"The Good Dinosaur" asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? In this epic journey into the world of dinosaurs, an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of. Written by

Plot Synopsis:
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65 million years ago, an asteroid made its way out of the belt and sped toward Earth. It turned red as it entered the atmosphere, and then it sped past, missing the planet entirely. Millions of years later, two Apaterosauruses named Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Ida (Frances McDormand) are busy cultivating a field next to a river at the base of Clawtooth Mountain. Henry sprays the crops with water from his mouth, when Ida calls out, "It's time!" She has a large egg and two small ones in her nest, and the small ones hatch first, giving them a boy and a girl, Buck (Marcus Scribner) and Libby. The large egg still doesn't hatch, so Buck hits it with a stick. The top pops off, and they look inside and see a tiny dinosaur clinging to the egg. Slowly, Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) climbs out and tries to walk, awkwardly falling over at first. Henry shows them all the farm and the mountain, saying they will all take care of it together.

At the age of five, Buck and Libby are helping out with the chores, but Arlo's fear made him hate his chore of feeding the chickens. Ida puts a bucket of corn around his neck and coaxes him into the coop. He sees a chick trapped in some weeds and frees him, only to have the mother chicken come up behind him and squawk loudly. Scared, Arlo runs into the silo, where Henry is storing corn. He seals the door with a boulder, keeping the food safe from scavengers. Ida tells him he should make his mark, and he presses his foot down in the mud and stamps it on a rock, then places it on top of the silo. He tells Ida to make her mark, since she made the cabin, the fence and three children. Henry tells the kids they have to earn the right to make their mark, by doing something big, for something bigger than themselves.

When they are ten, Buck and Libby have earned their marks by clearing trees and plowing a field. But Arlo still hasn't done anything to earn his mark. Arlo is determined to complete his chore, but Buck plays a prank on him, scaring him off before he can finish. Henry decides to take Arlo out into the field at night, telling him to walk to the middle. A bug lands on his nose, and he screams for his dad. Henry walks up and blows on the bug, revealing it to be a firefly. "Sometimes, you gotta get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side," he tells Arlo. Then he waves his tail through the grass, causing more fireflies to pop out. Excited, Arlo does the same thing. Then Henry tells him that he has a special chore for Arlo, so he can make his mark.

The next day, Henry takes Arlo to the silo and tells him that there's a critter climbing over the fence and stealing the corn. He tells Arlo that his chore is to catch it, then shows him how to build a trap with a rope and net, and an ear of corn on the ground for bait. Using a pumpkin for demonstration, he tells Arlo that when he smashes the critter with a mallet, then he'll be able to make his mark.

Later, Arlo hears the sound of the trap. With the mallet in hand, he approaches and sees a human child (Jack Bright) trapped and choking with the net wrapped around his neck. Arlo sighs and lets the boy go, but the boy approaches him, sniffing around. Arlo backs away, tripping over a rock and letting out a scream. Startled, the boy runs off as Henry runs over. Henry sees the boy escaping and yells at Arlo for letting him go. Henry tells Arlo to come with him as he follows the boy's tracks. Just then, it started to rain. Arlo worries that they'll get lost, but Henry tells him that as long as he can find the river, he can find home. Henry tells Arlo that the boy's tracks are getting washed out in the rain, so they have to move quickly. Lightning and thunder are crackling all around them, and Arlo slips and falls in the mud. Henry tells him that they should head home. Just then, a landslide causes the river to overflow. Henry uses his strength to push Arlo to safety, before being swept away.

With Henry gone, Ida and the kids struggle to keep up with the chores. Arlo takes corn into the silo for the winter, but he finds the boy eating it. Arlo chases after him, grabbing an ear of corn from his mouth. As they struggle, Arlo falls into the river and cries for help, but nobody hears him. Careening down the river, Arlo smacks his head against a large rock and is knocked unconscious. He wakes up lying on a sandbar, and sees that he's miles from home. The only sound he can hear is a howl coming from the boy, and he sees him at the top of a cliff. The boy watches as Arlo awkwardly climbs up the cliff, then he jumps on Arlo's face. Arlo shakes him off, and then climbs up to the cliff edge, when he sees that the boy has disappeared.

Arlo climbs up to the top of a ridge, trying to find home. He sees the river, and remembers Henry's words. After walking up the river for a while, he sees a berry tree, and balances on a rock to get the berries. He loses his balance and falls, landing with a pile of rocks trapping his leg. Stuck, he closes his eyes and falls asleep. The next morning, the sound of geysers wakes him up, and he sees that the rocks have been moved, freeing his leg. He sees human tracks, and wonders if it was the boy who helped him. As he resumes walking up the river, heavy rain comes down. Arlo sees all the other animals take shelter, but he has none. He hears a rattle in the bushes, and the boy comes out and offers him a lizard, and then a bug. Arlo has no interest in eating either one. Then the boy brings back some berries, and Arlo happily eats them. He asks the boy if he knows where to find more, not sure if the boy understands. The boy runs off, and Arlo follows him to a cliff ledge. Arlo falls over, with his mouth gripping one edge and his legs on the other. The boy uses Arlo for a bridge, and then shows him a berry bush. Arlo flings himself to the other side, then runs toward the bush. Just then, a snake falls out and attacks Arlo. The boy grabs the snake's tail and starts to gnaw on its skin. The snake slithers away, and Arlo realizes the boy had saved him.

Together, Arlo and the boy are walking up the river, when Arlo hears a voice say hello. Looking around, he finds a Styracosaurus with big horns. His name is Forrest Woodbush. Small creatures are perched all over the horns, and he says they are there to protect him. He saw the boy protect Arlo, and says he could use the boy as another protector. Arlo tells Forrest the boy is with him, and Forrest asks what the boy's name is. Arlo says he doesn't know, and Forrest says, "I name him, I keep him." They both start calling out names, getting no response. Arlo yells out, "Spot!" and the boy looks up at him. "Come here, Spot!" The boy walks up to Arlo. Forrest tells him not to lose Spot on his way back to Clawtooth Mountain.

Walking back, they hear a squeak and see a gopher popping its head out of a hole. Spot tries to pounce, but the animal quickly ducks back down. Spot puts his mouth to the hole and blows, causing a gopher to pop out, and then scurry back in. Arlo does the same thing, causing more gophers to pop out. Displeased, the gophers bite Arlo, causing him and Spot to run for safety. They find themselves on a ledge above the river. Another gopher bites Arlo, sending him down into the river. He struggles to stay afloat, and Spot dives in after him and demonstrates how to swim. Arlo catches on and swims to shore with Spot. Arlo realizes his body is covered with leeches and tries to shake them off. Spot helps peel off the stubborn ones. They continue walking and find some fruit, and both eat heartily. Then they start to hallucinate, realizing there was something in the fruit. Tired, they both fall asleep.

They wake up at night, and walk through a meadow. Arlo waves his tail through the grass, causing fireflies to pop up. Excited, Spot tries to grab them, catching one in his hands. Arlo blows on it, making it light up, and Spot lets it go. Arlo says he misses his family, and Spot tilts his head in confusion. Arlo breaks some sticks and makes dinosaur shapes, saying that one is him, and the rest are Buck and Libby, and Momma and Poppa. Then he draws a circle around them and says they are his family. Spot grabs some sticks and makes three human shapes, then draws a circle around them. Arlo tells him that's his family. Spot lays two figures flat on the ground and covers them with dirt. Arlo does the same with his Poppa figure. Together, they howl sadly at the moon.

The next day, they resume walking up the river, when a violent storm hits them. Arlo curls up under a fallen tree, with Spot following him. When it ends, Arlo climbs out and sees destruction everywhere, and he realizes he can't find the river. In the sky, he sees pterodactyls flying in formation, like a search-and-rescue team. Arlo calls out to them, but Spot scurries off and hides. Thunderclap, Downpour and Coldfront land next to Arlo, and offer to lead him back to Clawtooth Mountain. They find an animal trapped under a fallen tree, and Arlo helps them clear the tree away. Thunderclap picks up the animal, but instead of letting it go, he throws it into his mouth and swallows it. Scared, Arlo looks around and sees Spot hiding beneath some debris. The pterodactyls can smell him, and they ask Arlo where he is. Arlo tries to misdirect them, but when he nervously glances in Spot's direction, Thunderclap flies over to him. Spot runs away, with Thunderclap giving chase. Arlo runs over, and Spot jumps on his back. Arlo sees a long-necked dinosaur grazing and calls out for help, but then he sees that it's actually two T. rexes.

Trapped between the pterodactyls and the now-charging T. rexes, Arlo curls up into a ball over Spot. Suddenly, the T. rexes attack the pterodactyls and drive them away, and then they approach Arlo. He's frozen with fear, but the T. rexes help him up, and introduce themselves as Ramsey, a girl, and Nash, her brother. Their father, Butch, walks up and Arlo sees a giant scar on his face. Arlo asks him for help getting home, but Butch tells him they don't have time to help, since they're trying to find their herd of longhorns. Arlo offers to let Spot sniff out the herd, in return for helping him back home. Spot is able to find their tracks, but feathers on the ground indicate that the herd was taken by rustlers. Following the tracks, they find the herd grazing in a nearby field. Knowing the rustlers are lying in wait, Butch tells Arlo to stand on a rock near the herd and scream, and then stand still when the rustlers charge toward him. Nervously, Arlo heads to the rock with Spot. He tries to scream, but his fear made him silent. Spot chomps his leg, and he lets out a pained yell. Three raptors rustle through the grass, and walk up to Arlo. They tell him he's trespassing, and they take care of trespassers by killing them. A raptor strikes, but the T. rexes jump in and fight them. Butch head-butts a raptor, sending him flying into the herd, who stampede straight toward Arlo.

Arlo takes off running with Spot, and the T. rexes try to keep up with the herd. A raptor jumps on Nash, and they fight, with the raptor pinning Nash down. Just as he is about to strike, Ramsey hits him with a tail-whip, sending him flying away. Arlo runs behind a boulder to escape the stampede, but the raptors can smell him nearby. Butch charges in, but he gets pinned to the ground by two raptors. Summoning his courage, Arlo charges in and head-butts a raptor away, and Butch grabs the other by the tail and flings her off. Arlo joins the T. rexes in driving the herd to a safer place.

That night, Arlo, Spot and the T. rexes gather around a campfire. Arlo sees a cut on his forearm, and Ramsey tells him that it will leave a good scar. Nash shows a scar on his calf, and says he got it fighting fifteen Stegosauruses. Ramsey says that once he was trapped with his tail stuck under a rock and a herd of longhorns coming straight at him, so he had to gnaw his tail off. He shows the stub where his tail was. Arlo asks Butch how he got his scar, and he says he was taking a drink from a pond, when crocodiles jumped out of the water and bit his face. He bit one crocodile in half, tail-whipped another one, and then drowned a third one in his blood. Then he opens his mouth and shows off a crocodile tooth lodged in his jaw. Arlo says that his Poppa wasn't scared of anything, and that he's done being scared. Butch tells him that he was scared when the crocodiles attacked him, and that fear can make you find out what you're made of. Just then, the first snow falls, and Arlo tells them he needs to get home, to prepare the food for winter.

The next morning, the T. rexes herd the longhorns on, and when a group splits off, Arlo runs ahead and snaps off a tree with his tail to force them back. Going over a slope, Arlo sees the peaks of Clawtooth Mountain, and the T. rexes say goodbye to him. When Arlo gets close to home, he lets out a happy howl, and Spot joins him. Suddenly, they hear another person howl back. Arlo can't stand the thought of losing Spot, so he scoops Spot up and walks back to the river. A storm comes in, and Arlo's feet get stuck in the mud. Looking up, he sees the pterodactyls flying around. They fly in and attack Arlo with their wings, and Thunderclap snatches up Spot in his talons. The other two turn to Arlo, who tries to back away, but he loses his balance in the mud and falls into brambles below. He tries to get free, but the brambles tighten around him. Unable to get through to Arlo, the pterodactyls fly after Thunderclap and Spot. Arlo tries one more time to free himself, but a rock comes loose and hits him in the head, knocking him unconscious.

When he comes to, he sees someone chopping the brambles in half, and realizes it's Poppa. He tells Arlo they have to go home, but Arlo wants to save Spot. Poppa keeps walking forward, and Arlo yells at him to stop. Then he sees that Poppa isn't leaving any footprints. Arlo tells Poppa that he has to go save Spot, because he loves him. Poppa says he knew Arlo had it in him, and then fades away into the rain. Arlo is still tangled in the brambles, but with renewed determination, he breaks them one by one, and he runs after Spot.

Arlo climbs up the mountain and howls for Spot, and he hears Spot howl back. He sees Spot inside a hollow tree, surrounded by pterodactyls. They whack the tree, trying to get Spot out. Arlo charges in and head-butts a pterodactyl into the river. Thunderclap and the others lift Arlo into the air, and Spot howls from the tree. Thunderclap flies down to Spot, who goes deeper into the tree. Still in the air, Arlo whacks a tree and makes it fall, landing on the pterodactyls. Arlo falls to the ground, and another pterodactyl flies toward him. Arlo grabs a tree with his tail and flings it into the pterodactyl, knocking it into the water. Arlo sees Thunderclap still attacking Spot, so he runs up and lets out a loud roar, scaring Thunderclap away.

A flash flood approaches, and the tree with Spot inside gets swept away. Arlo tries to save him, but he can't reach far enough. The flood causes debris to fall, knocking Arlo into the river. Struggling to swim, he sees Spot unconscious inside the sinking tree. Arlo swims to him, hearing a waterfall ahead. When he reaches Spot, he curls himself around Spot and they both go over the edge.

At the bottom, Arlo pulls Spot out of the water, and Spot opens his eyes. Arlo puts his head down and breathes a sigh of relief. The next day, they resume walking home, when they hear a human man howl. They see a woman and two children join him on the hill. Arlo slowly approaches, and Spot jumps off his back. The father sniffs Spot and rubs his hair, and the family gathers around him. Spot jumps on Arlo's back, ready to keep going, but Arlo pushes him off. Arlo draws a circle on the ground around all of them, and Spot understands. Arlo hugs Spot and says goodbye.

Arlo walks the rest of the way alone, seeing the farm in the distance with the harvest still on the ground. Momma, Buck and Libby were tired, but still working. Momma looks up and sees Arlo walking toward her. "Arlo!" she cries, and all of them run up and hug him.

At the top of the silo, Arlo's mud footprint stands right beside Poppa's. Arlo had done something big for something bigger than himself, and he was home.

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Robin Sayer
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Pixar have always been a shining light of absolute quality in story telling, characters and animation.

Where DreamWorks and Disney often labor the point of a story, or fumble around in sentimentality, mediocrity - Pixar have always been absolutely genius at bringing something original and truly memorable to the screen.

A company that produces such wonderful movies as Cars, The Incredibles, Nemo, Toy Story and Wall-E - should not, could not - produce this completely worthless piece of nonsense.

My three year old spends his days singing the songs from Cars, recreating the action with his toys, and playing with his Woody and Buzz - he's also a HUGE dinosaur fan - so while something like "Inside Out" is a bit beyond him, how could a dinosaur movie where the dinosaur is good rather than 'scarewee' as he says go wrong!!!!

Seemingly on every single level.

While the scenery is gorgeously rendered with absolute realism the characters themselves are completely devoid of any effort at all. There is nothing about Arlo the dinosaur or the small human boy that is even slightly interesting or novel. They are drawn and animated as though someone said to an animator - you have 10 minutes to render a dinosaur and a small boy. It is saying something when the toy dinosaur in Toy Story is rendered with more love and affection, and more genuine character than any dinosaur in an entire movie which has the word 'Dinosaur' in the title.

Apart from a small 2 minute section of the movie, where they meet a very interesting hippie dinosaur who was brilliant but who they inexplicably just bump into, exchange about 20 words with and then leave - there is no redeeming or interesting character anywhere in the movie.

Arlos father seems to be more interested in Arlo murdering a child, his siblings seem to be evil bullies - Arlo himself is a wimp and the human child is more wolf like than human. Every other character they meet seems to be either racist (some deep South accented dinosaurs portrayed as dumb hicks) or some weird T-Rexes who gallop along rounding up bison with accents straight out of John Wayne movies.

The film moves from one scary scene to the next, so from horrible storm and a badly injured limping Arlo, to Arlos father being drowned in the river, to Arlo in another storm falling down a hill and passing out in the water, to him falling off a cliff, to him running out of food, to being attacked and hunted and so on and so on.

It is completely relentless in its desire to just move to another cliff hanger. The friendship between Arlo and the human boy seems like fluff - with just silly setups like character A gets stuck, wakes to find character B has helped them. Character A gets hungry, finds character B leaving or shoving food there way. Character A and B fall asleep and wake up to find they're leaning against each other. There are no genuine touching moments, "Ice Age" while garbage compared to most of Pixars output, still managed a more convincing buddy story of odd companions traveling together than did this movie.

At the end of the movie Arlo finds his way home and inexplicably pushes the human boy onto a random human family that he moments before rejected for some reason. He makes his way home and is allowed to leave his foot print on a wall which he wasn't allowed to do earlier because his family viewed him as a giant clumsy wimp who wouldn't kill a human.

There was so much opportunity for a movie which had the premise that "What if, the dinosaurs weren't wiped out". But apart from the farm that Arlo and his family come from, there is no indication of any dinosaur civilization other than random ones that try to either attack him or eat him. I was expecting something more Flintstones - but it seams that the only premise for the meteor missing the earth was to allow a dinosaur and a human to co-exist in the story.

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christianakara
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Probably the worst animated film I ve seen the last decade. What annoyed me most was the fact that Pixar decided to use a very common plot such as "farm boy lost in the wild try to find its way to home with the help of a wild animal" but in order to mix it a bit and attract more audience, the farm boy ended up to be a dinosaur and its wild pet a human...For real? Is this a dinosaur movie? Seeing dinosaurs behaving like humans and humans as wild animals isn't what I call a plot!It is just disturbing! Moreover, the fact that Pixar decided that the evolved dinosaurs would create human-like societies instead of following a different path shows lack of imagination! Everyone loves dinosaurs because they represent something exotic in our minds, humanizing dinosaurs at this level is just disgusting!

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genuinejoy from United States
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I was beyond disappointed with this movie. I actually checked online in the middle to make sure this was actually a Pixar film. The writing was so abhorrent that I almost got up and left in the middle. One line that I just found unbelievable was when the scar-faced dinosaur said he drowned the crocodile in a pool of his own blood! There was absolutely no comic relief and I only felt relieved when it ended. It is on par with the unedited version of Toy Story. Will think twice about going to the theater to watch another Pixar film. Don't waste your money. We went to see Inside Out at the theater and even though it had adult themes and was stressful at times, it had a deep redeeming meaning. I know that they were trying to show the bond of family and friendship but it was so lacking. If the whole script was rewritten to be funnier and less scary, then it would be worth it.

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Ashley Marie from Canada
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Let me begin by saying that I've never seen a Disney film I didn't like, but this was the first movie I've ever walked out on.

Inside Out went viral and word spread it was a charming movie. The opposite is the case for The Good Dinosaur; word is spreading that it is an awful movie. You can't rely on stunning graphics to make a successful movie. The storyline was boring and it recycled the same plots as Land Before Time (not Disney), Finding Nemo, and The Lion King making it extremely predictable. However, unlike those three successful movies, there was very little humour, charm, or heartfelt moments present in this film. It relied heavily on action and cliffhangers. Although the moral of the story is good, "sometimes you've gotta get through your fears to see the beauty on the other side", it was nothing profound. Think of the message as though it was a gourmet dinner served on the lid of a trash can.

Although the film is promoted as a children's' film (Its rated PG but it's advertised on the preschool Disney Jr channel), it is not a children's' movie! Forget the intense moments of the Poppa dying near the beginning Mufasa style, or the violent dinosaur fights.. The same happened in The Lion King and I expected it in this film as well. Don't be naive to think that animal violence wouldn't make an appearance in a dinosaur film. However, many of the dinosaurs in the movie are cruel and down right creepy! A gang of pterodactyls manipulate Arlo into helping their search and rescue team (which turns out to be a cult, 'the storm provides') and after Arlo saves a baby animal, the leader eats the baby alive. Really Disney? Not necessary.

There is also many inappropriate drug references in this film. The obvious being when Arlo and Spot ingested some rotten berries and hallucinate. If that was the only alcohol/drug reference for the sake of humour, I could look past it (Think Dumbo's pink elephant parade, Tangled's drunk Cupid, etc). However, there are at least two more drug references that were more sneaky and clever to impress the adults in the audience (the paranoid drug induced spiritualist triceratop, the gang of meth addicted hillbilly velociraptors). Just inappropriate in my opinion and they made for a cast of unlikable, creepy dinosaurs. I guess Arlo was the Good Dinosaur because he said no to drugs...

