The Land Before Time
Short description
The Land Before Time follows a young brontosaurus, Littlefoot, after a drought and a devastating attack by a predatory dinosaur leave him alone. His mother had taught him the way toward the Great Valley, a fertile region where plant-eating dinosaurs can find food and safety, but an earthquake separates him from his grandparents and forces him to continue the journey on his own. Along the way he meets four young dinosaurs of other species, and together they must cross a harsh prehistoric landscape full of dangers. The group does not always agree on which path to take, and disagreements arise, but Littlefoot keeps guiding them toward the valley his mother described.
Don Bluth directed the film, his fourth feature after The Small One, The Secret of NIMH and An American Tail, working from a screenplay by Stu Krieger. Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy and Bluth produced it for Sullivan Bluth Studios alongside Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd., with animation and voice work including Gabriel Damon, Candace Hutson, Will Ryan, Judith Barsi, Helen Shaver and Pat Hingle among the cast.
Released on November 18, 1988, the film runs 69 minutes and cost about 12 million dollars, going on to earn roughly 84 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 7.4 rating from around 107,000 votes, and on TMDB a 7.2 from roughly 2,835 votes, while critics rated it 6.5 out of 10 across 66 reviews, a slightly cooler response than that of general audiences.
What's left behind the scenes
- This is the only animated film in the franchise that was shown in theaters. Subsequent installments were released directly to video.
- The working title of the film was “The Land Before Time Began”.
- The film was originally scheduled for release in the fall of 1987, but production and the release date were postponed by a year due to the studio's relocation.
- Before creating the film, the authors conducted research, visiting natural history museums in New York, Los Angeles, and the Smithsonian Institution.
- Littlefoot was initially named “Thunderfoot,” but it later became known that the name already existed in a children's book called “Triceratops.” Lucas suggested turning Cera into a female Triceratops, although midway through the animation process she was a male named Bambo. Don Bluth was inspired to create Spike by the appearance of his Chow Chow dog named Kabie. Spielberg’s son wanted Petrie to speak with the voice of Digit from the cartoon “An American Tail,” and as a result, Will Ryan, who voiced Digit, was invited to voice Petrie. Petrie was originally intended to be the main character of the cartoon, however, Judith Barsi, who voiced Ducky and became beloved by the entire studio for her catchphrase “yep, yep, yep,” pushed him into the background.
- Steven Spielberg and George Lucas initially wanted the film to be without dialogue, like the cartoon 'Fantasia', but then abandoned this idea, deciding to use voice actors to make the film more accessible to children.
- During its creation, the film was heavily edited and cut down. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas felt that some scenes in the film were too dark and would frighten young children too much. “It’s too scary. Kids will cry and parents will get angry. We don’t need that,” Spielberg said regarding scenes from the film. Approximately 11 minutes of footage, totaling 19 fully drawn scenes, were removed from the final version to achieve a G rating instead of PG. The majority of the excised material consisted of scenes involving the Tyrannosaurus attack and scenes in which the cartoon characters were in mortal danger. Some of the dinosaur screams were re-dubbed with more subdued voices. Although Don Bluth was unhappy with the changes and insisted that all the scenes be included, he eventually agreed to a 69-minute version, one of the shortest of his career. The scene of Littlefoot’s mother’s death was shown to psychologists, after whose feedback the creators decided to add Rooter to soften the emotional impact.
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