The Good Dinosaur is for the kids and kids at heart

The main characters from “The Good Dinosaur” Spot and Arlo overlook the pristine valley created by Pixar animators. I should warn you though, bring tissues and lots of them, because “The Good Dinosaur” taps into your heart and soul!

On the bright side, aside from the film’s heart-wrenching story, one thing to be anticipated from “The Good Dinosaur” is its visually appealing production.

I will immediately put all that speculation to bed. The Good Dinosaur is, without a doubt, the most lovely movie to come out of Pixar. But give credit where credit is due, Pixar never gave up on the project.

There has always been one thing we could count on whenever Pixar trotted out a high-concept premise: The movie itself wasn’t going to be about that high-concept premise.

The first act drags and the film feels conceptually odd as we’re introduced to an apatosaurus clan who tend their crops to the strains of bluegrass.

As Arlo and Spot try to make their way home, they meet a variety of characters that exhibit a variety of hostilities. Instead tragedy strikes and Arlo finds himself stranded away from home.

Even if everything in this movie plays out rather predictably, the kids will be sucked in for the ride. They did it with Toy Story and its subsequent sequels, The Incredibles and Wall-E as well as many other wonderful movies. The actual world these dinosaurs and critters inhabit is seriously stunning, with an attention to detail on background imagery that was simply shaved over in the past. “People ask me if I prefer one over the other, but I really don’t”.

Citing another reason of why humans and dinos couldn’t survive at same time he said dinos were at the top of the food chain and the co-existing mammals evolved to be very small, so they were less attractive sources of nutrition for the dinosaurs. Remember that meteor that was supposed to hit earth and wipe out all the dinosaurs? I’m not overly critical of it and I actually admire how bold it is as a movie.

Cinema Factoid: The original cast was originally John Lithgow, Judy Greer, Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris, and Lucas Neff, but they were replaced following major story changes. Sadly, Jeffrey Wright and Frances McDormand – who voice Arlo’s parents – are squandered in bland roles.

There are a couple of excellent trailers before the film that will have kids excited.

Peter Sohn – a Pixar vet making his feature directing debut – takes Arlo and Spot through a series of perils in an nearly mechanical fashion.

That also meant screening new edits of the film for Pixar’s “brain trust”, a core group of directors who oversee everything the studio produces. Sure, I’m looking forward to “The Incredibles 2” and “Finding Dory” with the rest of you, but Pixar is at its best when introducing flying balloon houses, elaborate monster factories and the inner workings of the human brain.

While it’s not getting quite the same critical reception that Inside Out received a few months ago (98%), The Good Dinosaur still holds a very respectable 83% on Rotten Tomatoes after 65 counted reviews.