In this animated morality lesson from Disney directed by Simon Wells, the Red Planet is ruled by a self-appointed megalomaniac guarded by a phalanx of heavily armed females and maintained by propaganda and spin. A metaphor for Muammar al-Qaddafi? Or maybe Charlie Sheen? The Martians here are Avatar-esque beings, with leggy females forming the military while the Morlock-like males work the trash pits and nanny-bots raise the "hatchlings." These bots need to draw their parenting skills from the brains of earthling mothers, with poor results for the latter. When the aliens abduct the mom of intrepid Milo (voiced by Seth Green), however, they get more than they bargained for: he stows away on their spaceship and wreaks havoc on their totalitarian society. The 3D IMAX visuals do impress, but the subtext - that if you behave well, the Martians will zap your mother's brain - is a little out of this world.
