Captain Conroy's Pixar 40th Anniversary Marathon (Week 10)

Written by Captain Conroy

Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8 and Week 9 here.

Alrighty then, hello everyone and welcome back to the rewatch, we’re past the half way point now and we still have a fair few to cover, so we’re going to carry on by looking at a certain animated movie about dinosaurs!

No.

Close, but no.

NO!

There we go, that’s the one. The Good Dinosaur. I always felt sorry for this one because once again I liked it on it’s first viewing, but it didn’t do so well in cinemas, which is a real pity as it came out the same year as Inside Out. Of course that one was a massive hit, but The Good Dinosaur couldn’t match its success. And upon a rewatch I still find it a pity as it really is as good as the name implies and I firmly live by the belief that a movie’s box office gross doesn’t determine its overall quality. This is one of those many cases for me as you’ll see in this review:

The story is the ultimate what if as Pixar gives us their own take of what would’ve happened if the dinosaurs weren’t wiped out. It’s the story of Arlo, a young Apatosaurus who lives with two older siblings and his parents and is ready to make a mark on the corn silo his father built, but the one problem is that poor Arlo is very timid and scared of most things compared to his siblings who have already made their marks. Once a feral caveboy comes in, it causes Arlo to embark on the journey of a lifetime and he must really make his mark by taking in the lessons taught by his father after he was killed by the rapids.

The story really has a nice idea of what may have happened if dinosaurs survived instead of facing extinction. It could be seen as far-fetched with the idea of them running farms and herding herds and things like that, but hey, we humans ourselves evolved and developed didn’t we? So there’s really no telling what would have happened had dinosaurs not gone extinct, plus we all have a suspension of disbelief and mine allows me to believe this could be plausible and further more allows me to enjoy it, which is great as this movie offers a lot to enjoy. However with the child friendly character designs, don’t be fooled as there are plenty of times this movie gets intense too.

I especially feel this anytime Arlo suffers an injury, they do a good job at making you feel for the poor Apatosaurus and it really makes you feel good for him when he triumphs in the end. I always give credit to a movie aimed towards kids that they’re not afraid to go out and not pull any punches. I especially thought the scenes after Henry dies which gives Arlo terrifying memories as this gives him something to achieve and pull through. Not to mention the way it’s played out, no doubt anyone who has P.T.S.D can relate. But the one scene that deserves the most credit is when Arlo explains to Spot the concept of family and Spot shows Arlo about his own. This was such a masterpiece of story-telling and it was done so well, requiring minimal dialogue and the whole thing is a very effective example of show, don’t tell. It also really shows how humans in this movie are seen as critters but shouldn’t be underestimated as there’s more to them than meets the eye clearly. The story is definitely one of Pixar’s finest and it certainly gives other animated dinosaur movies a stiff competition for sure.

The animation, upon a rewatch has always been such a work of art in any Pixar movie, even the earlier ones, but with this one, never before had the animation in any Pixar movie felt so real and immersive. As cartoony as some of the characters may look, they still have realistic textures like reptilian skin, feathers and even hair for Spot, but the whole of the setting to the mountains, the grass, the rain and water, the sky, even the dirt, everything just looks so real. My brother even said how it could give one the impression they just filmed real backgrounds and animated the dinosaurs later and even if it wasn’t how they did it, I certainly don’t blame him for feeling that way.

My particular example is here when Arlo is coming around after being swept away by the river and being rendered unconscious. It genuinely feels like I could reach in and touch that water or even those stones. Again they do such a good job at making it all look so real and even if the characters have fairly cartoony appearances with a lot of emphasis on shapes like Up’s character designs did, nothing looks out of place which really makes it work for me. And remember what I said earlier about feeling for Arlo anytime he suffers an injury? Well, those bruises in the other screenshot show how the animation plays a large part in this as it genuinely makes the injury look painful. And as if the animation didn’t already look spectacular enough:

You get scenes like this where they’re clearly not just animating anymore, they’re showing off. But hey, at least they’re showing off something pretty and extra special, that particular scene is an absolute spectacle to behold and it’s equally spectacular when Arlo shows this to Spot. The animation is so realistic and immersive and this rewatch reminded me why I love this movie’s visuals so much. The animation alone is magic, Disney magic.

The characters, I’m going to start of by saying that Arlo is such a trooper. He starts off afraid of most things and the journey he goes through really shapes him up to be as his Poppa describes him as, he is him and more. He suffers a few injuries and gets scared plenty of times along the way but never once does he give up, he does his best to protect Spot as Spot does for him and he still makes his way home and keep in mind he is a kid, a very resilient one too. I enjoy every step of Arlo’s journey and he could well make it on a top five list of my favourite Pixar characters, which I might do at the end of this rewatch alongside with ranking the movies.

