Brad Bird’s futuristic mystery-adventure Tomorrowland, starring George Clooney and Britt Robertson, remains one of Disney’s most underappreciated releases.

As a young inventor at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Frank Walker (Thomas Robinson) meets Athena (Raffey Cassidy), who leads him through the “It’s a Small World” ride and into Tomorrowland, a breathtaking city in another dimension. Robots repair his faulty jet pack, letting him soar through a world built on imagination. Years later, Frank (George Clooney) has grown bitter and lives in isolation. Meanwhile, optimistic teenager Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) is arrested after trying to stop a NASA facility’s demolition. She finds a mysterious pin among her belongings, and touching it briefly transports her to Tomorrowland, igniting her search for answers.

Casey traces the pin to Blast from the Past, a Houston memorabilia shop run by Hugo (Keegan-Michael Key) and Ursula (Kathryn Hahn). They violently interrogate her before revealing themselves as rogue animatronics. Athena intervenes, rescues Casey, and admits she is also an animatronic sent to recruit promising minds. She brings Casey to the adult Frank, who wants nothing to do with Tomorrowland after being banished. Casey discovers a device in his home predicting the world’s imminent end. Her refusal to accept that fate briefly alters the countdown, challenging Frank’s belief that the future is fixed.

When assassin animatronics attack, Casey, Frank, and Athena escape and teleport to Paris. Frank reveals that Tomorrowland was created by Gustave Eiffel, Jules Verne, Nikola Tesla, and Thomas Edison under a secret society called Plus Ultra. The trio launches an old rocket hidden in the Eiffel Tower and reaches a deteriorating Tomorrowland ruled by Governor David Nix (Hugh Laurie). He shows them a tachyon machine Frank invented that broadcasts visions of global catastrophe. Instead of spurring action, Nix says humanity simply embraced despair, convincing him that letting the world collapse is the only logical outcome.

“In every moment there’s the possibility of a better future, but you people won’t believe it,” Nix says. “And because you won’t believe it, you won’t do what is necessary to make it a reality. So, you dwell on this terrible future. You resign yourselves to it for one reason, because that future does not ask anything of you today.”

Casey, Frank, and Athena try to destroy the machine, triggering a chaotic fight with Nix. A bomb accidentally travels through a portal and injures him, while Athena foresees Frank’s death and sacrifices herself to save him, activating her self-destruct and crushing the machine. With Nix defeated, Tomorrowland begins to rebuild. Frank and Casey bring her father Eddie (Tim McGraw) and younger brother Nate (Pierre Gagnon) and create a new generation of Athena-like animatronics. Given fresh pins, these childlike ambassadors are sent into the world to find dreamers and innovators who can help shape a better future.

I first watched Tomorrowland in 2015 and did a rewatch in 2019. I decided to revisit the film again in November 2025, ten and a half years after its release. It keeps getting better with age. At this point, I think Tomorrowland is one of the more rewarding rewatches in Disney’s modern catalog. The film makes a clear point about optimism and believing in hope. We see this through Casey, who finds a flicker of hope and convinces Frank that the future can still change. It’s one thing to portray this on screen. In the real world, optimism and hope alone are not enough.

Most of Tomorrowland does not take place in the futuristic city but on the road. For much of the film, it functions as a buddy adventure. The script is ambitious, which partly explains why it wasn’t received well in 2015. Damon Lindelof and Brad Bird ask a lot of the audience, but I think Bird executes it well in his direction.

Frank is developed as a character with curmudgeonly humor and a heroic quality. The filmmakers envisioned him as “George Clooney-esque,” but why settle for an actor who fits that type when Clooney himself is available? On the other side is Hugh Laurie’s Nix, a scientist who prefers a more utilitarian approach to research. They are strong contrasts to each other. Holding their own opposite Clooney and Laurie are Britt Robertson and Raffey Cassidy. Robertson’s Casey brings curiosity and optimism, which benefit Tomorrowland’s future.

Every time I rewatch Tomorrowland, I find something new to appreciate. It wasn’t among my top films of 2015, but that may change when I revisit my rankings. The visuals remain consistently impressive, and the film moves at a brisk pace. Composer Michael Giacchino delivers strong work, and the themes hold up well. Giacchino was inspired by the music of the Sherman Brothers, which helped set him on the path he followed.

The visual world of the film also stands out. Production designer Scott Chambliss put significant work into bringing Tomorrowland to life, and visual effects producer and co-producer Tom Peitzman also deserves credit. The team had to create the city from scratch, which was not easy. They ultimately found the look they needed at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain. The Bridgeway Plaza set—including the monorail, energy sphere, and massive monitor—had to be built elsewhere because no soundstage was large enough.

There was an opportunity to tie the film more directly to the futuristic theme park areas at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. It was probably for the best that the references were cut, although I like the use of the 1964 World’s Fair. Despite the missed opportunity, this is very much a Disney film. Even though the story was written by Lindelof, Bird, and Jeff Jensen, I think Walt Disney himself would be proud of the finished film. Tomorrowland may not be perfect, but it’s exactly the kind of ambitious Disney film I wish we saw more often.

DIRECTOR: Brad Bird
SCREENWRITERS: Damon Lindelof and Brad Bird
CAST: George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Tim McGraw, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Robinson, Pierce Gagnon, Chris Bauer

Walt Disney Pictures released Tomorrowland in theaters on May 22, 2015. The film is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital.  Grade: 4.5/5

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