In the case of The Good Dinosaur, the story revolves around a young Apatosaurus named Arlo (voiced by the now 14-year-old American actor Raymond Ochoa).
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With the help of his new found friend, a hilarious human dog-boy named Spot (Jack Bright), Arlo has to overcome his fears and courageous a weird and wacky wilderness in order to find his family. “The Good Dinosaur” sort of feels like several short films strung together, trying to coalesce into a whole.
To celebrate the very best dinosaur moments, best adventure goes to Arlo and Spot!
A good number of reviews – you could say pretty much over half of them – had said that the film is “good… but”.
Though he has certainly made a name for himself in his own right, one of celebrity astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s hobbies is putting pop culture and films to the scientific test, often obliterating any potential source in reality they may claim. As soon as you’re sucked in, that’s when they come for your tears. I had momentary flashbacks to the Lion King at times and in one scene couldn’t decide if I was watching a very amusing game of “whack a mole” or the Star Trek episode “The Trouble with Tribbles”.
This is not atypical for a Disney film – we’ve all seen “Bambi”. The pterodactyls act like the hyenas, except with wings. His sister Libby works with Momma and Arlo’s father Poppa plows the field so planting can begin. There are no musical numbers.
The Good Dinosaur’spleasures are on smaller scale compared to the likes of Monsters, Inc. or even this year’s Inside Out, but the film’s heart is still monstrous and beats with objective.
Disney/Pixar has had its fair share of family classics over the years, and with that kind of currency they can be forgiven for Cars 2. But while “Inside Out” tells the more ambitious tale – it follows the personified emotions that reside with inside a young girl going through a tough time – “The Good Dinosaur” hits, at least for me, more emotional buttons, ironically. That Pixar offering blended an incredibly intelligent script with lovely animation.
The version that’s out on Friday still has comedy in it, but like many Pixar films before it, this one packs an emotional punch. Nobody does it better.
Along the way, we’re treated to a handsome world where dinosaurs talk, humans walk on all fours, and dinosaurs are cowboys.
The production history of Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur was marred with delays, a producer/director change, and a complete refurbishment of the story, with a total of six writers credited on the final product.
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That it remains watchable is a testament to the animators and voices who brought the film to life; even lesser Pixar is stronger than most animated product, especially those belched out by DreamWorks, et al.
