Theme Characters Gallery Story Key Scenes Constellation Villains Structure Expansion Style Why This

Animated Film Pitch

Rocket Rob

"Can an ordinary dad still be a hero?"

Format

Animated Feature Film

Audience

Kids 6–12 + Parents

Tone

Pixar-Level Emotional

Runtime

~90 minutes

The Heart

"Being a hero isn't about saving the world. It's about showing up for the people who believe in you."

The underneath truth: Rob has no superpowers. The superhero layer is Max's imagination.

Max's belief gave Rob the courage to try. When that belief goes silent mid-film, Rob doesn't lose powers — he loses himself. In the silence, Rob must find his own courage — not from Max, but from choosing not to become Victor Watt. His Act 3 heroism comes from self-belief: the choice to be present, not powerful.

When Max's voice returns at the end — not as faith, but as a choice — he's not powering his dad. He's honoring both parents. "Every family has heroes."

The Family

Characters

Every character represents a different belief about what it means to be a hero. When they clash, the story becomes emotional and compelling.

Rob Lavoie / Rocket Rob

The Reluctant Hero

A Canadian dad with no superpowers. In Max's imagination, he's Rocket Rob — the greatest hero ever. In reality, he's a guy at Titan Sports Tech trying to make it home for bedtime. When Max stops believing mid-film, Rob must find his own courage — not from powers, but from the choice to be present. Capable, optimistic, a little goofy, and always slightly tired. He solves every problem with dad logic.

Claire Lavoie / Vela

The Grounding Force — With Her Own Arc

In Max's imagination, a retired superhero. In reality, a woman who was extraordinary in her own right and chose family over that life — carrying the weight of that choice, and the invisible load of everything Rob doesn't see, alone for years. Her mid-film reveal recontextualizes everything. In Act 3, she doesn't suit up because the family needs her — she chooses to stop hiding who she is. On her terms. B-theme: "Being strong doesn't mean doing it alone."

Max Lavoie

The Believer — Tested by Silence

The emotional core of the film. Hockey-obsessed, wildly imaginative, and completely certain his dad is the greatest hero ever. Max narrates Rob's life like a superhero movie — until mid-film, when he outgrows the fantasy. The narration goes silent. When it returns at the end, it's no longer pretend. It's a choice — to believe in both parents.

Victor Watt

The Dark Mirror — The False Answer

Silver-streaked hair, stylish glasses, clock motifs on every surface. Rob's former colleague at Titan Sports Tech — both worked on arena energy systems. Victor saw what Rob wouldn't: that Titan's technology could control an entire city grid. He left, founded Watt Dynamics, and took the core technology with him. Every time he talks about family, his hand drifts to his jacket pocket — a subconscious gesture he catches and pulls away. In his final moment, he reaches for the pocket deliberately. "I had one of those once." He dissolves — particles of light, a creased photo in his hand. The audience feels melancholy, not satisfaction. He could have been Rob.

The cat sidekick — Rob's accidental companion

Maple — The Sidekick

Comic Relief with Accidental Truth

An orange tabby who adopted Rob long before Rob noticed. Wears a repurposed Titan tech harness and a self-applied RR badge that's slightly crooked. Completely literal, utterly loyal, and always underfoot at the worst possible moment. Even the cat slowly learns the theme.

Visual Development

Art Gallery

Movie Poster — Official

Movie Poster — Mystery / Identity

Movie Poster — Emotional / Family

Movie Poster — Adventure

Movie Poster — Hero Flight

Logo & Branding Explorations

The Lavoie Family — Style & Tone Anchor

The Lavoie Family — Rob, Claire & Max

Full Cast Lineup

Rob Turnaround — Official (Subtle Canadian Identity)

Rob Turnaround — Classic Maple Variant

Rocket Rob playful imagination turnaround

Rob Turnaround — Max's Playful Imagination

Hero Pose — Confident Stance

Rocket Rob — City Street

Max Lavoie — Character Sheet

Claire Lavoie — Vela Suit

Victor Watt — Character Concept

Maple — The Sidekick Cat

Hydro Rex — The Flood King, Max's imaginary plumbing-contraption villain

Hydro Rex — The Flood King (Max's Imagination)

Dr. Overtime and Deadline — time-obsessed villains from Max's imagination

Dr. Overtime & Deadline (Character Concepts)

Title Sequence — City at Dawn

Opening Sequence — Rocket Rob vs. Hydro Rex, Max's imagination at full power

Scene — Opening Battle (Max's Imagination)

