“The Mitchells vs. the Machines” is a delightful family film – an oddball animated road trip comedy with a lot of charm and a little heart.

The writing and directing team of Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe, who previously worked together on the animated series “Gravity Falls,” brings that same energy to its first feature film. It feels a lot like something that would have come from “The Lego Movie” and “Into the Spider-verse” team Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who serve as producers on this film.

“The Mitchells” tells the story of an eccentric family from the eyes of the daughter Katie (voiced by Abbi Jacobson). Katie has always felt like an outsider, even in her family, but when she is accepted to film school Katie sees it as a chance to start over with “people like her.”

She is excited about the chance to finally leave home, but her plans for college are stalled when her father, Rick (voiced by Danny McBride), decides that – in an effort to reconnect with his daughter – the whole family will drive cross country to drop Katie off to school. As the road trip with Rick, Katie, mom Linda (voiced by Maya Rudolph) and little brother Aaron (voiced by Rianda) drags on, a high-tech mogul (voiced by Eric Andre) introduces his latest software – which backfires severely by starting a robot apocalypse.

With the world in peril, the Mitchells become unlikely heroes – with the family forced to work together to save humanity.

“The Mitchells” was supposed to be released by Sony Pictures last fall (originally titled “Connected”) but was purchased by Netflix when the film was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. While it is unfortunate the film didn’t get a proper theatrical release, where I am sure it would have been a massive hit, it at least gets a chance to be shared with families in the comfort of their own homes.

Anyone familiar with “Gravity Falls” will instantly recognize the quirky humor that is prevalent throughout as Rianda and Rowe have basically created a hybrid of “Vacation” and “The Terminator” that is full of wit, charm and some hilarious social commentary.

The main cast is very good, bringing this unique family to life, but the cast goes even deeper – with Beck Bennett and Fred Armistan providing plenty of laughs as malfunctioning robots who become allies to the Mitchells. But the greatest casting of all has to be Olivia Colman as the voice of the evil AI, the mastermind behind the uprising. Colman is wonderful here, a microcosm of how smart and creative this whole project truly is.

The result is a family film that provides a lot of laughs but also a bit of heart. It may not quite reach the heights of Lord and Miller’s films, but it is pretty close, signaling perhaps the arrival of another creative animated team in Rianda and Rowe.

Starring: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride (voices)

Directed by: Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe

Rating: PG for action and some language

Playing at: Streaming on Netflix

Grade: B+