The Good Dinosaur (2015)

[Athena]

The second Pixar film of 2015. It was originally planned for 2014. The film stars Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin, A. J. Buckley, Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand and Steve Zahn.

[Rick Kitchen]

Tons of love for the backgrounds, but the plot isn't that much, from what the reviewers have said.

[Browncoat]

I saw this today.  Gorgeous backgrounds and scenery, but not one of Pixar's better efforts.  It wasn't bad, mind you, but compared to other Pixar films, it's down near the bottom of the list.

 

I did like the short before the feature -- I even liked it better than the Lava one before Inside Out.

[SunDevil28]

I really didn't care for it.  Very disappointing from Pixar, especially so soon after hitting it out of the park with "Inside Out."

 

The animation was beautiful, no doubt, and the soundtrack was gorgeous and evocative.  I wasn't very invested in the characters, though.  Of course I felt mildly sad for Arlo and Spot due to their situations and losses, but there was nothing interesting about their personalities to draw me in.  I left the theatre saying, "Well, I didn't think the world *needed* a dinosaur western, but now it has one. (shrug)"  

[Dandesun]

But... there's Sam Elliott as a Tyrannosaurus Rex! I loved that.

 

I'm pretty easy when it comes to Disney and Pixar. I'm a soft touch anyway so I cried a lot and laughed a lot. The whole family went and when Sam Elliott's character came in my mother leaned over and said 'That's Sam Elliott! This is a wonderful movie!'

 

Did the world need a dinosaur western? Probably not but I enjoyed it all the same.

[Browncoat]

Sam Elliott as the T. rex was probably the best part of the whole thing.  Other than the scenery, of course.

[Bill1978]

Caught this the other day with my 12 year old nephew. We were the only ones in the theate so we felt a bit liek celebrities. And even though we were the only ones in the theatre we still whispered to each other...out of respect for the ghosts?

 

I have to agree that the scenery was very well done and to do for. The actual characters occassionally seemed a little out of place. I was concerned ging into the viewing about the character design seemy a tad too cartoony but ecept for the T-Rex's everything else worked well. I don't know why the T-Rexs seemed out of place but they just did. Maybe my brain felt they were too chunky or something.

 

My major disappointment was that there really was no major reason for this to be a 'What if' scenario. Except for Spot, there is nothing to show what the world would have been like if the meteor had missed. I expected there to be ore to that plot point instead of just using it as an excuse for the world to be inhabited by dino farmers.

 

As someone who hasn't seen a lot of westerns - pretty much Back To The Future Part III and Disney's Home On The Range are my benchmark, this didn't really feel like a Western to me. I understand why people say it's a Dino Western but except for the Rex Ranchers, I wasn't getting a Western vibe.

 

The best part of the story for me was Poppa's attitude towards Arlo. Too often, especially in animation, the 'different' kid is looked on by the father as a shame to the family and is told endlessly that they are an embarrassment. While Poppa may have internally felt that way about Arlo (and definitely one look in the film indicates that) at no point did he criticise Arlo to his face or to the rest of the family. In fact he stood up for Arlo when others criticise. And the only time he did criticise Arlo, during the storm out of fear, I was impressed that Poppa quickly apologised for his negative words. It was really nice seeing this kind of parental relationship in the film.

 

And I admit, the parting of Arlo and Spot got to me. I think because it reminded me so much of the ending in Benji: The Hunted which traumatised my brothers and I as kids, that mum banned anymore Benji viewings.

 

So while this isn't Pixar's best, I wouldn't rank it as their worse. I would be more than happy to re-watch this movie. I think the problem with Pixar, is that they are so well known for pushing the envelope on animated movies, that when they release something just for 'fun' people are quick to say it sucks. Which is a shame, as some of their 'fun' movies are some of my favourite Pixar movies, while some of their critically loved movies are at the bottom of my must watch Pixar list.

[dkb]

On 31/12/2015 at 1:15 PM, Dandesun said:

But... there's Sam Elliott as a Tyrannosaurus Rex! I loved that.

 

I'm pretty easy when it comes to Disney and Pixar. I'm a soft touch anyway so I cried a lot and laughed a lot. The whole family went and when Sam Elliott's character came in my mother leaned over and said 'That's Sam Elliott! This is a wonderful movie!'

 

Did the world need a dinosaur western? Probably not but I enjoyed it all the same.

 

On 20/01/2016 at 7:43 PM, Bill1978 said:

 

 

I have to agree that the scenery was very well done and to do for. The actual characters occassionally seemed a little out of place. I was concerned ging into the viewing about the character design seemy a tad too cartoony but ecept for the T-Rex's everything else worked well. I don't know why the T-Rexs seemed out of place but they just did. Maybe my brain felt they were too chunky or something. 

 

 

 

The best part of the story for me was Poppa's attitude towards Arlo. Too often, especially in animation, the 'different' kid is looked on by the father as a shame to the family and is told endlessly that they are an embarrassment. While Poppa may have internally felt that way about Arlo (and definitely one look in the film indicates that) at no point did he criticise Arlo to his face or to the rest of the family. In fact he stood up for Arlo when others criticise. And the only time he did criticise Arlo, during the storm out of fear, I was impressed that Poppa quickly apologised for his negative words. It was really nice seeing this kind of parental relationship in the film.

 

And I admit, the parting of Arlo and Spot got to me. 

 

So while this isn't Pixar's best, I wouldn't rank it as their worse. I would be more than happy to re-watch this movie. 

Just watched it on Netflix, and agree with Bill1978 and Dandesun it was good. Not the best but for sure not the worse. The animation and music was fantastic. Especially the different trees and leaves to me, were so real.

I bawled so bad at the parting of Arlo and Spot and also where Spot and Arlo draw the circles around the branches that represent their families. Good thing I'm home alone so it wasn't too embarrassing.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

On 6/19/2016 at 5:09 PM, dkb said:

I bawled so bad at the parting of Arlo and Spot and also where Spot and Arlo draw the circles around the branches that represent their families. Good thing I'm home alone so it wasn't too embarrassing.

God, both those parts killed me too, especially when Spot let out that mournful baying noise.