Do we really need another Lion King?

The Good Dinosaur - 2015 

The Good Dinosaur is the newest film released by Disney Pixar. After some flops Disney was due a good animated film. The Good Dinosaur follows the story Arlo a young dinosaur who is the runt of his family, he struggles to be the kind of dinosaur he feels his father can be proud of. His story takes us through some tragedies, some laughs, friends and enemies.

Unfortunately, at my age it is very easy to see the Disney formula. For me, this was déjà vu of The Lion King. It follows the same story. The same kind of characters. It didn’t feel original to me. Now this may be different for kids now-a-days because they didn’t grow up with The Lion King, they have grown up with the newer Disney that maybe it is new to them.

The special effects in this film were spectacular, and that is understating it. The water especially in this film was something quite extraordinary for an animated film. With game development growing and getting better, it is no surprise that animated films take some pages from their book. The effects on all of the dinosaurs was also something to marvel at. The detail especially on the T-Rex’s were amazing, you could see every wrinkle in their arms and legs.

The story itself was okay, a major plot point I felt was very flat, there was meant to be emotion but I didn’t feel anything. As I said before it was also déjà vu for me. I want to say for younger kids that this film would be good however, this may not be true. For a Disney film this one was rife with some scenes that you wouldn’t want your five-year-old to see. It is a PG and guidance is definitely advise for the younger kids. But even though this appeals to some older, I think they have overshot their audience. I think Disney would have been better off targeting the younger audience. The older audience have been there and done that, that they don’t feel emotion for it anymore.

I really wanted to like this film but there are some flaws, I am glad I have seen it once but it is not one I would go out of my way to watch again.

5/10

For me it was just too repetitive for me to enjoy properly, maybe if I didn’t have such a love for The Lion King I would have enjoyed it more. They have done amazingly well with the animation but I think Disney need to think of a new formula if they are going to continue targeting the slightly older kids.