The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water (2002)

## Plot

After a period of harsh rain, the Great Valley is partially flooded and covered in debris. Littlefoot tries to play with his friends, but they are preoccupied: Cera and her father are removing a large log from their nesting area, Ducky and Spike are relocating their nest with their family, and Petrie has gotten a bad cold. A bored Littlefoot wishes that her mom has given him a brother, but eventually explores on his own, and he soon discovers a large area flooded by the rains. The adults advise their children to stay away, fearing that dangerous creatures from the outside may have been washed into the Valley. However, Littlefoot returns and meets Mo, a playful young Ophthalmosaurus that had been caught in the floodwater.

Littlefoot quickly strikes a friendship with Mo and describes him as his mud brother. Littlefoot's other friends also eventually befriend him. Mo explains that he is from the Big Water, and he swam into the Valley during the flooding. Mo confirms that he is alone, but soon after, a Liopleurodon attacks the group. Littlefoot requests help from the grown-ups to help Mo get back home, but they all refuse, not wanting to risk leaving the Valley to aid an outsider creature. A subsequent earthquake suddenly occurs and separates the children and Mo from the rest of the Valley, but it also traps the Sharptooth in an underwater cave. Unable to get back home, the children decide to take Mo back to the ocean by themselves.

The children follow a river that they believe leads to the ocean. A Diplodocus mother allows the children to take refuge at her nest for the night, and the children are present to witness the hatching of the mother's babies. The next day, Littlefoot and the others finally discovered that they are near the ocean, as they have begun to taste salt in the water. Suddenly, the Sharptooth, who has escaped from the cave, attacks them that night. The land, which surrounds the river, is steep and slick with mud, and the children are unable to escape. Mo distracts the Sharptooth and lures it further down the river. Reappearing the next day, Mo explains that the Sharptooth had smelled the ocean in the distance and abandoned the chase, choosing to return to the sea.

The children reach the ocean, but Mo is upset to learn that his friends must go home. He wishes to remain with Littlefoot and the others, but the children explain that he cannot, and Littlefoot reminds Mo that they will always be mud brothers. Mo reunites with his family and asks them for directions to the volcanoes, as the children know how to find the Valley from that location. Before leaving, Mo offers to show Littlefoot his home. Littlefoot accepts the offer, and is so surprised by the coral reef. Littlefoot and his friends say goodbye to Mo and return home to the Great Valley, where they are reunited by the grown-ups.

## Voice

* Thomas Dekker as Littlefoot
* Anndi McAfee as Cera
* Aria Noelle Curzon as Ducky
* Jeff Bennett as Petrie
* Rob Paulsen as Spike/Mo
* Kenneth Mars as Grandpa Longneck
* Miriam Flynn as Grandma Longneck/Diplodocus Mom
* Tress MacNeille as Ducky's mother/Petrie's mother
* John Ingle as Narrator/Topsy