The Land Before Time

This article is about the 1988 film. For the series in general, see The Land Before Time (series).

The Land Before Time
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Don Bluth
Produced by	Don Bluth Gary Goldman John Pomeroy Steven Spielberg George Lucas Kathleen Kennedy Frank Marshall
Screenplay by	Stu Krieger
Story by	Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss
Narrated by	Pat Hingle
Starring	Gabriel Damon Candace Hutson Judith Barsi Will Ryan
Music by	James Horner
Editing by	John K. Carr Dan Molina
Studio	Amblin Entertainment Sullivan Bluth Studios
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	November 18, 1988 (1988-11-18)
Running time	69 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12.5 million
Box office	$84,460,846

The Land Before Time is a 1988 American animated adventure film directed and co-produced by Don Bluth (through his Sullivan Bluth Studios), and executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall.

Originally released by Universal Pictures and Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, it features anthropomorphic dinosaurs living in a fantasy version of prehistoric Earth. The plot concerns a young Longneck (Apatosaurus) named Littlefoot, voiced by Gabriel Damon, who is orphaned after his mother is killed by a Sharptooth and the earthshake. 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, a Three-Horn (Triceratops); Ducky, a Big Mouth (Saurolophus); Petrie, a Flyer (Pteranodon); and Spike, a Spike-Tail (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. This was the only Don Bluth film of the 1980s in which Dom DeLuise did not participate (instead, DeLuise starred in Disney's 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 a critical and financial success, and spawned a multi-million dollar franchise with twelve direct-to-video sequels (without association with Bluth, Spielberg, or Lucas) as well as merchandise (toys, video games, etc.) and a television series.

Plot

In a time overlapping the Jurassic Period and Cretaceous Period, a drought is occurring and several herds of dinosaurs seek an oasis 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", trying to smash a beetle until her father (Burke Byrnes) 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" (frog), he encounters Cera again, and they play together briefly until a large green "Sharptooth" attacks. He almost has them, before Littlefoot's mother comes to their rescue. During their escape, she suffers severe back injuries.

At that same time, an "earthshake" (earthquake) opens a deep ravine that eventually swallows up the Sharptooth and divides Littlefoot and Cera from their herds. Littlefoot finds his mother near death, and receives her advice in favor of his intuition. Depressed and confused, Littlefoot meets an old Polacanthus 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" (sun) past the "great rock that looks like a longneck" and then past the "mountains that burn" (volcanos) to the Great Valley. Littlefoot encounters Cera once again and tries to get her to come with him; but she refuses.

Later, Littlefoot is accompanied by a young "Bigmouth" named Ducky (Judith Barsi), whose company bears him out of his depression. Soon after, they meet an aerophobic "Flyer" named Petrie (Will Ryan). Cera, who is attempting to find her own kind, finds the unconcious Sharptooth inside the ravine. Thinking he is dead, Cera harasses him, during which she mistakenly wakes him up, and flees. She later bumps into Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie, who have just narrowly hidden from a Dimetrodon, and tells them that the Sharptooth is alive; although Littlefoot does not believe her. She then describes her encounter (in exaggerating her bravery), during which she accidentally flings Ducky into the air and discovers a 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 Diplodocus. 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 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" (volcanos). Cera becomes impatient and she wants to go another way, but Littlefoot says its the wrong way and then a dinofight ensues causing a schism in the travelling party whereby Littlefoot continues in the direction he was told, while the others follow Cera. When Ducky and Spike become endangered by lava and Petrie gets stuck in a tar pit, Littlefoot rescues them; later to find Cera harassed by a pack of Domeheads (Pachycephalosaurus), and, having been coated in tar, scare them away. Ashamed of her fear and reluctant to admit her mistake, Cera goes off to be alone.

Later, while crossing a pond, Petrie discovers the Sharptooth nearby. With this, Littlefoot plots to lure him into the water beneath a nearby boulder, intending to drown him. As Ducky (being used as bait) lures Sharptooth to the water, Littlefoot and Spike are having trouble moving the boulder. During the proceeding struggle, a draft from Sharptooth's nostrils enables Petrie to use his power of flight. Sharptooth leaps onto the boulder and the plan nearly fails until Cera rejoins the group, allowing Littlefoot and his friends to push both Sharptooth and the boulder into the water below, momentarily taking Petrie down with him; but he later emerges unharmed.

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 (but not her mother and sisters, who appear to have died en route) and Littlefoot rejoins his grandparents. Cera then calls for Littlefoot to play, in which they are joined by their friends and race to the top of a hill and embrace each other in a group hug.

Cast

Main article: List of The Land Before Time characters

Littlefoot, Petrie, Cera, Ducky, & Spike.

• 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 / Rooter

Production

An early working title for the film was "The Land Before Time Began". Steven Spielberg and George Lucas originally wanted the film to have no dialogue, like The Rite of Spring sequence in Fantasia, but the idea was abandoned in favor of using voice actors in order to appeal to children. The film was originally planned for release in fall of 1987, but the production and the release date were delayed by a year due to the relocation of Sullivan Bluth Studios to Dublin, Ireland.

The production was preceded by extensive research, wherein researchers visited natural history museums in New York and Los Angeles and the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC. The artists had to create a credible landscape and animals. Animators made more than 600 background images for the film.

Littlefoot was originally going to be called "Thunderfoot", until it was found out that a Triceratops in a children's book already had that name. It was Lucas's idea to make Cera a female Triceratops, when she was in mid-animation as a male named Bambo. Robin Williams was considered for performing the voice of Petrie, until Spielberg's son, Max, suggested the voice of Digit, from An American Tail, which resulted in Will Ryan, the voice of Digit, performing the voice of Petrie. The character of Spike was inspired by Don Bluth's pet chowhound, Cubby.

