Pixar Recasts 'The Good Dinosaur'

Two years ago, Disney/Pixar fans thought they had a grip on what to expect from the now November 25th, 2015 release of The Good Dinosaur. However, after the director switch, release date being pushed back, and major story changes, our latest news from the fast approaching film's release comes as a bit of a surprise, one might I add that I still am not sure how to explain or respond to. The film has a completely new cast, featuring vastly different talents than the previous announcement from two years ago, as well as new characters replacing ones that we had previously thought were in the film. Find out what talent will (and will not) be in The Good Dinosaur all after the break!

The Official (new) Cast of The Good Dinosaur:

RAYMOND OCHOA as an Apatosaurus named Arlo.
JEFFREY WRIGHT as Poppa, Arlo’s father.
STEVE ZAHN as a pterodactyl named Thunderclap.
AJ BUCKLEY as a T-Rex named Nash.
ANNA PAQUIN as a T-Rex named Ramsey.
SAM ELLIOTT as a T-Rex named Butch.
FRANCES MCDORMAND as Arlo’s mother.
MARCUS SCRIBNER as Arlo’s brother Buck.
JACK BRIGHT as Spot.

This new cast becomes very interesting when you start searching these names. Our big star, voicing the main character Arlo, is Raymond Ochoa who is 13 years old. Yep, 13. That seems very VERY young compared to the previous actor Lucas Neff who is well into his acting career at 29. Ochoa is a relatively new name, only being in commercials and minor television show and film roles. The other notable change in casting is Arlo's (new) brother Buck, who will be voiced by Marcus Scribner, who is 15 and is currently in ABC's Black-ish. Scribner's notable addition replaces not one or two but three previous siblings to Arlo, namely Forrest, Ivy, and Cliff, voiced by Bill Hader, Judy Greer, and Neil Patrick Harris respectively. And then Jack Bright, who will voice Spot, the human boy who accompanies Arlo on his adventure, is a true newcomer, only voicing a minor role in Pixar's Monsters University. These three notable changes all pose the question of whether Arlo is really a teenager, because it seems that all three of these new actors are skewing very young, which gives me the hunch that Arlo is much younger than a young adult.


While I usually do not put too much attention to voice casts as they aren't necessarily the standout aspect of Pixar films that T try and focus on, this casting change seems to be reinventing the characters of the film, which is a distinct change that has occurred over the past year and a half since the film's release delay. I can only hope that this is the right decision on Pixar's part, as I'm sure they know what they are doing. I always have full faith in trust that Pixar's decisions are always made to service the story their films are telling, and this casting change seems to be no different. Only time will tell if it all pays off. The Good Dinosaur comes to theaters on November 25th, 2015!