The Good Dinosaur would go down in history as it would be the first time Pixar would release two animated features in the same year. The only other studio known to tackle the same idea is Dreamworks and their reputation for doing so can lead to one movie succeeding while the other one fails. This movie had a lot to live up to especially since it was coming off the success of an already wildly acclaimed Pixar movie Inside Out. unfortunately, much like Brave, the film faced many setbacks in its production including many rewrites and a change in directors as Bob Peterson (writer of Finding Nemo and co-director of Up) was replaced by Peter Shon. With a like it or hate it vibe on its shoulders, can it still be possible for this movie to defy expectations and deliver on high-quality storytelling?
Millions of years after the asteroid missed the earth, Dinosaurs are still living and have become farmers with their own properties and crops to grow. Somewhere near Clawtooth mountain, a mother and father brontosaurus give birth to three baby dinos with one of them being the shy and timid Arlo. Years go by and Arlo has trouble helping out his family on the farm because of his cowardliness and constant phobias. One day while trying to hunt down a critter stealing their food, Arlo’s father tragically dies after saving Arlo from a raging river. With the father gone the family tries their hardest to get enough crops harvested before winter. The critter shows up again picking out crops and Arlo chases him out of anger only for him to fall in the river and be swept far away from his family’s farm. Arlo finds himself far away from his home and tries to make it back while reluctantly having the aid of the critter who Arlo nicknames Spot. together they face many dangers including nature’s dangers and both good and evil dinosaurs. Arlo and Spot will have to rely on the likes of each other if they are ever gonna find their way back home. The actual idea for the movie sounds fascinating enough as it begs the question of how a society where dinosaurs and humans live together could function.
My first thought when I heard of this idea is Pixar’s version of The Flinstones except less cartoony and more somewhat realistic. What we got though is a simple point A to point B adventure flick with a great relationship between Arlo and Spot and a nice lesson about Arlo learning to be brave and not be so afraid of everything. For Pixar, this is very basic in terms of world-building as there are not enough interesting setpieces or characters that make up the majority of the movie. Pixar is most well known for creating these complex and interesting societies with Toys Monsters and Fish and its honestly somewhat disappointing knowing that this is the same studio known for creating elaborate worlds that were made to be explored. At the same time though, The story itself is well executed with many dangers and many unexpected tear-jerking moments that make for an above-average experience that is still worthy for even die-hard Pixar fans to witness. The few characters we do get to see are very likable with enough quirks that make it interesting enough to keep the audience invested.
The Animation is by far some of the best the studio has ever produced especially when it comes to the backgrounds. The background visuals are so hyper-realistic that they make the movie almost feel like Pixar snuck some live-action footage into the movie. This is a true testament to why Pixar is one of if not the best animation studios in the entire world as their attention to detail is beyond any words I could ever describe an Animated movie. The only thing that does hold back the movie’s visuals is the cartoony character designs of some of the Dinosaurs, especially when looking at Arlo’s character. It can be distracting sometimes, but not to the point that it becomes unwatchable. Even still, they put enough detail into the designs to make them as memorable as possible with how they appear. The music has all the great tunes that you’d usually expect from a Pixar movie even though it may not be the most memorable in the Pixar library. Both Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna do a very good job at making western-like tunes that match the tone of what the movie is going for, but also surprisingly nail it when the movie wants to get emotionally heartbreaking.
While there may have been a much more impressive movie trying to get out from all the productions setbacks and switches in directors and writers, The Good Dinosaur still brings the same feelings we have come to expect from a Pixar production as it still delivers on a satisfying story, likable characters, background animation that may be some of the most impressive the company has ever released and a deeply moving music score that hits all the right chords to deliver on making the audience emote along with the characters on screen. It could have been another Pixar groundbreaker if the movie played more with its initial concept and gave us more than just your simple point A to point B adventure flick, but the movie is still a delight and deserves more respect than it’s been receiving over the years. I can bet even creators at Pixar would have wanted the audience to see a much better movie than what they produced, but it’s much better to have a movie that tries something than nothing at all.
(Final Grade: B+)