i don't have a nose: Disney/Pixar’s ‘The Good Dinosaur’ (2015): Review

The Good Dinosaur sees Pixar’s infamous innovative streak shine through in its establishing scene, which poses the question ‘what if the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs never actually hit?’ Unfortunately, the innovation seems to stop there, and the film’s remaining hour and a half presents us with a rather bizarre amalgamation of realism and surrealism, partnered with an unoriginal and frankly rather bland plot. The opening scenes, which see a family of farming dinosaurs harvesting corn and feeding chickens, are initially somewhat difficult to absorb. The idea of witnessing the evolution of dinosaurs beyond the point of their extinction is an intriguing one, but the creativity feels somewhat lacking. It’s simply too inconceivable to imagine that they might evolve to follow almost the exact same customs as that of a human community – particularly when such activities require dexterous action beyond the capabilities of a clumsy, heavy-footed Apatosaurus. Still, these abnormalities aside, there was still hope for the film’s narrative – which sadly also feels somewhat uninspired, at least by Pixar’s standards.

Disney/Pixar’s latest effort introduces us to Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) – one of three Apatosaurus kids born to farmers Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Ida (Frances McDormand). Unable to find the courage to accomplish tasks on the farm and ‘earn his mark’ alongside his siblings, Arlo is left discouraged, and given a new task by his father Henry to guard their corn silo from pests. He captures a caveboy, but lets him go out of fear. After Henry forces Arlo to face his fears and pursue the boy, Henry is killed by a flash flood. Upon finding the boy on the farm again, an angered Arlo chases him, but winds up swept away by the river, lost and alone. Arlo and the boy (whom he names Spot) then form an unusual friendship as Arlo attempts to pluck up courage and find home.

The story is your run-of-the-mill ‘journey home’ narrative – one which is accompanied by a less-than-subtle moral message about the importance of being brave (so unsubtle that the film may as well have been called The Brave Dinosaur). The establishment of dinosaurs as farmers grants the film at least some semblance of originality – when in actuality there’s little original about the film at all. What initially opens the film as a somewhat amusing gag – the bypassing of the fatal asteroid that allegedly rendered all dinosaurs extinct – eventually metamorphoses into a feeble attempt to provide justification for the typical Disney twee-ness we’ve come to expect from the company outside of the Pixar canon. So the dinosaurs talk – we’ve seen this before, and umpteen times at that. As a matter of fact, anthropomorphism is essentially synonymous with the average Disney flick, so this movie’s selling point of adorning dinosaurs with humanistic qualities is hardly a ground-breaking concept. Beyond this, the film feels disturbingly ordinary.

The visuals are unsurprisingly impressive. As with all other Pixar releases, The Good Dinosaur boasts photorealistic backdrops and such fine detail that it’s hard to tell that it’s all merely illusory. That said, the film’s visuals are at the same time unusual, in that the characters are cartoon-like in their designs. Of course, there’s nothing specifically *wrong* with these designs, but their juxtaposition with such an intricate and realistic-looking setting at first seems somewhat jarring. In fact, the film’s visual design acts as a perfect signifier for what’s ultimately wrong with the movie: it attempts to convey a serious message (and a somewhat heavy-handed, moralistic one at that) through an implausible, ludicrous vision of an alternate reality. Put simply, the idea is too surreal for one to become overly invested in it. As a side note, there’s no real *need* for the dinosaurs in this movie to be dinosaurs at all. In fact, save for their appearance, they’re *not* dinosaurs; they’re farmers. The only justification for their being ‘dinosaurs’ is that it’s more visually appealing.

As of yet, I might sound wholly negative, but in reality, I have to admit this film is enjoyable. For a Pixar offering, it is disappointing, but it has a certain unorthodox charm to it that engages you from start to finish. Aside from the half-baked concept itself, there’s nothing remotely surprising about the movie, but it’s certainly not the worst film ever made (and not the worst in Pixar’s canon either, for that matter). Ultimately, The Good Dinosaur lacks bite, and has consequently graced the silver screen this week with a whimper rather than a roar. If it wasn’t branded with the Pixar name, and didn’t invite such high hopes as a result, this film would probably be received with a fresher perspective. Sadly, that’s not the case, and The Good Dinosaur remains just that: ‘good’.