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Robots: Wrenchingly funny

By HAP ERSTEIN
Palm Beach Post

There was a time, not that long ago, when animated feature films were made primarily for kids.

But ever since the genre got its own Oscar category and began to rely on computer-generated images, the stories and humor have been increasingly pitched to adults.

Blue Sky Studios 'Robots' A- The verdict: A frenetic, joke-stuffed story of robot achievement, rendered in eye-popping computer-generated animation. Director: Chris Wedge Starring: Voices by Ewan McGregor, Mel Brooks, Greg Kinnear Run time: 90 minutes Release date: March. 11, 2005 Rating: PG for some brief language and suggestive humor See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer   -- Trailers require Quicktime Rate "Robots":   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Certainly that is the case with Robots, a frenetically paced movie from Blue Sky Studios, the folks that brought us Ice Age. As a reminder, they tack a short about the prehistoric squirrel, still in search of glacier-embedded acorns, onto the beginning of Robots. While Ice Age was a very hip cartoon, it has now been surpassed by Robots in sophistication, all-star voice talent and spot-the-movie-reference grown-up comedy.

It is only March, but Robots is already a lock for an animation Academy Award nomination. The movie looks terrific, with its slightly retro, though futuristic world. Its story has heart, with its classic believe-in-yourself and follow-your-dream messages and its slightly subversive anti-capitalist, newer-isn't-always-better theme.

Anyway, off in a parallel universe populated exclusively by metallic creatures, in a place called Rivet Town, the Copperbottoms decide to make a baby, a process more mechanical than biological. Rodney (Ewan MacGregor) grows up with a series of hand-me-down parts in his middle-class robot family, but he has ambition and talent as an inventor. He yearns to work for Mr. Bigweld (Mel Brooks), whose factory pumps out the replacement components that keeps all 'bots running smoothly.

However, when Rodney and his motor-mouthed sidekick Fender (Robin Williams) arrive at Bigweld headquarters — by way of a dizzying, Rube Goldberg-like highway of spins, loops and gravitational chutes — they find it under the control of a corporate baddie named Ratchet (Greg Kinnear), who wants to close the parts factory in order to sell more expensive, but lucrative, new upgrades. Meanwhile, the easily distracted Bigweld has become fixated on dominoes and their chain reaction toppling, which look great rendered in CGI.

Robots' screenplay is by playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (Fuddy Meers) and the writing team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (Splash, City Slickers), who must have had fun spinning out movie homages to old classics like The Wizard of Oz and Singin' in the Rain, as well as newer releases like Star Wars, The Matrix and Lord of the Rings. Movie buffs will love it.

The voice cast is a Hollywood who's who, though some of them fly past as fast as the jokes. Williams is most prominent and priceless and Brooks has a distinctive voice, but I defy you to pick out Jay Leno, Drew Carey or Dianne Wiest without referring to the credits. Jim Broadbent unexpectedly turns up as Madame Gasket, Ratchet's pushy mother, and Jennifer Coolidge handles some broad comedy as wide-beamed Aunt Fanny.

Robots is certainly kid-friendly, but only the most precocious will get many of the gags. Still, expect them to want to see it and adults should actually enjoy taking them. Then get ready for the fast-food chain tie-ins and the ancillary toys to hit the market with robotic precision.