[rate 5]
Pixar, start counting your days – another animation team has finally figured out what your secret is: a good story. While its plot is hardly new, ‘Robots’ succeeds with a darned fine synthesis of Pixar’s “secret sauce”: imagination and heart. Blue Sky Studios has another winner on their hands from the same directing team of Carlos Saldanha and Chris Wedge who did the popular animated film “Ice Age”.
I’m giving it five bolts out of five. Grab some kids (they really ought to be your own you know, what with the laws and all) and head to the theater
NOW.
The story: In a world where all sentient life is robotic, things are quite similar to the world that you and I live in. The robots have jobs, fall in love, watch television and make babies. Literally. For the lower middleclass Copperbottom family the arrival of their baby boy Rodney is a joyous occasion. As Rodney grows older his affinity for mechanical devices leads him down the road to becoming an inventor and he sets his sights on getting a job for the famous Big Weld. So in true country mouse style Rodney goes to the big city… soon to discover how different the big city is from his simplified ideal.
The assembled voice talent for this movie (Ewan McGregor, Robin Williams, Mel Brooks, Halle Berry, Drew Carey, Stanley Tucci, Diane Weist) bring their rich comedic acting experience to the plate. It didn’t hurt that they were supported by a screenplay from the writers of Parenthood and City Slickers.
There are some visually dizzying sequences and a robotic version of Hell that might scare your young ones, but for sheer spectacle this one’s a hit. And that well-worn country mouse plot? It doesn’t disappoint….. although I did walk out of the theater wondering what other kinds of adventures these robots might get into~
It’s a safe bet you’ll see a followup to this film.
