The Good Dinosaur is set on an alternate Earth where dinosaurs never went extinct and now live among the planet’s fastest growing species, humans. The film follows Arlo, a young Apatosaurus who loses his family and must survive in a harsh and unfamiliar environment. Hoping to make his way home, he comes across a human cave-boy. Naming him Spot, Arlo and his human friend/pet must make the long perilous, journey together.
For those that have not been following the film, The Good Dinosaur has been plagued by numerous production delays, the most public of which was Peter Sohn (Ratatouille) taking over for Bob Peterson (Up) as director. Along with voice re-casting and re-writes, both Disney and Pixar were unsure of when the film was going to come out. Thankfully, things have finally seemed to settle down and the latest trailer for The Good Dinosaur is looking as spectacular as it should.
The trailer is mostly dialogue free, giving it the feel of Wall-E’s silent first-act and Up’s beautiful/heartbreaking montage. Though little dialogue, the trailer manages to convey a lot, especially the overall premise and personality of the characters. Flipping the idea of “a boy and his dog,” and making the dog (dinosaur) the boy and the boy the dog is definitely up Pixar’s alley in terms of originality. Both Arlo and Spot are adorable, and it feels as if Arlo’s naïve, worrisome demeanor will mesh well with Spot’s curious and fearless personality.
Other than the general cuteness that Arlo seems to emit every times he appears on screen, the most impressive thing about the trailer has to be the photorealistic plants, forests and environments. According to Wired UK, Pixar based the environments of the film on actual locations around the Earth. The contrast between Arlo, Spot and the other dinosaurs to the photorealistic environments feels a little awkward though, as if two different styles of animation are fighting one another. It’s interesting that Pixar choose to go this route, especially having created animated worlds that usually fit the looks of their characters. Still, the movie looks charming enough and I can already tell Arlo is going to be one of those protagonists you can’t help but cheer for.
The Good Dinosaur will lumber its way into theatres November 25, 2015
