Disney•Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur”- Visually Stunning-The Perfect Movie For The Entire Family

November 26, 2015 Leave a comment

“Sometimes you gotta get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side.”

In our family Thanksgiving is all about traditions and like so many other families across the country, over the years, that tradition includes taking the family to the movies after Thanksgiving dinner. This year, thanks to the brilliant minds of the folks at Disney• Pixar, we have the perfect movie that the entire family will enjoy from the youngest, right on up to the youngest at heart. The Good Dinosaur is one of the most visually stunning movies I have ever seen and you find yourself getting swept away in the magnificent and breathtaking setting. It is the classic Pixar buddy movie continually reminding us all of the the true meaning of what family is all about through the good times and the hard times. But more importantly it teaches everyone that we all have fears, and together we can face and overcome anything. Having seen it twice this week already, I can say without reservation that Disney • Pixar The Good Dinosaur is a movie that will touch your heart and mind, stay within your soul.

Like all things Pixar, this is a movie that is designed to make us laugh, to make us cry but most of all, tell a story in such an eloquent way that it will leave you wanting to hug and reach out to everyone around you. And yes, this is also one of those movies that will demand that you bring a tissue or two or three. Like many a Pixar movie before it, the film presents an epic journey, an unlikely friendship, and an emotional wave that swells from deep within that is meant to put you in touch with deep-rooted feelings you didn’t even know you had. But don’t take my word for it, take a look at the one of the trailer for The Good Dinosaur, and see for yourself.

“We’re putting everything we have into making an adventurous and emotional story,” director Peter Sohn noted during the presentation, which showcased a few clips from the movie as well as a lot more detail about its story. “It’s always started with: what if the asteroid had missed the earth?” says Sohn, who previously worked on The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, among others. “From there it’s been about trying to focus what the story is. In filmmaking, or at least those I’ve been a part of, stories can sometimes become two stories, or three stories — it’s been about trying to boil it down, and find the emotional arc.”

Without giving away too much of the plot, The Good Dinosaur asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? The Good Dinosaur centers on Arlo, a young Apatosaurus who becomes separated from his family not long after losing his father. He soon meets Spot, a human cave-boy, and the two set off to find home. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of. This is vintage Pixar fare at its very best with a smart reversal on what Sohn calls “a boy-and-his-dog story”.

What’s brand new for Pixar is the animation style: The Good Dinosaur is the studio’s first film to use photorealistic environments and at times you have to remind yourself that this is an animated movie. This may be a world that has very cartoon-like characters, but it also looks so incredibly photorealistic that you have to remind yourself at times that this is an animated movie.

Each part of the movie has something that is designed to have a distinct lifelike feel to it while also giving its main characters the same cuteness that makes you want to take home each one of them and love them and make them a part of your family forever. Plus let’s face it, hearing the voice of Sam Elliot as Butch, the T-Rex who runs the ranch of prehistoric longhorns, Steve Zahn as the perfect antagonist Thunderclap and the director himself, Peter Sohn, as the perfectly deadpanned voice of Forest Woodbush, the styracosarus who is home to such critters as Dreamcrusher, is worth the price of admission all by itself.

What will happen to Arlo and Spot in their quest to be reunited with their family? Spend the holidays together and bring home the magic of Disney• Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur, now playing in theaters everywhere.