The Land Before Time (franchise)
The Land Before Time is a franchise of Universal Studios animated films centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with The Land Before Time, directed and produced by Don Bluth and executive produced by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. It was followed by a total of thirteen direct-to-video musical sequels and a TV series. Neither the sequels nor the series involve the participation of Bluth, Lucas, or Spielberg.
Plot
The films follow a friendship of a group of young dinosaurs by the names of Littlefoot, Cera (Triceratops), Petrie (Pteranodon), Ducky (Saurolophus), and Spike (Stegosaurus). After finding The Great Valley, they raise a carnivourous baby, survive a drought, a cold snap, and witness a solar eclipse. Throughout all films, they embark upon adventures, learning lessons about life and friendship along the way.
List of titles
Films
The following is a list of the films in the The Land Before Time series. All sequels have since been renamed without the numbers in their titles, when they were re-released on DVD in 2003.
| Title | Release Date | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Editor(s) | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Land Before Time | November 18, 1988 | Don Bluth | Screenplay: Stu Krieger Story: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss | Don Bluth Gary Goldman John Pomeroy Executive producers: Steven Spielberg George Lucas Co-executive producers: Frank Marshall Kathleen Kennedy Associate producer: Deborah Jelin Newmyer | John K. Carr Dan Molina | James Horner |
| The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure | December 13, 1994 | Roy Allen Smith | Screenplay: John Loy John Ludin Dev Ross Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss | Roy Allen Smith Co-producer: Zahra Dowlatabadi Animation producer: Nelson Shin | Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving | December 12, 1995 | Roy Allen Smith | Screenplay: Dev Ross Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss | Roy Allen Smith Zahra Dowlatabadi Animation producer: Nelson Shin | Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists | December 10, 1996 | Roy Allen Smith | Screenplay: Dev Ross Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss | Roy Allen Smith Co-producer: Zahra Dowlatabadi Animation producer: Nelson Shin | Warren Taylor | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island | December 9, 1997 | Charles Grosvenor | Screenplay: John Loy '54'Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss | Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Rocky Solotoff | Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock | December 15, 1998 | Charles Grosvenor | Screenplay: Libby Hinson John Loy Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss | Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Melinda Rediger Rocky Solotoff | Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire | December 5, 2000 | Charles Grosvenor | Len Uhley | Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley | Danik Thomas | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze | December 4, 2001 | Charles Grosvenor | John Loy | Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley | Danik Thomas | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water | December 10, 2002 | Charles Grosvenor | Dev Ross Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss | Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley | Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration | December 2, 2003 | Charles Grosvenor | John Loy Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss | Charles Grosvenor Executive producer: James Wang Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley | Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses | January 11, 2005 | Charles Grosvenor | John Loy | Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley | Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers | December 6, 2006 | Charles Grosvenor | John Loy Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss | Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley | Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera Kyle Kenneth Batter |
| The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends | November 27, 2007 | Jamie Mitchell Supervising director: Charles Grosvenor | John Loy | Daniel J. Wiley | Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time: Journey of the Brave | February 2, 2016 | Davis Doi | Elana Lesser Cliff Ruby | Lisa Melbye Deidre Brenner | Luke Guidici | Michael Tavera |
Albums
- The Land Before Time: Sing-Along Songs (1997) Songs from The Land Before Time, II, III & IV
- The Land Before Time: More Sing-Along Songs (1999) Songs from The Land Before Time V & VI and An American Tail III & IV
Television series
A television series based on the films began airing on YTV in Canada on January 5, 2007. It consisted of one season of 26 episodes, and officially premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 5, 2007, after the DVD release of The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers.[1] The TV series takes place after the events of The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends. It has since been collected and released on 6 DVDs, each containing 4 episodes, in the United States and the UK.
Games
The series has spawned 14 spin-off games, eight for PC, one for the Game Boy Color, two for the Game Boy Advance and three for the original PlayStation. The PC games are usually educational games aimed for preschool and kindergarten. Games for the Game Boy Color and Advance include The Land Before Time and The Land Before Time: Into the Mysterious Beyond, in which the original six characters must search for Chomper. Games for the PlayStation include The Land Before Time: Big Water Adventure, a spin-off of Journey to Big Water, The Land Before Time: Great Valley Racing Adventure and The Land Before Time: Return to the Great Valley.
Cast
Main characters
References
External links
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