The Land Before Time (series)
The Land Before Time is a series of animated films centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with The Land Before Time, directed and produced by Don Bluth and executive produced by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. It was followed by a total of 12 direct-to-video musical sequels, (with Jeff Bennett and John Ingle there role) although none involves the participation of Bluth, Lucas, or Spielberg.
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Synopsis[edit]
The films follow a friendship of a group of young dinosaurs, by the names of Littlefoot (Apatosaurus), Cera (Triceratops), Petrie (Pteranodon), Ducky (Saurolophus), and Spike (Stegosaurus). After finding The Great Valley, they raise a carnivourous baby, survive a drought and a cold snap and witness a solar eclipse. Throughout all films they embark upon adventures, learning lessons about life and friendship along the way.
List of titles[edit]
Films[edit]
The following is a list of the films in the The Land Before Time series. All sequels have since been renamed without the numbers in their titles, when they were re-released on DVD in 2003.
| Title | Release Date | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Editor(s) | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Land Before Time | November 18, 1988 | Don Bluth | Screenplay: Stu Krieger Story: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
Don Bluth Gary Goldman John Pomeroy Executive producers: Steven Spielberg George Lucas Co-executive producers: Frank Marshall Kathleen Kennedy Associate producer: Deborah Jelin Newmyer |
John K. Carr Dan Molina |
James Horner |
| The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure | December 13, 1994 | Roy Allen Smith | Screenplay: John Loy John Ludin Dev Ross Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
Roy Allen Smith Co-producer: Zahra Dowlatabadi Animation producer: Nelson Shin |
Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving | December 12, 1995 | Roy Allen Smith | Screenplay: Dev Ross Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
Roy Allen Smith Zahra Dowlatabadi Animation producer: Nelson Shin |
Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists | December 10, 1996 | Roy Allen Smith | Screenplay: Dev Ross Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
Roy Allen Smith Co-producer: Zahra Dowlatabadi Animation producer: Nelson Shin |
Warren Taylor | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island | December 9, 1997 | Charles Grosvenor | Screenplay: John Loy Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Rocky Solotoff |
Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock | December 15, 1998 | Charles Grosvenor | Screenplay: Libby Hinson John Loy Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Melinda Rediger Rocky Solotoff |
Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire | December 5, 2000 | Charles Grosvenor | Len Uhley | Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley |
Danik Thomas | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze | December 4, 2001 | Charles Grosvenor | John Loy | Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley |
Danik Thomas | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water | December 10, 2002 | Charles Grosvenor | Dev Ross Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley |
Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration | December 2, 2003 | Charles Grosvenor | John Loy Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
Charles Grosvenor Executive producer: James Wang Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley |
Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses | January 11, 2005 | Charles Grosvenor | John Loy | Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley |
Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
| The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers | February 27, 2007 | Charles Grosvenor | John Loy Characters: Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
Charles Grosvenor Associate producer: Daniel J. Wiley |
Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera Kyle Kenneth Batter |
| The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends | November 27, 2007 | Jamie Mitchell Supervising director: Charles Grosvenor |
John Loy | Daniel J. Wiley | Jay Bixsen | Michael Tavera |
Albums[edit]
- The Land Before Time: Sing-Along Songs (1997)
- The Land Before Time: More Sing-Along Songs (1999)
Television series[edit]
A television series based on the films began airing on YTV in Canada on January 5, 2007. It consisted of one season of 26 episodes, and officially premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 5, 2007, after the DVD release of The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers.[1] The TV series takes place after the events of The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends. It has since been collected and released on 6 DVDs, each containing 4 episodes, in the United States.
Games[edit]
The series has spawned seven spin-off games, two for PC, one for the Game Boy Color, one for the Game Boy Advance and three for the original PlayStation. The PC games are usually educational games aimed for preschool and kindergarten. Games for the Game Boy Color and Advance include The Land Before Time and The Land Before Time: Into the Mysterious Beyond, in which the original six characters must search for Chomper. Games for the PlayStation include The Land Before Time: Big Water Adventure, a spin-off of Journey to Big Water, The Land Before Time: Great Valley Racing Adventure and The Land Before Time: Return to the Great Valley.
Future[edit]
A 14th film was originally commissioned by Universal in 2007 for release in 2009 under the name of "The Land Before Time XIV". Shortly after the 14th film was commissioned the Universal Animation Studios where The Land Before Time had been produced closed along with The Land Before Time offices. This coinciding with poor sales of The Land Before Time XIII and the poor economic climate has led to the future of The Land Before Time XIV and season 2 of the television series being unclear.[2][3][4]
Cast[edit]
Main Characters
- Littlefoot voiced by: I Gabriel Damon, II-IV Scott McAfee, V Brandon LaCroix, VI-IX Thomas Dekker, X Alec Medlock, XI Aaron Spann, XII Nick Price, XIII Cody Arens/Logan Arens
- Cera voiced by: I-IV Candace Hutson (credited as Candy Hutson) V - XIII Anndi McAfee
- Ducky voiced by: I Judith Barsi, II-IV Heather Hogan, V-XIII Aria Curzon
- Petrie voiced by: I Will Ryan, II - XIII Jeff Bennett
- Spike voiced by: I-V, VII-XIII Rob Paulsen, VI Jeff Bennett
- Grandpa Longneck voiced by: I Bill Erwin, II - XII Kenneth Mars
- Grandma Longneck voiced by: II - IV Linda Gary, V - XI & XIII Miriam Flynn
- Cera's father/Topps/Toppsy voiced by: I Burke Byrnes, II - XIII John Ingle
- Narrator voice: I Pat Hingle, II John Ingle
- Littlefoot's mother voiced by Helen Shaver
Guest characters[edit]
In every sequel to the original film The Land Before Time, there has always been a guest character featured. Up to date, Chomper, Mo, Tria, Big Daddy, the other Tinysauruses, Tricia, Mr. Thicknose, Ali, and Guido, Bron, Hyp, Nod, Mutt, Tippy, Shorty, Doc, and the Old One are the only guest characters of the series to make reappearances.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
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