The Land Before Time (film): Difference between revisions

The Land Before Time
File:Landtime.jpg
Directed by	Don Bluth
Written by	Judy Freudberg (story) Tony Geiss (story) Stu Krieger (screenplay)
Produced by	Don Bluth Gary Goldman Kathleen Kennedy George Lucas Frank Marshall John Pomeroy Steven Spielberg
Starring	Gabriel Damon Candace Hutson Judith Barsi Will Ryan Pat Hingle Helen Shaver Burke Byrnes Bill Erwin
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	November 18, 1988
Running time	69 min.
Language	English
Budget	USD$12,300,000 (estimated)

The Land Before Time is an animated film, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, directed by Don Bluth, with a soundtrack composed by James Horner. It was originally released in movie theatres in 1988 by Universal Pictures. The extended 20th anniversary theatrical re-release is planned for 2008.

The story involves an orphaned longneck named Littlefoot who has to flee from a drought-caused famine to search for the Great Valley, an area which has been spared devastation and where dinosaurs can survive. One of the most dramatic moments in the movie is the on-screen death of Littlefoot's mother from injuries suffered while battling a Tyrannosaurus.

Along the way he makes friends with four other young dinosaurs: Cera, a Triceratops; Ducky, a Saurolophus; Petrie, a pterodactyl (although he actually resembles a tailless, a miniature Pteranodon); and Spike, a Stegosaurus, in order to overcome the challenges on their way.

Sequels

The movie generated many direct-to-video sequels, but the reaction to these have not always been favourable, with most fans of the original expressing annoyance at the superflous addition of musical numbers (something even Disney had abandoned as of late) and more opaque lessons of morality, reflecting the opinion the series had jumped the shark. One Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote that The Land Before Time was suffering from the "excessive sequel syndrome," with films that were "pure formula." [1]

The Land Before Time XII: The Day of the Flyers and the TV series, planning to be scheduled for Cartoon Network and soon be released on DVD from Universal Studios, are planned for 2007 releases.

Movies

The following is a complete list of the films in the series:

• The Land Before Time (1988)
• The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994)
• The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (1995)
• The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists (1996)
• The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island (1997)
• The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (1998)
• The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire (2000)
• The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze (2001)
• The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water (2002)
• The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (2003)
• The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses (2005)
• The Land Before Time XII: The Day of the Flyers (2007)

Two other films were sent out, which were just collections of songs from the other movies and had no cohensive plot.

Land Before Time animated series

Main article: Land Before Time

26 episodes are in production. This show will air on Cartoon Network in 2007 and will subsequently be released on DVD by Universal Studios.

Voice Cast for the TV series:

• Cody Arens .... Littlefoot (voice)
• Jeff Bennett .... Petrie (voice)
• Max Burkholder .... Chomper (voice)
• Aria Noelle Curzon .... Ducky (voice)
• Anndi McAfee .... Cera (voice)
• Rob Paulsen .... Spike (voice)
• Meghan Strange .... Ruby (voice)

DVD & VHS

Movies on Themed DVDs

• The Land Before Time (1988) (released on DVD in 1997 and re-released on DVD in 1999)
• The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994)
• The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (1995)
• The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists (1996)
• The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island (1997)
• The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (1998)
• The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire (2000)
• The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze (2001)
• The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water (2002)
• The Land Before Time (1988) (re-released as 15th Anniversary Edition in 2003)
• The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (2003)
• The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses (2005)
• The Land Before Time XII: The Day of the Flyers (2007) (including widescreen (family-friendly 1.78:1 ratio enhanced for 16:9 TVs) and full screen versions)

Movies on Themed VHS

• The Land Before Time (1988) (released in 1989 and re-released in 1994)
• The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994)
• The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (1995)
• The Land Before Time (1988) (re-released in 1996)
• The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists (1996)
• The Land Before Time (1988) (re-released in 1997)
• The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island (1997)
• The Land Before Time (1988) (re-released in 1998)
• The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994) (re-released in 1998)
• The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (1995) (re-released in 1998)
• The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists (1996) (re-released in 1998)
• The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island (1997) (re-released in 1998)
• The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (1998)
• The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire (2000)
• The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994) (re-released on VHS in 2001)
• The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (1995) (re-released on VHS in 2001)
• The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists (1996) (re-released on VHS in 2001)
• The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island (1997) (re-released on VHS in 2001)
• The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (1998) (re-released on VHS in 2001)
• The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire (2000) (re-released on VHS in 2001)
• The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze (2001)
• The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water (2002)
• The Land Before Time (1988) (re-released as 15th Anniversary Edition in 2003)
• The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (2003)
• The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses (2005)
• The Land Before Time XII: The Day of the Flyers (2007)

Movies on Themed UMD Videos for PSP

Soon, there will be UMD releases of all Land Before Time movies. They will be presented in widescreen.

