Not since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has a Disney movie unleashed such an unruly cast. However, where the dwarfs had the good sense not to talk over one another, the Robinsons spontaneously engage in meatball fights and other bad behavior. Walt Disney himself would be hard-pressed to find anything of his own aesthetic in the finished film.

The movie is set in the future, a poignant choice given its "keep moving forward" motto, providing Lewis a Christmas Carol-look into where his life is headed. A few years back, Lilo & Stitch proved the studio could work magic with original material, but Robinsons doesn't feel original enough, more like an extended Jimmy Neutron adventure, which kids can already find on TV.

The best thing the film has going for it is the look. It's pure William Joyce, the design genius behind Rolie Polie Olie and Dinosaur Bob whose A Day With Wilbur Robinson picture book inspired the story (Joyce also designed the retro-styled world of Robots, which explains why family robot Carl looks so familiar). As Joyce imagines it, the future's so bright you'll want to wear 3-D specs -- an option that enhances the movie in select theaters.

But the underlying sentiment seems to be largely that of first-time director Stephen Anderson, an adopted child himself. At least, that's what Pixar maestro John Lasseter reportedly tried to "fix" about the project when he took over as Disney's creative chief last year.

Delaying the release date several months to accommodate changes, Lasseter encouraged Anderson to put more of himself in the movie. But with no fewer than seven credited writers, Meet the Robinsons still feels (to use Lasseter's phrase) "like it's had too many cooks." Or maybe he was just giving Anderson an out, because the movie is a mess.

Its vision of the future may be a sublimely art-directed nod to such landmark early 20th century industrial designers as Raymond Loewy and Harold Van Doren (not to mention kooky British cartoonist W. Heath Robinson, no doubt the family's namesake), but the story is a scramble. And the characters, starting with Lewis himself, are downright obnoxious. Not counting those singing frogs or the time-traveling T. rex (with its big head and little arms), only Lewis' sad-sack roommate "Goob" is remotely sympathetic.

The astonishing thing about Meet the Robinsons, despite its directionless flights of fancy, is just how satisfying the ending is. Even the best movies typically whiff in the third act, but that's precisely when Robinsons comes together.

[as featured in Fort Worth Star-Telegram]