The Land Before Time

Theatrical Release Date: 1988 11 18 (USA)

UPC: 025192276279

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: G   Contains:[Mild Violence, Child Classic, Excellent For Children]

Summary: Animation producer Don Bluth's fondness for overly cutesy characters and muddy color compositions work to the benefit of his feature-length cartoon The Land Before Time. Littlefoot, a brontosaurus child, must fend for himself when his mother is killed (shades of Bambi). With several other orphaned dinosaurs, Littlefoot seeks out the fabled Great Valley, where food and shelter is plentiful. Along the way, the kiddie dinos learn several vital (and politically correct) life lessons, all the while keeping themselves scarce whenever the fierce tyrannosauri gallumph into view. The cuteness of the characters (emphasized by the voice work) takes some of the harsh edges off the story, which makes the film eminently suitable for younger children; and the smeary color design is ideal for the time-frame of the film, which is set in the turbulent, nature-run-rampant period just before the dinosaurs died out. Apparently they didn't all die, inasmuch as a Land Before Time sequel was released on video in 1994. The earlier film inspired a 1988 Saturday morning cartoon series produced by Ruby-Spears, Dink: The Little Dinosaur. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Children's/Family

Features: cc
Littlefoot's Playhouse
Great moments from The Land Before Time series
Sing-along songs from your favorite The Land Before Time adventures

The Land Before Time

Format: DVD

Release Date: 02/03/2015

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS Digital Theater Systems

Runtime: 69 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,Spanish,French

Subtitles: English,Spanish,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- The Land Before Time
1. Main Titles: In The Time Of the Dinosaurs [5:04]
2. Littlefoot [5:10]
3. Three-Horns Never Play With Longnecks [2:36]
4. Sharptooth! [3:17]
5. The Earthshake [2:02]
6. On His Own [8:58]
7. Ducky [2:10]
8. Petrie [1:24]
9. Cera And The Sharptooth [5:01]
10. Spike [1:33]
11. Going After Green Food [8:11]
12. The Sharptooth Returns [1:19]
13. Troubles On The Way [3:20]
14. The Wrong Way [4:16]
15. Five Against Sharptooth [3:48]
16. The Great Valley [10:28]

Derek Armstrong

Don Bluth's The Land Before Time became a surprisingly marketable brand name for a film well short of classic status, inspiring over a half-dozen cut-rate sequels and spin-offs that are best suited as babysitting videos for preschoolers. In this first outing, the only one in which Bluth was involved, the creator of The Secret of N.I.M.H. and An American Tail again proves that the animation techniques he learned at Disney don't need Disney's army of screenwriters to make good entertainment. Because it was released years before Jurassic Park or Disney's CGI film Dinosaur, which borrows plot elements from Land, Bluth's film provides fresh-enough images of this dark and volcanic landscape to seem groundbreaking. By making the characters preciously cute and vocally infantile, Bluth softens this cruelly Darwinian moment in history without having to cheer up his production design, keeping an unambiguous "G" rating in the process. The teasingly short running time -- the movie struggles to crack the hour mark -- should also keep the youngest children from squirming. Although Littlefoot and his buddies aren't particularly memorable, they do register enough to keep the viewers concerned during moments of peril, which are as involving as they need to be. The sophisticated visuals and the huggable young dinos are enough to make The Land Before Time a fond favorite, even if it does scrimp a little in the wit department. No less than George Lucas and Steven Spielberg served as executive producers on the film. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Judith Barsi  Producer 
Don Bluth  Director 
Don Bluth  Producer 
Gary Goldman  Producer 
James Horner  Composer (Music Score) 
Kathleen Kennedy  Executive Producer 
Stu Krieger  Screenwriter 
George Lucas  Executive Producer 
Brent Maddock  Screenwriter 
Frank Marshall  Executive Producer 
John Pomeroy  Producer 
Steven Spielberg  Executive Producer 
S.S. Wilson  Screenwriter 
Roy Smith  Producer 
Gabriel Damon  Actor 
Candy Hutson  Actor 
Judith Barsi  Actor 
Will Ryan  Actor 
Bill Erwin  Actor 
Helen Shaver  Actor 
Pat Hingle  Actor 
Pat Hingle  Actor 
Burke Barnes  Actor 
Fred Gwynne  Actor 

Country: USA