The Good Dinosaur

The Good Dinosaur is an upcoming Pixar feature length film, set for release on November 25, 2015. It is being directed by Peter Sohn. Enrico Casarosa, director of La Luna, will be head of story. A short called Sanjay's Super Team will be released alongside the film.

Premise
The film shows what may have happened if the cataclysmic asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs had missed the earth entirely. The story centers on Arlo, an Apatosaurus, who after losing his father in a tragic accident, falls into a river, gets knocked out by a rock and finds himself in a land far away. As he makes the trek back home to the Clawed-Tooth Mountains, he befriends a human cave-boy named Spot.

Voice cast

 * Lucas Neff as Arlo
 * TBA as Spot
 * John Lithgow as Poppa
 * Frances McDormand as Momma
 * Neil Patrick Harris as Cliff
 * Judy Greer as Ivy
 * Bill Hader as Forrest
 * John Ratzenberger as TBA

Synopsis
"What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? This hilarious, heartfelt and original tale is directed by Bob Peterson (co-director/writer, Up; writer, Finding Nemo) and produced by John Walker (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant)."

- Announcement

Development
When a promotional video for Up called Up: B-roll 1 was released in 2009, many fans noticed four stand-out images in the background of sculptor Greg Dykstra's office. The top image is a clay sculpture of a Sauropod ("Long-neck") dinosaur with a person standing next to it. Below it are two more images of clay sculptures of a boy. The fourth image, not clearly visible, is a drawing of the same or another Sauropod. As Up was released in May of that year, development could have started as late as early 2009.

The film's first release date of November 27, 2013 was first announced in June 2011. Not long after, the plot, director & co-director, producer, and other small details were announced at the D23 Expo on August 20, 2011. Bob Peterson and John Walker humorously titled the film The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs and even created a logo for the mock title. On April 24th, 2012, Pixar announced that it would be entitled The Good Dinosaur.

John Lasseter gave details about the film's plot: "They are kind of cartoony but they are dinosaurs; they are not walking around with clothes on or anything like that, they still are kind of dinosaurs. We focused on mostly the plant-eaters, not the carnivores… Their society becomes more of an agrarian society, meaning farmers. They become farmers. It’s a very funny story about a certain way of life that a young dinosaur has trouble fitting into and he ends up going on this quest.

He kind of messes up and he has to put everything right by going on this quest and on that quest he meets this character that is an outcast from his society too and so the two of them form this bond and it becomes this unique kind of story…" The filmmakers want to explore what dinosaurs represent today, and how they are represented in stereotypes. Bob Peterson said: "It's time to do a movie where you get to know the dinosaur, what it's really like to be a dinosaur and to be with a dinosaur." Peterson said the inspiration for the movie came from a childhood visit to the World's Fair where he was impressed by some dinosaur animatronics. The film's title might suggest that dinosaurs are evil. However, Peter Sohn warned: "The title is deceptively simple. It has more meaning than it seems."

On December 22, 2011, Disney shared upcoming release dates for its films. A film titled Frozen rested on the date of November 27, 2013, which led many to believe that The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs, originally scheduled for release on that date, now had the title of Frozen. However, Peter Sciretta of /Film confirmed with Disney that Frozen was not a Pixar film. Further, Bleeding Cool received tips that Frozen was actually an adaptation of the long-dormant Snow Queen animated film with Walt Disney Animation Studios. Later, Pixar announced that The Good Dinosaur would be released on May 30, 2014. On March 12, 2013, Thomas Newman revealed that he is composing the musical score for The Good Dinosaur. On August 9, 2013, at the D23 Expo it was announced that Lucas Neff, John Lithgow, Frances McDormand, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Greer and Bill Hader have joined the cast of the film.

In August 2013, Blue Sky Disney reported that due to story problems, the director and producer had been removed from the film. According to the report, the studio was looking for a new director who would put the film back on track, while still attempting to release the film in 2014. Other sites also noted the Peterson's absence at D23 Expo, where Sohn and producer Denise Ream presented footage from the film. A few days later, Ed Catmull, Pixar's president, confirmed to Los Angeles Times, saying: "All directors get really deep in their film. Sometimes you just need a different perspective to get the idea out. Sometimes directors ... are so deeply embedded in their ideas it actually takes someone else to finish it up."

Peterson, who is remaining at Pixar, moved on to another project he is developing, while Ream replaced Walker, who left to work on Tomorrowland. According to Catmull, the release date for the film is unchanged. Until the studio finds a replacement, John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Mark Andrews and Sohn are working on various sections of the film. On September 18, 2013, it was announced that The Good Dinosaur will be released on November 25, 2015. Because of the change of release date, Finding Dory will by released in the summer of 2016, while Maleficent was bumped ahead to fill in the spot left by The Good Dinosaur...

By August 2014, John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Mark Andrews, and original project co-director Pete Sohn had reworked the project to the point the felt is was ready to go ahead. Voice actor John Lithgow said that he would be completely re-recording his whole part by September 2014. Lithgow said, "They have now dismantled it [the movie] and completely reimagined it, and it is a fantastic new story." Lithgow confirmed that Frances McDormand is still a cast member. The fate of the rest of the cast is currently unknown.

In October 2014, Peter Sohn was officially announced as the director of The Good Dinosaur. His contribution was scrapping the concept of dinosaur farmers and including the idea of making nature itself the main antagonist, making this the first Pixar film not to have a literal villain.