It stars the voices of Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Steve Zahn, Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin, A. J. Buckley, Jeffrey Wright, and Frances McDormand.

The film explores an alternate history where non-avian dinosaurs never became extinct, following a young, timid Apatosaurus named Arlo (Ochoa) living on a farm with his family, who meets an unlikely human friend named Spot (Bright) while traveling through a dangerous and mysterious landscape in order to return home, after being washed downriver.

The project was officially announced in 2011, with the release date, plot, director and co-director, producer, and other small details being revealed.

During its production, the team encountered various problems, which led to multiple story revisions, as well as changing directors and voice cast.

The film garnered generally positive reviews from critics for its animation and themes, though its storytelling was not considered to be up to Pixar's standards.

Henry attempts to give Arlo a sense of purpose by putting him in charge of guarding their silo, and helps him set a trap.

The caveboy then fends off a large snake, amazing Arlo, and impressing Forrest Woodbush, a nearby eccentric Styracosaurus who wants to keep the boy.

Nash, Ramsey, and Butch have lost their herd of longhorns somewhere in the south, so Arlo offers Spot's help in sniffing them out.

The vision invigorates Arlo with refound strength, as he frees himself from the vines and finds and attacks the pterodactyls, who have cornered Spot in the river.

[13] The project was referred to as The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs at the D23 Expo on August 21, 2011, which revealed the plot, director and co-director, producer, and other small details.

"[17] In April 2012, Pixar announced that the film's release date had been shifted from November 27, 2013, to May 30, 2014,[15] with Walt Disney Animation Studios' Frozen taking its place.

[18] On August 9, 2013, it was announced at the D23 Expo that Lucas Neff, John Lithgow, Frances McDormand, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Greer, and Bill Hader had joined the cast of the film.

[22][23] Peterson moved on to another project he developed at Pixar while Ream replaced producer John Walker, who left to work on Disney's own Tomorrowland.

[24] John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Mark Andrews, and Sohn stepped in temporarily to work on various sections of the film.

In order to achieve the needed realism, the film's team traveled to the American Northwest, spending time in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Juntura, Oregon, and southern Montana.

According to supervising technical director Sanjay Bakshi, this gave Sohn "the freedom to shoot in any direction he wanted to make the world feel big and real."

"[32][33] According to the filmmakers, the environments and landscapes in the film are not photo-realistic, they are just detailed in a way that advanced technology and style decisions allow.

The game, later also available on Kindle Fire, was no longer available, according to Common Sense Media;[40] while a figure of Spot and Power Discs of Arlo, Ramsey, Nash, and Butch were also released for Disney Infinity 3.0.

[46] Blu-ray bonus features include Sanjay's Super Team, audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and the "Hide and Seek" short promotional clip.

[63] Worldwide, The Good Dinosaur made $29.8 million in its opening weekend in 39 markets, including 8 significant countries.

The website's consensus reads: "The Good Dinosaur delivers thrillingly beautiful animation in service of a worthy story that, even if it doesn't quite live up to the lofty standards set by Pixar, still adds up to charming, family-friendly entertainment.

"[66] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[68] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described it as "antic and unexpected as well as homiletic, rife with subversive elements, wacky critters and some of the most beautiful landscapes ever seen in a computer animated film.

"[69] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times felt the film "has a few things on its mind, but its tone is overwhelmingly playful, not hectoring.

"[70] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal opined that "As Pixar productions go, this one isn't a groundbreaker, but it's heartfelt and endearing, as well as visually splendiferous, and kids will love it for sure.

"[71] Justin Chang of Variety wrote "Clever and cloying by turns, it's a movie that always seems to be trying to evolve beyond its conventional trappings, and not succeeding as often as Pixar devotees have come to expect".

[70][72][73][74] Christopher Orr of The Atlantic felt it to be the studio's first film explicitly targeted towards children, though it is "by no means a bad movie [...] It's a simple story, well-told.

"[74] Richard Roeper, for the Chicago Sun-Times, felt it "one strange, aggressively gross and dark adventure [...] Inconsistent and weird, The Good Dinosaur is second-level Pixar all the way.

[76] Mark Kermode of The Guardian says "But however much it may delight on a scene-by-scene basis, The Good Dinosaur never comes together as a coherent whole, a crucial flaw for a film by Pixar, which has always put story first.