Going back to home on the range

Spot and Arlo in a scene from "The Good Dinosaur." Image courtesy Disney/Pixar.

One of the more enjoyable aspects of the “The Good Dinosaur” is a thought experiment in which viewers try to figure out what the differences are between a human and dinosaur dominated society. Per the filmmakers, agriculture is an evolutionary inevitability, as are domesticity, drug trips, speech, and the development of morals and ethics among a civilized society. Humans wear items related to clothing, although it appears to be designed for preserving a creature's modesty as it does for warmth and protection. On the whole, much of the dinosaur society is like that of that early humans, if just a hint off, just as the film itself is a bit off and a rather interesting letdown.

Like the famous line by T.S. Eliot, The Good Dinosaur” opens with a whimper, or at least a shooting star that would have caused the destruction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, according to the text on screen. Jump to a few million years into the future and dinosaurs have evolved into a lifestyle akin to those found in westerns. For little Arlo (Raymond Ochoa), that means life as a corn farmer in a small valley with his Poppa (Jeffrey Wright), Momma (Frances McDormand), sister Libby and brother Buck (Marcus Scribner). Poor Arlo is a neurotic runt, afraid of the chickens he feeds and the bugs that swarm around his head and the little humanoid creature (later named Spot and voiced by Jack Bright) consuming the family's crops. Poppa doesn't take kindly to the last act and uses it as a chance to coax the fear out of his young son, a choice that results in the older dinosaurs untimely, strikingly familiar death.

Arlo blames the little human for his father's death, and an opportunity to partake in revenge against the little moppet goes awry, sending the little dino miles away from his home. Stuck with the devoted and effective human as his only companion, Arlo must navigate through the unknown to find his way home. The trip is fraught with peril, as the weather, dangerous scavengers (notably a group of fearless pterodactyls led by Steve Zahn's Thunderclap) fear and self doubt combine to keep Arlo from reaching his goals. But the dude is resourceful, and he has a habit of striking up unconventional friendships, including a family of Tyrannosaurus rex rustlers voiced by Anna Paquin, A.J. Buckley and the silver-voiced Sam Elliott who offer comfort, advice and a little direction for the dino boy and his dog.

If certain segments of that description feel familiar, it's because “The Good Dinosaur,” to its detriment, is influenced greatly by other Disney-related properties, most notably “The Lion King.” “The Good Dinosaur” lifts a lot from the non-Shakespearean bits from “The Lion King,” like the death scene alluded to earlier and the mythical visitation of the father figure as a point of self discovery, which wouldn't be as big of a problem if it had a stronger narrative arc for its characters. That's not something the film opts to invest in – due in part to the heavy western influence that runs through it – and the haphazard story is uneven and is weighted to make the second act something of a bore. The plotting is one of the little things that just makes “The Good Dinosaur” a little off among its Pixar brethren: The story is a little sparse, the characters a little flat, the humor a little scatter shot, the speed of the action a little slow.  

But “The Good Dinosaur” is still a Pixar film, and it has enough of those core elements coursing through it to keep it an entertaining disappointment. The movie is quite often magnificent as a spectacle, just a beautiful film with open landscapes befitting its western roots and a pair of sequences involving fireflies that is just a wonder to watch unfold. And the loose plotting offers benefits of its own thanks the time extra spent with Arlo and Spot, who engage in silly antics and romp about the forest with whimsy and comfort. Getting that bond solidified results in an emotionally heavy scene that will wreck a few audience members, matching the minimum requirement for every good-to-great Pixar film.

I think the best way to think about “The Good Dinosaur” is to see it as an experiment for the studio, a new way of storytelling that’s simple and less frenetic than other films. The fact the film doesn’t work as well as it could is almost secondary to what it could lead to; like a pitcher developing an off-speed pitch to expand his or her repertoire, the new variation could become magnificent with more practice.

Review: Four out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: PG

Run time: 100 minutes

Genre: Animated

Ask Away

Target audience: Pixar fanatics and parents who need a break in between shopping trips.

Take the whole family?: Good for almost all age groups, save toddlers who will get a little intimidated by the more violent scenes.

Theater or Netflix?: Might be a nice way to keep the kids distracted during Black Friday shopping, but don't spring for the 3-D glasses.

What about the animated short?: It was actually the highlight of the screening. The short, “Sanjay's Super Team,” is about how a boy learns to understand his faith through the power of imagination and super heroes. Few words are spoken, but the tenderness and brilliant animation are awesome, as well as the idea of interpreting religion through one's own lens.

Watch this as well?: Pick your Pixar flick, especially the wonderful “”Inside Out.” Beyond that, the original “Land Before Time” is a rather good little animated films about how beings define family and the importance of conquering fear, just like “The Good Dinosaur.”