Adoptive Families: Heads-Up on "Meet the Robinsons"

[KristinU]

I know there are many other adoptive families out there on this board, so I thought I'd share a press release that we received from our adoption agency regarding the new Movie "Meet the Robinsons" In the four years that we've been hooked up with our agency they've never released anything like this before regarding a movie or book or anything...so I'm gathering that it is pretty extreme. We have't seen it yet, so I can't comment personally...but we do plan to skip it in the theater based on this (and numerous other discussions on adoptive family boards that I frequent). We'll rent it once it is out on DVD and watch without DS and decide where to go from there.

Anyway, here is the press release: (Mods, please move this if this forum isn't appropriate...I figured the family forum was the best place for it)

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wide Horizons For Children Dismayed and Disturbed by Negative Adoption
Themes in the Disney Movie "Meet the Robinsons"

Agency warns adoptive parents of painful experience children may endure

Waltham, MA – April 5, 2007 – Wide Horizons For Children (WHFC),
a leading non-profit international adoption and child welfare agency, is
outraged by the negative adoption themes portrayed in Disney's new
movie, "Meet the Robinsons". There are over 1.5 million adopted
children in the U.S. and many millions more who have adopted children,
siblings and other family members. Well over half of Americans now have
a close personal connection to adoption. The agency is concerned about
the disturbing impact of this movie on those who are adopted as well as
others. They are urging parents not to take children to see the movie
because of the unrealistic, tasteless and insensitive adoption messages
that may upset adopted children and others who are close to them.

"The advertising for this animated feature makes it sound like a
great movie for any young child; however Meet the Robinsons is filled
with extraordinarily inappropriate and insensitive messages about
adoption that will be disturbing to many children," said Vicki
Peterson, Executive Director of External Affairs at Wide Horizons For
Children. "We are truly outraged by Disney's flippant way of
dealing with issues that are extremely important and not funny for
millions of adoptees and their families in this country and around the
world."

The basic story is about an adorable baby whose birthmother leaves him
on the doorstep of an orphanage. Portrayed as loving, sweet, extremely
smart and overly appealing, he spends the next 12 years of his life
wanting a family and being turned down by one family after another - in
all, 114 couples refuse to adopt him. One disturbing scene shows a
prospective dad losing interest in adopting the child because the
youngster is more interested in science than sports. When he
accidentally splatters them with food from his science project, both
prospective parents walk out in a huff , leaving one very sad and
disappointed little boy. Apparently, Disney producers think this is
funny.

Since no one else wants him, the child invents a time machine that will
take him back in time to find his birth mother. The "bad guy" in his
time travel journey turns out to be his best childhood buddy who was
once his orphanage roommate. Now an emotional wreck resulting from being
left behind when the orphanage was closed and shut down, the once-cute
orphan is now mean and devious. The story continues with numerous
monsters attacking the child as he continues to search for his birth
mother.

Do not be caught off guard by this seemingly kid-friendly movie. Wide
Horizons For Children strongly urges parents to think very carefully and
learn more about the movie before taking children to see Meet the
Robinsons, whether adopted or not.

###
About Wide Horizons For Children (WHFC)
Wide Horizons For Children is the largest private, non-profit
international adoption and child welfare agency in the northeast, and
among the largest in the U.S. The agency has placed over 9,500 children
from over 50 countries with loving, permanent families since its
founding in 1974. Headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, Wide Horizons
For Children has regional offices in seven states and services families
throughout the United States. The agency's humanitarian aid arm
has donated more than $9 million to humanitarian aid projects that
support children around the world who may never be adopted. Visit
www.whfc.org <http://www.whfc.org/> for more information.

 

[dismom301930]

Thank you for posting this. I will not be taking my children to see this based on the negative portrayal of adoptive families. Although my own children are not adopted, many people in my family are - including my brother, sister, cousins, and my sister's fiance. I am honestly surprised that Disney thought it was an appropriate topic to make fun of in a movie.

 

[tiggerzpalz]

I just want to say we also use Wide Horizons and we wrote to her regarding her complete inaccuaracy regarding this movie. The examples she uses are incorrect and frankly make us wonder if she even saw this movie. We on the other hand have. We took our 2 DS's and watched with one of my DS5 best friends who happens to be a litttle girl adopted from China and her dad. They loved the movie as did we.

