Pixar is still basking in the runaway success of its instant classic Inside Out, a heartfelt and beautifully realized study of human emotion in flux (as well as the most mighty Best Picture contender of 2015 so far), but the animation studio is already looking to the future with a new trailer for this November’s The Good Dinosaur.
Peter Sohn directed the unusual buddy comedy, about a dinosaur named Arlo who leaves home after a traumatic family event and enlists a human boy as his only traveling companion.
The trailer creates a jaw-droppingly beautiful world populated by both dinos and humans, though the good dinosaur himself looks a little out of place when surrounded by such richly detailed natural beauty. Of course, Pixar is one of the most widely respected names in animation out there, so I have a feeling that audiences will be able to adjust to the contrast quite quickly.
There’s not a ton by way of plot in the trailer, which seems like more of an announcement than anything else. With Of Monsters and Men’s “Crystals” giving the preview a swelling emotion and lots of hair-raising shots of Arlo in peril, Pixar seems to be painting The Good Dinosaur as a thoroughly earnest and emotive exploration of friendship (which is fine by me).
Here’s the official synopsis:
“The Good Dinosaur” asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? Pixar Animation Studios takes you on an epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of.
Raymond Ochoa, Jeffrey Wright, Steve Zahn, A.J. Buckley, Anna Paquin, Sam Elliott, Frances McDormand, Marcus Scribner and Jack Bright make up the voice cast for The Good Dinosaur, which opens in 3D November 25.