Having been hit with a director changeover and an impromptu delay, it’s fair to say that Pixar’s upcoming animation, The Good Dinosaur, has been through its fair share of production issues. Initially, Up co-director Bob Peterson was due to oversee the film, thereby making his full directorial debut, but the Pixar Brain Trust replaced him in the director chair, subsequently pushing the project from a 2014 release right back to November, 2015.
Now, though, the studio has formally announced that Peter Sohn will replace Peterson as director of The Good Dinosaur, and released a brief clip which sees Sohn visualize the animation’s protagonist, Arlo the apatosaurus.
Our director Peter Sohn can’t wait for you to meet Arlo! #TheGoodDinosaur releases in theaters November 2015. https://t.co/i4J5X6tfhi
— Disney•Pixar (@DisneyPixar) October 20, 2014
Having worked at Pixar for over a decade — dabbling in animation, voice acting and storyboard work in the process — Sohn is certainly well versed in the studio’s modus operandi, contributing to a variety of their major releases that include the likes of Wall-E, The Incredibles and Ratatouille. So, it’s no wonder the animator-cum-director has taken up the mantle for The Good Dinosaur.
And while we don’t know an awful lot about the story — after all, Pixar did confirm that the plot was “dismantled and reimagined” following Peterson’s departure — here’s a brief extract that gives us a gist of the studio’s revisionist take on the Jurassic Period.
“What would have happened if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?”
All things considered, it seems as though the basic premise of The Good Dinosaur has remained intact; in fact, the titular sauropod will still be voiced by Raising Hope’s Lucas Neff. Joining Neff on the film’s rather brilliant cast list are Bill Hader, Frances McDormand, John Lithgow and How I Met Your Mother star, Neil Patrick Harris.
The Good Dinosaur will now release on November 25th, 2015.
