Ah, The Good Dinosaur! It’s yet another unconventional film from the animation hive mind that is Pixar and while it gets pretty bat poop crazy at times it does make a compelling movie to watch in a weird sort of way. However, the most important question when it comes to the recent DVD release is whether or not it’ll get enough replay time to warrant adding it to the collection, and in all fairness, despite the somewhat unrefined storyline, there’s probably just about enough to make it a go-to play for years to come.
One of the biggest contributing factors to this is the sheer beauty of the animation that Disney Pixar has built into the film, which we’d have to go so far as describing as the most impressive animation work we’ve seen to-date. The landscape and environmental detail is jaw-dropping with waves that look both real and ethereal, along with sweeping vistas, epic weather scenes and dazzling firefly displays.
This is slightly marred by the kooky styling of some of the characters, which doesn’t quite tie in with the animated realism of the rest of the film’s impressive visuals. On a positive note though, even here there’s plenty to gawp at, whether it’s the bright green textured skin of the film’s leading dinosaur Arlo, or the shining detail in his tame human companion Spot’s highly detailed eyes.
Equally, while there’s an oddball style to the characters in the film, there’s also a lot of personality poured into their creation, which slowly overtakes you as you watch. Before too long, you’re completely bought into willing on Arlo and Spot in their bid for survival, which helps you to forgive Pixar when it goes off piste with a little too much mentalness at the fringes.
The story is a hotch-potch centred around a young dinosaur called Arlo who is desperate to impress his family to make his mark, which is less an idea than a bizarre family tradition that seems to be designed solely to cajole more hard work out of the farming apatosaurus family offspring. This is a plot device that feels hard to connect with, but when it all shakes out with a disaster story that leaves the little dinosaur lost and miles from home, you’re given something that’s a bit more of a worthy cause to support, especially with added fun that Spot brings to the adventure.
Perhaps our biggest criticism for The Good Dinosaur is that it lends a little too much from the Disney back catalogue to construct the adventure. The setup of the plot around Arlo going off into the wilds after family tragedy is very close the Pride Rock bones of The Lion King, and then the pterodactyls are a sinister reincarnation of the vultures from The Jungle Book. With five writers behind the story, it’s easy to see how it all come together so piecemeal and muddled, when it could have been a lot more unique with a slightly different origin story.
The negatives come very close to being too much to stomach, but with the heart-string tug of the characters you’ve come to appreciate it just about does enough to draw you in. Whether this will become less of a compensation in time for The Good Dinosaur DVD remains to be seen, but the incredible animation will always be enough to amaze.
The Good Dinosaur DVD review: 3.2/5
