The Land Before Time
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| The Land Before Time | |
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| Directed by | Don Bluth |
| Produced by | Don Bluth Gary Goldman Kathleen Kennedy George Lucas Frank Marshall John Pomeroy Steven Spielberg |
| Written by | Judy Freudberg (story) Tony Geiss (story) Stu Krieger (screenplay) |
| Starring | Gabriel Damon Candace Hutson Judith Barsi Will Ryan Pat Hingle Helen Shaver Burke Byrnes Bill Erwin |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Editing by | John K. Carr Dan Molina |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  November 18, 1988 March 18, 1989 September 7, 1989 December 8, 1989 December 15, 1989 |
| Running time | 69 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | USD$12,300,000 (estimated) |
| Gross revenue | USD$84,460,846 (worldwide)[1] |
| Followed by | The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994) |
| IMDb profile | |
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Australia: | G |
| Brazil: | Livre |
| Canada (Brit.Col): | G |
| Canada (Alberta): | G |
| Canada (Manitoba): | G |
| Canada (Ontario): | PG |
| Canada (Maritime): | G |
| Canada (Quebec): | G |
| Canada (Home Vid.): | G |
| Denmark: | A |
| Finland: | K-3 |
| France: | U |
| Germany: | o.Al. |
| Hong Kong: | I |
| Iceland: | L |
| Ireland: | G |
| Japan: | U |
| Malaysia: | U |
| Mexico: | A |
| Netherlands: | AL |
| New Zealand: | G |
| Singapore: | G |
| Spain: | T |
| Sweden: | Btl |
| Taiwan: | GP |
| United Kingdom: | U |
| United States: | G |
The Land Before Time is an animated film, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and directed by Don Bluth. It was originally released in movie theatres in 1988 by Universal Pictures.
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[edit] Plot synopsis
The film's plot concerns an Apatosaurus named Littlefoot who becomes orphaned after the death of his mother, caused from injuries suffered while battling an antagonistic Tyrannosaurus ("Sharptooth") and the effects of an earthquake. Littlefoot flees famine and upheaval to search for the "Great Valley", an area which has been spared devastation. During his journey, he encounters four companions: Cera, a Triceratops; Ducky, a Saurolophus; Petrie, a Pterodactyl; and Spike, a Stegosaurus [2]. Through many trials and tribulations, the four eventually make their way to the Great Valley, reuniting them with their relatives.
[edit] Voice cast
- Gabriel Damon .... Littlefoot
- Candace Hutson .... Cera
- Judith Barsi .... Ducky
- Will Ryan .... Petrie
- Pat Hingle .... Narrator/Rooter
- Helen Shaver .... Littlefoot's Mother
- Burke Byrnes .... Daddy Topps
- Bill Erwin .... Grandfather
[edit] Crew
- Directed by Don Bluth
- Story by Judy Freudberg & Tony Geiss
- Screenplay by Stu Krieger
- Music by James Horner
- Music performance by the London Symphony Orchestra
- If We Hold On Together performed by Diana Ross
[edit] Box office
The film was a financial success, topping the Disney film Oliver & Company during its opening weekend. It has since brought in a box office total of nearly $50 million during its domestic release, more than Don Bluth's previous film, An American Tail. The movie has earned nearly $85 million worldwide.
[edit] Trivia
- Not all of the dinosaur species lived in the same time periods, as shown in the film.
- It was George Lucas's idea to make Cera a girl.[3]
- Steven Spielberg and George Lucas originally wanted the film to have no dialogue, like the Rite of Spring sequence in Fantasia, but the idea was abandoned in favor of using voice actors in order to appeal to children.[4]
- The end credits for the film featured the hit song "If We Hold On Together" by Diana Ross, the only song in the original film.
- Because they were deemed as too frightening or could even cause psychological damage to young children, about 19 scenes of full animation, mostly pertaining to the Tyrannosaurus rex, and the five characters in mild peril or distress was cut or trimmed. Don Bluth was unhappy with the cuts, and fought to keep the footage, but felt like he had to do so, making this film only 69 minutes, one of his shortest.[5] Shortly after the information was released, a rumor was spread that all five of the young dinosaurs died, with the Great Valley as an interpretation of heaven, as one of the deleted scenes. However, this has been denied by Don Bluth, who said the ending used was always the intended one.
