The Good Dinosaur (Pixar, 2015)

So, to some Pixar fans, probably many, this is not among their best offerings, and I have to admit that it's not in the same league as most of their stuff, but I don't think that makes it worthless for anything other than it's development of their animation capabilities. I think Pixar may be constitutionally incapable of making anything that doesn't have at least an attempt at something with deeper meaning in it, and being as their people seem to have some pretty good insight on deeper themes and how to instantiate them creatively, they usually wind up succeeding at that attempt. It may be limited in scope within a given film and not be able to make that whole film deep in the way The Incredibles or Up were, but it's usually pretty solid in and of itself.

So, here is what I see as the main goodie in the Good Dinosaur. First I have to relate that it comes in the from of something with which I know that some have had an issue. The human child is portrayed in a very animal way, much like a dog. The general issue with this, from a philosophical/theological/religious/etc standpoint, is that it risks reducing humanity to its animal side, making humanity only an animal. I admit this is a risk. But I don't think this movie goes there, and that's in large part because of the capability I see presented in the thing I am about to describe (but if some have a problem with seeing humanity with a bit of an animal side in the first place, I'm not sure what to say about that ... it just is what it is ... and it can be endearing).

On to the main deal. The scene is that one where Arlo the dinosaur and "spot" the human child are on the sandy area (I forget if it is a river beach or what) and they have actual communication. What Arlo gives to the human child is the ability to communicate concepts: the circle in the sand with the sticks propped up representing members of the family. The human kid obviously gets it, because he does the same representing of his own family and then adds his own content to it in representing the death of his father and mother by knocking the two larger of the sticks in his circle over.

So, the dinosaur gives to the human child the means for expressing concepts. And what the human child gives in return is the means to express sorrow ... the howl. This is not the first movie, and I am sure it will not be the last, to use dog howling for sorrow. I particularly liked Sandra Bullock's version of it in the film Gravity (very distinctive Bullock performance, that laughing and crying at the same time thing she can do well). But I think it is somewhat distinctive in this movie to see it as a new expressive capability that is given from one to another, shared.

It's also interesting that this expression of sorrow is precisely how humans know each other as humans from a distance.