Meet the Robinsons

Disney's Meet the Robinsons (2007) is one of my very favorite animated movies. It's funny and original and has some lovely things to say about life, love, attitudes about learning and how our choices affect our future.

I recently helped sponsor a homeschool team at our state Latin Convention. Because the theme of the convention was "Our success is only limited by our imagination," we thought a Meet the Robinsons theme would be appropriate. I thought you might enjoy a few pictures:

Lewis:



Lewis and the Bowler Hat Guy just before roll call:


The Bowler Hat Guy in action:
Lewis, Frannie, the Bowler Hat Guy and Grandpa:

A Catholic Take on WALL-E

Catholic Exchange has a very nice review of Pixar's WALL-E. I haven't seen the movie yet, but now I certainly will.

Horton Hears a Who

I haven't seen this movie yet, but thought I'd mention one aspect which you may want to know before going to see this movie. I've heard from several reliable sources that this movie goes out of its way to portray homeschooling in a negative fashion.

My suggestion: don't make a big fuss or a boycott; that often draws more attention to a movie (and movie-makers LOVE attention!). The best remedy, I think, is watching something else instead.

In Defense of Fairy Tales

We finally saw Disney's Enchanted after many lovely recommendations. I don't think I could possibly say it better than Barb Nicolosi's brief recommendation:

It is smart and at moments hilarious and consciously uncynical. And when Disney is on the dock at the last judgment, they will just show this film and say, "The defense rests."

G.K. Chesterton would love this story that not only defends fairy tales, but gives us a quirky look at our world from someone who finds it completely foreign.

I'm kind of a crazy person sometimes. I've been known to cheer (very loudly) at the television - during football games, spelling bees and *some* political speeches. It doesn't happen a lot in movies, but when there's a glorious moment of truth proclaimed on screen, I can't help myself. I found myself cheering and yelling at more than one point in this story. Good stuff!

A Pirate Movie Kids Can See

This weekend we finally were able to see The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything Movie. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday together, but certainly not the best Veggie Tales to date. Honestly, it was only okay, not bad, not great, but okay. Sure, it had all the usual Veggie Tale characters, and the wholesomeness of Veggie Tales, but something lacked. It lacked God.

We live very near to where the Big Idea Studios used to be, we knew people who worked there, and we witnessed the legal battles that caused them to lose everything, so we understand how hard it’s been. We know that changing Veggie Tales for TV, omitting God, was not their idea. This movie was a big production from a major film studio, I’m sure there were many negotiations involving how to make the message more mainstream. It was the old message that made us love Bob and Larry, even before we had kids.

The movie starts out in modern times, and through the magic of a “help ball” Larry, Pa Grape and Mr. Lunt are thrown back into the 1700’s. They are given a quest, that at the beginning they do not feel they are up to. As the film progresses, they realize they do have the courage and strength to be heroes, despite what their lives in modern times might indicate. That is pretty much it, not too complex, but sweet.

There were so many times I wished for them to say “God is the source of our Strength” or even the cliché “God made you and he loves you very much” as they say at the end of all the DVD’s, but it never happened. There was nothing wrong with the message, but it lacked clarity for the kiddies.

In our family, the under 7 population loved it, the over 7 population was bored. I think it is still worth seeing, but wait till the DVD comes out or see it at a second run theatre. It is still nice to see films that the whole family can go to, they get rarer and rarer. It was a nice escape for us from the ever falling snow.

Hoodwinked - A "spin" on Little Red Riding Hood

My first post here is not going to be sublime. In fact it isn't even one of my most favorite movies. But it is a really good movie at getting one (huge) point considered. A post about Manalive by Ria on Liber Parma brought it back to my mind.

After your kids are familiar with and finally bored with Little Red Riding Hood they can take this movie in. The cartoon starts with a kind of sappy re-telling of the Little Red Riding Hood story.

Then the police detective gets involved.

He interviews each of the characters one at a time to make sure that the truth comes out. Sure it SEEMS like that big bad wolf did it - easy target! - might as well be "the butler did it". But each interview re-tells the story from a first person perspective. Actions that fit the LRRH storyline may have a context that we didn't see at first. And that context sheds more light on the truth - and more innocence on each of the characters.

THAT is the big point. It is our obligation (and our delight) as rational creatures to seek the truth. That is something that usually requires seeing things from more than one perspective and entertaining things which may not fit our preconceived notions. We NEED to be able to see things from others' perspective. This movie demonstrates the point quite well. And, like any good story, is entertaining at the same time.

Unfortunately, as good as the point is in the movie I would not say it is anything like a classic. The illustration is kind of odd and the characters have modern (i.e. will soon be dated) tendencies and lingo. So I would call it a "see once" movie.

Lest You Think We're Only About "Serious" Films

Here are my personal favorite Disney movies (in no particular order):

Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Cars
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
101 Dalmatians (1996)
Robin Hood (animated)
Lady and the Tramp
The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)
Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
Heidi (1993)

What are your favorites? Or do you allow Disney in your house?