The Rocket Launch — family car becomes a rocket in Max's imagination

Scene — The Rocket Launch (Max's Imagination)

Max's imagination — Dr. Overtime has Rocket Rob chained to his desk with spreadsheets

Scene — Dr. Overtime Traps Dad (Act 1 Imagination)

Scene — Little Hero Moments

Scene — The Handoff (Morning Kitchen)

Maple sitting on Rob's car keys — immovable

Maple — Sitting on the Keys (The Handoff)

Rob's cubicle at Titan Sports Tech — warm corner in a cold tower

Titan Sports Tech — Rob's Cubicle

Coach Hank waiting with Max at practice pickup

Scene — Coach Hank Practice Pickup

Max taps Rob's knee twice — their ritual

Scene — The Two-Tap Ritual (After Pickup)

Victor Watt — hand drifting to jacket pocket, unconscious gesture

Scene — The Pocket Gesture (Watt's Tell)

Scene — The Couch (Marriage Under Strain)

Maple between Rob and Claire on the couch

Scene — Maple Between (The Couch)

Scene — Shadow Dad Planted Seed

The Silence — split panel, before and after belief

The Silence — With Belief vs. Without

The Silence — Before & After Concept

Rob and Max at the kitchen table in silence — the morning after

Scene — The Breakfast Bridge (The Silence)

Maple sitting on Max's folded cape — same gag, different stakes

Maple — Sitting on the Cape (The Silence)

Scene — Still Here (The Silence)

Scene — The Hockey Game

Scene — Shadow Dad Confrontation

Rob sits alone on the stairs in the dark — processing the Vela reveal

Scene — The Stairs (Processing the Reveal)

Claire reaches for the Vela suit — her choice

Scene — Claire's Choice (The Closet)

Before the Storm — hallway, two suits, lightning

Scene — Before the Storm (Masks Off)

Scene — The Buckle Touch

Claire as Vela heading out with Maple following

Scene — Team Assembled (Before the Storm)

Key Art — City Action Sequence

Scene — What Makes a Hero

Rob holds Max's drawing — My Dad Saves The World

Key Insert — "My Dad Saves The World"

Victor Watt dissolves — particles of light, photo in hand

Scene — The Dissolution (Victor's Exit)

Scene — The Nod (You Showed Up)

Scene — Maple Arena Sentry

Rob and Claire in the kitchen — equal, present — Max watching from the doorway

Scene — The Final Image (Both Parents)

Maple on rooftop — hero pose with dish-rag cape

Maple — Hero Pose (Imagination Track)

Concept — Maple Imagination Overlay (Reality vs. Cat POV)

Rocket Maple at desk chair — post credits

Post-Credits — Rocket Maple [WORLD: SAVED]

The Story

Story Spine

The Pixar Story Spine — one emotional chain of events that powers the entire film.

City at dawn — Rocket Rob title sequence

The world of Rocket Rob at first light. A city where the line between ordinary and extraordinary is as thin as a child's belief — and a red streak in the morning sky that might be nothing. Or might be everything.

Once upon a time

Rob Lavoie was an ordinary dad who worked a demanding job at Titan Sports Tech, rushing between meetings, emails, and deadlines while trying his best to be present for his son Max. But in Max's eyes, Rob wasn't ordinary. He was Rocket Rob — the greatest superhero in the world.

Every day

Rob and Claire traded the morning handoff — he poured coffee, she signed the permission slip he forgot, neither commented on it. Maple the cat sat on Rob's keys and refused to move. Max turned everything into a superhero adventure: fixing the sink was stopping a flood monster, driving to hockey was a rocket launch. Claire moved through it all a little too fast, a little too competent — seeds the audience wouldn't notice yet. And somewhere in the montage of little hero moments, Claire quietly slipped one of Max's drawings behind Rob's belt buckle. Nobody saw it. Not even the audience.

One day

Victor Watt — Rob's former colleague at Titan Sports Tech, now powerful and alone — unveils a machine built on the arena energy systems Rob helped design, scaled to control an entire city grid. Rob recognizes the architecture immediately. "Family makes you weak," Watt tells him, his hand drifting to his jacket pocket. The grid flickers. Rob doesn't have an answer. But Max is watching — and in Max's version, Dad always finds one.

Because of that

Rob tries to be both — the hero the city needs and the dad Max believes in. But every save costs a bedtime story. He misses Max's game — not the big one, just a regular Tuesday — and the golden seat beside Claire stays empty. Max on the bench: "It's okay... my dad saves bigger things." Rob promises to make the last game of the season. Claire sits on the couch with a book she isn't reading: "He wanted to tell you himself." "I'll talk to him in the morning." "You said that Monday." Coach Hank watches from the rink: "When a kid stops looking forward, something at home changed." Rob catches his reflection in a dark computer screen — for one frame, it looks polished, successful, empty. Then Max's narration stops. No announcement. The action figures go in a drawer. The magic track goes silent. The hero diminishes.

