble for our hero (no, his name isn't Biff), make that impossible. But he might just learn enough to change his own life for the better... and maybe even save the world.
The Picture
The 1.85:1 animated image is crisp, clean and stylized as most modern productions are, with generous detail overall. The weave of Lewis' sweater vest and the grass at roommate Goob's Little League game really pop. A lot of shots take obvious advantage of the 3D process (Meet the Robinsons was stereoscopically converted by Digital Domain), with objects floating before our eyes, and effects like lava, sparks, debris and even PB&J flying at us. The climactic flythrough of the big, nuanced cityscape of the "dark" future is especially thrilling. The movie also flaunts some amusing bits like a layer of faux grain and a major color shift as we watch a quick parody of old kung fu movies.
The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack packs serious bass thumps and a wide spread that incorporates ample surround activity. The attack of the big-headed, little-armed tyrannosaurus rex is a fun scene that really highlights what this disc has to offer, and later a disembodied voice makes creative, eerie use of the 5.1 channels. Worth noting on the 2D Blu-ray, the default audio is uncompressed linear PCM 5.1, always impressive but don't expect a drastic improvement over DTS-HD. There's also the bonus of a Dolby Digital 5.1 track with just the sound effects, this option listed in with the alternate languages. Curious and nifty for film buffs.
The Extras
No surprise, the Blu-ray 3D is bonus-free. Disc Two is essentially (not exactly) the same Blu-ray that Disney released in October of 2007, the early days of the format, and so some of the extras are only in standard definition. The smorgasbord contains a fairly comprehensive "making of," six deleted scenes with director introductions, two interactive games, a pair of music videos and more. That timing I mentioned might also explain a feature like "Movie Showcase," which takes us directly to filmmaker-approved showoff scenes.
A standard DVD copy of the movie in this set includes most of the same extras.
The biggest disappointment here is the missing 1953 3D animated short "Working for Peanuts," conspicuously absent because it was re-run theatrically before 3D showings of Meet the Robinsons. That vintage 3D Disney fare alone--in modern high-definition 3D--would have made this set worth the price.
Final Thoughts
Colorful and full of energy, Meet the Robinsons is neither the best (far from it) nor the worst Disney animation on Blu-ray, 3D or 2D, and likely won't score a home run with kids or their parents, but a rental would surely do right by your home theater.
Product Details
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