It hasn’t been an easy production for Pixar’s THE GOOD DINOSAUR; Bob Peterson, the Oscar winning director of UP was replaced and then the movie was pushed from May 30, 2014 to November 25, 2015. Now I’m all for quality over quantity so you won’t hear me moan that we don’t get a new Pixar movie every year like we had been getting for 8 years straight. The highly anticipated film is going to have a lot to prove considering the rollercoaster behind the scenes. We still don’t even know who the credited director(s) will be!
This was the synopsis last year:
“The Good Dinosaur” asks the generations-old question: What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? In theaters May 30, 2014, the film is a humorous and exciting original story about Arlo, a lively 70-foot-tall teenage Apatosaurus with a big heart. After a traumatic event rattles Arlo’s tranquil community, he sets out on a quest to restore peace, gaining an unlikely companion along the way—a young human boy named Spot.
Collider recently spoke with one of the stars of the movie John Lithgow and the actor went on to talk about the delay:
“I recorded the entire role in Good Dinosaur. They have now dismantled it and completely reimagined 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.”
You have to love his optimism; he’s been in the business long enough to know what stars with an innocent remark about production issues. These changes he’s talking about though sound pretty drastic; having to re-record roles could signify a new story and direction. What’s going on over there when a movie that has been written, storyboarded, and hopefully thought about for so long decides to up and change so much?
Lithgow did go on to say, in regards to the cast:
“But me and Frannie McDormand, we’re still playing Momma and Poppa dinosaur.”
If he’s making a point of noting that, perhaps some roles might be re-cast? The last anyone has heard, Lithgow, Frances McDormand, Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris and Judy Greer were leading the cast. Perhaps not all of them will have time to come in and re-record. It’s just a bad feeling to hear about this kind of behind the scenes trouble for any movie you’re anticipating. I’m sure Pixar won’t call it trouble and we can all look forward to them touting this project as a success until the weekend of release; we all want them to succeed and deliver, so maybe we can take Lithgow’s optimism as a sign of good things to come.