The Good Dinosaur

A near apocalypse occurred 65 million years ago when an asteroid almost hit Earth. Almost is the key word here, since dinosaurs didn't go extinct. Somewhere in the prehistoric American West, beneath the Clawtooth Mountains, there's a homesteading family of long-necked green Apatosauruses, headed by Poppa (voiced by Jeffrey Wright) and Momma (Frances McDormand). When a flashflood decimates their frontier farm, timid young Arlo (Raymond Ochoa)—who is not big and strong like his parents and siblings—is left on his own. Having been told that he must learn self-sacrifice and courage, frightened Arlo befriends a grunting, barking, howling feral boy whom he names Spot. Journeying together through the wilderness—dodging nasty raptors and a hungry gang of pterodactyls controlled by villainous Thunderclap (Steve Zahn)—the pair encounter a strange variety of exotic animal species, including a pink cobra with legs, a boar-sized winged insect, and a pet-collecting Styracosaurus (Peter Sohn, who also directs) who is an expert in camouflage. Eventually, after sampling some hallucinogenic fruits, Arlo and Spot gather around a campfire with friendly, buffalo-ranching T-Rexes, whose cowboy leader, Butch (the distinctively gruff voice of Sam Elliott), talks about how fear must be neither surrendered to nor ignored. While Pixar's 16th animated feature can't be called either original or classic—borrowing elements from The Lion King and The Jungle Book—it is an amusing, anthropomorphic survivor story featuring awesomely photorealistic landscapes that are filled with raging rivers and fluttering fireflies. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary (by director Peter Sohn, story supervisor Kelsey Mann, supervising animator Mike Venturini, cinematographer Sharon Calahan, and supervising technical director Sanjay Bakshi), the Oscar-nominated bonus theatrical short “Sanjay's Super Team” (7 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are deleted scenes (11 min.), the production featurettes “Following the T-Rex Trail” (7 min.), “The Filmmakers' Journey” (8 min.), “Recyclosaurus” (7 min.), “Every Part of the Dinosaur” (6 min.), “Dino Bites” (4 min.), “True Lies About Dinosaurs” (2 min.), and the brief “Hide and Seek,” as well as bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for this entertaining Disney family film.] (S. Granger)