The Good Dinosaurs Revamped Cast Ditches John Lithgow And Neil Patirck Harris For Steve Zahn

Well now, ain't this an interesting development. A lot of news has surfaced recently regarding The Good Dinosaur, an ultra-secret project from PIXAR that's had numerous production difficulties. Still, those sort of incidents can be par for the course when it comes to PIXARs movies, which tend to have numerous production stops and starts until the final product arrives. Thanks to a new teaser trailer,  the film is on a lot of peoples radars now, and the newest development the film has undergone should further discussion of the feature.


That newest development is the official announcement of the cast for the film, which was just announced on the movies Facebook page. Here's the official cast list for the movie:

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.

And now here's the original cast list, for comparisons sake:

• Lucas Neff as Arlo
• John Lithgow as Poppa
• Frances McDormand as Momma
• Neil Patrick Harris as Cliff
• Judy Greer as Ivy
• Bill Hader as Forrest

Lots of big names ditched here, with only Frances McDormand left behind. I'm actually not shocked that Arlos three siblings have been left behind, mainly because I thought consolidating characters would be a primary mission when the script was overhauled. I am surprised John Lithgow isn't still onboard, just because last August he said he and Frances McDormand were still a part of the project in its new form. Also; Raymond Ochoa, a 14 year old actor, as Arlo, replacing Lucas Neff. When I analyzed some new promo images for The Good Dinosaur a few weeks back, I noted how Arlo looked smaller than he did in original images for the movie. It now looks like the reason for him being smaller now is that he's much younger in this new version of the script. It's an interesting choice that could go haywire if Arlo is too grating; hopefully this is a decision that only benefits instead of detracts from the story.

I'll miss that gangbusters original cast (especially Lithgow and Judy Greer), but PIXAR is typically good at casting their films. Hopefully this is for the better and will result in another PIXAR classic come this Thanksgiving. One thing is for certain; we will have witnessed by then a T-Rex with the vocals of Sam Elliot, which could be awesome.