I went to see this with my cousin’s kids last week and Christ Jesus, I was a mess. I ended up crying from beginning to end. But while I wept in a somewhat dignified silence, a little girl near the front was wailing. Like, full on moaning. That cheered me up a bit.

It’s about Arlo, a young dinosaur who gets separated from his family, and has to find his way home with the help of a little cave boy. He’s from a family of gentle herbivores who farm for food, so he has to learn to face vicious carnivores along the way. What’s cool is that the roles of animal and human are reversed. In one scene, Arlo’s father asks him to kill the critter that has been eating their food supply. But when he catches the little cave boy, he can’t bring himself to finish the job. In another, he ironically names the kid Spot.

Also, can we talk about how much more advanced 3D animation has become? One of the first shots in the film is of running water, and it literally looks like running water. The same with fire. The special effects are incredible. For cartoonish looking dinosaurs, the elements are still realistic looking.

The Good Dinosaur is a sweet movie about being a good person, and earning your mark in life. I know the second lesson might be a news flash for most parents nowadays, especially in a country where you can win a medal just for participating. I love how Lainey Gossip pointed out that most of those bad auditions on X Factor are the result of parents raising their kids to believe they’re all special little snowflakes, even if they can’t sing. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

Header image: Disney/Pixar

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