Publication Date: 02-28-2026

Planet 51 (2009) review

Dir. Jorge Blanco

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★½

I still have a litany of classics I need to watch, but when browsing the library shelves with Catherine on an otherwise sleepy Saturday afternoon, naturally I found myself wandering to the kids section, perusing an assortment of Arthur and Fat Albert DVDs before being reacquainted with Planet 51. Here was a genial, kooky little kids movie I recall being released shortly after I began writing reviews in 2009. I was in middle school at the time, so I couldn’t drive myself to the theater. I proceeded to watch and review thousands of other movies over the next 16 years, but today, I finally made time for Planet 51.

Lucky me. Despite drawing ire from the critics before living in relative anonymity, this is a harmless little movie that boasts a gorgeous art style and some quaint intrigue on the basis of its plot.

The titular alien planet looks a lot like 1950s America, and if not for the fact that the green blob-dudes speak English, I would’ve thought this was The Jetsons‘ version of Cuba. The planet is one big metropolis boasting diners and rounded vehicles that mirror the design of gas-guzzling whips like Bel Airs and Eldorados. Of all the green-skinned aliens, our focus is mostly on Lem (voiced by Justin Long), a precocious teenager who is hired as an assistant at the planetarium. He even is very close to getting the attention of his crush, Neera (Jessica Biel). Life is pretty good for this kid, contrary to other animated movies.

Enter a NASA module that abruptly lands in the middle of Lem’s family’s backyard barbeque. Emerging from it is a friendly astronaut named Chuck Baker (Dwayne Johnson), aghast at the fact that there is other life beyond Earth. When society finally calms down, Chuck informs Lem, the only level-headed soul on the entire planet, that he has three days to get back in the spacecraft, or it’s going to depart Planet 51 without him. Neera, her young brother (Freddie Benedict), and Lem’s pal (Seann William Scott) agree to take Chuck in as a refugee to keep him safe from a strong-armed general (Gary Oldman) and a mad scientist professor (John Cleese) in his pursuit back to Earth.

My favorite character was Glar (Alan Marriott), a dreadlocked hippie who strums a guitar and sings what he sees. He enjoys protesting. For what, he’s not always sure, but his heart remains in the right place.

You can tell this is not a Pixar nor DreamWorks film based on the writing, which negates any and all opportunities to make this a commentary on xenophobia or the basic human tendencies to otherize those who don’t look and sound like us. The film’s very poster positions we, humans, as aliens, and there’s something to be said about a human arriving on a distant planet and civility being upended immediately.

However, you can tell Planet 51 is the product of some extremely talented animators based on its look. It’s brightly colored, vibrant on the eyes, and the credit is due to Ilion Animation Studios in Spain. 11 years after the release of this film, Ilion was acquired by Skydance (Paramount) whilst remaining in Madrid. They would later go on to make Wonder Park, the Nickelodeon movie with an ominous production backstory and a TV series that never materialized. From there, Skydance would make Luck, a lousy movie made for over $100 million more than Planet 51. Among many contrasting traits, Planet 51 at least had heart and style, something that is becoming increasingly harder to find in modern mainstream animation.

Voiced by: Justin Long, Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Gary Oldman, Seann William Scott, Alan Marriott, Freddie Benedict, James Corden, and John Cleese.