Remember how, earlier this year, Pixar made pretty much the ultimate Pixar film in Inside Out? Well, this is pretty much the opposite of that. On an Earth where the dinosaurs weren’t wiped out and evolved into, well, cartoony-looking dinosaurs that basically live a fairly wild west lifestyle (think farms and herding, not cities), young dino Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) falls into a river while chasing a wild human boy he names Spot and is swept away from the family farm. Can he and Spot (who is basically a wild dog) find their way home?
For a Pixar film this is surprisingly basic stuff, with a story that’s straightforward and characters that – the usual dead parent angst aside – have simple goals they work towards. Some might find this lack of complexity disappointing; others will appreciate the skill that’s gone into telling such a stripped back tale. It’s an adventure tale that’s satisfying in a simple (not simplistic) way, and a rare example of a Pixar film made for kids rather than what adults think kids want. If nothing else, the background animation is another giant leap forward for Pixar: computer animation is increasingly likely to make traditional filming as extinct as the dinosaurs.
Reviewed by Anthony Morris