If this cinematic year felt a bit different than most at the cinema, it was the first time in nearly a decade that Pixar didn’t deliver a new feature. On the heels of Monsters University, they decided to move what would be their next feature, The Good Dinosaur, from May of this year to to November 25th, 2015. This followed the removal of co-director Bob Peterson from the helmer’s chair as a Pixar braintrust of John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Brave‘s Mark Andrews and original co-director, Peter Sohn, took the reigns.
While it wasn’t clear at the time what exactly caused this shift, a few more details have sprung up in the story that imagines a world in which asteroids never destroyed dinosaurs. Speaking with Collider, actor John Lithgow said, “I recorded the entire role in Good Dinosaur. They have now dismantled it and completely reimagined it, and it is a fantastic new story. So I’m gonna record again on it within the next month. Don’t worry. It’s coming and it’s gonna be better than I ever imagined.”
Some might consider this cause for alarm, but I take it as reassuring, as most Hollywood productions would simply force out their tentpole to make the pre-determined release date. It’s not the first time Pixar had to adjust things late in the game, either, as similar story adjustments occurred with Toy Story 2 and, well, that one turned out just fine. In the meantime, we can be happy two, wholly original features are arriving from the studio next year, with Inside Out coming in June and Dinosaur in November.
What do you make of Lithgow’s comments?