The Good Dinosaur: Fascinating Facts From the Creators & Cast! #GoodDino

The Good Dinosaur: Fascinating Facts

By Erin

 *I attended a media event as a guest of Disney.*

THE GOOD DINOSAUR - Pictured (L-R): Momma, Poppa, Arlo, Buck, Libby. ©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR – Pictured (L-R): Momma, Poppa, Arlo, Buck, Libby. ©2015 Disney•Pixar.

Have you ever thought what it would be like if Dinosaurs roamed the earth alongside us humans? Well, Disney/Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur” asks this very question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? Pixar Animation Studios takes us on a wild epic journey, straight into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend named Spot. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of. “The Good Dinosaur” is very unique in many ways, it’s not like other Disney/Pixar films. Here to tell us some special facts about the film, we have the cast and creators to share with us how “The Good Dinosaur” came to life.

Sam Elliott, Director Peter Sohn, Anna Paquin, AJ Buckley, Producer Denise Ream, Jeffrey Wright and Raymond Ochoa attend the The Good Dinosaur Press Day in Los Angeles on November 15, 2015. Photo by Patrick Wymore. ©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Sam Elliott, Director Peter Sohn, Anna Paquin, AJ Buckley, Producer Denise Ream, Jeffrey Wright and Raymond Ochoa attend the The Good Dinosaur Press Day in Los Angeles on November 15, 2015. Photo by Patrick Wymore. ©2015 Disney•Pixar

First we spoke with the very talented Peter Sohn, who directed the film and Denise Ream, who produced the film. They enlightened us with some very fascinating facts about the film.

Producer Denise Ream and Director Peter Sohn attend the The Good Dinosaur Press Day in Los Angeles on November 15, 2015. Photo by Patrick Wymore. ©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Producer Denise Ream and Director Peter Sohn attend the The Good Dinosaur Press Day in Los Angeles on November 15, 2015. Photo by Patrick Wymore. ©2015 Disney•Pixar.

1)Rough Start

“The Good Dinosaur” had a very rough beginning. Originally the film had been in production with a different team for many years. It was shut down in October of 2013 because the story was not going in the direction that it needed to go. Then Peter Sohn came on board and helped to get the film moving in the right direction alongside Denise Ream in December 2013, begining with research. Peter Sohn suggested, “Let’s plan a trip. And Denise was like, “Let’s get lost out there, and let’s just do what we started with this project Let’s go out there.” The team then went to Wyoming, where they began to discover the beauty as well as the dangers of the region, and became inspired to write the story.

2)Easter Eggs

Pixar is known for planting numerous Easter Eggs in their films and “The Good Dinosaur” is no different. Peter Sohn told us that there are some Easter eggs such as the Pizza Planet Truck, A-113, and Dory. There are more, so keep a watchful eye out for them! 😉

Jeffrey Wright and Raymond Ochoa attend the The Good Dinosaur Press Day in Los Angeles on November 15, 2015. Photo by Patrick Wymore. ©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Jeffrey Wright and Raymond Ochoa attend the The Good Dinosaur Press Day in Los Angeles on November 15, 2015. Photo by Patrick Wymore. ©2015 Disney•Pixar.

Next we met with Jeffrey Wright (voice of Poppa) & Raymond Ochoa (Voice of Arlo) who also had lots of fun information for us.

3) A lot of Research

Raymond Ochoa did a lot of research for his role as Arlo. He credits his parents for all of their help. “I have great parents and they are so helpful in everything I do, so when I knew that I was an apatosaurus, they helped me on what it actually was.  They helped me Google stuff.  They helped me Google facts and good things about what it actually looked like, because I had no idea what it looked like.  I didn’t know what an apatosaurus was at the time, and I looked it up.  I was like, “Wow, okay.” I saw a picture of it, and I was like, “This dinosaur doesn’t look that mean.”  But, you know, it doesn’t look kid-friendly at the same time either. If you saw that thing walking around, you’d be scared of it. I think that was what really helped me get the part was because I did go in with the understanding of what it actually was, rather than an average person who just says lines in front of a thing and being like, “okay, let’s send it over.” 

4) A Love for Pixar

Jeffery Wright and his family have a deep love for Pixar. “I live vicariously through these things with my children, it was intensely exciting for me because it was so for them. It was beyond the popularity of the movies and, the prominence that they have for kids my kids’ age and Raymond’s age now, they are really good stories.  It’s really become, seriously well-considered storytelling. The themes of this one, which are so universal and fairly obvious around parenthood and family and love and responsibility and nurturing, all of these things are so resonant, so that’s really very gratifying to be a part of.  On top of that, it makes me — you know, Hunger Games went a long way in this regard, but now a Pixar movie makes me even that much cooler with the kids, my kids, and their friends at school, so that’s always advantageous. 

Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin and AJ Buckley attend the The Good Dinosaur Press Day in Los Angeles on November 15, 2015. Photo by Patrick Wymore. ©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin and AJ Buckley attend the The Good Dinosaur Press Day in Los Angeles on November 15, 2015. Photo by Patrick Wymore. ©2015 Disney•Pixar.

Last for “The Good Dinosaur we got to chat with Sam Elliott (voice of “Butch”), Anna Paquin (voice of “Ramsey”) & AJ Buckley (voice of “Nash”)

5) They Didn’t Work Together

We found out that they didn’t rehearse together. At all. They had not all gotten to meet in person until that day at the press junket! AJ Buckley told us, “That’s the crazy part, none of us actually , worked together. Until this morning, it was the first time we’d met. I was the last person cast.  I didn’t hear their voices in the scene.  Just heard sort of where — you know, a scene here and a scene there, and it wasn’t mixed yet.  That’s how Peter, how he took — he was very, very specific, if it wasn’t for Peter and his ability to walk us into a room with an empty canvas and tell us exactly what it was going to look like,  that and more. That’s an enormous compliment to the entire process. 