TV on Themed DVDs

Unknown, 26 episodes in production

TV on Themed UMD Videos for PSP

TV series will also be released on UMD Videos for PSP

Dino-Pack DVDs

• The Land Before Time: Fun-N-Friends 4-Movie Dino Pack - Volume 1 (I-IV) (a.k.a. "The Land Before Time Collection")
• The Land Before Time: Fun-N-Friends 4-Movie Dino Pack - Volume 2 (V-VIII)
• The Land Before Time: 9-Movie Dino Collection (I-IX)
• The Land Before Time: 2 Great Movies Featuring Chomper (II & V) (a.k.a. "The Land Before Time: Chomper Double Feature")
• The Land Before Time: 2 Dino-Mite Movies (III & IV)
• The Land Before Time: 2 Mysteries Beyond the Great Valley (VI & VII)
• The Land Before Time: 2 Big Dino-Riffic Adventures (VIII & IX) (coming February 7, 2006)

Dino-Pack VHS

• The Land Before Time: Fun-N-Friends 4-Movie Dino Pack - Volume 1 (a.k.a. "The Land Before Time Collection") (released on VHS in 1997 and re-released on VHS in 2003)
• The Land Before Time: Fun-N-Friends 4-Movie Dino Pack - Volume 2

Sing-Along-Songs VHS

• The Land Before Time: Sing-Along-Songs
• The Land Before Time: More Sing-Along-Songs (including some songs from An American Tail III & IV)

Soon, there will be DVD and UMD releases of the first two Land Before Time Sing-Along-Songs volumes. There will also be another Land Before Time Sing-Along-Songs volume including songs from The Land Before Time VII-XI and the Balto trilogy.

Season DVDs

• Land Before Time: The Complete First Season (probably coming in 2008)

Voice Cast (for Original Film)

• Gabriel Damon .... Littlefoot (voice)
• Candace Hutson .... Cera (voice)
• Judith Barsi .... Ducky (voice)
• Will Ryan .... Petrie (voice)
• Pat Hingle .... Narrator/Rooter (voice)
• Helen Shaver .... Littlefoot's Mother (voice)
• Burke Byrnes .... Daddy Topps (voice)
• Bill Erwin .... Grandfather (voice)

Crew (for Original Film)

Directed by

• Don Bluth

Writing credits

• Judy Freudberg (story)
• Tony Geiss (story)
• Stu Krieger (screenplay)

Trivia

• Judith Barsi, who did the voice for Ducky, was murdered by her father before the movie was released.
• It was George Lucas's idea to make Cera a girl triceratops.
• Steven Spielberg and George Lucas originally wanted the film to have no dialogue, like the sequence in Fantasia, Rite of Spring. But, to make the film appealing to children, they abandoned this idea, and got actors and actresses to do the voices.
• The role of Ducky was Judith Barsi's favorite of her own film roles.
• In the second film, they use the word "sun" instead of "Great Circle".
• The deleted scenes were in the theatrical trailer, but were not in the original theatrical version.
• This film was rated G in the United States.
• When this film was released in Canada, it was rated G, but was rated PG in some cities of Canada.
• This film contains violence because Littlefoot's mother was killed by a meat-eating Sharptooth.
• Although the 1st film did not earn a single Oscar nomination, The 1st film grossed over $40 million dollars in USA, competing with the Disney film, "Oliver and Company" and over $70 million in Worldwide gross. Through the years since the 1st one came out, It's audience grew and became an animation classic

Goofs

• Audio/visual unsynchronized: Littlefoot's lips don't move when he says "Cera, you're back!" while pushing the boulder on the Sharptooth.

Songs

The Land Before Time

• If We Hold on Together (performed by Diana Ross) (heard at the end credits)
• If We Hold on Together (Sing-Along-Song version) (heard in The Land Before Time: Sing-Along-Songs)

The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure

• Peaceful Valley
• EggsEggs
• You Are One Of Us Now

The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving

• When You're Big
• Standing Tough
• Kids Like Us

The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists

• Grandma's Lullaby
• Who Needs You
• It Takes All Sorts

The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island

• Big Water
• Always There
• Friend for Dinner

The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock

• The Lone Dinosaur
• Bad Luck
• On Your Own

The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire

• Beyond the Mysterious Beyond
• Good Inside
• Very Important

The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze

• The Mad Song
• Family
• The Lesson

The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water

• Very Boring
• Imaginary Friend
• Big Water (reprise) (reference version about where to take Mo to)
• No One Has To Be Alone
• No One Has To Be Alone (Donny Osmond's version) (heard at the end credits)

The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration

• Adventuring
• Me and My Dad
• Bestest Friends
• Bestest Friends (Olivia Newton-John's version) (the word "bestest" is changed to "best" in the lyrics because "bestest" isn't a real word) (heard at the end credits)

The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses

• Creepy Crawlies
• Creepy Crawlies (reprise) (Ducky and Petrie's version)
• Girls and Dad (Cera's version of Me and My Dad)
• If Only (Littlefoot's version of Family)
• Creepy Crawlies/Stupid Stompers (reprise) (the Tinysauruses' version) (heard at the end credits)

Lingo

Due to the film being set in a presumably pre-Linnaean time, the movie's characters tend to refer to various animals not by scientific terminology but rather by names noting those animals' conspicuous characteristics. A list at some of the terms used throughout the series.

• Longneck Sauropod dinosaur (sauropods included Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Diplodocus, among others)
• Threehorn Triceratops (perhaps also Chasmosaurus or Pentaceratops)
• Sharptooth Predators (originally used to refer to tyrannosaurs, but also applied to dromeosaurids, sharks, and pliosaurs)
• Bigmouth Hadrosaur (these dinosaurs have also been dubbed as "swimmers" in later films, but paleontologist Robert T. Bakker disputed the idea of hadrosaurs as regular swimmers in his book "The Dinosaur Heresies")
• Flyer Pterosaurs
• Spiketail Stegosaurids
• Clubtail Some ankylosaurids with club-shaped tails
• Thicknose Pachyrhinosaurus
• Belly-crawler Crocodilians
• Egg-stealer Struthiomimus
• Rainbow Face Colorful-faced theropods, possibly Troodon
• Tree-star A star-shaped leaf known for its delicious taste
• Tree sweet A delicious pink flower that is considered a treat; it is an honor to eat the first tree sweet of the year.

External links

• The Official Land Before Time Site
• The Land Before Time at IMDb