The Land Before Time

## About

Story by: Judy Freudberg & Tony Geiss

Language: English

## Plot

Near the end of the Cretaceous, a series of catastrophic events are causing intense drought, and several herds of dinosaurs seek one of the last livable places, a paradise known as the "Great Valley". Among these, a diminished "Longneck" herd gives birth to a single baby, named Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon). Years later, Littlefoot plays with Cera (Candace Hutson), a "Three-horn", who was trying to smash a beetle until her father (Burke Bynes) intervenes; whereupon Littlefoot's mother (Helen Shaver) names the different kinds of dinosaurs: "Three-horns", "Spiketails", "Swimmers", and "Flyers" and states that each has historically remained apart. That night, as Littlefoot follows a "hopper", he encounters Cera again, and they play together briefly until a "Sharptooth" appears. He attacks them, before Littlefoot's mother comes to their rescue. During their escape, she suffers severe back and neck injuries from the Sharptooth's teeth and claws. At that same time, an "earthshake" opens a deep ravine that swallows up the Sharptooth and divides Littlefoot and Cera from their herds. Littlefoot finds his dying mother, and receives her final words of advice in favor of his intuition.

Depressed and confused, Littlefoot meets an old "Clubtail" named Rooter (Pat Hingle), who consoles him upon learning of his mother's death. Littlefoot later hears his mother's voice guiding him to follow the "bright circle" past the "great rock that looks like a longneck and then past the "mountains that burn" to the Great Valley. Now alone in his journey, Littlefoot meets Cera once again and tries to get her to join him, but she arrogantly refuses his help, and stalks off into the darkness after falling down a ravine.

Later, Littlefoot is accompanied by a young "Bigmouth" named Ducky (Judith Barsi), whose cheery company bears him out of his depression. Soon after, they meet a "Flyer" named Petrie (Will Ryan), whose aerophobia makes him extremely insecure and nervous. Cera, who is attempting to find her own kind, finds the unconscious Sharptooth inside the ravine. Thinking he is dead, Cera harasses him, during which she mistakenly wakes him up, and flees. She soon bumps into Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie, and tells them that the Sharptooth is alive, although Littlefoot doesn't believe her. She then describes her encounter (exaggerating her bravery), during which she accidentally flings Ducky into the air. When she lands, Ducky discovers a mute hatchling "Spiketail", whom she names Spike and brings him into the group. Seeking the Great Valley, they discover a cluster of trees, which is abruptly depleted by a herd of Whiptailed Longnecks. Searching for remaining growth, they discover one tree still with leaves, and obtain food by stacking up atop each other and pulling the leaves 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 the Sharptooth, but escape through a cave-tunnel too small to admit him. Beyond this, they discover the Longneck-shaped monolith mentioned by Littlefoot's mother, and later a string of mountains that burn. Cera grows impatient of the seemingly aimless trip and decides to go another way, but Littlefoot tells her that she is going the wrong way and eventually he is pushed into attacking her, however Cera is able to easily gain the upper-hand due to her aggression and huge strength advantage and dominates the entire fight. Littlefoot continues in the direction he was told, while the others follow Cera. However, Cera's route soon leads them into danger, as Ducky and Spike become endangered by lava and Petrie gets stuck in a tar pit. Littlefoot rescues them, and they soon find Cera harassed by a small territorial herd of "Dome-heads", and having been coated in tar, scare them away. Ashamed of her fear and reluctant to admit her mistake, Cera leaves them in tears.

Later, while crossing a pond, Petrie spies the Sharptooth nearby. Tired of being stalked and determined to avenge his mother, Littlefoot plots to lure him into the water (using Ducky as bait) beneath a nearby boulder, intending to drown him. Their luring of the Sharptooth succeeds, but Littlefoot and Spike have trouble moving the boulder, putting Ducky in serious danger. In the struggle that follows, a draft from the Sharptooth's nostrils enables Petrie to fly. Sharptooth leaps onto the boulder and the plan nearly fails until Cera reunites with the group to allow Littlefoot and his friends to push both Sharptooth and the boulder into the water below. Sharptooth, who is still determined to attack the young dinosaurs, tries to take Petrie with him to his death. Littlefoot and his friends mourn the loss of Petrie until Ducky finds him, soaked and exhausted, but still very much alive.

Littlefoot, alone, follows a cloud resembling his mother to the Great Valley, there to be joined by the others. Upon arrival, Petrie impresses his family with his newfound flight, while Ducky introduces Spike to her family, who adopt him. Cera reunites with her father and Littlefoot rejoins his grandparents. Cera then calls for Littlefoot to play. They join their friends at the top of a hill and embrace each other in a group hug.

## Songs Used

* If We Hold On Together
* Bestest Friends

## Trivia

* Additional clips from The Great Valley Adventure, The Time of the Great Giving, Journey Through the Mists, The Mysterious Island, The Big Freeze, Journey to Big Water, and The Great Longneck Migration are used in the music video.
* It can be seen used in Two Brothers and Thunderbirds.