The Land Before Time

The Land Before Time
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Don Bluth
Produced by	Don Bluth Gary Goldman John Pomeroy
Screenplay by	Stu Krieger
Story by	Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss
Starring	Gabriel Damon Candace Hutson Judith Barsi Will Ryan
Narrated by	Pat Hingle
Music by	James Horner
Edited by	John K. Carr Dan Molina
Production company	Sullivan Bluth Studios Amblin Entertainment Lucasfilm Ltd. (uncredited)
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	November 18, 1988 (1988-11-18) [1]
Running time	69 minutes
Country	United States Ireland
Language	English
Budget	$12.5 million
Box office	$84.4 million[2]

The Land Before Time is a 1988 American-Irish animated adventure drama film directed and co-produced by Don Bluth and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall.^[1]

Produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios, Amblin Partners's Amblin Entertainment and Lucasfilm (despite not receiving an official credit nor the film's marketing bearing the studio's logo), it features dinosaurs living in the prehistoric times. The plot concerns a young Brontosaurus named Littlefoot who is orphaned^[3] when his mother is killed by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Littlefoot flees famine and upheaval to search for the Great Valley, an area spared from devastation. On his journey, he meets four young companions: Cera, a Triceratops; Ducky, a Saurolophus; Petrie, a Pteranodon; and Spike, a Stegosaurus.^[4]

The film explores issues of prejudice between the different species and the hardships they endure in their journey as they are guided by the spirit of Littlefoot's mother and also forced to deal with the murderous Tyrannosaurus Rex that killed her. This is the only Don Bluth film of the 1980s in which Dom DeLuise did not participate (instead, he starred in Disney's Oliver & Company that same year), and the only film in The Land Before Time series that is not a musical, as well as the only one to be released theatrically worldwide.

Released by Universal Pictures on November 18, 1988, the film was a critical and financial success, and spawned a multimillion-dollar franchise with thirteen direct-to-video sequels (without association with Bluth, Spielberg, or Lucas) as well as merchandise (toys, video games, etc.) and a television series.

Plot

Near the end of the Cretaceous, a series of catastrophic events are causing intense drought, and several herds of dinosaurs seek one of the last livable places, a paradise known as the "Great Valley." Among these, a diminished "Longneck" herd gives birth to a single baby, named Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon). Years later, Littlefoot plays with Cera (Candace Hutson), a "Three-horn," who was trying to smash a beetle until her father (Burke Bynes) intervenes; whereupon Littlefoot's mother (Helen Shaver) names the different kinds of dinosaurs: "Three-horns," "Spiketails," "Swimmers," and "Flyers," and states that each has historically remained apart. That night, as Littlefoot follows a "hopper," he encounters Cera again, and they play together briefly until a "Sharptooth" appears. He attacks them, before Littlefoot's mother comes to their rescue. During the fight, she suffers severe back and neck injuries from the Sharptooth's teeth and claws. At that same time, an "earthshake" opens a deep ravine that swallows up the Sharptooth and divides Littlefoot and Cera from their herds. Dinosaurs are seen dying from the earthshake. Littlefoot finds his dying mother, and receives her final words of advice in favor of his intuition.

Depressed and confused, Littlefoot meets an old "Clubtail" named Rooter (Pat Hingle, who also serves as the film's unseen narrator), who consoles him upon learning of his mother's death. Littlefoot later hears his mother's voice guiding him to follow the "bright circle" past the "great rock that looks like a longneck and then past the "mountains that burn" to the Great Valley. Now alone in his journey, Littlefoot meets Cera once again and tries to get her to join him, but she arrogantly refuses his help, and stalks off into the darkness after falling down a ravine.

