Movie Review: The Good Dinosaur

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The joint forces of Disney and Pixar never fail to impress me with their heartfelt, thrilling and touching animated movies. Just like their past movies such as the Toy Story series, Up, Wall-E and Inside Out (or you can comment the other movies I missed mentioning), all of these movies left us teary-eyed and deeply inspired. Definitely, they have already figured out the perfect formula to make their movies a must-watch and never to be missed. That’s why all ages are being fascinated of their movie masterpieces. Indeed, family-friendly.

Amazingly, with Inside Out released earlier but along with The Good Dinosaur,  marks Pixar’s first time to release two feature films in the same year. And I’m hoping they would release more movies may they be shown months apart or even consecutively, for I’ll still watch them all. We all have that “kid” inside us. And that kid inside me just needs this kind of movies. Yeah, we all do.

In this The Good Dinosaur movie review, I’ll provide some points about how the movie worked on me. So expect that this is based on my own insights and opinion. But before proceeding to the proper review, let me introduce to you the staff that made the movie possible and convincing.

Directed by: Peter Sohn (worked with Pixar movies in the art and story department, voiced some Pixar characters, and made his directorial debut with the short film Partly Cloudy shown in front of the movie Up in 2009)

Screenplay by: Meg LeFauve (also one of the screenwriters of Inside Out)

Story by: Peter Sohn, Erik Benson, Meg LeFauve, Kelsey Mann and Bob Peterson

Cast:

Apatosaurus: Raymond Ochoa (Arlo), Jeffrey Wright (Poppa Henry), Frances McDormand (Momma Ida), Marcus Scribner (Buck), Ryan Teeple (Young Buck), Maleah Padilla (Libby)

Caveboy: Jack Bright (Spot)

Tyrannosaurus: Sam Elliott (Butch), Anna Paquin (Ramsey), A. J. Buckley (Nash)

Pterodactyls: Steve Zahn (Thunderclap), Mandy Freund (Downpour), Steven Clay Hunter (Coldfront)

Styracosaurus: Peter Sohn (Forrest Woodbush)

Velociraptors: Dave Boat (Bubbha), Carrie Paff (Lurleane), Calum Mackenzie Grant (Pervis), and John Ratzenberger (Earl)

Music by: Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna

Edited by: Stephen Schaffer

Production Companies: Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Animation Studios

Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

These mentioned above deserve shout outs for they are the reasons why this movie was brought to big screens. I will always admire their commitment and dedication they gave as shown on the resulting movie. And by the way, thank you for keeping on reading this blog post. Here’s my review.

Quick Plot: After the huge asteroid which was supposed to hit Earth million years ago and believed to be the cause of the extinction of dinosaurs missed, dinosaurs lived along with the early humans (but doesn’t get along well just yet). Then there were the two adult Apatosaurus couple Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Ida (Frances McDormand) that evolved as farmers. Yes. They evolved as farmers instead of being a typical herbivore. Then the main protagonist, Arlo as voiced by Raymond Ochoa, was born along with his two siblings Libby (Maleah Padilla) and Buck (Marcus Scribner).

Wait, I’m not really good at storytelling but I think it would be better if you’ll watch the movie now.  Anyway, you don’t deserve to be spoiled. Even in myself, I can’t forgive someone who would tell me the main story of a movie. Uggh. So, that quick plot was meant to be really quick and short. 😀

Characters (8/10): I think the characters were portrayed uniquely in the movie. Being Arlo as the main protagonist in the movie who was a weakling and coward but learned how to defend and become strong as the movie progressed. With Spot, the caveboy who accompanied him in his adventure who was also young but learned to become loyal and caring. Arlo’s father Henry who believed so much in him and taught him how to be tough. Arlo’s father Ida who was so understanding and loving. And the rest of the cast who took part of making the movie as enjoyable to watch and inspiring.

Direction (9/10): I haven’t known Peter Sohn until the creation of this movie review of mine. Based on the researches I did, Sohn debuted as a director last 2009 with his short film Partly Cloudy that was shown in front of the movie Up. And since I haven’t watched that short film before so I have no clue how he really directs a film. But basing on the movie The Good Dinosaur, Sohn did great with the story flow. The way every character has been introduced. Like you were expecting that this character is like this and like that but turned out the other way around. Also, the happenings went on just on a right pace. Not too slow, not to fast. And definitely, there were no dull moments. Only the happiest, silliest, scariest and the saddest moments. To mind you, these are not exaggerations. If you are in doubt, go and watch the movie. Then tell me if these superlatives were applicable or not. *wink

Cinematography (8/10): Is cinematography can be part of this animated movie review? Yes! In animated movies nowadays, cinematography has been considered mentioning computer graphics. This is due to the evolution of movie creation, that even in animated movies, imagery is an essential part. The Good Dinosaur is an example. Based on a source that I’ve read, past Pixar films required painting clouds to the set. And in this particular movie, clouds were consistently a part of every scene in the movie. True. And the production team of this film even made a place in the American Northwest their reference for the foundation of the movie’s setting. But according to filmmakers, the environments and landscapes in the film are not that really photo-realistic but are just detailed in a way the advanced technology and style decision allows them. But for me, Arlo’s place looked real. Like, really!

Writing (9/10): One of the things that I liked about the movie were the inspirational and motivational words expressed by some of the characters in the movie. Some were tear-jerking, some were worth of a nod and some are silly but true. To mention one is Poppa Henry’s script where he woke up Arlo and brought him to a walk outside their house near a field filled with fireflies.

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I won’t give you more of the inspiring scripts in the movie for I think they’ll be more meaningful if you hear them from the character on the appropriate scenes. I didn’t expect most of the scenes for there were times that were so thrilling and unexpected. Like I thought the Tyrannosaurus characters were this and that the pterodactyls were like that but I was proved wrong. Watch the movie and you’ll know what I really mean. 😀

Editing (9/10): I was mesmerized with how the scenes transitioned from one to another. So smooth. The flow was just right. I was really impressed to the team.

Set Design (9/10): I have no questions about the setting of the movie for it really looked real even if it was only an animation. The mountains, the terrain, the river, even the flashflood looked convincing and terrifying.

Score or Soundtrack (9/10): I commend the composers of the soundtrack of this movie. Each played songs really suited to the specific scenes in the movie. The music really helped to make the scenes as heart aching, fun and thrilling as they can be. Even when there were no lyrics, the melodies itself spoke about what the scenes were about.

Overall, I rate this movie The Good Dinosaur 9/10.

I have a single concern about the movie but my rating is irrevocable already. Thinking the need to just mention it. 😉

Lost Idea: I thought the main problem would be about the upcoming winter, as was mentioned in the movie. Waited for it in the end part but instead, the credits.

And let me ask you about this. Does Caveboy Spot’s family looked like the family in movie The Croods and that Arlo’s Poppa Henry looked like Ben the Cow of the movie Barnyard? Oh well, nevermind. 😀

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Conclusion

The Good Dinosaur movie don’t sit beside Inside Out but just inches behind. Like Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur also brought tears to my eyes. And I can even tag it as one of Disney+Pixar masterpieces. I really recommend this movie to everyone. A lot of lessons to learn and realizations to think of. Really was a worth of my time watching it. :’)

Don’t forget to comment what you think about this The Good Dinosaur movie review below.