IF EVER computer animation was suited to bringing to life anything in particular, it's got to be robots, and a world in which everything created from something rigidly industrial is somehow magically alive.

The possibilities of this world, where there's no need to worry about animating fur or the leaves on the trees, are truly endless, and have been brilliantly explored in this new film from the makers of the very underrated Ice Age.

And Robots demonstrates that there are still some companies who are up for a battle with Pixar, given that I'd put my neck on the line to state that this simpler tale is more than a match for The Incredibles.

It's funnier, for one thing.

Ewan McGregor, who seems to have swapped acting for providing voices for animated characters - given that he's also the lead in next week's new release, Valiant - provides the dulcet tones of our lead 'bot, Rodney Copperbottom.

We begin with his birth in Rivet Town and watch as the introduction takes us right through his happy childhood, which is only mildly marred by the fact that lack of money means he's always put together from hand-me-down parts.

Inspired by the television show of Bigweld, the businessman and champion of all unique robots, he aims to be an inventor when he grows up, to avoid falling into the drudgery of his dad's existence - he's literally a dishwasher.

So off Rodney goes on an adventure to Robot City to find Bigweld and finally achieve his dreams. But what he doesn't count on is the fact that Bigweld has mysteriously been replaced by the dastardly Rachet (Greg Kinnear), whose mother wants all old robots sent to her chop shop for obliteration.

As with all such tales, there's a moral, and it's a pretty simple one - about loving yourself for who you are, not what you look like.

This celebration of individuality works well, given that all the characters are so wonderfully unique and appealing.

The screenplay, written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, of Splash fame, contains just the right balance of gags, heart and toilet humour, as well as the usual plethora of references to other films, including a great Star Wars moment.

The animators have really gone to town on some fabulous visual sequences, from the series of hairdos that Rodney gets when he's magnetised, to an amazing domino run and the incredibly - and unnecessarily! - elaborate transport system.

Robin Williams, with his first voiceover since Aladdin, does the usual crazy range of accents, but the fact that he doesn't dominate proceedings serves to emphasise the success of the other characters and the film as a cogent whole.

Hint - listen carefully to some of the smaller characters and you may just hear Cat Deeley, Chris Moyles and Terry Wogan!