Disney-Pixar’s new animated film “The Good Dinosaur” hit theaters today — just in time for the long, holiday weekend. The movie answers the question “What if dinosaurs never became extinct?” by following the journey of an Apatosaurus named Arlo and his human friend Spot as the dino confronts his fears and learns what he is really capable of. The flick features the voices of Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Steve Zahn, Anna Paquin, Sam Elliott and Raymond Ochoa.

Ochoa completely enjoyed lending his voice to adorable green dinosaur Arlo. “I just saw the movie the other day — and it was incredible,” the 14-year-old told Headlines & Global News during an exclusive interview. “It was very overwhelming to watch myself, especially as a dinosaur.”

The young actor has been working in showbiz since he got cast in his first commercial — at just four and a half years old! — sort of by accident. “My brothers were at an audition, and I went with them because my mom didn’t actually have a babysitter,” recalled Ochoa. “The casting director saw me and asked, ‘Does he work?’ My mom was like, ‘No.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, just bring him in.’ I auditioned and actually booked it! Ever since then, I knew that what I wanted to do with my life was act.”

Commercials (JCPenney, Betty Crocker, Chevrolet), television roles (“Cold Case,” “10 Items or Less,” “Pair of Kings”) and voice-over work in films (“A Christmas Carol”), TV programs (“Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III”) and video games (Dash Parr in several Disney games) soon followed. Quickly, the San Diego native was working just as much as his older brothers Rick, Ryan and Robert.

Now thrust into the spotlight thanks to “The Good Dinosaur,” it’s time to learn more about the boy behind the voice of the most famous Apatosaurus. Read more of HNGN’s chat with Ochoa below.

Why should people see “The Good Dinosaur”?
It’s a great story! It’s something that Pixar has never done before. There are a lot of emotions in this film — there’s a lot of joy moments, a lot of sad moments and everything in between. I think everyone’s going to enjoy this film.

How did you come up with the voice for Arlo?
The voice that they use is actually my real voice — I didn’t have to put any acting onto it. My voice was just a lot higher [than now] because we filmed it a year ago. People can really recognize that it’s me, so that is awesome. I just had to go, read the lines and put emotion into them.

How do you prepare to do voice-over work?
I need to make sure I get a lot of sleep because my voice gets very exhausted after a while, and I have to make sure my throat’s coated so my voice is fine. I have to drink a lot of tea, mainly green tea with honey. At Pixar, it was funny because every day, they had a cup of tea prepared for me because they knew I was going to use my voice a lot.

What kind of direction are you given in the recording studio about how to say your lines?
My director Pete [Sohn] was always in the studio with me. The main thing is that he kind of tells me what the scenario is. If it’s a cold, rainy day, I have to just act like it’s pretty cold. He just gives me descriptions so I have an idea, but then he lets me run wild with however I feel Arlo would say the lines.

How long did it take to get all of your voice work done?
The entire project took me about a year to film. I’ve had to keep it very quiet — it was very tough, but I got through it. I was in the studio for about four hours every time I went to Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. Then I had to do pickups, but that was at the Disney Studio.

When you did the pickups, was your voice already changed?
It was! They had to playback my voice in the movie so I was able to match it. Then I was able to do whatever they needed me to do.

Did the script change much as you were recording?
Oh, yes. They had to do a bunch of rewrites. They would call me up, and I would have to do whatever the new rewrites were. So I was up there [in Emeryville] quite a bit.

Did you record solo or with other actors?
I wasn’t able to work with any other actors. It was just me. When it’s just me, there’s not really pressure for me, which is a good thing. But, of course, it would be fun to work with the other members of the cast. I wasn’t able to, sadly. A lot of voice-over work is like that though.

Do you think Arlo looks like you in any way?
Hopefully, he doesn’t look like me! But his emotions and his attitude toward life, I think a lot of it is me. I think his character in the movie evolved from being a naïve boy to a young man — that’s the main thing about him. In real life, I was very shy one time and I kind of grew out of that. That’s how Arlo was. In that way, that’s how I’m similar too him.

Did you like playing with dinosaurs as a kid?
Oh, definitely. I was mainly a T. rex person. I love them! I’m getting into Apatosauruses now.

Are you ready to see kids all over the world playing with Arlo toys?
I’m so ready to see that! I pretty much have every single toy sold already. I went to the Disney Store and bought every single toy. I have the bed set, the Pillow Pet… everything!

Before you shot “The Good Dinosaur,” what was your favorite Pixar movie?
I love all Pixar films, but mainly “The Incredibles.” I love superheroes. When it involves people of super strength or people who can fly, I love that. So Dash is able to have super speed, and it’s an entire family that just had super powers. It just really intrigued me, and the entire idea was amazing to me. I’ve been waiting for the second movie for so long. Eventually, they finally decided to do it, which I’m excited for. I’m going to be there opening night!

In addition to acting, you have a singing group with your brothers, Ochoa Boyz. Do you enjoy working with them?
I do. That’s why we actually started our music group. We’re so close and wanted to do something together. I love working with them. My oldest brother Ricky writes all of our songs and we kind of pitch in with our ideas as well. We have enough songs to form an album right now, but we want to have songs that we’re all very confident about. We think our music has evolved from when we started. Our goal is to be signed by a record label that we want.

For more on Raymond Ochoa, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.