The Land Before Time

Plot synopsis:
In a time of drought, several herds of dinosaurs seek an oasis known as the Great Valley. Among these, a mother in a diminished "Longneck" herd gives birth to a single baby, named Littlefoot. Years later, Littlefoot plays with Cera, a "Three-horn", until her father intervenes; whereupon Littlefoot's mother describes the different kinds of dinosaurs: "Three-horns", "Spiketails", "Swimmers", and "Flyers". That night, as Littlefoot follows a "Hopper", he encounters Cera again, and they play together briefly until a large "Sharptooth" attacks them. Littlefoot's mother comes to their rescue, receiving fatal injuries in the process. An earthquake swallows up the Sharptooth and divides Littlefoot and Cera from their herds. Littlefoot receives advice from his dying mother. Depressed and confused, Littlefoot meets an old "Clubtail" named Rooter, who consoles him. He is then guided by his mother's voice telling him to follow the sun to the Great Valley.
Later, Littlefoot meets a Swimmer named Ducky and a Flyer named Petrie, who accompany him on his journey. Cera, who is attempting to find her own kind, finds the unconscious Sharptooth inside a ravine and mistakenly wakes him up. She escapes and bumps into Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie; she tells them that Sharptooth is alive, but Littlefoot does not believe her. As Cera describes her encounter, she accidentally flings Ducky to the direction of a hatching Spiketail, whom she names Spike and inducts into the group. Seeking the Great Valley, they discover a cluster of trees, which is abruptly depleted by a herd of Longnecks. Searching for remaining growth, they discover a single leaf-bearing tree, and obtain food by stacking up atop each other and pulling it 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 Sharptooth, but they escape through a tunnel too small for him. Beyond this, they discover landmarks mentioned by Littlefoot's mother. Cera decides to go another way, but Littlefoot refuses and a schism divides him from the others. However, when Ducky and Spike become endangered by lava and Petrie gets stuck in a tar pit, he returns to rescue them. They then rescue Cera as she is being harassed by a pack of "Boneheads". Ashamed of her fear and reluctant to admit her mistake, Cera leaves them in tears. Later, while crossing a pond, Petrie overhears Sharptooth nearby. The group devises a scheme to lure him to the pond and drown him in the deep side using a nearby boulder. During the ensuing struggle, a draft from Sharptooth's nostrils enables Petrie to fly for the first time.
The plan nearly fails when Sharptooth begins attacking the boulder while the group attempts to push it onto him. However, Cera reunites with the group, allowing the others to push both Sharptooth and the boulder into the water below. Sharptooth momentarily takes Petrie down with him, but he later emerges unharmed. Littlefoot, alone, follows a cloud resembling his mother, which guides him to the Great Valley. He is then joined by the others. Upon arrival, the five are reunited with their families: Petrie impresses his family with his newfound flight; Ducky introduces Spike to her family, who adopt him; Cera reunites with her father; and Littlefoot rejoins with his grandparents. The group then rejoins at the top of a hill and embrace each other.

Tags: psychedelic, flashback

Review:
Theyre travelling to the Great Valley whilst trying to fight off Sharp tooth.What makes this film a classic is the way things are named.
When the children see it they will watch a movie about how 5 baby dinosaurs find their way to the great valley, while older people will view it as a movie based around how an abandoned orphaned child copes with the loss of his mother.
The LAND BEFORE TIME was made by Don Bluth.Unfortunaly none of the other follow on moives BASED on the 5 characters was ever is good as this one they are just too childish.I love this movie 10 stars.....
A group of young dinosaurs in a world which is nearing the end of the reign of the mighty reptiles set out to find a legendary valley which is still lush and green.This is one of the best animation films ever made, as it is moving and entertaining.
'Land Before Time', with its tribe of various dinosaurs plus a pterodactyl, is a story about putting aside so-called 'differences' and striving together in 'united we stand, divided we fall' fashion in order to leave the unlovely wilderness and find a land of freedom and equality (in this case the Great Valley).An excellent and unmissable adventure which will appeal to anybody of any age.The sequels sadly did away with the grittyness of this first film and instead turned to TV cartoonishness and pointless songs, but most of them (the boring Part 4 aside) are still very enjoyable.
Don Bluth's masterpiece, The Land Before Time, is a wonderful children's feature with beautiful animation, a great story, adorable characters, and good direction.As a director, Bluth's use of color and texture in this film is absolutely brilliant.
There were a few instances where some of the lines were a bit muffled and hard to understand, but for the most part, the cast did really well with their lines, made them sound natural, and child-like, and managed not to be overly cute and obnoxious as some characters made for children's films inherently are.The score by James Horner is a wonderful addition to the film's atmosphere and really does a great job setting the mood.
Like other 80s babies, so to speak, if you were born in that era before the Disney movies of the 90s- which did almost reach a mini-renaissance before plummeting towards the end of the decade- you first saw the animated films of Don Bluth more than Disney.
The kiddie dinosaurs themselves, Littlefoot the main protagonist (who also loses his mother, in the Bambi and Lion King vein though here even more of a shock to kids as its from nature and not from some other being to grasp), Cera, Petrie, Ducky and Spike, each have their own personalities ranging from heroic to goofy to scared and even stuck-up.
That years later it doesn't lose much of its power visually, however, is a real credit to Bluth and his team, who along with An American Tail here make children's movies that know what they are, but make them in brilliant uses of the medium.
As many Disney fans may know, there are two(maybe more, I'm not sure)animated movies that came out in 1988, and they are:Oliver and Company and Land Before Time.
Those are the only ones I personally liked.(Well, I haven't seen the 6th one, so if it's good or not you'll just have to find out yourself.) Well, I love The Land Before Time, and I love Littlefoot.
Now, having been such a raging fan of this movie when I was a kid (I still like it as an adult, just not nearly as much), I don't really know if I've got the right to write a review of it.About the only thing I have to say, really, is that there's more personality in that one little Pterodactyl who offers Littlefoot his cherry than in the entire cast of "Disney's Dinosaur".Other than that, I only have to offer up the following bit of trivia that fellow "L.B.T." fans should go nuts over.
Therefore, for different reasons, Ducky and Cera are my two favorites.In conclusion, it's a generally innocent little movie, being only a little dark in a few scenes with Sharptooth, the vicious and giant dinosaur (couldn't be other than a T-Rex).
This movie is a masterpiece!It has great nostalgic value for me and reminds me the best times of my life: childhood.
After nearly 15 years without seeing it, it suddenly and unexpectedly came back in my life.This is one of the greatest animated movies of all times.
The plot is good, the animation is great, the artwork is superb and the main characters are easy to sympathize with: Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike.
Though many consider "The Secret of NIMH" for this title, "The Land Before Time", in my opinion, is Don Bluth's masterpiece.In a land in the prehistoric age, a drought is occurring and several herds of dinosaurs seek an oasis known as "The Great Valley".
You can always tell something is done by Don Bluth by the animation.The dinosaurs are only stopping on their way to the Great Valley to hatch their young.
I have every single note of the music from "The Land Before Time" memorized, and it describes the epic tone of the movie flawlessly.Littlefoot starts to wander off and finds a family of triceratops, including a female hatchling named Cera (spelled as it is in the middle of the word triCERAtops).
So the five hungry dinosaurs set off for the Great Valley, Littlefoot leading the way.If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should.
Absolutely none of the sequels, with the possible exception of the second one, ever come close to matching this one in grandeur and majesty.It teaches children self-reliance, confidence, the value of friendship, the hope for a better future, no matter how far away it may seem.This is one of the few movies I saw as a child that has stood the test of time.
So I think the theme works for me at least because I think all the different dinosaur types working together portrays the message that people should all be equal.A major reason that this film is great is that it has one of the best villains ever in an animated film.
What it does that other movies about talking dinosaurs do not is that it makes the world in which they live seem perilous and like a nightmare, as children often imagine these enormous reptiles to have lived in.The movie is an animated classic in all regards.
Bottom line, the music score is very excellent."The Land Before Time" is a classic and a great film for audience members of all ages.
Dinosaurs are loved by children, and therefore children love movies like "The Land Before Time".
THE LAND BEFORE TIME, by acclaimed animator Don Bluth (AN American TAIL), is a kids movie that can be as equally enjoyable to the adults, once they know it's film that's not entirely for them.
