It's no surprise that the new, updated plot synopsis for Pixar's second release of this year has arrived today... I was predicting for a while that the film's teaser could possibly show up in front of Tomorrowland, rather than Pixar's own Inside Out...
Anyways, the new plot synopsis...
"The Good Dinosaur asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? Pixar Animation Studios takes you on an epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of."
A harsh and mysterious landscape? That lines up with earlier reports that said that nature would be an antagonist in the film, no different from the studio's Finding Nemo, which featured a lot of different threats but none of which were truly diabolical.
Some details are missing, making me wonder if they've been axed or if they have been kept. Earlier synopses of the film, even after the director change, mention that Arlo's family is affected by a traumatic event. Is that still set to happen in the film's first act? Perhaps, can't see why they would take it out, even with the idea of dinosaurs being Amish-esque farmers being written out.
There's so much that we don't know, and that's why I'm particularly excited for this picture at the moment. Over the years we learned about how Inside Out's world works, we learned about the characters themselves, and whatnot. After the director change, Pixar was hush-hush on this film. We know very little right now: We know the two leads, and that something bad happens to Arlo's community, and that nature is an antagonist... But where do they go through? Concept art has shown us a prehistoric coniferous forest, but that's about... There's probably so much that they aren't showing us, one can only imagine what's in store for us...
And that's good... Mystery marketing at its best. I can imagine the film being similar to Finding Nemo, and how we go from environment to environment, all of them being surprising and different from the last. In that film, we go from the reef to a sunken sub to an open area to a trench to a jellyfish forest- you get the idea. I reckon The Good Dinosaur will be similar, we see cool new locations as the film progresses. Maybe we'll see jungles, mountains, deserts...
As for the teaser and/or poster... Well again, Tomorrowland is around the corner and they can very well launch the marketing campaign when that film hits. If not, then definitely Inside Out, no two ways about it. I'm kinda hoping it gets launched before Tomorrowland hits, at this point I want to see a frame from the finished film. Or a finished render of the characters, something!
When do you think the marketing will kick in? What's your take on the new synopsis? Sound off below!
When do you think the marketing will kick in? What's your take on the new synopsis? Sound off below!