The Land Before Time is a 1988 theatrical animated film, directed by Don Bluth (with production based around his Ireland-based studio), and executive-produced by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Originally released by Universal Pictures and Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, it features anthropomorphic dinosaurs living in a somewhat fantasy-based version of prehistoric earth. The plot concerns a young Apatosaurus named Littlefoot, who is orphaned when his mother is killed by a Tyrannosaurus. Littlefoot flees famine and upheaval to search for the "Great Valley", an area which has been spared devastation. On his journey, he meets four young companions: Cera, a Triceratops; Ducky, a Parasaurolophus; Petrie, a Pteranodon; and Spike, a Stegosaurus.[2] 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.
The film was a critical and financial success and spawned a multi-million dollar franchise with twelve direct-to-video sequels (without association with Bluth, Spielberg, or Lucas,) as well as merchandise (toys, video games, etc.) and a television series.
Plot
As the film opens, the narrator (Pat Hingle) explains that a drought is occurring. To escape it the dinosaurs are migrating in search of the "Great Valley," a lush, Utopian paradise. A "Longneck" (Apatosaurus) herd gives birth to a single baby, named Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon). As he grows older, his mother (Helen Shaver) tells him of the Great Valley, and informs him of the prejudice between the different dinosaur species when he tries to play with a "Threehorn" (Triceratops) girl named Cera (Candace Hutson), but her father (Burke Byrnes) stops him. That night, Cera and Littlefoot meet again, and play together for a while until a "Sharptooth" (Tyrannosaurus) attacks. Littlefoot's mother intervenes, battling with the Sharptooth and suffering severe injuries, but managing to defeat him by pushing him into a deep chasm. At the same time, an "earthshake" (earthquake) occurs, opening a deep ravine in the ground, which swallows up the Sharptooth and a great deal of other dinosaurs, and separates many herds, including Littlefoot's and Cera's. Littlefoot finds his mother when the earthquake ends, but she is mortally wounded, and dies shortly after reminding her son how to reach the Great Valley.
Feeling depressed and confused, Littlefoot accidentally slides down a ravine, where he meets an old armored dinosaur named Rooter (Pat Hingle), who consoles him upon learning of his mother's death. After mourning for some time, Littlefoot begins to search for the Great Valley, and invites Cera to join him, but she refuses. He later meets a cheerful "Bigmouth" (Parasaurolophus) named Ducky (Judith Barsi), who asks to join him. As they travel, and try to find food along the way, they encounter an aerophobic "Flyer" (Pteranodon) named Petrie (Will Ryan), who joins them on their quest. Meanwhile, Cera encounters a comatose Sharptooth, whom she believes to be dead, and charges at mischievously, though this accidentally awakens him. As she flees, she meets up with the others and warns them about the Sharptooth; Littlefoot does not believe her, being convinced that Sharptooth is dead. As Cera describes the encounter (exaggerating her bravery) she accidentally flings Ducky into a patch of grass, next to a hatching egg containing a baby "Spiketail" (Stegosaurus). Ducky names him Spike and brings him into their band.
Seeking the Great Valley, they find a river leading to a cluster of trees, which is rapidly depleted by a herd of starving sauropods. Searching for remaining growth, they discover a single leaf-bearing tree, and obtain food by piling atop each other to reach it and pull it down. Cera remains aloof and arrogant, boasting that she is independent, but at nightfall, she, along with the others, gravitates to Littlefoot's sleeping nest for warmth and companionship. The Sharptooth attacks them in the morning, but they escape through a cave-tunnel too small to admit him, and discover a Longneck-shaped monolith mentioned by Littlefoot's mother. Although they pass other landmarks she mentioned, such as a string of volcanoes, Cera grows impatient as the search begins to yield no results and quarrels with Littlefoot, causing a schism in the little herd. Littlefoot continues in the direction he was told, while the others try to find another route. As Ducky, Spike and Petrie fall into danger involving a lava barrier and a tar pit, Littlefoot comes and rescues them. They then save Cera from an aggressive herd of Pachycephalosaurus while disguised as a giant tar-monster, which frightens Cera. Angry, humiliated and heartbroken, Cera tearfully leaves the group.
