Director: Peter Sohn (2015)

As plodding as the hero of the title, this prehistoric animated adventure is occasionally exciting, funny and sad, but never in any great measure.

Made by Pixar and released by Disney, it’s a middling effort which has made it to the screen after a difficult production.

History was changed 65 million years when an asteroid didn’t hit the earth and wipe out the dinosaurs.

They’ve evolved to speak, build houses and grow crops.

Arlo is a cowardly and dim Apatosaurus who after some reckless parenting, is lost in the wilderness.

He’s befriended by a brave caveboy nicknamed Spot and together they set off on the long trek home.

Raymond Ochoa whines and whimpers as Arlo and Jack Bright grunts and howls as Spot.

Episodic adventures follow one another and we’re invited to admire the magnificent vistas on the way. They are epic in scale, beauty and frequency.

Credited as ‘Volumetric Cloud Supervisor’, Matthew Webb does a stand up job styling the weather.

Meanwhile the sweeping herds of prehistoric wildebeests are sufficient to placate even the most intemperate guests of Torquay hoteliers.

There’s an unfortunate contrast between the stunning photo-realistic backgrounds and the cartoon cast of rubbery skinned, glass eyed dinosaurs of uncertain charm.

It’s distracting, as if Mickey Mouse popped up in a David Attenborough documentary.

The first director was sacked halfway through, the script was re-written and the cast almost completely replaced.

One character says ‘we must gather our crops before the first winter storm’ immediately after a winter storm. Just one example of a failure to iron out all the issues.

Minor characters are churned through the script before being forgotten.

With all this in mind it’s a marvel the film is as competent as it is.

Kids will love the game of whack-a-mole and adults will grin at the magic mushrooms reminiscent of Dumbo (1941).

Parenting orders are hammered home in heavy handed homilies by Jeffrey Wright‘s daddy dinosaur.

Obey your parents. Do your chores. Don’t play in the river. Do kill your enemies. Not very Disney that last one.

I felt lectured and wanted to rebel. And I’m a parent. Lord knows how children will respond to this.

There’s a strong Western vibe as the boy and his dog, sorry, dinosaur and his boy trek home to their farmstead.

As they meet cowboys along the trail, Sam Elliot adds his magnificent Texas drawl to a tall-tale telling Tyrannosaurus Rex.

He’s called Butch, a sly reference to the actor’s cameo in the classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).

The Good Dinosaur is neither brilliant or awful. Good is the operative word.

★★★☆☆