Meet the Robinsons, 2007 This was a cute, weird little movie. Little genius Lewis, despite being adorable, smart, blonde and blue-eyed, hasn’t been adopted in 12 years because he is strange and a lot to handle. His poor room-mate, Goob, never gets any sleep because Lewis stays up all night inventing. An enemy from the future comes to ruin the timeline. Well, actually two enemies. A man who works really hard at being evil- mustache, black outfit, evil laugh. And a sentient robot hat named Doris who can control minds. The scenes from the future are all dreamlike surreal experiences, to imply that anything is possible. I think they tried too hard in making the family strange- there were too many characters with too many quirks to keep up with. I loved the messages in this movie- don’t hold on to the bad in your past, keep looking to the future, celebrate mistakes, and wave your freak flag. Since there is time travel involved, paradoxes abound, to the point where the whole story would not have happened, but try not to think of that too much and enjoy the frogs. Finding out this was based on a picture book by illustrator/writer William Joyce made some of their choices more understandable. Favorite line in the movie “I have a big head and little arms. I’m just not sure how well this plan was thought through.” the t-rex.
Bolt, 2008 John Travolta and Miley Cyrus? Huh. Miley was starring in Hannah Montana, and I wonder if the conflicts explored in the show about being a child actor influenced this movie. Bolt the wonder dog is the star of a show where he saves the girl, Penny, from mortal peril every week. He thinks it’s real- and I was surprised to see that the show producers did everything they could to encourage this illusion, to make his acting more “authentic”. The poor dog is stressed out and doesn’t know how to play or do basic doggy things, and the actress (who owns the dog? unclear on this) is not allowed to take him home. In a very highly unlikely scenario, the dog is shipped to NYC, captures a cat named Mittens who was running a protection ring with pigeons, and proceeds to have a cross-country trek back to his person. Along the way they meet up with a Super-fan hamster named Rhino, Bolt is slowly disillusioned, and Mittens decides she is going to train Bolt to be a dog and allow herself to be attached. The pigeons (who are everywhere but have regional accents/quirks) are really funny, as is Rhino. It’s a cute, fluffy movie about belonging and honesty.
The Princess and the Frog, 2009 This is a good movie. It’s a musical, but at least for me, the songs didn’t stick, except for Almost There. The plot is kind of a “ant meets grasshopper, they become frogs and fall in love” thing. The movie was respectful that “wishing on a star” and hoping and dreaming are not enough to get what you want when the world is against you. The prince realizes he can’t be a leach his whole life, the aspiring restauranteur realizes she needs to add fun and companionship to her idea of success. Ok, I admit it, I was designing the new Splash Mountain ride throughout the movie- it is perfect for that- I mean, “moving down the bayou” and “are you ready?”The spoiled rich girl shows that she just wanted to be in a fairy tale, she was ok not being the star of it.The villain, while horrible, is almost sympathetic. Almost. What country is supposed to be like Nareen’s fictional one, Morocco?
Tangled, 2010 Geez, watching this after the pandemic makes a difference! Which is the worst- Cinderella’s stepmother, Mother Gothel, Yzma or Claude Frollo? I’d say Gothel because she pretends to be loving and protective. That whole nasty comment, ha ha I’m just kidding thing. Yikes. This movie is pretty awful towards adoptive families, and I don’t think it makes it clear enough to little kids that most adoptive parents did not steal their children or are thousand year old evil witches. Even the witch in “Into the Woods” is more sympathetic. Does Rapunzel still have powers? That was a bit unclear. Maximus is the best character in the movie, and I’m saying that while saying the other characters are good. At the end of the movie, the horse is the captain of the guard and frying pans are the official weapon of the country. Flynn is confused about being in a musical, finally gives in to it when he falls in love. The music was meh. Best line: “Go live your Dream.” “I will.” “Not you, your dream stinks. I was talking to her.” I don’t like the resolution of the villain, I feel it was taken out of Rapunzel’s hands.
Want the Disney movie checklist? Ask! I have the Pixar movies in a separate post.
