HOLLYWOOD – November 29, 2015 — (Gephardt Daily) — I recently had the opportunity to chat with the voice cast of the Disney / Pixar’s 16th animated film, “The Good Dinosaur.”
Topping the list of celebrities lending their voices to the new film were Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin and A.J. Buckley, who voice a family of very “western” tyrannosaurus rex.
Sam Elliott, best known for his roles as cowboys, began his film career in 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Although his future wife, Katharine Ross, co-starred in the film, the two did not meet until they filmed “The Legacy” in 1978.
Over the years there would be few opportunities to act in feature westerns, but it would be television that gave him that opportunity, in The Sacketts (1979), The Shadow Riders (1982) and The Yellow Rose (1983).
He would also work in non-westerns, usually as a tough guy, as in Lifeguard (1976) and Road House (1989). In the 1990s, Elliott was back on the western trail, playing everyone from Brig. Gen. John Buford in the film Gettysburg (1993) to Wild Bill Hickok in the made-for-TV movie Buffalo Girls (1995). In 1991 he wrote the screenplay and co-starred with his wife in the made-for-TV western Conagher.
Currently Elliott is finishing the animated feature “Rock Dog.”
Anna Paquin is a familiar face both on the big screen and the TV screen. Her first acting job ever was at age 9 in the film The Piano (1993).
At age 16, her family relocated to Los Angeles where she completed her last two years of high school (graduating in 2000). She then moved to New York where she attended Columbia University for one year. Between 2001 and 2004 she worked almost exclusively on stage in both New York and London.
In 2000 Paquin took on the rile of “Rogue” in the X-Men franchise. Beginning with “X-Men,” Paquin played the character in “X-Men 2” in 2003, “X-Men: Last Stand” in 2006 and in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” in 2014.
In 2007 Anna was cast in HBO’s “True Blood”, which concluded shooting its 7th and final season in 2014.
Paquin is currently working on the new miniseries based on Alex Haley’s “Roots.”
A.J. Buckley was born in Dublin, Ireland as Alan John Buckley. He is an actor and director, known for CSI: NY (2004), Happy Feet (2006) and Disturbing Behavior (1998). The actor has been seen in many US TV shows like “Longmire,” “Supernatural” and the new “Hawaii Five-0.”
Synopsis:
“The Good Dinosaur” asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? In this epic journey into the world of dinosaurs, an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of.
The Good Dinosaur is rated PG.
