Review of The Good Dinosaur (2015) by Filmphonic — 05 Jan 2016

In an alternate pre-history where the Dinosaurs survived and live like early humans who consider savage cave-people to be primitive critters, a timid young Apatosaurus is separated from his family following a tragedy only to form an unlikely friendship with a savage dog-like human boy, together they embark on a great adventure to get back home in yet another captivating animation from the good folks at Disney-Pixar.

Following the huge success of the outstanding ‘Inside Out’, the brilliant minds at Disney-Pixar close the year out with a less ambitious and more simplistic but nevertheless enjoyable coming-of-age story and morality tale in the form of ‘The Good Dinosaur’. A sort of reverse Flintstones hybrid where Dinosaurs talk, cultivate land and raise nuclear families while humans are feral critters that are good as pets… or food.

‘The Good Dinosaur’ ticks all the boxes of what we might expect from a meticulously produced modern animation. A story that engages both adults and children and which includes life lessons wrapped in an adventure fraught with peril, plenty of comedy tempered by pathos and touching moments, and stunning visuals. Although the cartoonish characters set in vivid ultra-realistically rendered landscapes takes some getting used to.

As much it’s an animated dinosaur adventure, this is Pixar’s tribute to the Western, from the genre music to characters like Pterodactyl outlaws and T-Rex cowboys, plus the distinct vocal performances which include the epitome Hollywood “cowboy” voices Sam Elliot. ‘The Good Dinosaur’ shares as much with ‘City Slickers’ and ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ as it does with ‘The Land Before Time’.

Indeed Pixar’s latest offering shares many of the core components of their other films as well as classic family films like ‘The Lion King’ and beyond, without tackling them in a particularly innovative way. Perhaps what keeps ‘The Good Dinosaur’ from being as compelling as many other Disney-Pixar collaborations, is a story that seems like a patchwork of ideas and life lessons brought together by the popular consensus of many writers involved in a troubled production, a lot of boxes were sure to be ticked.

The Bottom Line….

Given the trouble with making it, ‘The Good Dinosaur’ was probably never going to fare well against its immediate Pixar predecessor ‘Inside Out’, but despite a familiar narrative, this is still a fun and beautifully rendered animated family adventure with enough tenderness and humour to be worth your while… whatever your age.