The next day, the others are frolicking in a pond when the Sharptooth appears nearby. Determined to defeat him, Littlefoot formulates a plan to lure him to the deep end of the pond, drop a large rock from the edge of a nearby cliff onto his head, and thus drown him. As Ducky lures him to the water, Littlefoot and Spike have trouble moving the rock. During the proceeding struggle, a hot draft from Sharptooth's nostrils enables Petrie to master his powers of flight. At that moment, Cera shows up and helps the plan to be completed; defeating Sharptooth for good. But Sharptooth grabs Petrie in his jaws and attempts to drag him down into the depths. However after a few tense moments, Petrie emerges from the water alive, while below and behind the five protagonists, Sharptooth sinks to his death. Littlefoot then follows his mother's spirit (which appears in cloud form) to the Great Valley, where the children's surviving relatives are already settled. Petrie and Ducky rejoin their families, and Ducky's family adopts Spike. Cera reunites with her father, and Littlefoot joins his grandparents. The film concludes with an indication of the protagonists' companionship.
Cast
Characters
Littlefoot - A young Apatosaurus and the primary protagonist of the film. Littlefoot is young, impressionable, but brave and a born "Long Neck" leader. Guiding his new found friends to the Great Valley, very little can upset his optimism. Still hurting over the loss of his mother, he uses her memory to keep going.
Cera - A Triceratops, also called a "Three Horn" who is very short tempered and as stubborn as her father is. Becoming separated from him during the great earthquake, Cera is pitted for the first time against her hidden, frightened side. She often tries to bully her way through the others, but eventually softens and learns to care more for her friends than she does for herself.
Ducky - A "Big Mouth" Parasaurolophus whose optimism is only overshadowed by her enjoyment of a good swim. Her quoted phrase is "Yep, yep, yep!" which usually follows a positive statement. When saddened she is known to otherwise say "Nope, nope, nope." in a very unenthusiastic way. She becomes Spike's "big" sister when they find him and her family adopts him.
Petrie - A Pteranodon or "Flyer" as they're best known as, Petrie is a timid, somewhat cowardly character. Afraid of heights and in fact being incapable of flying he prefers to spend his time on the backs of one of his friends than walking at their side. He eventually learns to fly and with his power of flight he envelops a new bravery toward defending his friends than he thought he was capable of.
Spike - A Stegosaurus or "Spike Tail" as his race is called was found as an egg by Ducky and adopted into her family. Unable to speak like the others, Spike often acts more of a family pet than a member of the group, though his expressions of happiness and fear place him more as an equal member of their unique herd.
Development and production
An early working title for the film was “The Land Before Time Began”.[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] It was George Lucas's idea to make Cera a female Triceratops.[citation needed] 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.
Editing
Throughout production, The Land Before Time went under a severe cutting and editing of footage. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas thought that some scenes in the movie would appear too frightening or could even cause psychological damage to young children. About 10 minutes of footage, a total of 19 fully animated scenes, were cut from the final film. Much of the cut footage consisted of the Tyrannosaurus rex attack sequence and sequences of the five young dinosaurs in severe situations of peril and stress. Also in some scenes, the characters screams were revoiced with milder exclamations.[4] Though Don Bluth was unhappy with the cuts, and fought for all the footage, he had to settle on a final running time of 69 minutes, one of his shortest.[4]
The sequence of Littlefoot's mother's death was also going to be eliminated, however, it was thought that if the scene were removed it would complicate explaining why Littlefoot had to journey to the Great Valley alone. Also the fight between Sharptooth and Littefoot's mother was also edited, removing the large amount of blood in the first version.
The scene was shown to psychologists who gave their feedback to the production team. The character of Rooter was added to the story to soften the emotional blow, and teach Littlefoot and the audience that even after loved ones die, they are always with us in the lesson we have learned from them.[4]
Soundtrack
The theme song If We Hold On Together was sung by Diana Ross, and became a successful single. It reached #1 in Japan.
The soundtrack was released on November 21, 1988.[5]
Track Listings
- The Great Migration
- Sharptooth and the Earthquake
- Whispering Winds
- If We Hold On Together
- Foraging For Food
- The Rescue/Discovery of the Great Valley
- End Credits
Reception
The film was a box office success, grossing $48 million, as well as beating the Disney film Oliver & Company for the Number 1 spot 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 became a hit worldwide, grossing nearly $84 million worldwide,[6] which Oliver & Company did not surpass.