We are very happy with our agency choice however we feel in this instance they really dropped the ball. While the intentions may have been wonderful the information is incorrect and the message she says this movie sends is not true. Honestly, we encourage everyone to perhaps read the book "A Day With Wilbur Robinson" by William Joyce, which this movie is based on, and perhaps see the movie themselves before they pass judgement. Many of Joyce's books, like Robinson and the series Rolie Polie Olie celebrate the diversity, uniqueness, and wonder of all types of families.

 

[tchrrx]

We took our DD7 (adopted a year & a half ago) to see the movie last night. It didn't bother her at all & she didn't seem to have any problems with it. Actually, I just went & discussed the movie & the adoption issue with her before I posted this. My DD seemed to think it was pretty neat that the boy was adopted b/c he was happy to have a family. The only thing she was bothered by was...



***SPOILER FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NOT SEEN IT***






that the other little boy, Goob, stayed at the orphanage after everyone else left & it was boarded up. The only thing he had left was a hat. But, Lewis changed it in the end so that the hat never existed and Goob got a family too.





Overall, I think it's great to have a 'hero' who is adopted and leaves you great opportunity to discuss adoption with your child. Also, at one point in the movie when Lewis discusses that no one wants him, he comes to realize that perhaps his mother really did want him, but realized that she gave him up b/c she simply couldn't care for him & wanted to do what was best for him.

 

[KristinU]

Thanks for the insights and experiences, Tiggerzpalz and Thcrrx. It helps to hear multiple opinions.

 

[va32h]

That summation of the movie was completely inaccurate - so much so that I have to believe that the organization deliberately falsified it to make their press release sound more dramatic.

First and foremost, the movie is about moving forward and not dwelling on the past. What this press release does not tell you is that by the end of the movie Lewis realizes that his birth mother did not abandon him, she tried to give him opportunities that she could not provide herself, and Lewis is adopted by a wonderful couple and goes on to be an extremely happy and successful adult.

I can't imagine what adoptive family would find that message disturbing and frightening.

It is indeed true that Lewis says he has interviewed 114 families and not been adopted. That is sad. But it is no more an attack on adoption than Cinderella is an attack on blended families. Would an organization tell stepmothers to boycott Cinderella or Snow White? Virtually ALL Disney films have one or more dead parents, or subject the child-hero of the film to all sorts of danger and torture.

People who are looking for an anti-adoption message in this film are just looking for something to complain about. And for anyone to reject ANY film without seeing it is just foolish prejudice, IMO. Just like people who want to ban books they've never read or get a TV show off the air that they've never watched. See the movie before you pillory it.

To clear up some other issues:


***********Movie spoilers***************

The couple that walks out of an interview with Lewis does so because his invention sprays the man with peanut butter. The man is allergic to peanut butter, and swells up and has to be taken to the hospital.

Lewis' roommate, Goob is NOT left behind when the orphanage closes. He is an ADULT by then and CHOOSES to stay in the orphanage because he is obsessed with getting revenge on Lewis - because Lewis kept him up all night working on an invention, which caused Goob to fall asleep during a baseball game and miss catching the ball in an important game. Goob becomes bitter and obsessed, and refuses to leave the room.

 

[ameraumi]

I am disappointed that there is a lot of misinformation in that news release. It is obvious that the movie has not been reviewed by the writer. I do not want to spoil it for those who have not seen it, but there are parts that were mentioned that had key information left out.

I loved this movie and cannot wait for it to come out on DVD.

 

[Desnik]

What I can't believe is that a big organization for adoptive families would send out a message like this with complete lies in it!! Obviously they never saw the movie. All their examples are twisted and inaccurate. We saw this movie and couldn't disagree more with what that agency is saying! Thank you to those here who have provided the real scenes in the movie. This agency should really be ashamed of themselves!!

To the OP, go see the movie for yourself. Then send this organization a letter of how they distorted the scenes and filled their letter with inaccuarate information!

