Director: Peter Sohn
Written by: Peter Sohn, Erik Benson, Meg LeFauve, Kelsey Mann, Bob Peterson, Meg LeFauve
Starring the voice talents of: Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Maleah Nipay-
There’s no hiding I’m a huge fan of Disney-Pixar and have been since I first saw the famed Luxo Jr. short 20 years ago. Watching their body of work grow has been exciting in many ways that include both exploration and originality. The Good Dinosaur continues the trend to invent and is certainly one of Pixar’s finest visual explorations and a true journey, for both the characters and viewer.
Although The Good Dinosaur leans towards favouring, and targeting, a slightly younger audience than usual there’s nothing wrong with that. For the casual Toy Story type-of-viewer, you may find the first 25-30 minutes a little harder to embed into but stay and switch off into the new creation, as subsequently you’ll enter a enormous world of quite stunningly beautiful animation, alongside a whole host of surreal animals that surprise. This latter element is important in an animation ecosphere that can sometimes stay on the simple side of bugs and creatures, and Pixar deliver on some truly unique-looking beasts.
In The Good Dinosaur, you know that asteroid that wiped out the Earth? Well, yeah. It missed our planet and so prehistoric giants lived on alongside humans. The difference with Pixar is we join a dinosaur family, who all talk, and the tale of Arlo, a young Apatosaurus, who is caught up in a storm and taken far from his family but, also, has to deal with the loss of his father and the wildness of the wilderness all alone. The narrative setup, as mentioned, is straightforward enough because Arlo is the runt of the family and so while his brother and sister live up to their Dinosaur strength, our young Dino lead is struggling to connect. After the storm sweeps Arlo towards his new life, Pixar bring out the stunning landscapes and continue the early theme of wide, expansive shots of the world he now finds himself lost in. For me, The Good Dinosaur is like a palette of paints that forms the most awe-inspiring scenery. I felt like this was a stepping stone towards something even bigger in this style, as it steps away again from, what we know as, traditional animation towards photorealism. It doesn’t remotely detract anything though. The story is simple, the journey is huge, the enjoyment grows and when you consider you’ve got a young talking dinosaur and a growling, howling human, they accomplish huge amounts alongside a beautiful score that complements various changes in environment and mood.
The Good Dinosaur has the essence of both a buddy adventure (he teams up and finds friendship with Spot, a feral boy) but also a Western vibe as it celebrates the immense open terrain as Arlo takes on a literal journey away from home to explore, learn and consequentially try to return to the world that he knows, misses and loves so much. There are so many colours and surfaces entwined with striking imagery that creates something very unique. I was captivated and sure this would extend right through the ages.
The Blu-ray and DVD extras are throughout but keep a specific eye out for the amazing Sanjay’s Super Team, a classic Pixar short, which is phenomenal as well and another impressively original tale.
The Good Dinosaur is available on 3D Blu-Ray™, Blu-Ray™, DVD digital download 21st March 2016.
©2015 Disney-Pixar
