Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

Chris Miller and Phil Lord worked together as producers on 17 episodes of TV's How I Met Your Mother, writing two of its episodes. Before that, they'd co-created, along with the usual big animation team, an animated TV series that lasted one 13-episode season, Clone High. They were young talents who hadn't done much else before they co-wrote and co-directed Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Sony took a risk entrusting them with the 3D/IMAX animation feature. It paid off: the movie grossed well over $200 million globally.

They presumably sold their concept and themselves to the studio on the strength of the 30-page picture-book of the same name written and illustrated by Ron and Judi Barrett, on which they based their fast-paced tale of disaster-prone amateur inventor Flint Lockwood. First published in 1978, the book was a natural for adaptation to the giant screen: its anti-heroes are parts of a meteorological nightmare that brings spaghetti twisters, pizza slice fighting formations and assorted culinary culinary horrors from outer space.

Flint had created them with the machine he'd invented to bring new life and tastes to his home island, fated to survive only on tins of sardines. Re-named Chewandswallow, the town becomes a foodie's tourist destination with an ever-fattening mayor. Other key characters are Flint's emotionally shy father, a repressed nerdish TV weather girl, the overly emotional black policeman, his infant son and Steve, a small monkey given a basic translation machine by Flint.

Other characters of varying stereotypical roles populate this truly animated spoof of disaster movies such as Independence Day and Twister. As with all animated films, its artists flaunt their skills in creating images of water, shadows, explosions, mirrors and reflections. Most memorably, they dreamed up a marvellously textured jelly palace with trampoline flooring, edible statuary and three dimensions. Overall, this is a rare example of a feature whose DVD in 2D encourages its viewers to seek out a big-screen re-run in 3D or, even better surely, IMAX.

The characters' voices convey the snappy, occasionally witty, dialogue well and credibly. They embellish the cartoon personalities rather than demand to be recognised as those of self-assertive actors. Even James Caan, as Flint's bashful father, is suitably discreet.

Appropriately for an animated feature, its opening credits announce in the style of egocentric blockbuster movie-makers that it's "A film by ..." and then adds "many people". Lord and Miller know their business and their current project (featuring Lego) is awaited with pleasure.