Later, Littlefoot is accompanied by a young "Bigmouth" named Ducky (Judith Barsi), whose cheery company bears him out of his depression. Soon after, they meet a "Flyer" named Petrie (Will Ryan), whose aerophobia and inability to fly makes him extremely insecure and nervous. Meanwhile Cera, who is attempting to find her own kind, finds the unconscious Sharptooth inside the ravine. Thinking he is dead, she harasses him, during which she unintentionally wakes him up, and flees in terror. She soon bumps into Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie, and tells them that the Sharptooth is alive, although Littlefoot does not believe her. She then describes her encounter (exaggerating her bravery), during which she accidentally flings Ducky into the air. When she lands, Ducky discovers a mute hatchling "Spiketail", whom she names Spike and brings him into the group. Seeking the Great Valley, they discover a cluster of trees, which is abruptly depleted by a herd of Whiptailed Longnecks. Searching for remaining growth, they discover one tree still with leaves, and obtain food by stacking up atop each other and pulling the leaves down. Cera remains aloof, but at nightfall, everyone, including herself, gravitates to Littlefoot's side for warmth and companionship.

The next morning, they are attacked by the Sharptooth, but escape through a cave-tunnel too small to admit him. Beyond this, they discover the Longneck-shaped monolith mentioned by Littlefoot's mother, and later a string of mountains that burn. Cera grows impatient of the seemingly aimless trip and, after they arrive to a barren valley she mistakes for the Great Valley, decides to go another way. Littlefoot tries to tell her that she is going the wrong way and eventually he is pushed into attacking her, but is easily defeated. Not caring about Cera's disloyalty, Littlefoot continues in the direction he was told, while the others follow Cera, who feel her route is easier. However, Cera's route soon leads them into danger, as Ducky and Spike become endangered by lava and Petrie gets stuck in a tar pit after falling off Cera. Littlefoot rescues them, and they soon find Cera harassed by a small gang of "Dome-heads". Having been coated in tar while trying to rescue Petrie, they scare them away. Ashamed of her fear and reluctant to admit her mistake, Cera leaves them in tears.

Later, while crossing a pond, Petrie spies the Sharptooth nearby. Tired of being stalked and determined to avenge his mother, Littlefoot plots to lure him into the water (using Ducky as bait) beneath a nearby boulder, intending to drown him. Their luring of the Sharptooth succeeds, but Littlefoot and Spike have trouble moving the boulder, putting Ducky in serious danger. In the struggle that follows, a draft from the Sharptooth's nostrils enables Petrie to fly, which also cures his fear of flying and gives him the courage to stall Sharptooth. Sharptooth leaps onto the boulder and the plan nearly fails until Cera reunites with the group to allow Littlefoot and his friends to push both Sharptooth and the boulder into the water below. Sharptooth, who is still determined to attack the young dinosaurs, tries to take Petrie with him to his death. Littlefoot and his friends mourn the apparent loss of Petrie until Ducky finds him, soaked and exhausted, but still very much alive, to her delight.

Littlefoot, alone, follows a cloud resembling his mother to the Great Valley, where he is joined by the others. Upon arrival, Petrie impresses his family with his newfound flight, while Ducky introduces Spike to her family, who adopt him. Cera reunites with her father and Littlefoot rejoins his grandparents. The narrator explains that Littlefoot had finally found his grandparents, and moments from the movie are shown. Cera then calls for Littlefoot to play. They join their friends at the top of a hill and embrace each other in a group hug, while looking up to the sky.

Cast

• Gabriel Damon as Littlefoot
• Candy Hutson as Cera
• Judith Barsi as Ducky
• Will Ryan as Petrie
• Helen Shaver as Littlefoot's mother
• Burke Byrnes as Cera's father
• Bill Erwin as Littlefoot's grandfather
• Pat Hingle as Narrator and Rooter

Production

During production of An American Tail, talk began of the next feature with Steven Spielberg. Spielberg wanted to do a film similar to Bambi, but only with dinosaurs. An early working title for the film was The Land Before Time Began.^[5] 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 make it appealing to children.^[6] The film was originally planned for release in fall of 1987, but the production and the release date were delayed by a year due to the relocation of Sullivan Bluth Studios to Dublin, Ireland.

