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'The Good Dinosaur' Learning the hard way
A breathtaking scene when Arlo and Spot play on a firefly-covered field
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A breathtaking scene when Arlo and Spot play on a firefly-covered field.
What if a giant meteor that fell millions of years ago missed earth and the dinosaurs survived?
The failed cataclysmic event opens the latest Disney/Pixar film and sets the premise for a coming-of-age story of a young Apatosaurus named Arlo who befriends a human boy named Spot.
Science, and the prevailing evidence regarding the coexistence of the giant reptiles and humans in the same era, was obviously set aside to create a story that, although it may not appeal to all, young viewers can relate to.
However, story aside, The Good Dinosaur is by far the best animation work by the Disney-owned animator.
It is visually stunning and almost exactly replicates the natural look of the sky, mountains, streams and plants with the bright green cartoonish Arlo and the feral boy who moves on all fours.
Other neat visual treats like the scene when a group of Pteranodon flies above the clouds, in maneuvers that make their wings look like shark fins peeking through above the surface of the sea, are not to be missed.
The appearance of Triceratops ' a horned dinosaur ' Forrest Woodbush with all the critters on his horns is magnificent, while a shot of Arlo running through the mountains and tossing Spot up into the clouds and back to see the world from above is a bit haunting.
The technical excellence was not a surprise considering Peter Sohn helmed the film (he also voiced the horned dinosaur).
Although it was his first feature film, the animator, storyboard writer and voice actor for Pixar Animation Studios has been involved in the production of Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, WALL-E and Up, to name a few.
Sohn made his directorial debut in Partly Cloudy in 2009, which he also wrote.
However, he was not the first choice for The Good Dinosaur, replacing Bob Peterson, Up codirector, following a shake-up in 2013.
Peterson cowrote the story with Enrico Casarosa building anticipation of another hit after the success of Oscar-bound Inside Out.
In the invented alternate timeline, dinosaurs evolve into intelligent creatures and share a language, invent agriculture and become cowboys, while humans are howling, barking, wild creatures.
Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa), was the last egg hatched at the farming family of Poppa Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Momma Ida (Frances McDormand).
A fearful soul from the start, Arlo helps on the farm by feeding the chickens ' a job he hates because he is afraid of grown-up hens, while elder siblings Buck and Libby are tasked with clearing farmland and planting corn.
While others in the family deserve to leave their mark (or muddy footprint, to be precise) on the corn silo for their hard work, Arlo is frustrated because he can't compete with his brave and brawny brother or cunningly agile sister.
In trying to help Arlo grow up, Henry gives him a new task, which is to guard the silo by catching and killing a critter that had been stealing food.
The first time Arlo sees Spot, he is caught in the dino-made trap, but Arlo has neither the heart nor the strength to club the creature to death.
For a kid's movie with a title that promises a cheerful story, The Good Dinosaur has heavy subject matter as Arlo experiences a string of unfortunate events that separate him from his family.
He has to deal with his fears every time and learns the hard way to survive, growing from childhood to adolescence and learning just how harsh life can be.
Fortunately, Spot joins Arlo on his journey and helps him to get out of tight spots along the way.
There are some endearing scenes on the journey, such as when Arlo and Spot share their grief at losing family members, although Spot can't speak the same language as Arlo, and when more humans appear.
What starts as a mismatched partnership embarking on a journey ends as a bonding trip where they work together to help a family of T-rex cowboys bring home a large herd of yak.
There is violence and death, lots of it, in the film, which may raise concerns on age restrictions.
However, The Good Dinosaur is a heartwarming story fit for family entertainment during the holiday season.
It opens in Indonesia on Friday, with an Indonesian-dubbed version using local child actors.
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The Good Dinosaur
(Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, 100 minutes)
Director: Peter Sohn
Cast (voice): Raymond Ochoa, Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand
