For the first time in Pixar’s history they are releasing two films in the same year. Pixar is one of the leading animated feature film production companies currently operating. As a branch of Disney it’s no surprise that they have the backing, both financially and publicly to continue to make touching stories and bring characters to life, often through personified and anthropomoprhic means.
We’ve seen toys, bugs, monters, fish, cars, rodents, robots, emotions and now dinosaurs fleshed out on the big screen and each and every one possesses a unique quality that defines it as a member of the quintessentially Pixar family.
Pixar is now upping the ante by releasing a second title in the same year for the first time since Buzz and Woody graced our screen way back in 1995.
With Inside Out fulfilling the substantive expectations set by Pixar in the summer and leaving the viewers with that warm fuzzy feeling once again we’re yet to see a seriously lacking feature from Pixar. Granted Cars 2 may be the exception but I fear The Good Dinosaur may turn out to be a dip in form that many have come to anticipate.
What’s more worrying for Pixar in the upcoming years is a further delve in sequel territory. Cars 3 and The Incredibles 2 are pegged for 2017 and 2019 releases respectively and they don’t exactly scream “WATCH ME”. However, the rumours surrounding Finding Dory have been circulating since the closing credits of Nemo‘s adventure and based on anticipation and a love for Ellen DeGeneres’ character I’m sure Finding Dory won’t damage the Pixar name.
Here’s hoping the same can be said for The Good Dinosaur but it all looks a little out of place in the trailers. With realistic landscape renderings the cartoon dinosaurs look at odds with their surroundings and I fear viewers will feel at odds with the Pixar they have come to expect great things from.
That being said there is a little gem hiding in the mix somewhere by the name of Coco. Not until 2017 will we see the next original Pixar storyline with fresh characters without a sequel in sight. Inspired by the Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead, Coco covers the story of Miguel, a 12 year-old hailing from rural Mexico who discovers a mystery that will change his fate forever.
A classic adventure based journey of discovery appears on the cards, not too dissimilar to Toy Story or Finding Nemo. Very little is known about the upcoming project and until we get a trailer it will be difficult to speculate on the fate of Pixar’s original programming.
The Good Dinosaur is released in the UK 27 November 2015. Unfortunately I can’t see it going beyond ‘Good’. Instead I fear it will fall amongst the rejects of Pixar’s sub-conscious to be dug out as an example of what not to do when faced with the task of creating another Toy Story, Wall-E or Up. Let’s hope not but you can watch the trailer below and let me know what you think:
Back to the Viewer 
I feel like there hasn’t been a lot of strong buzz around this. I hope it’s better than it looks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not even sure if I’m hopeful it’s better than it looks. Maybe it will surprise us all! When have Pixar ever let us down eh
LikeLike
The best thing The Good Dinosaur might have going for it right now is the way the trailers have diminished expectations so much that it’s far more likely to be better than we expect than worse.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a good point. I think you might be onto something there, in fact I hope you are into something
LikeLike
I think it looks good. The issue Pixar have is when you release so many classic movies and amazing animated stories, even a slight dip in form is really noticeable. When Pixar are at their worse, they are still very good movies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Let’s hope so because I’m still not sold on this yet. The balance between animated characters and landscapes looks slightly off but I’m optimistic my doubts will subside by closing credits
LikeLike