Most critics like it, and the praise clusters almost entirely on the animation. Reviewers across four decades single out the same things: the detailed backgrounds, the fluid character movement and the lighting effects, which many read as a deliberate return to the Disney style of the 1940s. Later writers add a second strand, admiring the film’s willingness to put death, laboratory experiments and real danger in front of children, and several argue it stands up against modern animation.
The reservations are about the script. Several critics find the plot cluttered with characters and subplots, and a few think the added magical elements sit awkwardly beside the science-fiction premise. The New York Times goes furthest, judging the revival of the old style a technical success let down by the screenplay, and Roger Ebert thinks the crowded cast leaves young viewers with no one to hold on to. The spread is wide, from warm to unconvinced, but even the least persuaded critics praise how it looks.