Until finally

Claire reveals she was extraordinary — in Max's imagination, Vela the superhero; in reality, a woman who gave up a remarkable life for her family and nobody noticed. Rob realizes he's about to sacrifice the family for who he's pretending to be. In the dark hallway, both in suits, masks pushed up, Claire reaches for his belt buckle — checking. The drawing she planted months ago is still there. "Game's at seven." "Then we finish this before seven." Together — for the first time as partners — they face Watt. Claire coordinates the ground. Rob takes the sky. They're faster together. He finds Max's drawing behind the buckle: "My Dad Saves The World." The drawing doesn't give him powers — he's already made the choice. Rob recognizes Watt's machine — Titan's arena architecture, the system he helped design. He shuts it down like an overloaded arena grid: methodically, absorbing the overload himself. An engineer doing what he knows. Watt: "Why?" Rob: "You already know why." Watt reaches into his coat pocket — the one he's been touching the whole film. "I had one of those once." He dissolves — particles of light, the photo, the storm clearing. Then Rob and Claire look at each other on the rooftop. Exhausted. "What time is it?" They run. Not fly. Run. Two parents changing in the car, pulling jackets over bruised arms, racing across a parking lot — not to save the world, but to make a hockey game. They slide into the arena seats during the second period. The golden seat — the one that was empty on that regular Tuesday — fills. Max got there with his teammate's family — the Barretts. He glances up from the bench. Sees his dad. Then his mom beside him. His face changes. He pulls his helmet down and plays the best shift of the season. After the game, Coach Hank: "You're gonna miss some games. Just don't miss the ones that matter. And you're here." Maple at the entrance. "You came too?" Everyone came.

Ever since then

Rob still has a normal job. Claire chose to stop carrying it alone. She let Rob in. Rob, for the first time, let her lead. In the bedroom: "Did you save the world?" "Something like that." "I knew it." In the kitchen: Claire crosses to him. Leans against his shoulder. The fridge drawings say it all. They stand together. Equal. Present. And Max's voice returns one last time — soft, sleepy, certain: "Every family has heroes. Ours has the best ones." Not a kid playing pretend. A child who outgrew the fantasy, sat in the silence, and chose to believe in both parents.

Signature Moments

Key Scenes

Fourteen signature scenes that define the emotional architecture of the film. Each works on two levels — adventure for kids, real feeling for parents.

The Lavoie family at the kitchen table — Max shows Rob his Rocket Rob drawing

The world of Rocket Rob: a lived-in home, a kid who believes, a dad who's trying, and a mom who sees everything. This is the family the audience will spend 90 minutes with.

Rocket Rob vs. Hydro Rex — the epic opening imagination battle

The Greatest Hero Ever

Opening Sequence — Max's Imagination

Rocket Rob battles Hydro Rex — a towering plumbing-contraption villain built from pipes, faucets, and valves — water blasting everywhere. Then a hard cut: Rob is under the kitchen sink. The "Ultimate Flood" was a leaky faucet. Max's imagination did the rest.

"Did the city survive?" — Claire
"Barely." — Rob

The Rocket Launch

School Drop-off — Max's Imagination

Every morning, the driveway becomes a launchpad. The family car transforms into a red-and-gold rocket. The street is a runway. The school is Mission HQ. Rocket Rob is at the controls. This is what belief looks like at full power — before the silence takes it away.

"Rocket Rob returns from a secret mission. The sidekick waits in the transport pod." — Max

The Handoff

Marriage — Act One

Morning kitchen. Through the window, Max plays street hockey with a neighbor kid — texture. Inside, the quiet after he leaves. Rob pours coffee. Claire signs the permission slip. At the door, her eyes drift to the locked hallway closet before she goes. Maple sits on Rob's keys. The marriage in two minutes: warm, real, slightly frayed.

"I might be late tonight." — Rob
"I'll handle bedtime." — Claire
"You always do."

Rob tying a dish-towel cape on little Max

Little Hero Moments

Silent Montage

The Up-style montage. No dialogue. Piano and guitar. Tiny Max in a dish-towel cape. First time on skates. Drawings on the fridge. And one silent shot: Claire slipping Max's drawing behind Rob's belt buckle. The audience thinks she's tidying up.

