The Good Dinosaur

{Infobox film Bob Peterson John Lithgow Frances McDormand Neil Patrick Harris Judy Greer Bill Hader Pixar Animation Studios }} The Good Dinosaur is an upcoming American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is currently scheduled to be released on November 25, 2015. It is the studio's sixteenth feature film. Bob Peterson, who came up with the idea for the story, directed The Good Dinosaur until August 2013, when he was removed from the film.
 * name          = The Good Dinosaur
 * image         =
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 * caption       = Official film logo
 * director      = Bob Peterson
 * producer      = Denise Ream
 * screenplay    =
 * story         = Enrico Casarosa
 * starring      = Lucas Neff
 * music         = Thomas Newman
 * cinematography =
 * editing       =
 * studio        = Walt Disney Pictures
 * distributor   = Walt Disney Pictures
 * released      =
 * runtime       =
 * country       = United States
 * language      = English
 * budget        =
 * gross         =

Plot
The official synopsis reads: "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? 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."

Voice cast

 * Lucas Neff as Arlo, the youngest of the Apatosaurus family
 * John Lithgow as Poppa, father of the Apatosaurus family
 * Frances McDormand as Momma, mother of the Apatosaurus family
 * Neil Patrick Harris as Cliff, middle-sibling of the Apatosaurus family
 * Judy Greer as Ivy, middle-sibling of the Apatosaurus family
 * Bill Hader as Forrest, older brother of the Apatosaurus family

Production
When a promotional video for Up called Up: B-roll 1 was released in 2009, many fans noticed four stand-out images in the background of sculptor Greg Dykstra's office. The top image is a clay sculpture of a sauropod dinosaur with a person standing next to it. Below it are two more images of clay sculptures of a boy. The fourth image, not clearly visible, is a drawing of the same or another Sauropod. As Up was released in May of that year, development could have started as early as 2009. The film's first release date of November 27, 2013 was first announced in June 2011. Not long after, the plot, director & co-director, producer, and other small details were announced at the D23 Expo on August 20, 2011. Bob Peterson and John Walker humorously titled the film The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs and even created a logo for the mock title. On April 24, 2012, Pixar announced that it would be titled The Good Dinosaur.

John Lasseter gave details about the film's plot: "They are kind of cartoony but they are dinosaurs; they are not walking around with clothes on or anything like that, they still are kind of dinosaurs. We focused on mostly the plant-eaters, not the carnivores… Their society becomes more of an agrarian society, meaning farmers. They become farmers. It’s a very funny story about a certain way of life that a young dinosaur has trouble fitting into and he ends up going on this quest. He kind of messes up and he has to put everything right by going on this quest and on that quest he meets this character that is an outcast from his society too and so the two of them form this bond and it becomes this unique kind of story…" The filmmakers want to explore what dinosaurs represent today, and how they are represented in stereotypes. Bob Peterson said: "It's time to do a movie where you get to know the dinosaur, what it's really like to be a dinosaur and to be with a dinosaur." Peterson said the inspiration for the movie came from a childhood visit to the World's Fair where he was impressed by some dinosaur animatronics. The film's title might suggest that dinosaurs are evil. However, Peter Sohn warned: "The title is deceptively simple. It has more meaning than it seems."

On December 22, 2011, Disney shared upcoming release dates for its films. A film titled Frozen rested on the date of November 27, 2013, which led many to believe that The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs, originally scheduled for release on that date, now had the title of Frozen. However, Peter Sciretta of /Film confirmed with Disney that Frozen was not a Pixar film. Further, Bleeding Cool received tips that Frozen is actually an adaptation of the long-dormant Snow Queen animated film with Walt Disney Animation Studios. Later, Pixar announced that The Good Dinosaur would be released on May 30, 2014. On March 12, 2013, Thomas Newman revealed that he is composing the musical score for The Good Dinosaur. On August 9, 2013, at the D23 Expo it was announced that Lucas Neff, John Lithgow, Frances McDormand, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Greer, and Bill Hader had joined the cast of the film.

By summer 2013, the director and producer had been removed from the film due to the story problems. Peterson, who couldn't crack the film's third act, was notably absent at D23 Expo, where Sohn and producer Denise Ream presented footage from the film. Ed Catmull, Pixar's president, explained the departure: "All directors get really deep in their film. Sometimes you just need a different perspective to get the idea out. Sometimes directors ... are so deeply embedded in their ideas it actually takes someone else to finish it up." Peterson moved on to another project he is developing at Pixar, while Ream replaced Walker, who left to work on Tomorrowland. John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Mark Andrews, and Sohn stepped in temporarily to work on various sections of the film. In September 2013, The Good Dinosaur had been pushed back from May 30, 2014 to November 25, 2015 (the scheduled release date for Finding Dory) in order to "give the film some more time." In November 2013, due to the delay, Pixar laid off 67 employees of its 1,200-person workforce, following the closure of Pixar Canada a month before, when about 80 employees had been laid off, officially to refocus Pixar's efforts at its main headquarters.

Release
The Good Dinosaur will be theatrically released on November 25, 2015. Before the rescheduling from 2014 to 2015, a Pixar short animated film, Party Central, was set to accompany the film, but it will now be shown in front of Muppets Most Wanted.