The Good Dinosaur

By: Charles Domenic Anunciado        UPHUMSScreen.com / 11:34 AM      March 2, 2026 

"Sometimes you got to get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side." 

The Good Dinosaur is a movie released in 2015 by Pixar Animation Studies. This movie presents us an alternate universe and asks the question: "What if the asteriod that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and dinosaurs never became extinct?" or "What would happen if things went the other way?". In this amazing journey into the world of dinosaurs, an Apatosaurus named Arlo meets an unexpected human friend, Spot. While traveling through a very cruel and harsh reality, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of. After young apotosauras Arlo's father getting washed away by a flood. He blames a cave kid named Spot for killing him. Spot suddenly knocks Arlo into the river and Arlo gets washed away and gets lost in the woods. Arlo then later turns from scared to brave, and he becomes friends with Spot, and Arlo then meets a clan of T-Rexes who find Arlo's way home. Can Arlo be the bravest living dinosaur or will he sometimes still be afraid?

In this movie we can see that situational irony is clearly present here. Conventionally, humans are seen as more advanced than dinosaurs. However, in this movie the roles are reversed. Dinosaurs here acts as farmers, ranchers and arranged members of society, while Spot is like a wild and animal-like creatures that communicates through animal-like expressions such as growls and instincts. This twist or reversal of roles creates irony because it challenges us from what we normally see in our daily lives and what we believe as an evolution. Temporal distortion is also present in this movie because the story changes a major historical event—the extinction of the dinosaurs in which the asteroid misses Earth, allowing dinosaurs to survive and evolve alongside humans. This altered timeline reshapes history and creates a world where dinosaurs are civilized and humans are primitive.

While this movie may look like a simple animated movie that are made for childrens, it actually tells us a very powerful life lesson that loss is a natural and painful part of life and growth comes from challenges. After Arlo's father dies while trying to save Arlo during a disaster, Arlo is overwhelemed and filled with guilt, fear, sadness and regrets. This moment changes Arlo completely which made him become a totally different person. However, Arlo learns that even though his father was gone, the lesosns he taught him especially about facing fear remains. By remembering his father's word, Arlo finds the courage to survive in life and grow stronger. Another part of the movie was when Arlo and his friend Spot made a difficult decision to allow Spot join a human family as he finds in the wilderness. Even though Arlo is deeply attached to Spot and sees him as a family, he realizes that Spot belongs to another dimension in which he cannot go with him. This shows us that Arlo chooses what's best for Spot rather than what would make him less alone. This teaches us a very important and signifact life lessons because while experiencing something that is against your will maybe heartbreaking, their guidance and love can still continue to influence you and help you move forward.