"Every hero needs a sidekick." — Max's drawing

The Couch

Marriage — Act Two

Late night. A book she isn't reading. Claire doesn't ask where Rob was. The distance between them is small but specific. Maple walks across the couch back. Nobody sees the harness blink.

"He wanted to tell you himself."
"I'll talk to him in the morning."
"You said that Monday."

The Silence

The Disappearance

Mid-film, Max stops narrating. No announcement. The action figures go in a drawer. The dish-towel cape stays folded on the chair — and Maple sits on it, the same impassive weight he put on Rob's car keys in Act One. Same gag. Different object. In the doorway where Max used to narrate, Maple sits in the same spot, same camera angle. The movie's magic track goes silent. Kids feel something is wrong. Parents feel grief.

"You missed the story." — Max
"I know. I'm sorry, bud. Tomorrow—"
"You said that yesterday."

Shadow Dad — two versions of Rob in a void

The Shadow Dad

Psychological Mirror — Act Two

Two beats. First: a wrong reflection in a dark computer screen — polished, emptier. Filed away. Then later: the confrontation. Same face, perfect suit, perfect emptiness. Rob looks at the crumbs on his tie from Max's granola bar. The imperfection is the proof.

"You're already me, Rob."
"No. I'm not."

Max on the bench — the empty golden seat beside Claire

The Hockey Game

Emotional Climax — Act Two

Rob misses Max's game to save the city. Not the last game of the season — just a regular Tuesday. And he still couldn't make it. The golden seat beside Claire stays empty the entire game. Max sits on the bench watching other dads cheer. He looks at the empty seat one more time. Then, to himself — the line that breaks every parent in the theater.

"It's okay… my dad saves bigger things."

The Vela Reveal

Second-Act Turning Point

It's game day. Rob came home early for the first time in weeks. Then the power dies. Claire moves like someone who's done this before — gets Max to the Barretts', reroutes the house power with moves Rob doesn't recognize. "I was Vela before you were Rocket Rob." For kids: the mom is a superhero too. For parents: she sacrificed everything to be here, and nobody noticed. Rob sits on the stairs, rewriting every moment she was too calm, too fast, too prepared.

"Why did you stop?"
"Because I chose something harder."

Claire reaches for the Vela suit in the closet — her choice

Claire's Choice

Agency — Act Three

A dark closet. A box marked "CLAIRE — OLD STUFF." The Vela suit hanging in the back, scuffed and faded. Nobody asked her to do this. The family didn't call for help. She just decided to stop pretending she was ordinary. The visor on the shelf. The suit in her hand. A private moment of agency that changes the entire film.

"I'm done pretending I'm ordinary."

Before the Storm

Marriage — Act Three

Dark hallway. Both in suits. Masks pushed up. Real faces showing. The only scene where Rob and Claire are fully honest with each other. Claire touches his belt buckle — she planted the drawing months ago. She's checking it's still there. Then the ticking clock: the last game of the season starts at seven. The dual stakes — city and family — crystallize in one exchange.

"Game's at seven." — Claire
"Then we finish this before seven." — Rob

What Makes a Hero

Final Battle

Claire — choosing to stop hiding who she is — coordinates the ground. Rob takes the sky. The drawing in the belt buckle doesn't give him powers. He's already made the choice. The quiet right thing. Not a superpower — a choice to be present.

"You already know why." — Rob, to Watt on the rooftop

Victor Watt dissolves into particles of light

The Dissolution

Victor's Exit — Act Three

The photo is the last real thing about him. Then Victor dissolves — particles of light drifting upward, the storm clearing, the machine powering down. Not defeated. Released. Rob chose differently, and the fear of becoming Victor simply evaporated. The audience feels melancholy, not satisfaction. He could have been Rob.

"I had one of those once." — Victor Watt, looking at Rob's drawing

The Seat Fills

Resolution — Act Three

The last game of the season. The one Rob promised. After the battle, after the dissolution, Rob and Claire race across town — not heroes, just parents trying to make a hockey game. They arrive during the second period. Slide into the stands. The golden seat — the one that was empty on that regular Tuesday — fills. Max glances up from the bench. Sees his dad. Then his mom beside him. His face changes — not dramatic, just a quiet certainty. He pulls his helmet down and plays the best shift of the season. After the game, Coach Hank delivers the line that resolves the entire film. The two-tap. The hug. Maple at the entrance. "You came too?" Everyone came.

