‘The Good Dinosaur’ Gets An All-New Voice Cast

The reason why Pixar did not have a feature film to release in 2014 was because the studio decided to delay The Good Dinosaur into late 2015 in order to polish the film’s story. Although the premise has not changed – it remains a film that takes place in a world where the asteroid never killed off the dinosaurs – there have been many shifts in the story. Now, we have come to discover that Pixar has recast almost every role. Find out which actors have joined the film after the break!

In the first version of the film, there were several actors such as Lucas Neff, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Greer, John Lithgow, and Bill Hader, who provided voices for various characters. Neff played the role of Arlo, the Apatosaurus who also happened to be the main character. However, all the aforementioned actors, including Neff, were replaced at some point during production.

Disney/Pixar released a list of all the new actors who have joined the film. The sole actor who carried over from the first iteration of the film is Frances McDormand. Click through the gallery below to see which roles each of the actors will be filling:

RAYMOND OCHOA (NBC’s “The Night Shift,” TNT’s “Rizzoli & Isles,” “Disney’s A Christmas Carol”) provides the voice of an Apatosaurus named Arlo.

JEFFREY WRIGHT (“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay” – parts I & II, HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire”) was tapped as the voice of Poppa, Arlo’s father.

STEVE ZAHN (“Captain Fantastic,” “Ridiculous Six,” “Rescue Dawn,” “Mad Dogs”) provides the voice of a pterodactyl named Thunderclap.

ANNA PAQUIN (HBO’s “True Blood”) is the voice of T-Rex Ramsey.

FRANCES MCDORMAND (HBO’s “Olive Kitteridge,” “Fargo”) was tapped as the voice of Momma, Arlo’s mother.

MARCUS SCRIBNER (ABC’s “black•ish”) voices Arlo’s brother Buck.

SAM ELLIOTT (FX’s “Justified,” “I’ll See You In My Dreams,” “Grandma”) was called on as the voice of a tough T-Rex named Butch.

AJ BUCKLEY (TNT’s “Murder in the First,” FX’s “Justified”) voices a T-Rex called Nash.

In addition, Jack Bright (“Monsters University”) provides the voice of Arlo’s unlikely human friend, Spot.

With respect to the casting changes, director Pete Sohn hinted at the first group of actors in a statement:

“We were lucky to work with a number of incredible pros along the way and our story ultimately led us to this amazing and talented group. We’re all taking this journey with Arlo, and it’s been a privilege to see these performers bring our characters to life.”

Given that none of us have seen the film, it would be too much to infer that all the story and actor changes are going to result in a troubled film. After all, there have been several incredible Pixar films that went through significant changes well into production (Toy Story 2 and Ratatouille to name two). We will have to wait and see, and hope that the extra time in production has provided the film with the time it required to form into a great film.

The official plot synopsis for the film follows:

“The Good Dinosaur” asks the 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 you on an epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. 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‘s release coincides with Thanksgiving eve, November 25th!