The Land Before Time

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The Land Before Time
Image:Landtime.jpg
Directed by	Don Bluth
Produced by	Don Bluth Gary Goldman Kathleen Kennedy George Lucas Frank Marshall John Pomeroy Steven Spielberg
Written by	Judy Freudberg (story) Tony Geiss (story) Stu Krieger (screenplay)
Narrated by	Pat Hingle
Starring	Gabriel Damon Candace Hutson Judith Barsi Will Ryan Pat Hingle Helen Shaver Burke Byrnes Bill Erwin
Music by	James Horner
Editing by	John K. Carr Dan Molina
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	Image:Flag of the United States.svg November 18, 1988 Image:Flag of Australia.svg September 7, 1989
Running time	69 minutes
Country	Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Language	English
Budget	USD$12,300,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue	USD$84,460,846 (worldwide)[1]
Followed by	The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Ratings
Australia:	G
Brazil:	Livre
Canada (Alberta):	G
Canada (BC/SK):	G
Canada (Ontario):	PG
Canada (Manitoba):	G
Canada (Maritime):	G
Canada (Quebec):	G
Canada (Home Video)):	G
Denmark:	A
Finland:	K-3
France:	U
Germany:	o.Al.
Hong Kong:	I
Iceland:	L
Ireland:	G
Japan:	U
Malaysia:	U
Mexico:	A
Netherlands:	AL
New Zealand:	G
Singapore:	G
Spain:	T
Sweden:	Btl
Taiwan:	GP
United Kingdom:	U
United States:	G

The Land Before Time is an animated film, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and directed by Don Bluth. It was originally released in movie theaters in 1988 by Universal Pictures.

Contents 1 Plot synopsis 2 Voice cast 2.1 English voice cast 2.2 Japanese voice cast 3 Crew 4 Box office 5 Sequels and spin-offs 6 Editing of the film 7 Production notes 8 In popular culture 8.1 Films 8.2 TV series 8.3 Others 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Plot synopsis

The film's plot concerns a young Apatosaurus named Littlefoot who becomes orphaned after the death of his mother, caused from injuries suffered while battling an antagonistic Tyrannosaurus ("Sharptooth") and the effects of an earthquake. Littlefoot flees famine and upheaval to search for the "Great Valley", an area which has been spared devastation. During his journey, he encounters four young companions: Cera, a Triceratops; Ducky, a Parasaurolophus; Petrie, a Pteranodon; and Spike, a Stegosaurus.^[2] Through many trials and tribulations, the five eventually make their way to the Great Valley, reuniting them with their relatives.

[edit] Voice cast

[edit] English voice cast

• Gabriel Damon .... Littlefoot
• Candace Hutson .... Cera
• Judith Barsi .... Ducky
• Will Ryan .... Petrie
• Pat Hingle .... Narrator/Rooter
• Helen Shaver .... Littlefoot's Mother
• Burke Byrnes .... Daddy Topps
• Bill Erwin .... Grandfather

[edit] Japanese voice cast

• Minami Takayama: Littlefoot
• Maaya Sakamoto: Cera
• Satomi Kōrogi: Ducky
• Yūji Mitsuya: Petrie
• George Nakata: Topsy

Note: The Japanese voice actors are appearing so far.

[edit] Crew

• Directed by Don Bluth
• Story by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss
• Screenplay by Stu Krieger
• Executive producers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas
• Music by James Horner
• Music performance by the London Symphony Orchestra
• If We Hold On Together performed by Diana Ross

[edit] Box office

The film was a box office success, grossing $48 million, as well as beating the Disney film Oliver & Company for the Number 1 spot during its opening weekend. It has since brought in a box office total of nearly $50 million during its domestic release, more than Don Bluth's previous film, An American Tail. The movie became a hit worldwide, grossing nearly $84 million worldwide, which Oliver & Company did not surpass.

[edit] Sequels and spin-offs

Main article: The Land Before Time (series)

The movie generated many direct-to-video sequels. The sequels depart from the style of the original significantly by adding "sing-a-long" musical numbers akin to Disney animated films and more transparent lessons of morality. One Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote that The Land Before Time was suffering from the "excessive sequel syndrome," with films that were "pure formula."^[3]

Don Bluth and his animation studio have no affiliation with any of the film's sequels.

[edit] Editing of the film

Like Disney's The Black Cauldron, which was made three years earlier, and Warner Bros./Zoetrope's The Outsiders, which was made five years early and starred Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, and C. Thomas Howell, 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. Around 10 minutes of footage, a total of 19 fully animated scenes, were cut from the final film. A lot of the cut footage consisted of the Tyrannosaurus rex attack sequence and sequences of the five young dinosaurs in severe situations of peril and negative stress. Don Bluth was unhappy with the cuts, and unsuccessfully fought for the footage. In the end the movie ended up being only 69 minutes long, one of Don Bluth’s shortest; in fact one of the shortest feature films ever produced (depending on how "feature film" is defined).^[4]

As of today, the original cut of the film with the removed scenes has not been released on video or DVD. In fact what actually happens in the scenes is not known because Don Bluth says that the scenes have been thrown away.