Bluth provides his talent charms in directing animated films, this time widening the target audience, and results in a story worth telling.Even if you know what might happen, it has charm, it has peril and also has drama, you don't really care and just let the scene take you away.
There are also a few scenes of peril and suspense, which may scare the kids.But overall, THE LAND BEFORE TIME is a good time watching movies.
I'd like to think that he knows how to connect animated movies,a nd give interest to both kids and adults.
Two of them were Steven Spielberg's epic film of the 90s "Jurassic Park" and Disney's mega-budget from the early 2000s "Dinosaur", but before all of that, there was Don Bluth, who directed his magnum opuses "The Secret of NIMH", "An American Tail" and "All Dogs Go To Heaven", but later teamed up with Steven Spielberg and Star Wars creator George Lucas to create this animated prehistoric masterpiece known as "The Land Before Time".It tells the story about a young brontosaurus named Littlefoot who is orphaned when his mother is killed by a Sharptooth.
On his journey, he meets four young companions: Cera, a Three-Horn Ducky, a Big Mouth, Petrie, a Flyer and Spike, a Spike-Tail as they try to avoid the sharptooth while going into dangerous places in a tale of survival, love, friendship, and teamwork.Aside from the 70 minute length, there's a lot of good things to offer.
I actually felt more emotional and sympathetic towards the characters than I ever did as a child, and it really makes a difference.The movie was made in 1988, and was graced with an array of twelve horribly voiced, animated, and executed musical sequels that sometimes cover up the light of the original film (too much of a good thing isn't always good.) The first movie is a masterpiece, one of the few animated films ever made that provoke serious emotions and understanding of the need for companionship.The story focuses around five young dinosaurs in a time where the world was a mostly barren place.
Now, of course, the sequels lack the chemistry shown in the first movie, so they aren't even in the ballpark of how fantastic this film is.On the technical side of things, the animation is great, a true example of classic cartooning.
When I was 11 I saw the first sequel o LBT The Great valley adventure,and found it far not as good as the first movie, in fact I didn't actually like it, maybe just a bit.Then I didn't see LBT anywhere until 2007, when I got unlimited internet connection and finally got a chance to know about all things I missed during my childhood, I found one of LBT songs from LBT 13 and found it very cute, because of Petrie's singing there.I was impressed by amount of these movies, I thought they should be more successful than 2-nd movie of there are so much of them and decided to download all movies.
Then LBT 3 and it was a bit better, but still drawn worse than first movie and worse overall of course.so I watched all sequels 4-6 and got used to it's stile-not amazing, but good to remember childhood.But when I watched The Stone of Cold Fire, I felt something changed, strong dialogues, Great-drawn Amazing storyline, They DON'T "meet new friends" and other nonsense some of LBT haters say they only met 3 villains and 2 friendly aliens, researching the main characters doing miraculous things like traveling in another place very fast("life is full with little Mysteries") and other mystic stuff, this whole movie is filled with mystery, and meanwhile it doesn't go far from the main storyline, This movie is totally different from previous 6 as a new Millennium it's quality is much better and continues improving with later sequels.
I really enjoyed this movie ,and it's actually looking as the second movie of LBT deserving for Family rating, Everyone Young and old will most likely love it.2 of 3 songs in The Stone of CF are not childish, they are just great, every word is catching, maybe because adults sing them.Also a Science fiction storyline is extremely rare for childish cartoons and realistic once( reminds me show LOST where all begins realistic and them and then goes to science fiction with time traveling) and revealing aliens at the end just blew my mind!
This movie has an excellent stile, especially Pterano's personality, and his voice(Michael York did great job), SOCF is also tougher than the other onces, and at the same time it brings good moralities, where can bad leadership bring to, and that some people who seem bad have heart too, they are just confused like Pterano.
I'm also glad there were SciFi instead of magic, if This stone was magical it would ruin the whole LBT universe Every time I re-watch this movie I more realize how great it is, it isn't silly as any previous sequel.Also the soundtrack is amazing.Some people think it would rather better to make a series instead of movies, my question to you ARE YOU SICK??
Sooo in 2007 a lame cartoon series of LBT released, drawn with low quality, repeating songs, silly story lines, dialogues, can't say it is worse than The Great valley Adventure, but most of episodes a really not so good, they are just childish and not for the whole family to watch, just made for kids,and for Little kids.About other Sequels, I think The Stone of Cold fire made a new level for the sequels, made them not only for children(who definitely like them)but for the whole family again, almost as it was with the first movie, which is the best for all times, but if there were no sequels I'd rather live sadder, most of LBT sequels brought much happiness in my life, and NO other cartoon is even close to it's greatness.".
It's got wonderful animation, story, and characters just like any great animated film should be.
Too bad this film got spawned with so many DTV sequels and a TV Series which made it so crap, I think they should have left it off at the original, I love the movie and always will..
Wow. Wow because the film is absolutely amazing and wow because i am not an alone obsessed fan.Ever since a young age i have enjoyed The Land Before Time, including the sequels unlike some people.
The Land Before Time is one of my favorite childhood memories when watching movies.
I've seen all the old classics from Disney but none have meant as much to me as don bluths land before time which is not a Disney film BTW.
there is no wander why everyone remember this film and keep on talking about it..there probably never been a movie that had such a strong influence on me, espectualy when his mother died..this scene was so sad i just cried my heart out each time i saw this..iv'e always asked my mother if it's true that she is dead and she didn't know how to explane this for me..sometimes i just couldn't continue watching it because of this..the one who made this movie is probably a ginius.
Younger viewers will love the adventures of the memorable characters: from the talkative Petrie to the silent Spike; from determined Little Foot to headstrong Cera -- and little Ducky, who, as the innocent dose of sunshine, tries to maintain a happy medium within the group.Older viewers will appreciate THE LAND BEFORE TIME for its majestic animation and James Horner's appropriate, sweeping score.
Little children need such obvious examples to identify with -- especially in a world where flawed, indifferent characters are par for the course in many television shows and movies.Ruined by pointless sequels that lack the heart of this original classic, THE LAND BEFORE TIME is a film for families to watch together and talk about -- all the while laughing with, crying with, and enjoying a true children's masterpiece..
Land Before Time made me cry too, because Littlefoot's mother's death is one of the saddest deaths ever portrayed in an animated film.
The Land Before Time is a great movie with a very well developed storyline and a terrific voice cast that really suit their characters personality.The movie is very short,only being about an hour and ten minutes long,so if you're looking for a quick but enjoyable family film then I would definitely recommend this.It says in the trivia that a lot of scenes were removed because they seemed too dramatic for children,I think they should have kept these scenes because it would have developed the characters some more and make the movie longer,it's up to the parents to decide whether it's alright for their kids to watch it or not.You will fall in love with these characters very early on and support them throughout,they are very sweet and lovable.The Land Before Time is a very enjoyable movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good family film or animation.
We fall in love with all of the characters and we watch them go through this film of friendship, betrayal and discovery.This is a truly magical cartoon film, unlike just about anything you have seen before.Enjoy "The Land Before Time"!.
I think that the LAND BEFORE TIME is a really great film especially for younger kids.
If I didn't watch it then I would have never meet the #1 cutest animated character of all time: Ducky.
This is one of the very few non-Disney animated films I grew up with - five little dinosaurs Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and a non-speaking Stegosaur travel the ruins of their land while being separated from their families by an earthquake, attempting to reunite with their loved ones in the beautiful and lush Great Valley.It's a pretty exciting story as we see the little dinosaur friends travel together to beat the odds and strive for survival as they struggle to find food and fend off frightening carnivores like the unforgiving T-Rex (who the call as Sharptooth).The animation is good and the voice-acting was believable.
I like the Littlefoot character, couldn't stand the bratty Cera, and thought the friendship and bonding between Ducky and Petrie was little too sweet and endearing.Again, this is an exciting and very nice dinosaur film, but grew up on me overtime.
The Land Before Time (1988) *** (out of 4)Nice animated movie has a group of young dinosaurs going off on their own to try and find the Great Valley after their land is destroyed by a major earthquake.
Today I have 24 years old and already watched much better animations, but this will always have a special place in my heart for nostalgic reasons.But even leaving aside the nostalgia, it's a FACT that "The Land Before time" is the best animated dinosaur movie Ever.
"The Land Before Time" is a wonderful children's film.