 

[tchrrx]

On a side note, did you notice the difference between 'Disney kids' and 'non-Disney kids' in the theater? The kids who had been to Disney seemed to expect it to actually rain in the theater (like Little Mermaid attraction) and other things.

 

[macmahony]

We went to see it yesterday (and I think it was 124 families that he was turned down by, but could be wrong) We have an adopted daughter, and at first I watched her reaction (since I had no idea), but she did not even bat an eye. The kids loved the movie.

 

[latexscooter]

Its unfortunate how the press release does not highlight the complete stories they highlight for being troubling. My concern lies in the integrity of the organization and not the film itself. And the interesting thing is that while it isn't Disney's worst film, it certainly wasn't the best - but not because of the plot.

The beauty of the story is that he does get adopted and through his adoptive families nurturing and love he becomes the success that he had witnessed in his future.

 

[jenrein]

Wow....some people need to get a life and think for themselves. The movie was fine. Go ahead and shelter your kids- make sure they never feel let down, or failure. That will set them on the right road. Maybe you should be open minded to different ways of life- for some people that could be an accurate description from the adoptee side. Who knows. Its a freaking cartoon made by Disney- not Satans handiwork to lure all adopted kids to the dark side.

 

[tchrrx]

Bumping this up to say that I am now an even bigger supporter of this movie....

My DD7 was adopted a year & a half ago. While she's more than willing to discuss her different foster homes & stuff, she's never been able to state that she was ever younger than 3. It's like she blocked all of that from her memory. Well, after watching Meet the Robinsons & discussing the movie, she finally had a break through. She spent several minutes this morning telling me that she was a baby, but that her mommy (and, I called her by name, which didn't phase her at all) just couldn't take care of her, so she let her go to a new family. So, regardless of anyone else's take on this movie, I'll always be thankful b/c it helped my DD open the door to her past & be comfortable with who she is!

 

[kmjhmom]

I'm an adoptive mother and feel that this movie was great! My ds who was adopted 5 years ago at birth loved it, too!

 

[bibbity bobbity boo]

You can actually VIEW THE ENTIRE MOVIE RIGHT HERE FOR FREE http://www.tv-links.co.uk/show.do/4/1238 just click full movie.

 

[wen774]

As an adoptee, I totally disagree with the press release. I thought the movie was great and not negative to adoption in any way. I appreciate that adoption is being discussed.

 

[jenseib]

I loved this movie. I am disgusted at that news release. It is so inaccurate. The whole plot is WRONG in the review! I would write them back and let them know that it is wrong. They are giving false info. Lewis does NOT invent the time machine until he is an adult. He is taken into the future, but his invention was a mind reading device. The Whole Goob story is wrong too. And I really didn't see them as childhood best friends either. They were just roomates. It really makes me mad when people go off about something and have no clue what they are talking about!

 

[dameodie]

Wow. How very sad that there are people out there who are so misinformed.

My fiancee's girls have a very irresponsible mother... I'm not going to go into details, but amonst all the other horrible ways her choices in life could go, one of them could definiatly be abandoning the girls. This movie allowed me to talk about the fact that sometimes, bad things happen that we may not understand, even to people who love us... but they more often than not turn out okay in the end. They can't understand that their mother is immoral, adulterous, and selfish, but they know that bad things happen because of it (or they will, once she moves to another continent and they have a younger sibling that they rarely see). It gives me an example that they can relate to WITHOUT me dragging her name through the mud.

I just hope people arn't swayed too much by this press release, and judge the movie for themselves. But then again, wish in one hand...

 

[KristinU]

Thanks for all of the thoughts and dialogue on this, it's been an interesting thread!

 

[Lisa Anne Colling]

I took my 3 adopted kids (DD7, DS5,DS4) on the weekend and our foster baby 4 weeks old. I think I cringed a few times at some of the words, but I think that was just me. My kids enjoyed it and had no problem with it. We really talk openly about our adoptions in our home and with others and like some of the other posters said, it is an oppurtunity to open up some dialogue about adoption. I should add the my daughter can be sensitive to adoption subjects and can come out with some really big questions. Like she thought her Birth parents were dead because we dont see them, but see my youngest sons. But she had no issues or questions with the movie.
Lisa