Tom Selleck's Emotional 2000s Sci-Fi Movie Has A Bold View About The Future

"Keep moving forward" is the motto of brilliant inventor Cornelius Robinson (Tom Selleck) in director Stephen J. Anderson's underrated 2007 Disney animated film "Meet the Robinsons." It's certainly a hot take these days, but I am a staunch defender of the second all-CGI movie from the House of Mouse, and I firmly believe that nearly 20 years after its release, "Meet the Robinsons" remains one of the best films in the canon of Disney classics. Loosely based on William Joyce's book "A Day with Wilbur Robinson," the movie centers on Lewis (Jordan Fry and Daniel Hansen), an orphaned boy genius who invents a machine with the power to extract and project memories, only for a mysterious villain known as the Bowler Hat Guy to steal it. That's when the time traveler Wilbur Robinson (Wesley Singerman) arrives from the future to bring Lewis on the adventure of a lifetime in an effort to get back his machine.

At one point, it seems Disney had plans to produce a non-theatrical sequel to "Meet the Robinsons." Unfortunately, the project was axed during a bout of restructuring at the company. The cruel irony, of course, is that the crux of the film's themes comes from a famous quote by Walt Disney himself:

"Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious ... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

"Meet the Robinsons" is a thoughtful, adventurous, original sci-fi comedy with a lot of heart, and it marked a significant departure from the usual Disney formula of storytelling. Alas, in the years since its release, the House of Mouse has taken fewer risks and seemingly forgotten the film's message.

Part of why "Meet the Robinsons" works as well as it does is because director Stephen J. Anderson had a personal connection to the film's material, and those real feelings are palpable, even in the futuristic world of 2037 — a place where the Robinson family exists alongside flying cars, singing frogs, and dinosaurs. That bold vision of the future is shaped by Cornelius Robinson, who is revealed to be who Lewis becomes when he grows up. There's also a great visual gag when Lewis is outlining all of the members of the Robinson family and realizes he doesn't know what Cornelius looks like (as he is Cornelius), and Wilbur tells him he looks like "Tom Selleck," inspiring a photorealistic image of the actor to appear, before it's later revealed that Selleck voices Cornelius.

Lewis' passion for science as a child made him "weird" in the eyes of most potential adoptive parents, but his memory scanner invention draws the attention of science fair judge Dr. Lucille Krunklehorn-Robinson (Laurie Metcalf) and her husband, Bud (Anderson), who adopt him and encourage him to continue following his dreams. Cornelius gives Lewis the opportunity to see his biological mother in the past by using the memory scanner, but after learning about the future he is going to have once he's adopted and becomes a part of the Robinson family, he is content to keep moving forward and work toward helping to create a better world for everyone through his inventions. 

At its core, "Meet the Robinsons" is a story about community, found family, and never letting the past keep you from looking ahead. It envisions an idyllic future filled with an optimism that's harder to come by these days.