Another part of the movie that was going to be eliminated was the death of Littlefoot’s mother. However, it was thought that if the scene were removed it would simply produce problems in explaining why Littlefoot had to journey to the Great Valley alone. In the end, psychologists were shown the scene and gave feedback to the production team. The character of Rooter was brought in to the story to soften the emotional blow, and teach Littlefoot and the audience that although loved ones may die, they are always with us in the lessons we have learned from them.^[4]

Some scenes with the characters in the movie screaming were revoiced with them having milder exclamations.^[4]

[edit] Production notes

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.^[4] It was George Lucas's idea to make Cera a girl.^[4]

The end credits for the film featured the hit song "If We Hold On Together" by Diana Ross, the only lyrical song in the original film.

Fred Gwynne was considered the narrator of the film before being replaced by Pat Hingle.^{[citation needed]}

Animation Production took place at Sullivan Bluth Studios in Dublin, Ireland.

[edit] In popular culture

[edit] Films

• The plot of the Disney film Dinosaur (a multi-species herd must work together to search across a barren wilderness for a verdant valley safe from carnivores) was extremely similar to the plot of The Land Before Time.
• At the beginning of Beethoven's 3rd, there are VHS covers for the first five films in The Land Before Time film series seen in the background of the video store. Later, there are shots from The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock.
• The trailer for another Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment animated film We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story contains instrumental music from The Land Before Time. Both We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story and The Land Before Time were composed by James Horner.^[5]
• An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island contains James Horner's music from The Land Before Time and Michael Tavera's music from The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure and The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists and Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure contains Michael Tavera music from The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze. All of these films are composed by Michael Tavera, who also composed the scores for the sequels, and one of the films have James Horner's music from An American Tail, The Land Before Time, and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.
• The theatrical trailer for the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment live-action/computer-animated film Casper contains the instrumental music of the song If We Hold On Together from The Land Before Time. Both Casper and The Land Before Time were composed by James Horner.^[6]
• The video trailer for another Universal Pictures film Lorenzo's Oil contains James Horner's instrumental music of the song If We Hold On Together from The Land Before Time.^[7]

[edit] TV series

Main article: The Land Before Time (TV series)

• Also similar to the original 1988 film was the 1989 cartoon Dink, the Little Dinosaur. A multi species herd of dinosaur children (which includes an Apatosaur leader, a duckbill girl, and a Pteranodon) live together and have adventures in Dinosaur Valley while looking out for Tyrannor the Tyrannosaurus. One episode also showed a ghostly Apatosaur, perhaps inspired by Littlefoot's mother. The makers of The Land Before Time film series may have been aware of Dink when they created Archie the old Archelon for The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists, a character similar to Dink's Crusty the Turtle. (Both are old cave dwelling turtles that lecture the young dinosaurs.) By coincidence, however, Nancy Cartwright has provided voices for both Dink (TV.Com credits her as "Additional Voices") and for The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock as Dana, Cera's nephew.
• The "Retro" episode of Lilo & Stitch: The Series contains music from The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure The television series was composed by Michael Tavera, who also composed the scores for the sequels.
• In the "Before Time" mini episode of the 2003 animated television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Raphael says "Hey! I thought we had to save power while we're stuck in The Land Before Time".

[edit] Others

• The 75th and 77th Academy Awards contain James Horner's instrumental music of the song If We Hold On Together from The Land Before Time.
• The webcomic xkcd refers to Littlefoot's mother's death in its 233rd issue.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Official Land Before Time Site
• The Land Before Time at the Internet Movie Database
• Detailed Info on The Land Before Time (including plot detail)
• The Land Before Time at RetroJunk.com

v • d • e The Land Before Time

Film series: The Land Before Time (1988) • The Great Valley Adventure (1994) • The Time of the Great Giving (1995) • Journey Through the Mists (1996) • The Mysterious Island (1997) • The Secret of Saurus Rock (1998) • The Stone of Cold Fire (2000) • The Big Freeze (2001) • Journey to Big Water (2002) • The Great Longneck Migration (2003) • Invasion of the Tinysauruses (2004) • The Great Day of the Flyers (2006) • The Wisdom of Friends (2007) Characters: Littlefoot • Cera • Ducky • Petrie • Spike • Chomper • Ruby • Mr. Thicknose • Sharptooth • List of characters  Miscellaneous: The Land Before Time TV series • List of voice actors • List of songs

v • d • e Don Bluth

Video games: Dragon's Lair (1983) • Space Ace (1984) • Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp (1991) Animated films: The Small One (1978) • Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979) • The Secret of NIMH (1982) • An American Tail (1986) • The Land Before Time (1988) • All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) • Rock-a-Doodle (1991) • Thumbelina (1994) • A Troll in Central Park (1994) • The Pebble and the Penguin (1995) • Anastasia (1997) • Bartok the Magnificent (1999) • Titan A.E. (2000)  Related articles: Sullivan Bluth Studios • Fox Animation Studios

v • d • e George Lucas
Directed films	THX 1138 (1971) • American Graffiti (1973) • Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) • Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) • Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) • Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Short films	Look at Life (1965) • Herbie (1966) • Freiheit (1966) • 1:42:08 (1966) • The Emperor (1967) • Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB (1967) • Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town (1967) • The Making of 'The Rain People' (1969) • Bald: The Making of 'THX 1138' (1971)
See also	Lucasfilm • Industrial Light & Magic • Skywalker Sound • LucasArts • Skywalker Ranch
See also George Lucas productions

da:Landet for længe siden

de:In einem Land vor unserer Zeit fr:Le Petit Dinosaure et la Vallée des merveilles it:Alla ricerca della Valle Incantata no:Lillefot og vennene hans pt:The Land Before Time ru:Земля до начала времени (мультфильм) sv:Landet för längesedan