The Good Dinosaur

My mom and I went to see The Good Dinosaur this afternoon. It was fun, but it didn't blow me away like Inside Out did, and I thought the animation was maybe a bit too flashy. I mean, it's terribly impressive - their water scenes in particular blew me away; it looks like real water! - and I can see why they wanted to show that off. But at the same time, I don't think the animation in an animated movie should call so much attention to itself that it knocks me out of the story to go "Oh wow, those animated light ripples reflecting off the water are gorgeous."

I actually liked the short at the beginning more than the movie itself: young Sanjay is trying to watch his superhero program, only for his father to come in and start praying at his shrine in the opposite corner. Cue a duel over the volume on the television, ending with Dad turning off the TV and relocating Sanjay to pray too... Only for Sanjay to drift off into a fantasy where the gods in the shrine fight the evil monster from Sanjay's TV program. It gives Sanjay a new understanding for his father's prayers, which until then he had only seen as an irritating distraction from superheroes.

I thought it was awfully sweet without being saccharine.