From this point the movie moves to the future, where the colours are brighter and the third dimension more dimensional. Credit must go to first-time director Stephen J. Anderson for dialling back the 3D effects and not giving in to the temptation to have someone unravel a Slinky or throw a pie at the audience. (...) The biggest problem with the film is that the back story turns out to be more interesting than the fore-story, but such are the perils of time travel. With effect and cause looping around one another, getting into and out of the plot of the film is a bit like trying to exit the teacup ride while it's still spinning.

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Visuellement très impressionnant, voire hallucinant, BIENVENUE CHEZ LES ROBINSON est un projet important auquel le réalisateur Stephen Anderson a consacré beaucoup de temps et d'énergie. Ça paraît. Mais ça demeure du Disney, du Disney technologiquement audacieux, comme Walt et sa firme l'ont toujours été, mais du Disney straight comme à l'habitude, avec message convenu et propos indiscutablement correct; messages sur l'importance de la «famille» (même si notre héros est orphelin), messages sur l'honneur, la fidélité, le pardon, la rédemption, etc. On n'est pas dans un film d'animation expérimental, mais on sent tout de même que les artistes et les artisans qui ont contribué à cette production ont fait leurs classes, qu'ils connaissent leurs classiques et qu'ils ne prennent pas les enfants pour des cons. Il faut prendre BIENVENUE CHEZ LES ROBINSON comme une belle explosion d'images, de musique et de sons.

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Too many cooks spoil the froth on any movie, even a kids' flick. So when a committee of seven writers toils over a screenplay, you pretty much know you're in for some heavy sloging through a script that is either badly cluttered or sadly confused. Or in the case of MEET THE ROBINSONS, the latest computer-animated charmer from Disney, badly cluttered and sadly confused. (...) Still, amid the cacophony, the voices are singularly amusing - few of the contributing tonsils are celebrated, yet there're all cartoonishly distinctive. So the sounds are fine and, thanks to technology's ever-progressive march, the sights are even better. But that third S - the story - remains the sticking point, and ain't it always the way. Movies, especially animated movies, are committee jobs by necessity. But the very thing they're based on is another matter entirely - no committee ever wrote a good movie.

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Surprisingly hip and wacky, MEET THE ROBINSONS has enough comedic 'business' to amuse the adults while the kids must be wetting their pants. The film burst through my stoicism (...) with its exuberance and its unpredictability. The technical achievements become invisible in the rush of story, and the visual stimulation is intense enough to keep our eyeballs greased. In a way, this a Walt Disney for 2007: the filmmakers take a leaf out of Walt's original book as an entertainer who likes to have fun with his audiences, always making us aware that we have escaped from reality. At the same time, the script is based on dramatic themes that engage our emotions, and while for Australians some of this is a tad corny in its manifestation, it is nevertheless sincere. Walt Disney stood for fantasy on screen and this is a loving tribute to his legacy.

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