Last week, Pixar released the updated cast list for THE GOOD DINOSAUR and many were surprised to find that just about everyone had been replaced (save for Frances McDormand). The movie itself has gone through a major story overhaul, and director Bob Petersen (UP) left the project, to be replaced by Peter Sohn (PARTLY CLOUDY). This isn't entirely uncommon for films in production, or even Pixar, but Sohn had some logic to drop in regards to changing the whole cast and why he felt it was necessary.
Director Peter Sohn on the new cast for THE GOOD DINOSAUR:
It was all about finding a younger Arlo. It was really about finding a boy, so that we could push into that idea of him growing up and becoming a man, so the actor previous – who is a great actor – he was already a man, and so I needed to push that arc and find that compassionate kid, so that was the major kind of change.
Then everything else, all the other characters that supported that story came in and out and changed and evolved and through that evolution, some of those performers changed out of it.
Given that Raymond Ochoa is now voicing Arlo, it would make sense to cast others around him in order to have the best possible chemistry. In that regard, I can't fault Pixar for being finicky when it comes to their voice actors. While it's still too early to tell what kind tale we're in for with THE GOOD DINOSAUR, I have little doubt that all changes made thus far were for the best. Now, where's INSIDE OUT already?!?
Pixar's next, INSIDE OUT, hits theaters on this Friday while THE GOOD DINOSAUR will open on November 25, 2015.