The production was preceded by extensive research, wherein researchers visited natural history museums in New York and Los Angeles and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. The artists had to create a credible landscape and animals. Animators made more than 600 background images for the film. Littlefoot was originally going to be called "Thunderfoot", until it was found out that a Triceratops in a children's book already had that name. It was Lucas's idea to make Cera a female Triceratops, when she was in mid-animation as a male named Bambo. After voicing Digit in An American Tail, Will Ryan performed the voice of Petrie. The idea was brought up by Spielberg's son, Max. The character of Spike was inspired by Don Bluth's pet Chow Chow, Cubby.

Editing

Throughout production, The Land Before Time underwent a severe cutting and editing of footage. Spielberg and Lucas thought that some scenes in the movie would appear too dark and intense for young children. Spielberg told Bluth while looking at the scenes from the film, "It's too scary. We'll have kids crying in the lobby, and a lot of angry parents. You don't want that." About 10 minutes of footage, comprising a total of 19 fully animated scenes, were cut from the final film, to attain a G rating instead of a PG rating. Much of the cut footage consisted of the Tyrannosaurus attack sequence and sequences of the five young dinosaurs in grave danger and distress. Some screams were re-voiced using milder exclamations.^[6] Though Bluth was unhappy with the cuts, and fought for all the footage, he had to settle on a final running time from 79 minutes to 69 minutes, one of his shortest. The sequence of Littlefoot's mother's death was shown to psychologists who gave their feedback to the production team, and the character of Rooter was added to the story to soften the emotional blow. Brief portions of the scene which showed the mother's neck and back bitten have since been edited out of home-video releases and television airings, though this footage was present both in the theatrical cut and on earlier VHS copies of the film.

Soundtrack

The music for The Land Before Time was composed by James Horner, who had previously provided the soundtrack for An American Tail, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of King's College. An official soundtrack was released on audio cassette and vinyl record on November 21, 1988, and later on CD by MCA Records, and features seven tracks from the movie.^[8] The film's theme song "If We Hold on Together" was sung by Diana Ross and was released as a single on January 21, 1989, peaking at number 23 on the US adult contemporary charts,^[9] and was later included on her 1991 album The Force Behind the Power.^[10] A digital version of the soundtrack was released on a number of services on January 22, 2013 by Geffen Records.^[11]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Filmtracks	[12]

Track listing

1. "The Great Migration" (7:49)
2. "Sharptooth and the Earthquake" (10:33)
3. "Whispering Winds" (9:00)
4. "If We Hold on Together" - performed by Diana Ross (4:07)
5. "Foraging for Food" (7:15)
6. "The Rescue/Discovery of the Great Valley" (12:43)
7. "End Credits" (6:22)

Home media

The Land Before Time was released on VHS on September 14, 1989, as well as LaserDisc in regular pan and scan^[13] and "Special Collector's Edition" CAV-play editions by Universal Studios Home Entertainment in North America and internationally, and CIC Video in the UK.^[14] According to the book The Animated Films of Don Bluth, the original release did "very successful business" on the home video market, and included a promotional tie-in with Pizza Hut in North America, which was offering rubber hand puppets based on the film at the time.^[6] The VHS version was made available once more on February 20, 1996 under the Universal Family Features label,^[15] and was later packaged with following three films in the series as part of the Land Before Time Collection on December 4, 2001.^[16]

The film was released on DVD for the first time on April 30, 1997,^[17] and re-released in December 2, 2003 as the "Anniversary Edition" for the movie's 15th anniversary, which included games and sing-along songs.^[18] The Anniversary Edition was later included with An American Tail and Balto as a three-movie pack in November 2007.^[19] A widescreen Blu-ray version was available for the first time on October 13, 2015, which included digital HD and UltraViolet copies,^[20] which was accompanied by a new widescreen DVD release on the same day.^[21]