- When the film was first released on VHS and laserdisc, it began with a Pizza Hut commercial and ended with a video trailer for An American Tail.
- In his review for The Land Before Time, Roger Ebert states that "perhaps the kids in the audience won't find it strange to learn that dinosaurs lived for many generations in the green valley - even though Littlefoot is earlier described as the last of his species."[6] This is inaccurate. While the end narration states that Littlefoot and his friends "grew up together in the Valley," we are told that he was the last child of his herd, not the last of his species.
- Fred Gwynne was considered the narrator of the film before being replaced by Pat Hingle.[citation needed]
[edit] Sequels and spin-offs
The movie generated many direct-to-video sequels, but the reaction to these have not always been favorable, with many fans of the original expressing annoyance at the superfluous addition of musical numbers and more transparent lessons of morality. On the other hand, the target audience for these films is young children who enjoy the repetitive nature of the sequels and the songs. Don Bluth and his animation studio have attempted to explain to their fans that they have no connection with these sequels. One Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote that The Land Before Time was suffering from the "excessive sequel syndrome," with films that were "pure formula." [7]
[edit] Home video release history
- September 14, 1989 (VHS and laserdisc)
- July 13, 1994 (VHS and laserdisc)
- February 20, 1996 (VHS and laserdisc)
- May 13, 1997 (VHS and laserdisc - The Land Before Time Collection)
- November 18, 1997 (DVD by DTS)
- December 9, 1997 (VHS and laserdisc)
- December 1, 1998 (VHS and laserdisc, the last laserdisc release - Universal Family Features)
- May 4, 1999 (DVD)
- December 3, 2003 (VHS and DVD - 15th Anniversary Edition, 4 Movie Dino Pack (Volume 1), and 9 Movie Dino Pack)
- March 20, 2007 (DVD - 2-Pack with Curious George)
[edit] References
- ^ The Land Before Time (1988)] at Box Office Mojo
- ^ http://www.landbeforetime.com/main.html
- ^ The Animated Films of Don Bluth - [1] by Jon Cawley
- ^ The Animated Films of Don Bluth - [2] by Jon Cawley
- ^ The Animated Films of Don Bluth - [3] by Jon Cawley
- ^ Chicago Sun-Times review [4] by Roger Ebert
- ^ The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists (1996) Review from Rotten Tomatoes
[edit] External links
- The Official Land Before Time Site
- The Land Before Time at the Internet Movie Database
- The Land Before Time Trailer at Video Detective
- Detailed Info on The Land Before Time (contains spoilers)
- Land Before Time Wiki
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| Film series |
The Land Before Time (1988) • The Great Valley Adventure (1994) • The Time of the Great Giving (1995) • Journey Through the Mists (1996) • The Mysterious Island (1997) • The Secret of Saurus Rock (1998) • The Stone of Cold Fire (2000) • The Big Freeze (2001) • Journey to Big Water (2003) • The Great Longneck Migration (2004) • Invasion of the Tinysauruses (2005) • The Great Day of the Flyers (2007) |
| Characters |
Littlefoot • Cera • Ducky • Petrie • Spike • Chomper • Ruby • Sharptooth • Characters |
| TV series |
The Land Before Time (2007-) |
| Others | |
Video games: Dragon's Lair (1983) • Space Ace (1984) • Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp (1991)
Animated films: The Small One (1978) • Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979) • The Secret of NIMH (1982) • An American Tail (1986) • The Land Before Time (1988) • All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) • Rock-A-Doodle (1991) • Thumbelina (1994) • A Troll in Central Park (1994) • The Pebble and the Penguin (1995) • Anastasia (1997) • Bartok the Magnificent (1999) • Titan A.E. (2000)
Related articles: Sullivan Bluth Studios • Fox Animation Studios
Categories: Cleanup from March 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | The Land Before Time | 1988 films | Films featuring anthropomorphic characters | Films directed by Don Bluth | Animated films | Universal Pictures films | Children's films | Animated comedy films | Drama films | Fantasy films | Family films | American films | Animated film series | Coming-of-age films | Films about dinosaurs | English-language films | Universal Animation Studios films | Amblin Entertainment films
