So, first things first. This has been a terrible year for movie timing. Anything and everything surrounding Star Wars is going to get obliterated at the box office. Sisters was released on the same day! Like, what?? That's why all the wide release Christmas movies kinda didn't really stand out... it's because they knew they'd all still be in competition with Star Wars. The Good Dinosaur, however, came out three weeks before Star Wars, so it was smart in that aspect. But, in even worse timing, this is the first time Pixar has put out two films in a single year and the other film happened to be Inside Out... one of the best Pixar movies ever made. So, because of that... I surmise that The Good Dinosaur is probably going to be forgotten. Seriously, Pixar, you couldn't have released this the same year as Cars 2?
So, we've already gotten a glimpse at the next few years of Pixar. It's all sequels. 2016 is giving us Finding Dory, 2017 is giving us... ugh... Cars 3. 2018 is Toy Story 4 and 2019 is The Incredibles 2. So, cramming in two Pixar films in 2015, both of which are original ideas, may have not been the best strategy. And while it's a little sad to see Pixar doing away with original creative material, it was nice to go out on a mostly high note with The Good Dinosaur.
I will say this: The Good Dinosaur, while an original work of fiction, does borrow strongly from a lot of tropes we are familiar with. But, even while re-using similar story devices, it's still a very original film. What we've got is essentially a dinosaur fueled western that overlooks the story of a boy and his dog. The boy, in this instance, is a dinosaur named Arlo and the dog is a little caveboy named Spot. After Arlo, who I'm guessing is around ten years old, is swept away by a storm, he and Spot, probably around three or four, must find Arlo's way home back to his family. The only problem is, Arlo is a huge coward. He's afraid of everything. His one job back at home is to feed a coup of menacing looking chickens and he's chased out in fear every time. However, this is a Pixar film so we know there is going to be some crazy emotional life lesson learned... and this one is how to be a 'man'. Fear doesn't have to be overcome entirely, but it does need to be harnessed into strength.
What Pixar does this time, however, is it gets a little bit darker than usual. We've been getting used to upbeat, fun, family comedies that deliver profound life lessons like Inside Out or Toy Story or Up or Wall-E. What Pixar did this time was go back to the roots of Disney and give us a bit of a darker film like The Lion King where shit actually goes down. Death occurs. Life lessons are hammered into our heads based off real life shit. Sometimes being sad as a child over moving away from home can have a strong emotional resonance with an audience, but sometimes life isn't about first world problems. Sometimes you're swept away in a storm that has killed your father and destroyed your family's crops and you gotta man up, get home, and take care of shit. So, while the story can be pieced back to other better movies before it, it's still very emotionally profound. Those who think they're cried out after watching Inside Out may be a little surprised when The Good Dinosaur elicits nearly the same amount of tears. Again, these aren't necessarily sad tears, they're very touching. Something that Pixar is very good at.
The animation is stellar. It's also unfortunate that we're getting Pixar sequels until the 2020s because the animation is just getting better and better. With growing technology, Pixar is stepping up their game a little bit each time and this may be their most beautiful yet. Yes, the characters have a little bit of a newspaper comic-strip feel to them, the water and the landscapes are immaculate. It gives movies like Goosebumps zero excuse for looking like late 90s CGI trash. So, The Good Dinosaur is a great family film to end the year on and another Pixar hit, even though a lot of it may seem a tad familiar. The Arlo-Spot relationship is adorable and even more clever because they are unable to communicate with words (much like a boy and his dog), but it doesn't mean there isn't a visible amount of love and devotion there. There are a few scary moments that kids might be frightened by, but nothing too terrifying as to keep them away. It's cute, it's funny, it's sad, it's scary and it's a bit of an emotional kick in the balls... something that Pixar is very close to trademarking because it's happening every time.
B+
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