What’s the deal with The Good Dinosaur? The next project from Pixar seems to have had a slow and winding path in its development process, with director Bob Peterson getting the axe last year as Pixar set about retooling the project.
The original synopsis for the film had a 70-foot-tall teenage Apatosaurus (Lucas Neff) making friends with a human boy. The story would have explored themes of acceptance and being comfortable with yourself – even if your best self doesn’t fit into the mold with everyone else. Of course, scripts for films are ever-changing things (even during the actual shoot), but from the sounds of it, significant work had already been done on The Good Dinosaur.
Anyway, “retool” is a kind of frightening word when it comes to a project you’re excited about, but star John Lithgow says fans shouldn’t worry. Speaking with Collider, Lithgow promised “it’s gonna be better than [he] ever imagined.”
Which is a huge vote of confidence, because apparently, Lithgow had already done a round of work as one of the adult dinosaurs in the film, before getting word that it would all be replaced. “I recorded the entire role in Good Dinosaur. They have now dismantled it and completely reimagined it, and it is a fantastic new story.”
So what does that mean for Lithgow’s co-stars in The Good Dinosaur? According to Lithgow, Frances McDormand is still attached, but who knows what this means for previously-announced cast members, Lucas Neff, Judy Greer, Neil Patrick Harris, and Bill Hader?
Hopefully, we’ll hear more before the film hits theaters on November 15, 2015.
Hmm…I don’t know, Bob Peterson Directed up and wrote so many of Pixar’s biggest titles…
Oh, just read more into the Bob Peterson thing…he wasn’t “fired” he was just taken off of this particular film. That I can see… Wonder what the dispute was.