‘Good’ Indeed: The Good Dinosaur

In Theaters Movie Reviews November 25, 2015

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Pixar has set its bar so high that a sweet film like The Good Dinosaur suffers for not being innovative or unique. But it is entertaining, especially for kids, and is executed with the seemingly effortless perfection that marks every film from the studio that brought us Toy Story, The Incredibles, Up, and Inside Out.

Our hero this time is a young dinosaur named Arlo, a timid soul who doesn’t have the courage or command of his Poppa. That doesn’t mean his father and mother don’t believe in him; they do, but the pluck and bravery Arlo needs to survive can only come from within, as he learns through his experiences with friends and foes after being separated from his family.

Arlo’s major growing experience occurs when he discovers and befriends a young cave-boy whom he names Spot. Through their adventures with Mother Nature and a variety of predators they not only bond but come to rely on one another.

Courtesy of Disney / Pixar

The visual appeal of The Good Dinosaur is tremendous. It pictures life on earth if dinosaurs never went extinct and came to inhabit our planet as we know it. The majestic beauty of untouched land, majestic mountains, rivers, and waterfalls are exquisitely rendered. But it’s the characters that really matter in a story of this kind, and they come to life with the same care and attention to detail as the settings.

Grownups may groan at some of the platitudes uttered by Arlo’s Poppa and other characters the young Apatosaurus encounters along his journey… but it’s unlikely that young viewers will regard them as clichés. Director Peter Sohn treats these moments in Meg LeFauve’s screenplay with complete sincerity, which should win over the young and young-at-heart. Parents won’t be bored and kids should lap up The Good Dinosaur; that makes it ideal family entertainment this holiday season.

Courtesy of Disney / Pixar

The feature is preceded by a short subject called Sanjay’s Super Team, based on filmmaker Sanjay Patel’s memories of a boyhood culture clash with his father. Like most Pixar shorts, it’s a treat.

Leonard Maltin

Leonard Maltin is one of the world’s most respected film critics and historians. He is best known for his widely-used reference work Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide and its companion volume Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide, now in its third edition, as well as his thirty-year run on television’s Entertainment Tonight. He teaches at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and appears regularly on Reelz Channel and Turner Classic Movies. His books include The 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, The Great Movie Comedians, The Disney Films, The Art of the Cinematographer, Movie Comedy Teams, The Great American Broadcast, and Leonard Maltin’s Movie Encyclopedia. He served two terms as President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, is a voting member of the National Film Registry, and was appointed by the Librarian of Congress to sit on the Board of Directors of the National Film Preservation Foundation. He hosted and co-produced the popular Walt Disney Treasures DVD series and has appeared on innumerable television programs and documentaries. He has been the recipient of awards from the American Society of Cinematographers, the Telluride Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, and San Diego’s Comic-Con International. Perhaps the pinnacle of his career was his appearance in a now-classic episode of South Park. (Or was it Carmela consulting his Movie Guide on an episode of The Sopranos?) He holds court at leonardmaltin.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook; you can also listen to him on his weekly podcast: Maltin on Movies. — [Artwork by Drew Friedman]