What if Don Bluth stayed at Disney?/The Land Before Time

***The Land Before Time*** is a 1988 American animated adventure drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, Amblin Entertainment, and Lucasfilm, directed and produced by Don Bluth and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall. The film stars the voices of Gabriel Damon, Candace Hutson, Judith Barsi (posthumously) and Will Ryan with narration provided by Pat Hingle. It is the inaugural film in *The Land Before Time* franchise.

The 30th Disney animated feature film, it features dinosaurs living in the prehistoric times. The plot concerns a young "Longneck" (*Apatosaurus*) named Littlefoot, who is orphaned when his mother is killed by a vicious carnivore. 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 the "Threehorn" (*Triceratops*), Ducky the "Bigmouth" (*Saurolophus*), Petrie the "Flyer" (*Pteranodon*), and Spike the "Spiketail" (*Stegosaurus*).

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 forced to deal with a "Sharptooth" (*Tyrannosaurus*). This is the only Don Bluth-directed Disney film of the 1980s in which Dom DeLuise did not participate (as he was voice-acting in *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.

The film was released by Walt Disney Pictures on September 5, 1988, to generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $84.4 million. The first film spawned a franchise with thirteen direct-to-video sequels, a television series, video games and merchandise, none of which had Bluth's involvement.

## Plot

During the age of the dinosaurs, a massive famine forces several herds of dinosaurs to 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 encounters Cera, a "three-horn", until her father intervenes and tells her that three-horns don't play with longnecks, whereupon Littlefoot's mother describes other kinds of dinosaurs, who only associate with their own species. 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, but is mortally wounded in the process. An earthquake swallows up the Sharptooth and divides Littlefoot, Cera, and other dinosaurs from their herds; several die in the process, including Littlefoot's mother, who first gives her son some words of advice about finding the Great Valley before she dies, "Littlefoot, let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely." And with those words, she succumbs to her injuries. Confused and in grief, 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 and pass several landmarks, such as a rock formation that resembles a Longneck and the "Mountains that Burn".

Later, Littlefoot meets a "bigmouth" 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 inadvertently wakes him up. She escapes and bumps into Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie; she tells them that the Sharptooth is alive and pursuing them, but Littlefoot does not believe her. As Cera describes her encounter, she accidentally flings Ducky to the direction of a lone hatching "spiketail", whom Ducky 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, she and everyone else gravitate to Littlefoot's side for warmth and companionship.

The next morning, they are attacked by the Sharptooth, but they manage to escape through a tunnel that is too small for him to follow. Beyond this, they discover the landmarks mentioned by Littlefoot's mother. Before the volcanic range, a clash between Littlefoot's intention to follow his mother's directions and Cera's strong-willed insistence on going a different way results in a fight breaking out between them that causes the others to follow Cera, forcing Littlefoot to continue alone. However, when Ducky and Spike become endangered by lava and Petrie gets stuck in a tar pit, Littlefoot returns to rescue them. Cera gets ambushed by a pack of "domeheads" who are also living in the Mountains that Burn; the rest of the group pose as a tar monster, scaring away the domeheads and frightening Cera. When she realizes who it really is, Cera angrily leaves the group. It is not long, however, that it's clear her pride had been wounded, as Cera is reluctant to admit that her stubbornness and selfishness nearly put others in danger. Later, while crossing a pond, Petrie overhears the 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 the Sharptooth's nostrils enables Petrie to fly for the first time.

The plan nearly fails when the Sharptooth begins attacking the boulder while the group attempts to push it onto him. However, Cera, having finally overcome her sorrow, reunites with the group and headbutts the boulder, causing the Sharptooth to fall into the water below, the boulder crashing into him in the process. The Sharptooth momentarily takes Petrie down with him, seemingly to his death, but Petrie 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 finds his grandparents. The group then rejoins at the top of a hill and embrace each other in a loving hug.

## Cast

* Gabriel Damon as Littlefoot
* Candace 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 Tale* (1986), *Peter Rabbit* (1987), and *Oliver & Company* (1988), Disney staff talk began for future feature ideas with Bluth deciding to do a film similar to *Bambi*, but with dinosaurs, which was accepted by Jeffrey Katzenberg. Steven Spielberg's longtime friend George Lucas was also brought in on the project after being interested with it. The three persuaded *An American Tale* writers Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss to write the screenplay for the film. Their initial draft was based on their early ideas, but when it was felt the story was too juvenile, Stu Krieger was brought on to revise their draft. Early into story development, the film was about a group of young dinosaurs looking for a wise, older dinosaur. Later on, Bluth explained, "...we came up with another idea that none of these dinosaurs get along with each other, they all hate each other. They're taught from the time they were born not to associate with each other, that's racism." An early working title for the film was *The Land Before Time Began*. Bluth, Katzenberg, Spielberg and Lucas originally wanted the film to have no dialogue, like *The Rite of Spring* sequence in *Fantasia* (1940), but the idea was abandoned in favor of using voice actors in order to make it appealing to children.

### Animation

As work on the script continued, Bluth delegated some of the animation staff to begin creating concept art. As with his previous films, Bluth handled the storyboarding but with final revisions by Larry Leker. Production was initially delayed by several months as many animators moved to the Ireland animation studio. Production would eventually begin in spring 1987, a few months after the release of *An American Tale*.

### Editing

Throughout production, *The Land Before Time* underwent a severe cutting and editing of footage. Katzenberg, 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 11 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. Examples can be seen in the storyboards of the chase sequence in the briar patch. POV shots of the Sharptooth's snapping jaws were deleted, and shots were rearranged to shorten the sequence. This results in continuity errors, depicting the Tyrannosaur with his right eye still open after it had been blinded. Some screams were re-voiced using milder exclamations.

## Music

The music for *The Land Before Time* was composed by James Horner, who had previously provided the soundtrack for *An American Tale*, 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 Disneyland Records, and features seven tracks from the movie. The film's theme song "If We Hold on Together", written by Horner and Will Jennings, was sung by Diana Ross and was released as the soundtrack's lead and only single on November 5, 1988, peaking at number 23 on the US adult contemporary charts, and was later included on her 1991 album *The Force Behind the Power*. A digital version of the soundtrack was released on a number of services on January 22, 2013.

An expanded version of the soundtrack album was released on October 27, 2020 as part of the Walt Disney Records: The Legacy Collection series. This release featured newly remastered versions of the music on the original album, as well as 15 minutes of previously unreleased material.

## Release

*The Land Before Time* opened on September 5, 1988. Attached to the film, Disney and Amblin issued Brad Bird's *Family Dog* short from Amblin's television anthology *Amazing Stories* under permission from Universal.

### Critical response

*The Land Before Time* holds a 70% "fresh" approval rating from review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes from 33 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." Metacritic assigned a score of 66, based on reviews by 15 critics, signifying "Generally favorable reviews".

Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film "two thumbs up" on a September 19, 1988 episode of their television program *At the Movies*. Siskel found it to be "sweet more than it was scary" and "quite beautiful", also praising its straightforward story and remarked that it is one of the best Disney films since Walt Disney's death and he would recommend it to children over *Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!)*. 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." 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." *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?" Hal Hinson of *The Washington Post* wrote that "Still, though it's not a great film, it is an entertaining and, at times, emotionally rich one."

Many reviewers compared *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. 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." A review from the *Motion Picture Guide 1989 Annual* notes that the film "has been called a sort of prehistoric *Bambi*". 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." Kehr gave the movie three-and-a-half out of four stars, calling it "as handsome and honest an animated feature as any film Disney produced since Walt Disney's death; it may even be the best."

Don Bluth's membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints influenced the themes of the film. In an interview with *Church News*, he stated: "Everything I do is centered around the gospel. Even our films are, although the secular world would never realize it." Randy Astle states that Littlefoot can be read as a Christ figure because of his special birth circumstances and position as a leader of his people. Littlefoot does not undergo crucifixion or resurrection, making other typological interpretations more persuasive. The journey to the Great Valley, which is to the west, mirrors that of the Mormon pioneers, who moved from fertile lands in the east to the arid and mountainous great basin. Astle concludes that "Littlefoot is both a Joseph Smith—he sees a pillar of light and receives heavenly visitors—and a Brigham Young–he leads his followers across the plains."

### Box office

During its opening weekend, the film opened at number one in the United States and Canada, grossing $7.5 million. By the end of its theatrical run, it had grossed $48.1 million at the US box office, slightly more than any other Disney animated film, but $5 million less than *Oliver & Company*, which was released on November 18, 1988, a few months after the release of *The Land Before Time*. Overall, *The Land Before Time* grossed $84.5 million worldwide.

### 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*. It also received a nomination for "Best Fantasy Film" at the 16th Saturn Awards ceremony in 1990, beaten by *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*.

 Youth in Film Award

## Home media

*The Land Before Time* was released on VHS on September 14, 1989, as well as LaserDisc in regular pan and scan and "Special Collector's Edition" CAV-play editions by Walt Disney Home Video as part of the Walt Disney Classics series. According to the book *The Animated Films of Disney*, 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. Pizza Hut also ran its partnership with the film's VHS release in Australia. The VHS version was made available once more on February 20, 1996, and was later packaged with following three films in the series as part of the *Land Before Time Collection* on December 4, 2001.

The film was released on DVD for the first time on April 30, 1997, and re-released on December 2, 2003, as the "Anniversary Edition" for the movie's 15th anniversary, which included games and sing-along songs. The Anniversary Edition was later included with *The Great Mouse Detective*, *An American Tale*, *Oliver & Company*, and *The Little Mermaid* as a five-movie pack in November 2007. A widescreen Blu-ray version was available for the first time on October 13, 2015, which included digital HD and UltraViolet copies as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection, which was accompanied by a new widescreen DVD release on the same day. The Blu-ray re-released on January 15, 2019.

## Legacy

The film generated 13 direct-to-video sequels, which differ from the original by adding "sing-along" musical numbers. Bluth had no affiliation with any of the film's sequels. The sequels have generally been met with mixed reception: many fans of the original disregarded the sequels, while others have embraced the sequels into the canon of the story.

In 2007, a 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).