John Lasseter - The Art of the Good Dinosaur

Lighting Study Sharon Calahan, Layout Rosana Sullivan Copyright 2015 Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. ISBN: 978-1-4521-2220-5 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4756-7 (epub, mobi) Designed by Jessi Rymill Chronicle Books LLC
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San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com ARTIST CREDITS
Cover: Follow the River Concept Huy Nguyen, Layout Robert Kinkhead
Color Script Layouts: Erik Benson, Adam Campbell, Edgar Karapetyan, Dean Kelly, Austin Madison, Kelsey Mann, J.P. Vine, Bill Presing, Gleb Sanchez-Lobashov, Louise Smythe, Rosana Sullivan

What got us interested in the world of dinosaurs was a simple question: what would have happened if the asteroid that brought an end to the dinosaur era had missed Earth, and dinosaurs had gone on living? This question led to many moreHow would they have evolved? What would that world look like?and we soon found ourselves thinking about plant-eating dinosaurs working farms (and, eventually, meat-eating dinosaurs running ranches). The more we dug into the story, about the coming of age of a young dinosaur who befriends a feral human boy, the more excited we got about the incredible richness of this idea. Peter Sohn is one of the most engaging storytellers at Pixar. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, but combines that sincerity with a disarmingly sharp sense of humor. A talented actor who has done voices in several of the studios movies, he is also extremely perceptive about behavior and personality. All those skills went into shaping and giving truth to the characters in this film.

I always say you are what you direct, and you can feel Peters openness and warmth in the characters of both Arlo and Spot. There is a wonderful simplicity to The Good Dinosaur, a purity of storytelling that took a long time and a lot of hard work to achieve. The deliberate choice to have very little dialogue in the film meant that there would be that much more attention on the visual storytelling, and, as youll see, the films artists have absolutely risen to the occasion. Their spectacular, ingenious, and appealing work masterfully supports Arlo and Spots storyone of the most emotional weve ever told.

However, everything else about the story was a mystery. Trying to figure out where those characters came from, what they were going through, and where they would end up has taken many years. From early on, we were drawn to the idea that these two characters had a classic boy and his dog relationshipbut with the dinosaur as the boy, and the human as the dog. We loved the idea of them navigating the world together, learning about themselves and each other, and helping one another grow up. This time of life is intimidating, thrilling, and often scary, and we wanted to set their story in a place that would visually evoke the challenges they were facing. We found the perfect inspiration in the wide-open landscapes of Wyoming and Idaho.

The massive plains and plateaus, thundering rivers, and dramatic mountain ranges would make even the largest dinosaur feel small. But youre also always drawn in by the gorgeous light and fantastic details of the changing terrain. The artists on this film have done an incredible job translating the spirit of what we saw there into the world of our story. They also worked similar magic designing the characters. We always knew we wanted our characters to both appeal to what people love about dinosaurs, and hopefully, surprise them with something they were not expecting. Sometimes finding that perfect combination was the most effortless process in the world, with characters immediately jumping into three-dimensional life.

Other characters only slowly came into focus after layers and layers of conversation and countless drawings. Each discovery, though, was only made possible by all the hours and experiences that went into the project from its very earliest days. Thank you to all the filmmakers who gave their talents to this project at every stage of its existence. This journey could not have been made without you. Photograph Harley Jessup Lighting Study Sharon Calahan Photograph Harley Jessup Concept Art Noah Klocek Photograph Harley Jessup Storyboard Rosana Sullivan & Louise Smythe Photograph Harley Jessup Concept Art Noah Klocek