WHAT ELEMENTS STAYED THE SAME
As in Peterson's version, the film still posits that an asteroid never hit the Earth and the dinosaurs never went extinct; a teenage Apatosaurus named Arlo takes a wild, young human boy named Spot as a pet.We were excited to see that the premise for the story remained - the idea of the dinosaurs not becoming extinct after an asteroid missed the Earth was extremely intriguing to us.
WHAT ELEMENTS CHANGED
Over the last year, Sohn has been quietly streamlining the story, a buddy comedy about a teenage dinosaur and a human boy, in preparation for a November 2015 release. "The heart of the story remains the same," Sohn said, in an interview last week. "It's always been about this young dinosaur growing up. But the world itself has changed a lot. Nature has become a character." Sohn has jettisoned some of Peterson's signature ideas, such as modeling the dinosaurs on Amish farmers, and added new elements, including treating nature as the film's antagonist.If you are a listener of our podcast, on episode 020 we discussed our thoughts on which elements would stay and which would change. T.J. had predicted that the dinosaurs as farmers would eventually be cut and Julie had suggested that Spot (who was originally noted would only speak like a caveman) would have a speaking role. Although we'll have to wait to see if Spot will speak more clearly, we do know that the dinosaurs are no longer farmers.
MORE DETAILS ON PETER SOHN & BOB PETERSON
We especially liked the section which shined light on how Sohn was eventually slotted into the Director's chair and were happy to see a quick note about what veteran Pixarian (and original The Good Dinosaur) director is working on.Sohn got the "Good Dinosaur" job after he presented a possible new version of the film in storyboards last summer, according to producer Denise Ream. Because of Sohn's relative inexperience, Ream enlisted some of Pixar's veteran department heads to help him finish "The Good Dinosaur," including production designer Harley Jessup and director of photography-lighting Sharon Calahan, both of whom lent "Ratatouille" much of its visual richness.
Peterson remains at Pixar and, according to Morris, has been working on Docter's next film, "Inside Out," and on "Finding Dory" as a writer.
What are your thoughts on the new concept art as well as the changes which were revealed? Leave a comment below or chat about it further on the Pixar Post Forum dedicated to The Good Dinosaur.
Thanks to Dan the Pixar Fan for the heads up on the new concept artwork.
Related Posts:
- "A Fantastic New Story" for The Good Dinosaur is Underway
- The Good Dinosaur Director Confirmed - Peter Sohn
- Bill Hader Talks About Working With Pixar
- Check out The Good Dinosaur Pixar Post Gallery
Pixar Post - T.J.