"You're gonna miss some games. Just don't miss the ones that matter."
"And you're here." — Coach Hank

Rob and Claire in the kitchen — equal, present — Max in the doorway

The Final Image

Resolution — Both Parents

Kitchen. Late. Quiet. Rob and Claire stand side by side at the counter — equal, present, together. In the doorway behind them, Max peeks around the corner in pajamas and his hockey helmet, watching with a sleepy, certain smile. Maple at his feet. The fridge behind them covered in drawings. Claire crosses to him. Leans against his shoulder. The fridge drawings say it all — including a new one with two superhero parents. Max's voice returns one last time: "Every family has heroes. Ours has the best ones."

"Every family has heroes. Ours has the best ones." — Max

Emotional Architecture

Character Constellation

Every character argues about the same idea from a different angle. Kids enjoy the action. Parents feel the emotional debate.

The False Answer

Victor Watt

"Power over Family"

Chose greatness. Lost everything personal. Needs Rob to fail to justify his sacrifice.

Rob's Fear

Shadow Dad

"Work First"

Rob if he chose the job over the family. Calm. Powerful. Empty. Exists only in Rob's mind.

The Question

Rocket Rob

"Can I be both?"

Max's belief started him. His own choice finishes it. No literal powers — just a dad who chose to show up.

Tough Love Truth

Coach Hank

"Show Up First"

No superpowers. Just a man who's seen a lot of kids and knows what actually matters.

The Grounding Force

Claire / Vela

"Protect what matters"

Already answered the question — years ago. Chose family over a remarkable life. In Act 3, she chooses to stop hiding. Her terms.

Comic Relief with Truth

Maple

"Just show up"

Doesn't need to learn love. Already has it. Expresses it sideways. Shows up every time without being asked.

The Power Source

Max

"Dad is already a hero"

The imagination that made Rob a hero. When it goes silent, Rob must find his own courage. When Max chooses to believe again — in both parents — that's the most heroic act in the film.

Rob has no powers. The superhero was always Max's imagination.

Max's belief gave Rob courage. Rob's own choice gave him heroism. Claire's choice to stop hiding gave her freedom. And a child choosing to believe in both imperfect parents — after the silence — is the most heroic act in the film.

The Opposition

Villain Lineup

Pixar villains are emotionally relatable. Victor Watt drives the film. The remaining villains expand the world in the companion series.

Film Villains

Victor Watt

Main Antagonist

“Heroes don’t tuck kids into bed. They change the world.”

Silver-streaked hair, stylish glasses, clock motifs on every surface. Rob’s former colleague at Titan Sports Tech — both worked on arena energy systems. Victor scaled the technology to control an entire city grid. His hand drifts to his jacket pocket every time he mentions family. In his final moment, he reaches for it deliberately. Pulls out a creased photo. “I had one of those once.” He dissolves — particles of light, the last real thing about him. The Pixar gut punch isn’t his defeat. It’s pity.

The Shadow Dad

Psychological Beat — Act Two

“They’ll understand when they’re older.”

Rob if he chose work over family. Calm. Powerful. Empty. Exists in Rob’s mind during a crisis of confidence. The most Pixar villain in the lineup — think the Bing Bong moment from Inside Out.

Series Expansion Villains

The Countdown

Series Expansion

"Your time is UP."

A comedic villain who literally manifests from emails, notifications, and buzzing phones. Creates chaos that keeps Rob from getting home. Kids laugh. Parents feel personally attacked.

Dr. Overtime

Film (Act 1 Imagination Beat) + Series Expansion

"There's always more work to be done."

A villain made of clocks and overtime buzzers. First appears in Max's Act 1 imagination — chains of spreadsheets trapping Dad at his desk. "Dr. Overtime has captured Dad again! But Rocket Rob always escapes!" In the series, he becomes a full antagonist with time-manipulation powers, trapping Rob in endless work loops. Represents the feeling that there's never enough time. Kids laugh at the absurdity. Parents feel personally attacked.

Coach Crusher

Series Expansion

"Second place is first loser."

A rival youth hockey coach obsessed with winning at all costs. No superpowers — just the "win at all costs" philosophy that corrupts youth sports. Rob must teach Max that winning isn't everything.

The Homework Hydra

Series Expansion

"You solved math? Here's MORE math."

A multi-headed monster — each head is a school subject. Every time Rob solves a problem, two more appear. The nightly homework battle made absurd and epic.

Film Structure

Three-Act Breakdown

~90 minutes. Two parallel arcs colliding at a single turning point. 23 scripted sequences. Every beat works on two levels — adventure for kids, real feeling for parents.

Act One

"The Greatest Hero Ever"

~25 minutes