Peter Sohn's animated film "The Good Dinosaur" reportedly underperformed at Thanksgiving box office. Interestingly, while the film gathered praises from critics on its opening week, it drew criticism from parents.
After its release on Nov. 25 via Buena Vista, "The Good Dinosaur" stood as the weakest launch and the smallest audience for a Pixar film, according to Cartoon Brew. While the animated dinosaur film got an estimated $55.6 million over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday, the estimated $39.2 million it got over its three-day opening weekend embodied the frailest launch for Pixar, following "A Bug's Life," in 1998.
Similar to Pete Docter's animated film "Inside Out" in June, Sohn's "The Good Dinosaur" ranked second at the Thanksgiving box office last weekend. The latter film was topped by Francis Lawrence's "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2," the final installment of the "The Hunger Games" film franchise.
To date, "The Good Dinosaur" got an estimated domestic gross of $55.6 million and an estimated foreign gross of $28.7 million, for a total gross of $84.3 million on a global scale.
While "The Good Dinosaur" got a positive response from the critics, it got some criticism from parents of the younger audience. There were comments about the film's depiction of death, drug-induced hallucinations, and vicious attacks, according to Daily Mail UK.
One mother wrote on Common Sense Media that her husband's sleeve had been soaked from her ten-year old's tears, the two-year old had been terrified, and she could have heard the five and eight-year old crying throughout the movie. She added that if one wanted silly and fun, the film was probably not he was looking for.
On Nov. 28, Twitter user Rich Eisen also wrote "Suzy just called and said "Please tweet out 'Good Dinosaur worst movie ever. Thanks for scaring the crap out of our kids.""
Erin Watts has also seen the film and on Nov. 28, she wrote on Twitter "#GoodDinosaur so bad and scary for my 7year old. He was so disappointed that we saw a bad movie...me too!"
On Nov. 29, another Twitter user, Andrea Dusina, also wrote that "The Good Dinosaur is not good! Sad and scary, nothing like the previews. #5yearoldcrying #GoodDinosaur #parentingfail."
Rated PG, it means that "The Good Dinosaur" suggests parental guidance, since some material may not be suitable for children.