It might be formulaic and borrow from other classic animated movies, but Disney/Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur works as a moving and beautiful adventure that will be sure to tug on everyone’s heartstrings.

We all know and love Pixar. The studio that has given us such classic films as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, WALL-E and even this year’s Inside Out. They have dominated the animated landscape over the last couple of decades because of their ability to tell unique stories in groundbreaking and heartfelt ways, while using innovative computer generated animation.

Their latest offering, The Good Dinosaur, takes place in a world where the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs missed Earth and humans co-exist with these creatures. The film focuses on cowardly and clumsy dinosaur named Arlo, who gets separated from his family and must journey through a terrain he’s never experienced with the help of a little boy named Skip.

Pixar is known for their clever premises and unique plot structures, and although The Good Dinosaur does have a unique premise, the film’s plot is relatively straightforward. In fact, it borrows a lot from other animated movies like The Lion King, Finding Nemo, How to Train Your Dragon and even Ice Age. I’m not saying that the film is not original, but if you mash those four films together, you would get a pretty good sense where the film is heading.

That being said, while I was watching the film, I did not have any of those films in mind. This is because Pixar is amazing at being able to sweep audiences up in so many emotions and breathtaking moments, that you sometimes forget you’ve seen this before. I did not realize that plot’s flaws until well after the movie was finished, which I guess speaks to the film’s effectiveness more than anything else.

The best thing about The Good Dinosaur, and what separates Pixar from other studios, is its ability to make you care and feel about characters that are not necessarily always human. You cried over two robots falling in love, when a college boy and his childhood toys had to part ways and when you realized that joy could not survive without sadness. Now Pixar will make you cry over dinosaurs and a little boy that acts like a dog.

So many of the film’s scenes are incredibly effective because of the way Pixar is able to make these characters relatable. Arlo is easy to root for and his journey will no doubt appeal to most audience members, while Spot will either resemble a pet or small child. There are numerous heartbreaking moments throughout, which separates itself from just the typical one emotional moment most animated films feature.

Emotion and storytelling aside, The Good Dinosaur is one of the most beautifully animated movies I have ever seen. The animation is simply breathtaking as not only does it feature incredible detail during its close-up shots, but the panning and crane shots featuring the landscapes are truly remarkable. Pixar continually impresses on the technical side with every release, and The Good Dinosaur is no exception.

Overall, The Good Dinosaur does feature a unique premise but a relatively straightforward plot, which is a slight step down for Pixar. However, the film has plenty of heart and hits the heartstrings hard while being gorgeous to look at. It does not reach the greatness of say Up, Toy Story 3 or even this year’s Inside Out, but The Good Dinosaur is certainly much better than ‘good’ and should be seen as soon as possible.

GRADE: B+