One of the things that the marketing team for The Good Dinosaur could not do was to plaster some big actor's name to market this product because the more notable names from the cast are only Anna Paquin and maybe Steve Zahn; and they don't even have a big part. So you wouldn't recognise their voices anyway. That's why the marketing was lacking a little for this Pixar outing.
Also, The Good Dinosaur is a little offbeat to me too. It's not the usual Disney-Pixar movie because this story comes from an alternate universe where history has been changed. And it took me a few minutes to accept the concept.
And maybe this is why Pixar released two movies this year because this one may not stand as tall on its own. We'll have to wait and see how the rest of the world thinks of it.
But once that is out of the way, then I started to accept the story for what it is. But also, along the way, you keep making new discoveries about the characters because this after all is an alternate universe.
We see these dinosaurs live in huts, plant crops, create traps for critters, and said critters happened to be neanderthals.
The story wasn't a new one - perhaps another reason why this is the second Pixar film this year. The story of two unlikely friends who built their friendship through overcoming challenges and then become the best of friends, has been done many times.
Even the ending was a version of something that has came before - I just can't remember what now. But this movie was Pixar's version of a Western movie hidden behind dinosaurs.
Pixar's magic lies in their storytelling. Once again, dialogue came in only when needed and a lot of times we were taken through a journey that was told through visuals. And the visuals themselves were spectacular and beautiful, though they did not push the boundary of visual effects.
The characters themselves, especially the human child, Spot, came with tons of facial queues and mannerisms that were expressive and realistic.
The downside however were supporting cast, that came in the form of the T-Rexes. And they only shared one small section of the story. The Stegasaurus lookalike that we've seen in the promotional materials with the different other critters on its head wasn't even significant at all.
And I thought the ending scene with Arlo the dinosaur's family could have had more depth than just a gloss over of all the events transpired. Still, there were a couple of scenes that moved me to tears and I have fully expected that to happen. At this point, I would be disappointed had it not.
Overall, a very decent Pixar movie that I wouldn't rank too high up there with the other greats. This year's animated movies is still ruled by Pixar's Inside Out.
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