Since 1914 when Winsor McKay introduced the world to his magnificent Gertie the Dinosaur, practically every animation company has followed suit, trying to bring to life the prehistoric pets. We got wind of Pixar’s project, The Good Dinosaur, at D23 in 2011, but received an icy blow last year when it was announced the film, scheduled for theater release May 2014, would be postponed until late 2015.
Bob Peterson also left the project as co-director and the “brain-trust” of Pixar directors stepped up to rework some apparent plot and character difficulties. This is not new to Pixar; they majorly rehashed Brave and Ratatouille, among others. Although the lack of any feature from them in 2014 is tough, it sounds like things are moving in the right direction and 2015 is looking to be one kick-butt year for Pixar fans.
So, what’s the latest on The Good Dinosaur? According to John Lithgow, (the voice of Poppa dino):
“I recorded the entire role in Good Dinosaur. They have now dismantled it and completely re-imagined it, and it is a fantastic new story. So I’m gonna record again on it within the next month. Don’t worry, it’s coming, and it’s gonna be better than I ever imagined.”
Lithgow also confirmed that Frances McDormand is still Momma dino, but his silence on the rest of the cast (Lucas Neff, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Greer, and Bill Hader) leaves many speculating about changes there. Peter Sohn, animator and director of Partly Cloudy, is still set as co-director, with John Lasseter, Mark Andrews and Lee Unkrich now working with him. That sounds like a pretty stellar bunch to be handling what I’ve always believed would be the greatest dinosaur film ever made (too much?). Lithgow’s excitement is definitely a refreshing blurb of news to hear about the thus-far elusive film and I’m counting down to November 25, 2015.
Animation Fascination 
I’m interested…