AnalysisThe Land Before Time received a 77% at Rotten Tomatoes.com.[7] Geoff Andrew, on Timeout.com gave it a six out of ten rating, and said that Don Bluth could have made a better film than TLBT. Andrew complained that it wasn't educational enough for kids, what with the dinosaurs not being referred to with their scientific names.[8] Janet Maslin of the New York Times said that Don Bluth had a fondness for making his characters overly-cute, but that it worked to the benefit in this movie.[9] Wendy Miller of the Mohave Daily Miner thought that the characters were loveable, but not excessively syrupy. She described their personalities as being reminiscent of Kermit the Frog, The Cowardly Lion, and Lucy Van Pelt. She also said that their voice actors helped make the characters enjoyable, rather that "trite". She finished her review with "Betweeen the earthquake and Littlefoot's Mother dying, The Land Before Time gets off to a turbulent beginning. Afterward, however, it settles into a comfortable journey by endearing characters. It's a wonderful film for the entire family." Her review was titled "Animated film lives up to promises".[10]
Hal Hinson, of The Washington Post, said that the film was entertaining, but not good enough to be considered a classic film. However, he praised it for not having the dinosaurs occasionally "pick up guitars and launch into dinosaur renditions of rock songs", like The Chipmunks and Care Bears.[11] The Sci-fi Movie Page rated it with two stars, and said called it "not exactly much better than most Saturday morning kid television shows. They also commented briefly on the "numerous" amount of straight-to-video sequels it spawned.[12] In Mark R. Leeper (of the Internet Movie Database)'s review, the capsule reads "Apparently inspired by the art of William Stout, THE LAND BEFORE TIME is short on characterization as well as screen time. The idea of doing a Disney-style cartoon with dinosaurs as characters was a good one, but THE LAND BEFORE TIME does not deliver enough. Rating: low +1."[13]
The movie got two thumbs up by Siskel and Ebert, although Roger Ebert did have a few issues with the film. He said in his review that The Land Before Time made a strategic error in its attempt to attract children, as he believes that it destroys the distinction between children and dinosaurs (he earlier describes the two as being very similar). He also thought TLBT copied a lot of previous animated movies, and was not surprised that it was written by the writers of An American Tail. He also said the film was too apocalyptic and tragic, with all the death and implications of death occuring, as well as the erupting volcanoes and drought, and famine in the film.[14] Interestingly, Ebert mistook Littlefoot to be "the last of his species", even though Pat Hingle, the narrator, had said Littlefoot was the last of his herd.
Steve Rhode's said on Internet Movie Database that this was his favourite of all the TLBT films, and that while it does not have the same effort put into the animations as a Disney film would likely have, he still thinks that the designs and the music, including the song "If We Hold On Together", have a warm and natural beauty.[15] In general, the film seems to have received better reviews than its direct-to-video sequels, with Rhode's in particular saying in his review on The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists that TLBT's sequels were "purely formulaic", and that the film was suffering from the "excessive sequel syndrome".[16]
In his book, Children's Films: History, Ideology, Pedagogy, Theory, Ian Wojcik-Andrews criticized what he saw as allusions to Christian Mythology, in the film. He thought that Littlefoot was meant to depict the "Chosen one", in that he was the last of his herd, and their only hope for the future. He also pointed out that the concept of Littlefoot leading Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike to the Great Valley was reminiscent of the Calvinist theology that souls can only be saved if they follow Christ, and resist temptations that will lead them astray from the path. Finally, he believed the Great Valley was overly-similar to the Garden of Eden.[17]
Awards/NominationsIn 1987, The Land Before Time was nominated for a Young Artist Award, for Best Family Animation or Fantasy Motion Picture, although it lost to Beetle Juice.[18] One year later, it received a Saturn award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films in the USA, for Best Fantasy Film. This award, however, went to Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit.[19]
Legacy
The movie generated many direct-to-video sequels. Currently there are 12 sequels in circulation. The sequels depart from the style of the original significantly by adding "sing-a-long" musical numbers akin to Disney animated films, and toning down the intensity seen in the original film. Don Bluth and his animation studio have no affiliation with any of the film's sequels.
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, reworked versions of songs from the sequels).
References
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