I hate it when reviewers say this movie is inappropriate for children because of the animalistic violence. Again, what did you expect? It isn't scary, it's more disturbing and unlikable. As a major Disney and Pixar fan, I am sad to say this movie is a major flop and does not live up to the standards many parents expect from these studios.

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atharp-03220
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As a parent, I've come to expect a lot from Disney/Pixar - always a safe bet for my little ones. Until now. This movie was pretty slow, and when various critters they show first as cute are suddenly eaten before my children's eyes, that was the end of the movie for us. This came after the scene where one character rips the head off another creature. My children were alternately bored and scared - definitely not what you expect in a Disney children's film. Not a film for little kids (preschool or younger) with some scenes that are guaranteed to give my young ones some nightmares and yet too boring with almost no comedy for children beyond grade school or adults. We left when my five year old turned to me and said "Mom, can we leave? This isn't fun."

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atmommy
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This movie is completely inappropriate for young children. My three and five year old were very disturbed by the dark and violent plot. Half- way through the movie another child yelled out, "I don't like this movie." And many others loudly agreed. Between this and the scary short before, my three year old has began to have nightmares. It was just too intense. I wish I would have read reviews before basing my opinion on it through the trailer, which lends no reason to believe the movie would be inappropriate.

*****Spoiler***** Like in many Disney movies, the parent dies. Not only do we have to sit through an intense scene watching his death, but we get to see it replayed in an even more upsetting manner. There also many violent scenes that made my children and I gasp- like when a creature pretends to save a cute little animal only to scarf it down psychotically.

There are some sweet touching moments in this movie but overall the plot is not entertaining. Because of this, intense and violent scenes are thrown in to keep you on your toes. But for this mama, it just kept me stressed wondering how much of this would bother my children. And unfortunately, it left them very upset. If you have sensitive young children, just don't do it!

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Dream Pool from United States
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Let's be honest: We've all seen bad movies before. But, did you expect one from Pixar? I definitely didn't. I entered the theatre with my dear friend, eager to see a cute and hilarious movie about a dinosaur and his human companion. I was wrong. The short featuring the little, Indian boy was actually cute. I loved it! It was an adorable way to portray Hinduism. I was happy to see it, however I'm worried some kids didn't understand it. Like Inside Out, it was enjoyable for adults but not for children. Our story begins with a pair of dinosaurs on a farm. The movie seemed okay so far; good graphics and a good start. (Speaking of the graphics, they were probably the best graphics I have ever seen. I hope they stick to the hyper realistic style.) Anyway, three baby dinosaurs were born. One of the babies was the protagonist– named Arlo– and he was the smallest and wimpy of the three. Once again, it was a good movie so far. I thought my friend and I were in for a treat. But, everything changed when the dad forced Arlo to almost murder a baby human. What?! Is this a PG film anymore? The father drowns in a very graphic way and Arlo runs away from his starving family. "This reminds me too much of the Lion King," My friend and I both agreed. This movie recycled plots over 2 movies! Then, some more kid-inappropriate scenes occur: Arlo is manipulated into saving a baby creature, to which another dinosaur eats it psychotically, Arlo's companion is nearly eaten alive, and Arlo and Spot (his companion) eat hallucinogenic-like berries to which they have a euphoric reaction (anyone get reminded of Dumbo?). How were these scenes even accepted into the movie?! Besides the inappropriate scenes, the movie was very bland and there were hardly any comedic scenes at all– and even less, comedic scenes that were actually funny. In fact, the movie was so unfunny that I found the audience funnier and more entertaining! Also, Arlo rejected Spot's desire to return to his family... what?! That's ridiculous! Anyway— though it did make my friend and the audience cry a little— please do not see this movie. It's the worst Pixar movie I have ever seen. You WILL be disappointed and you WILL leave the theatre thinking that you wasted your own money. Save your money for an actual good movie, like the Lion King.

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Ellie
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I have never wrote a review for a movie before now, and I have written this because I am so annoyed with people's ignorance towards a good animated movie.

I watched 'the good dinosaur' yesterday at the cinema, not knowing what to expect as I had not looked at any reviews and I had only watched a 30 second trailer...

I entered the cinema with my mum and we were the only adults without children with us! So, before it started I was slightly sceptical, thinking that it was going to be very kiddish! Then the film started.. through most of the film, my mum and I were in tears! It is the most heartwarming, emotional, animated film I have watched and it really touched my heart, some of the scenes in the film were so brilliantly thought out to show real messages! There was one scene where I was in floods of tears, the scene dealt with a serious theme, but did it so brilliantly! (you'll know what I mean if you watch it!) I even came out of the cinema with my eyes still watering!

