I've complained before that since 3D came on the scene, most cartoons seemed to be going for nothing but laughs, with no emotional depth or character development.

Meet the Robinsons manages to be funny and touching, and though a few characters aren't very far from stock fare, they were good enough. The movie is a delight for the eyes and a pleasure to watch--this was the first time in a long while I was tempted to watch a movie twice in a row. I especially liked Lewis's roommate Goob, and enjoyed his storyline very much. For a change, it's not ALL about the hero.

The early trailers for this film made it look extraordinarily stupid and juvenile. I'm glad I heard enough good things about it to watch it anyway.

On the down side: Disney attempted to replicate some old-fashioned 2D squash-and-stretch in 3D. It doesn't stop the characters from looking like plastic dolls, it just gives the impression that they are covered by a thin rubber skin over a filling of jelly or slime or some other goo...kudos for experimenting, though. The worst flaw in my opinion was that Disney stuck a message on the ending of the movie, claiming that 'keep moving forward' was the Disney motto, etc., etc. As someone who was annoyed that they quit 2D in favor of 3D, I found that message both defensive and arrogant. If I knew nothing about Disney's inner politics and layoffs, I would still wonder at the idea of putting a self-congratulatory blurb at the end of an excellent film. Don't you guys have enough room to pat yourselves on the back in the Extra Features? If every studio follows suit, I would gag. Can you imagine? "MGM has always felt that there was no place like home. Also, we deplore leash laws and make a point of supporting torado victims. Bully for us." When it was Walt Disney personally adding little notes to the films, it was endearing. When it's a super-powerful faceless corporation, it's just a commercial. Walt's dead--get over it.

I give Meet the Robinsons two thumbs up and a nose slightly out of joint.