Poppa Henry is by far one of my favourite animated fathers out there. He is such a good father, standing for no nonsense for Arlo’s older brother Buck, he does his best to help Arlo bring out the best in himself and one of my favourite things about him is not only does he realise when he goes too far, but how quickly he realises it too. He was so quick to realise when he had pushed Arlo to far, he was quick to apologise and was equally quick to ensure Arlo’s own safety before his own when the rapids came in. That’s a good father through and through. It also makes a sweet scene when he appears as a ghost to Arlo and still continues to inspire him – it’s almost like an Apatosaurus version of Simba and Mufasa and by golly I love it. Spot has his adorable moments and there’s plenty of moments where he’s helpful too, which is good as it means he actually has a purpose to the plot, not just a device to get things going – plus like I said earlier there’s a lot more to him than there seems. The main villain Thunderclap (does anybody else think that would make a great name for a Decepticon by the way?) he’s O.K I guess as far as villains go but he hasn’t got a lot compared to the greats like Hopper or Zurg. He’s not in it that much but he does have that credibility as a predator but that’s all he about has going for him.

Then other characters each have their highlights and shinning moments making them worth remembering too. The T-Rexes, Nash, Ramsey and Butch are indeed T-Rexes but much like Chomper in the Land Before Time, they’re good guys. They’re protecting their herd and Butch helps to inspire Arlo too by giving him some meaningful words of wisdom. Arlo and his siblings each had their characters defined from birth like Libby being sneaky and Buck being rough. Momma Ida is equally a good mother and it’s easy to see how she and Henry became mates. There’s not much for the Raptors though, they’re just the rustlers who steal the T-Rex’s livestock. The characters as a whole though always make this film worth remembering and I’ll certainly be enjoying them all again and again.

Once again, times like this show how a movie’s box office gross should never once be the determining factor as to whether or not a movie is good. The Good Dinosaur didn’t do well, yes but nothing stops it from being such an under-rated classic. The story is strong and has a nice theme on family, especially between Arlo and Spot, the animation is the most immersive there is in any Pixar movie and the characters are enjoyable with it’s main character having such a strong story arc. I say The Good Dinosaur is every bit as good as it’s name implies and even if it wasn’t a success, I still say 2015 was a good year for Pixar giving us two very strong animated movies and even if one was more successful than the other, they will both stand the test of time incredibly well. So that’s that one for The Good Dinosaur, and speaking of family as this movie has a strong theme about it…

It’s indeed family what our next movie is all about.

It’s indeed family what our next movie is all about. A fun fact about me that’s related to this movie is that it came in 2018 in the U.K ,which also happened to be the first ever time I visited Mexico as my oldest brother chose to get married over there – how was that for crazy timing? But it naturally made it perfect timing to watch it and get acquainted with Mexican culture and traditions like Día de los Muertos – which is the main centre of this movie but let’s talk about it more:

Like I say, the movie centres around Día de los Muertos as it’s coming up and everyone is getting ready to celebrate! Well, nearly everyone – Miguel is an aspiring musician and is wanting to enter the music contest to celebrate the occasion, but he has to find his own guitar as his was destroyed by his grandmother, so with Miguel needing to find another, attempting to take the one owned by the famed musician Ernetso de la Cruz brings him to the land of the dead and thus the adventure of Miguel’s lifetime begins.

The story is a bit of a mixed bag for me, but it does lean more towards positive. Firstly the story does work, but sadly it’s not to say it’s not predictable because at least for the first half it is. Not only is Miguel an aspiring musician but as of the movie’s beginning, he’s the only one in the family who really appreciates music and thus he keeps a lot of it from the family and whenever he gets out is the only time he can really enjoy it as especially his grandmother is the ring leader of following from his great-great grandmother’s ideals of banishing music from the house. To which look at that, it causes an estranged relationship between them.

“Note the lack of surprise.”

Yeah, that basically. I especially just “love” the part where Abuelita Elena destroys Miguel’s guitar and he runs off after she pretends to show him any kind of sympathy due to being unable to read the room. No wonder he ran off! What did she think was going to happen?! And she seriously expects Miguel to apologise to Coco at the end when he’s not the one who needs to, she needs to apologise to him. Ah well, sadly even good movies can have their bad moments and when Miguel winds up in the land of the dead…

“In the land of the dead!”

