The animated feature “Robots” got the approval of the experts (aka the two kids sitting next to me). I’d like to say at this point that I am a classy reporter and human being and did not find the high proportion of bodily function jokes amusing.

OK, I’m lying. I laughed at the fart jokes. So, as far as I could tell, did every adult in the theater. We may have felt guilty about it afterward, but we laughed. At the bad puns too, including the minor character Jack Hammer.

“Robots” opens with a typical small town: ice cream store, barbershop, dog trying to pee on hydrant. Except the patrons of the ice cream shop and barbershop are robots, as is the dog, who is told by the fire hydrant, “Don’t even think about it.”

The visual gags go on from there and keep the story rolling as small-town kid Ewan McGregor does his best to make it in the metropolis of Robot City. Barrels of marbles get tipped over, causing immense, vaguely operatic chaos, and then there are the incredibly ominous and threatening dominoes.

McGregor has his dreams abruptly shattered just in time to meet up with lowlife Robin Williams, who makes a pretty dumb sidekick, but that was pretty much his goal in the first place. The only thing more frightening than Robin Williams as a stereotypical Valkyrie-style Norse female warrior (I actually whimpered) is Robin Williams as a Valkyrie beating up the bad guys to the tune of Britney Spears’ “Hit Me, Baby, One More Time.” Sadly, that was about the only inspired music in the movie. The rest was pretty lackluster, break-dancing robots notwithstanding.

“Let’s get down to the business of sucking every loose penny out of Mr. and Mrs. Knucklehead,” bad guy Greg Kinnear proclaims to his board of directors. His master strategy is upgrades for all robots – and making sure they feel bad enough about their present selves to think they need upgrades. Sort of a combination of Microsoft and Atkins.

We eventually discover that Kinnear is backed by his mother, voiced by Jim Broadbent, who has the dubious honor of being the creepiest animated character I’ve ever seen. “She” heads a Dickens-style factory of scrap-yard workers who are busily turning old parts (and robots) into raw materials for the upgrades. She also keeps Kinnear’s father wrapped in chains.

McGregor is basically all that stands in Kinnear and Broadbent’s way in their quest for world domination, and he is, of course, badly outnumbered. He is accompanied by female lead Halle Berry, but while she fights valiantly for the side of right, she has no personality. Her only real contribution is to sarcastically remark, “Big creaky door,” as she and McGregor sneak into a tycoon’s house. It’s a nice acknowledgment that the movie knows it’s a stereotype.

It’s downright politically incorrect too. Mental breakdowns have never been funnier – or more tactless. Imagine a robot with a few circuits out of order sings “If you’re happy and you know it.”

The movie hits you over the head with the mallet of “If you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything.” But at least it uses cute plot devices like an incredibly insane puppet to deliver that point. Bottom line: It’s a good movie, especially for kids. Though the upside/downside/inside-out traffic route through Robot City made me wonder if the movie was made exclusively to inspire an amusement park ride – until I found out the movie was also made for IMAX. Holy cow. If you get a chance to watch it on IMAX, hold onto your stomach.

“Robots”

Rated PG for some brief language and suggestive humor

Starring: Voices of Ewan McGregor, Greg Kinnear, Robin Williams, Jim Broadbent

Directed by: Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldana

Length: One hour 31 minutes

Now playing at: Astoria Gateway Cinemas, Cannes Cinema Center in Seaside and Neptune Theatre in Long Beach, Wash.

Short take:Be all you can be. The little guys can overcome the big guy if they stand for truth and justice. And fart jokes are funny.

Rating: Three stars (out of four)

Movie trivia: What vehicle did Ewan McGregor use to make an around-the-world trek?

Answer: A motorcycle.