Pixar is not just an animation studio, it's a brand. The concept of exciting, entertaining execution, and the depth of the story, almost always be presented by the films from the studio under the auspices of this Disney. Just half a year ago, Pixar released the Inside Out movie that presents a complex concept of human psychology with colorful visuals. Now, again present the movie The Good Dinosaur, which is practically somewhat the opposite of Inside Out. You see, the film directed Peter Sohn is actually presenting a very simple story.
The Good Dinosaur begins with a supposition, what if the dinosaurs did not become extinct and remained inhabiting the earth for millions of years, until it could live a single age with the human species. The film also continues the supposition with enough interesting and funny. That the dinosaurs evolved to produce their own food, whether in farming-including plowing the land in a straight line, raising, or making their own homes, without having to change its anatomy as a dinosaur.
Not even the extinction of dinosaurs made the earth rich in interesting species. Starting from the forerunner species of poultry and modern mammals, small and gigantic insects, and of course, humans. Given The Good Dinosaur takes the perspective of the 'civilized' dinosaurs, man is considered a wild creature who can not speak-as it is still primitive.
The Good Dinosaur itself focuses on a family of apatosaurus-type herbivorous dinosaurs. This family consisted of Henry the father (Jeffrey Wright's voice), Ida the mother (Frances McDormand), Libby's eldest son (Maleah Padilla), middle child Buck (Marcus Scribner), and youngest Arlo (Raymond Ochoa). Not only from the birth order, Arlo is also the smallest in terms of body size and guts in his family. As a result, he is the only one who has not been allowed to label his legs in the family barn.
One time Arlo tried to test his courage in keeping the food supply in the family barn, which is often stolen by wild creatures. Cowardly base, Arlo panic when dealing directly with a small man who stole his food. As a result of his carelessness, Arlo was dragged down in a swift river, far from his home. Arlo then had to find a way to get home, which meant he started to be even bolder in the face of everything in the wild. He is not alone, because slowly he actually made a friendship with the little man he met, which was then named Spot (Jack Bright).
Can be seen alone, The Good Dinosaur story is very simple, when compared with all the complexity ever displayed on Inside Out, for example. From here it is like the impression that this time Pixar is 'playing safe' with the preparation of the story of maturity and self-discovery that has often been raised in Disney movies, even including Pixar own movie, let's call Finding Nemo. There is no surprise from the story, for it is only about Arlo's journey to return home, the growing friendship of different species, and the encounter with various interesting characters on the journey.
COMPLEXITY AND ORIGINALITY
The simple story is not a big deal, but it's a problem when it comes to the Pixar brand that has a great history of presenting something unique in every release. Pixar once produced a future love-robot love story at WALL-E, a rodent chef in an elite restaurant in Ratatouille, a superhero family in The Incredibles, and manifesting human emotion in the form of a colorful character in Inside Out.
Compared to his predecessors, as well as Arlo, The Good Dinosaur became somewhat stunted in terms of originality. Not to mention a lot of fables dinosaurs in the form of animation ever raised Hollywood, call it The Land Before Time, or even Disney's Dinosaur. As a result, The Good Dinosaur seemed to be a follower of more advanced technology.
However, on the other hand, The Good Dinosaur just so the film is very easy to enjoy and be understood. The simplicity of the story makes the viewers do not have to busy interpreting the contemplation or meaning of philosophical tone that is often inserted in Pixar films. Just sit, watch, and feel the values of adventure, friendship, and family of the story of this film. The story is quite melancholy and not splendid, but still can attract attention through its bright characterization and some humor here and there.
One more thing that makes this movie worth a look is the high-class audio visuals. The animation technique from the studio of Pixar is undoubtedly in doubt, but in The Good Dinosaur, Pixar goes a step further with the beautiful picture arrangement. The designs of the characters are still like "cartoons" and colorful, but they are placed in a natural environment created with photorealitis, approaching an original landscape. Accompanied with the magnificent music of Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, this movie was overall so much more comfortable witnessed.
Basically, The Good Dinosaur is a simple, luxurious movie, and makes it fun to follow. The film is also still able to load the values that potentially touch the hearts of the audience. Only, this film may be less able to meet the expectations that are too high on Pixar films that are usually more unique and memorable than The Good Dinosaur this.