Reception

Critical response

The Land Before Time holds a 70% "fresh" approval rating from review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes from 30 critics with the consensus "Beautifully animated and genuinely endearing, The Land Before Time is sure to please dino-obsessed tykes, even if it's a little too cutesy for older viewers."^[22] Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film "two thumbs up" on a 1988 episode of their television program At the Movies.^[23] Siskel found it to be "sweet more than it was scary" and "quite beautiful", also praising its straightforward story and remarked that he would recommend it to children over Disney's Oliver and Company, released the same day.^[23] In his own review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, writing "I guess I sort of liked the film, although I wonder why it couldn't have spent more time on natural history and the sense of discovery, and less time on tragedy."^[24] Peter Travers of People magazine felt the movie had an unclear audience, stating "The animation is fine. But the Stu Krieger screenplay contains violence that might be hard on the younger ones, [...] and a never-let-up cuteness that can turn minds of all ages to mush."^[25] Los Angeles Times writer Sheila Benson also stated that the movie's enjoyment was limited to younger viewers, remarking "do dinosaurs really lend themselves to ootsie-cutesiness?"^[26]

Many reviewers compared the The Land Before Time to films from Disney's Golden Age. Steven Rea of the Philadelphia Inquirer said that the movie "looks and sounds as if it came out of the Disney Studios of the '40s or '50s. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing," calling it "meticulously crafted" but was also "mildly disappoint[ed]" that the dialog wasn't as sophisticated.^[27] In her review for the Sun-Sentinel, Candice Russel similarly remarked, "The Land Before Time works by evoking the simple virtues of this art aimed at children, as it was in the beginning when Disney animated Mickey Mouse."^[28] A review from the Motion Picture Guide 1989 Annual notes that the film "has been called a sort of prehistoric Bambi."^[29] David Kehr from the Chicago Tribune similarly felt that the film's title "also refers to the Disney past, but it goes for all the marbles. Its model is nothing less than the life-cycle saga of Bambi, and that Bluth gets even half the way there is proof of a major talent."^[30] Kehr gave the movie three-and-a-half out of four stars, calling it "as handsome and honest an animated feature as any produced since Walt Disney`s death; it may even be the best."^[31]

Box office

The Land Before Time was a box office success world wide, grossing $48 million at the domestic box office, as well as beating the Disney film, Oliver & Company, which was released on the same day, for the #1 spot during its opening weekend. It brought in a box office total of nearly $50 million during its domestic release, slightly more than Don Bluth's previous film, An American Tail. The film became a hit worldwide, and while Oliver & Company had grossed over its domestic earnings, The Land Before Time grossed nearly $84 million worldwide,^[2] which the Disney film did not surpass. However, it should be noted that Oliver & Company did beat out The Land Before Time at the domestic box office by about $5 million. Attached to the film, Universal and Amblin issued Brad Bird's Family Dog short from their television anthology Amazing Stories.^[32]

Accolades

The Land Before Time was nominated for "Best Family Animation or Fantasy Motion Picture" at the 10th annual Youth in Film Awards, losing out to Tim Burton's Beetlejuice.^[33] It also received a nomination for "Best Fantasy Film" at the 16th Saturn Awards ceremony in 1990, beaten by Who Framed Roger Rabbit.^[34]

Legacy

The film generated many direct-to-video sequels, which differ from the original by adding "sing-a-long" musical numbers. Bluth and his animation studio have no affiliation with any of the film's sequels. The sequels have generally been met with mixed reception with several fans of the original disregarding the sequels, while others have embraced the sequels into the canon of the story.

A 2007 television series was released in North America. It follows the style of the sequels in terms of the morality and the musical numbers (with some of the songs being shortened, and reworked).

See also

• Dink, the Little Dinosaur
• We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story
• The Good Dinosaur

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Land Before Time

• Official website
• The Land Before Time at LucasFilm.com
• The Land Before Time at the Internet Movie Database
• The Land Before Time at AllMovie
• The Land Before Time at Box Office Mojo
• The Land Before Time at Rotten Tomatoes