162 – The Good Dinosaur (with Kyle Amato)
We’re doing something a little different this week and setting our sights on one specific Oscar category: Best Animated Feature. This episode, Kyle Amato joins us to talk about The Good Dinosaur, one of the few box office and critical disappointments in the history of Pixar. The story of a timid dinosaur and the human baby he meets on a quest for honor, The Good Dinosaur was plagued by story overhauls and creative disputes, resulting in a final film that follows too closely to Pixar’s formula for upbeat adventure. Critics were dismissive and Thanksgiving weekend moviegoers favored the final Hunger Games instalment instead, with the film ultimately becoming one of Pixar’s few entries to miss an Animated Feature nomination since the category began. The Good Dinosaur’s biggest Oscar impact was nominated Sanjay’s Super Team as it’s pre-movie short. We talk about Pixar’s history of troubled productions and this film’s comparative failure in the year of Inside Out. We also discuss the Cars franchise as the accepted critical loser in the Pixar brand, Pixar’s unrelenting stronghold on the Animated Feature category, and the film’s stitched together elements of characters and plot elements. Topics also include dropping hallucinogenics with a baby, our thoughts on Pixar’s 2021 release Luca, and the recent nominees in the Animated Short category. Follow Us on Twitter! @Had_Oscar_Buzz Joe: @joereid Chris: @chrisvfeil Kyle: @kyle_amato