Dave's Blog

{4.5/5} “Sometimes you gotta get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side.”

The Good Dinosaur, released in 2015

Arlo and his family are farmers — they’re also dinosaurs. His mom and dad built a silo to keep their food away from scavengers. When they were done, they put their marks on it. When his brother Buck cleared a field, he put his mark on it. When his sister Libby planted a field, she put her mark on it. How will Arlo make his mark? When Arlo gets swept down river, he has to find his way home — along the way he runs into a human he names Spot.

What if the meteor missed Earth and the dinosaurs survived?

This is the latest Pixar animated movie.

The animation is gorgeous, of course — it would have been splendid to see on the big screen. The characters are delightful and the story is funny and sad.

I liked how the tyrannosaurus rex characters were good guys — unlike any other dinosaur story where they would be bad guys.

There are lots of movies about journeys home, but this one is worth watching — it’s beautiful.

Unlike most other Pixar movies, there’s nothing clever about the premise — there’s no particular reason why the characters have to be dinosaurs. Of course, you can never have too many dinosaurs.

Frances McDormand and Sam Elliott provide voices. Directed by Peter Sohn (additional story artist on Brave). The majestic music is by Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna.