G, 69m, 1988

With the Voice Talents of Gabriel Damon (Littlefoot), Candace Hutson (Cera), Judith Barsi (Ducky), Will Ryan (Petrie), Helen Shaver (Littlefoot’s Mother), Burke Byrnes (Cera’s Father), Bill Erwin (Littlefoot’s Grandfather) and Pat Hingle (The Narrator and Rooter). Directed by Don Bluth. Produced by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy. Screenplay by Stu Krieger, Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss. Music by James Horner.

            The Land Before Time was the first film by Don Bluth that I ever saw. As a kid I was obsessed with dinosaurs, and as a kid I loved this film. I watched this film so many times that I must have driven my grandmother up the wall. I only saw a few of the sequels as a kid (I’ve since seen them all), but this film was by far my favorite. Revisiting this film as an adult, I found it to be more enjoyable than when I was a kid.

            The film opens with some beautiful sweeping shots of various dinosaurs, as a narrator informs the audience that the landscape is changing, and all the herds are heading towards the Great Valley. One of these herds is a family of Apatosaurses, nicknamed Longnecks in the film, watch as their single egg hatches. What happened to the other eggs as well as the father is left unanswered (yes, I know it’s revealed what happened to the father in the tenth movie). The hatching is named Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon). On his travels with his mother (Helen Shaver), his grandfather (Bill Erwin) and his grandmother, Littlefoot meets Cera a Threehorn (Triceratops). Cera’s father (Burke Byrnes) quickly informs the young dinosaurs that dinosaurs don’t play with dinosaurs outside their kind. One day they play with each other anyways and their attacked by the terrifying Sharptooth (Tyrannosaurs). Littlefoot’s mother comes to the rescue at the expense of her life. A great earthquake separates Littlefoot and Cera from their families, forcing them to travel to Great Valley alone. Along the way Littlefoot and Cera are joined by Ducky (Judith Barsi), a Bigmouth (Saurolophus), Petrie (Will Ryan) a Flyer (Pteranodon) and Spike a Spiketail (Stegosaurus).

            I found Littlefoot’s mom’s death to be far more powerful than Bambi’s mom’s death. My reasoning behind this in The Land Before Time, Littlefoot actually shows signs of prolonged grief. In Bambi, after a truly powerful sequence with muted sound and minimal dialogue, the film immediately cuts to a bright and colorful musical number. In The Land Before Time, Littlefoot actually talks about his feelings with other dinosaurs. Littlefoot refuses to eat anything for a while after his mother’s death. Littlefoot even forgets about his quest to reach the Great Valley, until he hears his mother’s voice telling him to go there. Littlefoot actually gets enraged when Cera calls his mother stupid. Compare this to Bambi, where the mother’s death is never mentioned again. Granted Bambi’s mother’s death plays a huge role in the sequel Bambi II, but we’re not here to judge a movie based on its sequels. The film even has the character Rooter (Pat Hingle) explain death to Littlefoot and as an extent, to kids. Very few animated films actually address death and dealing with grief. This film tackles the subject matter beautifully.

            The film also addresses the subject of prejudice. When Littlefoot and Cera first meet, Cera’s father is quick to tell the youngsters that dinosaurs don’t play with others outside their kind. This notion is then confirmed by Littlefoot’s mother. This prejudice rubs off on Cera and she refuses to travel with Littlefoot at first, as he’s not a Threehorn. At one-point Cera tells Littlefoot that her father told her that “flatheads have very small brains”. When Littlefoot first meets Ducky, he tells them they can’t travel together because she’s not a Longneck. Ducky was evidentially never taught this, so she ignores this notion. The message of the film is clearly that more can be accomplished if different species (or races) band together, more can be accomplished.

            The Land Before Time films wouldn’t become musicals until the direct-to-video films came about. This film has one song played during the end credits called “If We Hold On Together” by Diana Ross. The song is a very pleasant melody that is very similar to “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tail as both songs have pleasant lyrics and are performed well by their respected performers. The background music is also particularly good. The “Whispering Winds” number has become iconic in the franchise and is my favorite number in the film.

I find this film to be the best animated dinosaur film. It doesn’t resort to dumb dialogue and boring characters like Walking With Dinosaurs and Dinosaur. Admittedly I find “The Rite of Spring” segment from Fantasia, to be a better piece, however I understand that more people will like The Land Before Time, as the dinosaurs only appear for a short time in “The Rite of Spring” and many people will be turned off the segment by the absence of dialogue. The film also uses logic from “The Rite of Spring” as it features dinosaurs coexisting when they never would have met in real life. However, this film is not trying to go for accuracy, so I won’t fault the film on this decision. I also found the fight between Sharptooth and Littlefoot’s mother to be better than the fight in “The Rite of Spring”. In “The Rite of Spring” segment, the stegosaurus gets bitten multiple times and he hardly reacts to the pain. Littlefoot’s mom on the other hand limps away after she gets attacked and the look of horror on Cera and Littlefoot’s faces adds to the intensity of what’s going on onscreen.

This film was released the same day as the Disney animated feature Oliver and Company, and I find The Land Before Time to be stronger film. Oliver and Company is chocked full of product placements and the film feels dated with its design. The Land Before Time is also more daring to tackle darker subject matter and it handles them better than most Disney films.

            While not my favorite Don Bluth film (my favorite is The Secret of Nimh), the film is super enjoyable with memorable characters, a well-executed plot and morals that are applicable to audiences of all ages.