All I am saying is do not listen to the bad reviews. Most of them will be expecting something complex but, this film is really not about that! This film is inspiring! Especially for children! It is a simple film, but the subtle messages, such as overcoming your fears, the importance of family, and making your mark were heartwarming, and make you think, a lot!

And for those reviews that said the film scared their child? Well, I was in a cinema full of children ageing from 2-10, and throughout the film they were asking questions, laughing, and full of excitement! This film was very funny, but emotional at the right times, with a great plot that really makes you think! I loved this film a lot more than other Pixar films such as wall-E, Up or Toy Story. Yes, I know that these films have imaginative, classic plots, but this film teaches you a lot more than they do, and also makes you feel for the characters! So go ahead and watch! But don't listen to the bad reviews! Make up your own mind!

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tharp_john from us
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Totally disappointed in Disney/Pixar. The Good Dinosaur was too disturbing for young children (Lets watch the cute animal with the big eyes get eaten alive) and too boring for older kids and adults.Why is there a drug scene in a kid's movie that makes drugs look like a lot of fun?

For What age group was this movie made. My 5 year old Grandson asked to leave because he didn't like it. He never has asked to leave before a movie is over.

I expected the same quality as Toy Story, and Finding Nemo. Boy was I wrong!

The opening accompanying cartoon was also very scary and definitely not for little kids.

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maria-potter from Greece
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I went to watch it expecting to find it childish, or perhaps a little predictable, but it was far worse than I could imagine. Not suitable for kids, and absolutely terrible for adults. It practically is a very, VERY bad imitation of The Lion King, along with a bit from Brother Bear, Ice Age, A Bug's Life etc., but completely lacking the heart and meaning of any of these movies. The movie doesn't even explore the implications of dinosaurs existing along with humans, to the point where it made me wonder why they didn't just pick some random animals to tell their story and let go of the whole alternate reality of dinosaurs and humans co-existing altogether.

There isn't really much of a plot to begin with. It's a road trip kind of movie (like most recent Disney and Pixar movies), during which Arlo, a young dinosaur, meets a human child with whom they become unlikely friends (surprise surprise), and many random characters along the way, who do very little to move the story forward. There is too much unnecessary violence, as well as a very weird drug scene, neither of which seem to serve the (limited) plot in any way. In addition to all that, the film isn't that visually beautiful either: the backgrounds are extremely detailed, whereas the dinosaurs look very cartoony and out of place.

Almost every scene of it felt familiar, from the human boy stealing the dinosaurs' food and them going after it, resulting to Arlo's father's death (Brother Bear), to Arlo and his father having 'meaningful' conversations about bravery under the, well, fireflies (The Lion King), to the supposedly bittersweet moment in which Arlo lets the little boy stay with the other humans (The Jungle Book/Ice Age). The Lion King kind of moments in particular where countless; Arlo even roars at some point, to little effect, until he manages to do it properly towards the end of the movie, for heaven's sake! Also, for some reason I do not seem to comprehend, the human boy was behaving, not like a human or an ape, but more like a dog, much like Maximus in Tangled and Sven in Frozen.

All in all, don't watch this movie. Stay home and re-watch the Lion King; it has so much more to offer, even if you're watching it for the millionth time.

dinosaur|asteroid|fear|snare|sound in space|meteor|torrent|waterfall|predator|critter|leg trapped under a rock|decapitation|berry|drunkenness|scar|cattle|silo|howling|drowning|shark fin|thunderstorm|storm|human pet|pet|raptor|rustler|mountain range|river|mountain|coming of age|death of a parent|cattle herding|flash flood|farm|father son relationship|alternate history|death of father|

AKAs Titles:


Certifications:
Argentina:ATP / Austria:8 / Canada:G (British Columbia) / Chile:TE / Germany:6 / Hong Kong:I / Ireland:PG / Philippines:PG-13 / Portugal:M/3 (dubbed version) / Portugal:M/6 (original version) / Russia:12+ / Singapore:PG / South Korea:All / Sweden:7 / Switzerland:6 / Thailand:G / UK:PG / USA:PG (certificate #50033)