6)Landing a Kid Friendly Role

Anna Paquin usually does not have kid friendly roles, so she was overjoyed to learn that Pixar wanted to work with her. The coolness factor? “I won’t know till the movie comes out, ’cause then the real cool points will start racking up.  I mean, aside from the fact that I’d always loved Pixar, and had been sort of trying to figure out how to get ’em to want to hire me, and then it kind of just happened, I was like, “That’s really cool and awesome, and sort of spooky.” It definitely gives me good street cred as a mom, you know? Just like, “My mom’s a T-Rex.  What’s your mom’s superpower?”

7) Character Similarities

You might notice that some of the characters in the film have the features of those voicing them.  You will see that Sam Elliott’s character, “Butch” who is a T-Rex with an overbite that looks like his moustache and other prominent  facial features.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR - Pictured: Arlo. ©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR – Pictured: Arlo. ©2015 Disney•Pixar.

Be sure to see the The Good Dinosaur in Theaters, November 25th!

Disney Screen Giveaway! Watch Your Favorite Disney Movies on the Big Screen!

Disney Screen Giveaway!

By Erin

*Giveaway courtesy of Disney*

Your Disney Favorites are back in theaters on Disney Screen at select Cinemark Theatres! Disney Screen is a membership-based program that plays four films each day within a week. Audiences are allowed to purchase passes for the day, per week, per month or quarterly, which gives you unlimited access during the chosen period of time to your favorite Disney films. How fun is that? Currently the only participating theater in the Southern California area is at Century 20 in Huntington Beach.  Movie times are at 10:30 a.m., 1:15 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. It’s a Disney movie marathon all day, every day!

DisneyScreen_Logo_Final 3 What’s extra special and magical about Disney Screen is that each week is themed! For the month of August the themed weeks include Disney Music, Disney Dogs, Pixar and Disney Animals! I really hope they have a Disney Princess week soon! 😉 Take a look here to see more about what Disney Screen is.

Here’s the Magical line up for the month of August! 🙂

Week 1: Music!

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Week 2: Dogs Week!

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Week 3: Pixar Week!

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Week 4: Animals Week!

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Two lucky readers have a chance to win 4 tickets to Disney Screen for the month of August at the Century 20 Theatre in Huntington Beach, CA at Bella Terra! Ends Wednesday, August 5th at 12AM (PST). Must be a U.S. resident to enter and 18 years of age or older and will be in the Huntington Beach area in August to be able to use the tickets. For complete rules, see the *Sweepstakes* tab on the blog.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For the complete calendar, click here! DisneyScreen_Calendar ©Disney

An Insiders Look Into Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out! #InsideOutEvent

An Insiders Look Into Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out!

By Erin

The big day has finally arrived! Inside Out is here to enter the minds and hearts of all who see it. I just cannot say enough good things about this film; it’s the feel good movie of the summer, and it’s still technically a couple of days until summer is officially here. But it’s just that good, so I’m going to pretend it’s summertime already. Adorably inventive, gorgeously animated, and powerfully moving, Inside Out is another  jewel to add to the Pixar library.

Inside Out

Centered around 11-year-old Riley, the movie follows this spirited and goofy young girl, as her dad’s new job in San Francisco uproots the family from the Midwest (Minnesota). To help her navigate through this change are her emotions: Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith).

INSIDE OUT

The control center inside 11-year-old Riley’s mind, is called Headquarters and it is where five Emotions are hard at work, led by lighthearted optimist Joy, whose mission is to make sure Riley stays happy. Fear heads up safety, Anger ensures all is fair and Disgust prevents Riley from getting poisoned, both physically and socially. Sadness isn’t sure really what her role is, and frankly, neither is anyone else. “The Emotions are kind of like the voices in our heads,” says director Pete Docter. “Everybody has a default temperament. We all go through periods of being happy or sad, but certain people are just happy or angry or what have you. Riley is one of those happy kids. So Joy had to be the first Emotion to show up, and she has a very special bond with Riley.” But when Joy and Sadness are accidentally swept into the far reaches of Riley’s mind, taking some of her core memories with them; Fear, Anger and Disgust are left in charge, and all sorts of crazy things start happening.

D

Joy and Sadness venture along through Long Term Memory, Imagination Land, Abstract Thought and Dream Productions all in a dire effort to get back to Headquarters before it’s too late. On this adventure you will meet many colorful characters, including the Forgetters, who are Mind Workers in charge of sorting Riley’s memories, to Riley’s forgotten imaginary friend named Bing Bong, (whom I just adored, and I am sure you will too! Bing-Bong! Bing-Bong! Bing-Bong!) is part cat, part elephant, but mostly cotton candy. He’s desperately trying to find a way to make Riley remember him. Filled with lovable and memorable characters, making it a fun movie for all.

You will learn a lot about Riley’s Islands of Personality in the film. They are powered by core memories, which are all of the really important and significant times in Riley’s life. Core Memories are those things that you’ll think about or remember until your last days. It’s those big moments that have led us to be who we are. Each Island defines a different aspect of Riley’s personality: Hockey Island, Friendship Island, Family Island, Goofball Island, and Honesty Island.

Of course I don’t want to ruin it for you and give away the ending or all of the little details that make this such a wonderful and enjoyable film, so I will leave you with a few fun facts about Inside Out.

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