Ducky's voice actor, Judith Barsi was killed by her father, Jozsef, 4 months before the film's release in a murder-suicide. She wasn't alive to see the film's release.

Editing

Throughout production, The Land Before Time went under a severe cutting and editing of footage. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas thought that some scenes in the movie would appear too frightening or could even cause psychological damage to young children. About 11 minutes of footage, 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 severe peril and distress. The scene of Sharptooth landing on Littlefoot's mother was only shown in shadow, though some early VHS copies of the film have the original version. Some screams were revoiced using milder exclamations. Though Don Bluth was unhappy with the cuts, and fought for all the footage, he had to settle on a final running time of 69 minutes, one of his shortest.

The sequence of Littlefoot's mother's death was shown to psychologists who gave their feedback to the production team, and the character of Rooter was added to the story to soften the emotional blow. Brief portions of the scene which showed the mother's neck and back bitten have since been edited out of home video releases and television airings, though this footage was present both in the theatrical cut and on earlier VHS copies of the film. Later editing of the film was presumably done to bring the tone closer to that of the non-violent and more child-friendly sequels and television series.

Deleted Scenes

Some stills from the film include deleted Sharptooth scenes, stills from the original ending, Ducky taunting Sharptooth by making faces in the water, part of the scene after the gang get green-food from the tree, and Spike being enticed with berries by Ducky, from a scene that was to have included Cera arguing against Spike coming with the group. There also appears to be a deleted scene involving the main characters happening on an oasis inhabited by a group of "crown-heads" (Pachycephalosaurus/domeheads) who tell the group that only their own kind can eat, and "gray-noses" (Saurolophus/bigmouths) who say only their own kind can drink. The two species refuse to share food or water. This is when Cera realizes that judging others by their species is not the best thing to do. Ducky is told by the gray-noses that she can drink because she is like them, but the others cannot, so the group moves on to find their own food. These scenes have not yet been released to the public.

Original ending

The film's ending was also altered. The original version had Littlefoot finding the Great Valley on his own, after Cera and the rest of the group go their own way. He would then have gone back to find the others and help them defeat Sharptooth, before they all entered the valley. Evidence of this ending remains in the scene of Littlefoot talking to his mother's spirit after the death of Sharptooth. The rock pushed onto Sharptooth's head is still there in the background, on its ledge, because this scene was meant to appear before the death scene.

Inaccuracies

Like most early dinosaur films, this film has many biological issues and mistakes, most of them regarding the Sharptooth. For example, Sharptooth is knocked over at least twice by Littlefoot's mother, and yet he is able to lift himself back up with ease, which would have been a physical impossibility due to Tyrannosaurus's short and stubby arms. Also, he is able to jump far and high into the air, which would have required a significant amount of muscle mass in his legs, which would leave very little room for anything else in the body.

Similarly, he is able to fully wake himself from a coma after falling into the chasm, and he regains his full strength and agility shortly after waking up. It seems that a fall that far would have killed a Tyrannosaurus. Even if a Tyrannosaurus could have survived a fall that far, the impact would have broken a substantial number of bones, or at least enough physical harm that if it were able to awake it would not be able to stand up, which would eventually lead to death.

Soundtrack

The theme song "If We Hold On Together" was sung by Diana Ross and released as a single in January 1989. The soundtrack was composed by James Horner and released on November 21, 1988.

Track listing

1. "The Great Migration"
2. "Sharptooth and the Earthquake"
3. "Whispering Winds"
4. "If We Hold On Together"
5. "Foraging For Food"
6. "The Rescue/Discovery of the Great Valley"
7. "End Credits"

Reception

The Land Before Time was a box office success, grossing $48 million, as well as beating the Disney film, Oliver & Company, which was released on the same day, for the #1 spot during its opening weekend. It brought in a box office total of nearly $50 million during its domestic release, slightly more than Don Bluth's previous film, An American Tail. The film became a hit worldwide, and while Oliver & Company had grossed over its domestic earnings, The Land Before Time grossed nearly $84 million worldwide, which the Disney film did not surpass. Siskel & Ebert gave The Land Before Time "two thumbs up", whereas Ebert gave Oliver & Company, a "thumbs up", while Siskel gave Oliver & Company, a "thumbs down".

At review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 73% "fresh" rating from critics while the film's fans gave it an 85% Certified "Fresh".

A review in the Motion Picture Guide 1989 Annual notes that the film "has been called a sort of prehistoric Bambi", and considers it to be more in the style of a classic Disney film than Oliver and Company.

Legacy

Main articles: The Land Before Time (series) and The Land Before Time (TV series)

The film generated many direct-to-video sequels, which differ from the original by adding "sing-a-long" musical numbers akin to Disney animated films. Bluth and his animation studio have no affiliation with any of the film's sequels. The sequels have generally been met with mixed reception with several fans of the original disregarding the sequels, while some have embraced the sequels into the canon of the story.

A 2007 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, reworked versions of songs from the sequels).

Home video release history

September 14, 1989 (1989-09-14) (VHS/Laserdisc)
May 13, 1997 (1997-05-13) (VHS/Laserdisc - Collection)
December 1, 1998 (1998-12-01) (VHS/Laserdisc - Family Features)
December 2, 2003 (2003-12-02) (DVD anniversary)

International distribution

Video/DVD:

• UK: CIC Video, PolyGram Video
• USA/international: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Television:

• UK: BBC One (90's), Channel 4 (currently)
• Ireland: RTE Two (commonly every year)

External links

• Official website
• The Land Before Time at the Internet Movie Database
• The Land Before Time at AllRovi
• The Land Before Time at Box Office Mojo
• The Land Before Time at Rotten Tomatoes