After the major success of An American Tail, both ex Disney animator Don Bluth and big-time Hollywood director Steven Spielberg wanted to create an animated Adventure That was described as Bambi but with Dinosaurs. The film went through many different reversions including one where the dinosaurs don't even talk, but then after a few more rewrites and also having George Lucas of Star Wars fame to serve as executive producer along with Spielberg, the film would become the one that we know today called The Land Before Time. Directed by Don Bluth and released under the Universal brand, The Land Before time would turn out to be a timeless tale that is just as much worth watching now as it was worth watching back in 1988.
In the age of Dinosaurs, Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon) is a young Brontosaurus who is traveling with his mother and grandparents to head to the great valley where there is vegetation that the dinosaurs of their kind can eat for a long time. Unfortunately, a T-Rex named Sharptooth comes out of nowhere and kills off Littlefoot's mother which saddens Littlefoot deeply. To make matters worse, Littlefoot is separated from his grandparents after an earthquake leaving him all alone. Soon comes across other kid dinosaurs including a Triceratops named Cera (Candace Hutson), a Parasaurolophus named Ducky (Judith Barsi), a Pterodactyl named Petrie (Will Ryan), and a Stegosaurus named Spike (Frank Welker) as they form an unlikely bond to try and meet their parents in the great valley while surviving many dangers in their path.
The story offers what you would expect in an animated dino journey with a lot of obstacles and unfortunate circumstances. What you won’t expect from this movie however is just how dang emotional it is. There are plenty of moments such as the death of Littlefoots mother that are just dang hard to watch at points and it elevates the movie into being more than just a point a to point b adventure. The dangers our heroes have to face are also very scary but also satisfying. This movie is not here to hold your hand as they don’t back out on the pure raw emotions of sadness and fear from the kid dinosaurs. I truly respect movies that are family-friendly but are not necessarily ultra happy and chipper and this movie is a prime example of a “kids movie that is not afraid to go to scary places and have characters with complex emotions.
The characters have well-defined personalities especially the kid dinosaurs who are forced into having to travel to reunite with their families. One thing that intrigued me about this movie is how almost three-dimensional these characters are as they do more than just stand around being cute. Littlefoot is a very kind and understanding Brontosaurus but is not limited to being angry and sad when pushed to the breaking point. Cera the Triceratops also has many interesting character traits including being sure of herself to a fault. I will admit that sometimes her personality can be rather annoying at points but at the same time, it is refreshing to not have a character that is all cutesy and bland. The rest of the tag-along characters such as Ducky are very fun and bring a level of cuteness and comedy to alleviate some of the more dramatic scenes which are more than welcomed. These characters stand the test of time and are even likely to connect with an audience now as they did back in 1988.
The animation is very stellar and really holds up. This animation was created by Don Bluth and many other ex Disney animators and they bring a beautiful look at prehistoric times with so many dinosaurs and both friendly and dangerous. A lot of the movie has a very soft glow to the whole thing which makes it welcoming but also very atmospheric. However, it’s not afraid to show off darker colors as well to indicate danger or tension in the character's journey. It is true that this 2D animation may not look as clean or as flashy as Disney's 2D animation, but this animation is still very timeless and if you showed this to a kid today I would guarantee that he or she would still be sucked into the story as much as they would when they're watching a 3D animated movie.
The music was composed by James Horner who did the soundtrack for other recognizable movies such as An American Tale, Jumanji, The Rocketeer, and even Titanic. Needless to say, he has sure done it with this score as he creates a score that matches the movie’s story and tone as he does not hold back on the sad and dramatic moments and he also is great at creating an atmosphere from a time when humans were not even around.
This movie had competition to deal with as this film was released around the same time as Disney's Oliver & Company. That fact though would not be the end all be all for this movie though as it was more successful critically than the latter and it would win the hearts of audiences across the world. It’s actually pretty ironic that the universal animated movie would be more like what Disney should have been Oliver & Company. The Land before time is rich with an adventurous and heartbreaking story, complex characters, beautiful 2D animation, and a lovely music score. If you haven't seen this movie yet and would love some good old-fashioned 2D animation, this is definitely a great one to watch especially if you are in for a good rollercoaster of emotions.
(Final Grade: A-)