Monday night we bundled up and trekked over to Celebration Cinema for an early preview of The Good Dinosaur in 3D. The girls have been talking about this movie for months, so this was a major treat for them. If you’re not a regular reader, I have 3 girls: 6 year old twins and a 4 year old. Ahead of time, I was a bit concerned about the 3D aspect and scary dinosaurs–I wasn’t sure if the girls would be able to handle it.
As with any Pixar movie, it starts with a digital short. This was Sanjay’s Super Team, which tells the story of a little boy who was more interested in his super hero toys than his father’s Hindu traditions. I am going to be honest here, I loved it, but it was QUITE scary for little ones. I was super happy my girls were pretty interested in their popcorn at this point. Since the short was in 3D, the scary 4 headed monster was very violent for kids under 8. For me, I loved it because it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen–probably best for the older kiddos. The animation was very different, shifting from 2D to 3D and the lead character was Indian. I really want to educate my kiddos on other cultures and a full-length story like this would be amazing.
Once The Good Dinosaur started, we were settled in and ready for some fun. As a parent, when I read movie reviews ahead of time I like to know if my little ones are going to be able to handle the movie. Even though movies are rated G or PG, I find most Disney and Pixar movies have SO MANY scary aspects! Gabby, my 4 year old, enjoyed the entire movie and was laughing quite a bit. My twins, who are almost 7, spent quite a bit of time covering their ears.
The Good Dinosaur starts with two dinosaur parents, Momma and Poppa. There are three eggs ready to hatch. First was Libby, next was crazy Buck who was rambunctious from his first step. The largest egg was the last to hatch and it is Arlo. He is smaller than the rest and full of fears.
The story follows Arlo as he tries to face his fears and make his family proud. I would say this movie is along the lines of Ice Age and Finding Nemo, where there is a huge journey with obstacles on the way. In The Good Dinosaur, the obstacles are mostly all dinosaurs of different sizes. Arlo also meets Spot along the way–a little cave child. His friendship with Spot grows along the journey and they become quite close. Shown above are the pterodactyls, which I found to be the scariest of their encounters, especially in 3D.
The cinematography in this movie is breathtaking–huge mountains, beautiful streams of water. That being said, in 3D it is even more realistic. If you have any fear of heights, you might want to beware–there are quite a few scenes showing huge drop-off cliffs. There are also scenes with huge bodies of water and waterfalls. I suffer from motion sickness and I was a bit queasy at points of the movie. For about 1 minute, there is a big red snake too–I know my mom wouldn’t be able to handle that!
Overall, I think The Good Dinosaur is worth seeing. I loved the storyline about facing your fears and how to overcome life’s obstacles. There are many lessons to learn throughout this movie and it opens up quite a few conversations with the children. My girls, aside from a few scary parts, really loved the movie and have been talking about it since Monday night–Olivia wants to read all about dinosaurs now! We haven’t experienced any nightmares, either.
Have you seen The Good Dinosaur? What were your thoughts?
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Disclaimer: I received free movie tickets to the movie, but ALL opinions are my own!
Fun coloring sheets for the kiddos: Good-Dinosaur-Coloring-Sheets
[…] were SO excited, but the past two movies we have seen in the theater were quite scary for kiddos (Good Dinosaur and Zootopia). I had my fingers crossed that Pixar would pull though with a genuinely funny and […]