Ahem! O.K, thank you Voltaire. Once we get to the land of the dead, the movie’s creativity really shines. It certainly has an interesting depiction of the afterlife. It’s just that, the afterlife, it’s not heaven, or hell, it’s completely it’s own thing and it has a town and places to go just like in the land of the living. It’s also during the time the movie spends in the land of the dead where things really start getting interesting and things are not entirely what they seem. As well as the clever twists and the way Ernesto is defeated, you get the spirits and how Dante was one the whole time which goes to show how they clearly did their homework and they saw to be as authentic as possible. Which is one thing I like about this movie, it’s authentic – nothing once feels stereotyped. Like all other past Pixar movies too, nothing at all feels forced or convenient, everything falls naturally into place like a jigsaw. So yes the story while it does have its cliches, is still nevertheless enjoyable which is always one crucial factor I can always rely on Pixar for, an enjoyable story.

The animation certainly does it’s best as well to capture an authentic feel of Mexico, while the story tells it, the animation shows it, nice team huh? The land of the dead in particular is so enjoyable and pleasurable to look at. So many vibrant colours but as vibrant as they are, nothing feels like an eyesore. Whoever would have thought a place like the land of the dead could look so pretty? The land of the living looks quite appealing too but the land of the dead is where the animation’s best is at. One has to love the visual indications too like in the land of the dead, there’s a place where the forgotten souls gather and it’s appropriately dark and dim compared to the rest of the rest of the land of the dead.

There’s also all the usual high standards of Pixar style animation, like how they animate speed, vibrant usage of colours, realistic textures and nothing that looks out of place going with such character designs where once again an emphasis on shapes allows you easily to tell who is who. One thing that definitely deserves the most credit above all else is all those skeletons in the land of the dead they had to animate, especially with there being so many. It couldn’t have been easy but they managed to pull it off. I also give credit to the skeleton faces while they do have similar features like the black around the eyes, no two look the same, each one has their own unique kind of markings which could not have been easy to do again considering how many skeletons there were in this movie to which if anyone wants to count an exact amount, let’s say they’re welcome to it. What more can I say about the animation other than Pixar always gives us one that looks so pretty.

The characters: our main character this time around is Miguel Rivera who is our young musician in the making, and certainly one you feel good for by the end. Not only are his family jerks at the start because he dares to be different, but we see what a good head he has on his shoulders he has. Where a character would usually be seen as needy and selfish, in Miguel’s case it’s like, well, who else is he going to turn to? His family clearly won’t support him so he has to make his own way. Even so later on, he acts like a voice of reason once he discovers the truth about Ernesto and that truly brings the family together while he’s in the land of the dead. Speaking of Ernesto, this guy is one proper slimy son of a gun and is one of those examples where you can like him as a villain but not as character. I mean he murdered poor Héctor when he was trying to go home to his kid, how can you not hate him for that? But yet he still enlists what charisma he has to win audiences over and that makes him the classic villain we all love to hate.

Héctor himself provides a lot of the comic-relief and when we first see him he seems a bit like a bad egg trying to get past security to cross over to the land of the living and being a confidence trickster, but the strong twist around him makes him one of the best characters in this movie – especially the fact he wrote Remember Me for his beloved Coco, it’s so adorable. Both living and dead Miguel’s family are a rotten lot to start with but they really come through in the end and show us all how important family is, this more so applies to the dead ones rather than the alive ones but let me tell you that I most definitely prefer the Rivera family by the end of the movie rather than at the start. Dante is another one how is a comic relief character but again has hidden depths which makes him the classic example as to why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Some of the characters in this movie are great and others not so much and the living family in particular do make it quite a task to put up with say at least the first ten minutes, but they lead to a nice reward at the end when things get better and of course seeing the land of the dead where most of the movie thrives.

Coco is most definitely a strong contender in the Pixar library. It’s one of those where it does have it’s faults like the cliches and at least some of the characters but the rest of it makes it a good one and an overall good viewing experience. The story is cliched, yeah but the still enjoyable and creative, the animation takes the movie to new creative heights and the rest of the characters are a good lot and it makes it worth it to celebrate Día de los Muertos with several times more than a first viewing and I can recommend it along with anything else in Pixar’s library. So, that’s that. I hope you enjoyed these mini reviews and I once again invite you to share your comments on them below and as always, feel free to join me for the next ones which this time are Onward and Soul. See you then readers!

And before anyone asks, no. I won’t be making comparisons between this and Coco as I’ve not seen it.