It’s not just small children who want to have their cake and eat it, too. When it comes to family films, even adults—critics in particular, and parents in general—demand that the onscreen entertainment will both keep the kids occupied and satisfy the narrative, artistic, and comedic expectations of those who have left Disney long behind.

Film producers in this market are well aware of that paradoxical demand, and know that straying too far one way or the other—shooting over the heads of the kids, or pandering too much to the adults—will sabotage boxoffice potential. What’s one to do?

Near one extreme, we get Curious George, a great film for the kids but one which offers little for adult sensibilities. Near the other extreme (but not so near it hurt boxoffice), you get “Not-As-I-Do” entertainments like Shrek, so full of double entendre and bathroom humor that they connect well with both adolescents and adults, all the while prompting observant young children to think, “Why’s Daddy laughing? Must be ’bout that stuff I’m not ‘posta say.” Boxoffice may still win, but the kids come out something lesser for the experience, I’d guess.

Meet the Robinsons, Disney’s latest animated epic, errs—if at all—on the side of the children; and given the other option, that’s a good thing.

The story concerns a young orphan named Lewis who, despite his inquisitive and inventive nature, can never quite seem to make his ideas work. After failure upon failure, and after dozens of failed adoption interviews, Lewis has grown very discouraged. When his new memory-capture machine spoils the school science fair, Lewis is convinced he is a complete loser.

Then he meets the future—in the persons of young Wilbur Robinson and the Man in the Bowler Hat. The latter has arrived from the future to steal the secret of Lewis’ memory machine, and Wilbur follows to stop him. In order to convince Lewis that his time-travel tale is true, Wilbur takes Lewis with him back to the future, where we, yes, Meet the Robinsons.

On the upside—and there is a lot of upside to this film—the animation is top-notch CGI (particularly the depiction of human movement), and I admire Disney’s decision to avoid high-priced vocal talent which might overwhelm the story. I knew, for instance, that Angela Bassett was in the cast, but she’s so well-directed here that I had to scan the credits afterward to see which character she had voiced. The only other big names are Tom Selleck and Adam West, both in very small roles—so we’re not playing “spot the celebrity” as we watch. That’s nice for a change.

The story’s main theme is also well worth supporting. Lewis creates the memory machine because he thinks he will find meaning by finding discovering his mother’s identity (a storyline reminiscent of last year’s Russian film, The Italian). Through his friendship with Wilbur, Lewis acknowledges, “I can change my life”—not by changing the past, as one might think with a time-travel tale, but by accepting the present and “moving forward.”

By contrast, Lewis’ fellow orphan, Goob, when faced with the choice of “taking responsibility” or blaming others, says that the latter “wins hands down.” And Goob’s life takes a very different path than does Lewis’. This is meaning-laden children’s entertainment at its best and most idealistic. Kudos to the Disney team on this score, and for delivering the story without raunch, scat, or pander.

On the downside, though, the film’s 3-D presentation adds nothing new in the way of cinematic experience, and really doesn’t serve the story at all either. It’ll probably be fun for the kids, but for adults it’ll be purely old hat.

And speaking of hats—most of the humor in the movie is not terribly sophisticated. If the mere idea of a robotic, sociopathic bowler hat named Doris makes you chuckle, then you’re in good shape here; if it doesn’t, than neither will much else in Robinsons. For all of the inventiveness on the screen, the film left me puzzlingly cold.

Disney has pretty much hit the target here, nonetheless. As the epilogue tells us prior to the end credits, Meet the Robinsons is intended as a celebration of Walt Disney’s vision; and as far as that ambition goes, Robinsons does Walt proud. Audiences who have been frustrated over the last two decades with Disney’s drift toward left of center (and below the belt) should be happy to spend their entertainment budget on this fine, truly family-friendly animated tale. Disney’s back at the head of the pack.

Meet the Robinsons is rated G. Yessiree.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Greg attended a press screening of Meet the Robinsons.