The World of The Good Dinosaur
Creating the world of The Good Dinosaur was a magical journey that took a team of storytellers, artists, producers, directors and many more. The list is endless but everyone at Pixar that works on a film puts their heart into their jobs and the movies they produce are amazing. From a talking cowboy, to a talking fish and everything in between the animators bring the characters to life in their own way. The Good Dinosaur brings to life Spot, Arlo, Butch and many more.
Animation is one of the most magical things that goes into films like The Good Dinosaur but they don’t just animate the characters. All of the animators love what they do, have fun and work hard every day but become the characters to make their jobs easier. At one time there were 85 animators working on The Good Dinosaur which is impressive!! But becoming a dinosaur isn’t something that is easy to do because obviously you can’t just watch a dinosaur to learn their behaviors. However, research trips to the zoo to watch elephants allowed Kevin O’Hara & Rob Thompson to figure out how they walk and what it is like to be a dinosaur. They quickly learned that elephants are graceful, massive and are the same size as a young Arlo which is pretty cool when you think about it.
The animators can animate a human every day of the week very easily but the challenges were Spot who is an “animal” but also a quadroped (something that walks on fours) that makes it even harder. The dedication of the 85 animators and whole Pixar team is what I believe is what makes these films so successful. Watching just the thirty minutes of the film that we watched I felt like I was surrounded by the world of The Good Dinosaur and the characters and animation told a story right along with the words that were being spoken. We even had a short lesson on how to break down the walk of an elephant and how to make an elephant walk through animation. Which was a cool lesson in and of itself.
But the people in the Art Department have an equally important job to do and that is to create a world that is realistic and inviting at the same time. But one of my favorite parts of their work was a piece that Matt Notle created called the “Pet Collector”. There were 24 ancillary characters in this character which made him an animation and art challenge.
The scenery and setting had to be threatening to Arlo but inviting as well and they ended up with their version of Jackson, Wyoming just below the Tetons. Everything has to be drawn to scale and put into place making the challenges even greater but one that they succeeded in making a success. The research trips to Wyoming allowed them to bring back bark, leaves, and grass to make it more real and that showed on the preview we saw.
When they first start working on the scenery, settings, and characters they are drawn with pencils and paper. But then they are moved to clay sculptures to make them more life like. Being able to see and touch some real clay sculptures that allowed the artists to mold the characters into the movie and make them come to life was an amazing experience. In the picture below is a final clay version of Butch and they had a finished version of Spot as well. Spot was my favorite because the details were so life like with leaves in his hair, dirt and in made me think of little kids who had been playing outside all day long. The Good Dinosaur team at Pixar has created a masterpiece in the film with the creative touches each person added to the movie.
One of the biggest challenges the art department faced was Spot and Arlo because in comparison to each other Spot was small and Arlo was big. Spot took on canine aspects to help tell the story but the seasonal color pallets that make it come alive on the screen was breathtaking . It was beyond amazing to get a glimpse into these two background departments that make the story come alive.
We have to create everything you see from scratch, and on the research trips they bring back leaves, grass, bark, and more and fold it into the final film. ~~Harley Jessup
After watching about thirty minutes of The Good Dinosaur, I can’t wait for the whole movie to be released! Be ready for the adventures of Spot and Arlo when The Good Dinosaur opens in theaters on November 25th!
The Good Dinosaur opens in theaters on November 25th!
It is a must watch for my family for sure!
Jason Young says
So cool you got to sit in on this.
Dhemz Apdian - Dias says
how cool! My daughter would love to see this for sure.
Mykidsguide says
This sounds like a really fun movie. My girls will love this.
Eileen Kelly says
Wow this is great – one of my sons did modeling and acting and they had some video and they turned him into an animation – it was very interesting
Amber NElson says
Oh I cannot wait to see this movie! So cute!
Beth@FrugalFroggie says
It looks like a great movie. I can’t wait to see it with my kids.
Claudette says
This is not my genre but your preview and excitement is infectious.
melandria romero says
my daughter seen this and she loves to watch it on the big screen, my little boy would really be ecstatic to watch this too
Ana De- Jesus says
We don’t realize how much work goes into creating a film especially animation it takes a lot of patience and dedication!
Rachel Mouton says
I cannot wait for it to come out! My kiddos are pretty excited too 🙂
Lexie Lane says
Perfect movie for the kiddos. They would definitely enjoy this. Thank you for sharing.
victoria says
This would be a great movie for my boys. They love dinosaur
Kristi @Homestead Wishing says
My boys are so excited about this movie. We can’t wait till it come out. I love the way that the characters look they did a good job!
Liz Mays says
They sure took that challenge and ran with it. They did a fantastic job on the animation!
Chanelle says
Can not wait to watch this.
Travel Quest says
Every time I see dinosaur cartoon I remember my all time favorite Land Before Time that i watch like hundreds time. I bet this new movie is more fun not only for kids but also for adults who has a heart of a kid 🙂
dana vento says
There is so much behind this movie. I can’t wait to see if it is all that:)_
Natasha says
This movie looks like it will be fun to see. Thanks for the write up!
Shaylee @ Data Nerds says
I love Disney movies, this one looks adorable! And it’s really neat to see all the behind the scenes stuff that goes on!
Angie Scheie says
This movie looks so cute! I loooove he animation and hope to see it when it comes out.
Erika says
I love Pixar! It seems like this is going to be a great movie.
Elizabeth O. says
Pixar has definitely improved on the animation and graphics of their movies. I so admire them for that. I can’t wait for this movie!
michelle says
i love that this blog focuses on the creation of the good dinosaur. it was informative & i loved a little behind the scenes type look! i had not realized it was suppose to favor Wyoming