The Good Dinosaur (November 25th, 2015)
The second of this year’s Pixar offerings ran into some trouble during the production process, resulting in original co-director Bob Peterson being removed from the film, and leaving Peter Sohn at the helm. Bob Peterson remains credited as a co-writer, however, along with Enrico Casarosa, for this 3D computer animation. The premise springs from the idea that there never was a cataclysmic asteroid strike of the Earth, and therefore, dinosaurs were never rendered extinct. The comedic story centres on a large Apatosaurus who deals with a traumatic large-scale personal event, and must resolve to restore peace with the help of a young human boy.
The film was originally due to be released in 2014, during a spate of other dinosaur-based animations. Now arriving at the end of 2015, however, The Good Dinosaur will not even need to compete with the fearsome creatures of Jurassic World, and can instead enjoy a relatively open field upon which to entertain younger audiences. John Lithgow, Frances McDormand, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Greer and Bill Hader provide the vocal talent for this project.