Dino-mite!

The Land Before Time (1988)

Rating: G

Runtime: 69 minutes

Box Office (in today’s dollars): 95 million (approximately)

Characters: Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Littlefoot’s mom, Sharptooth, Littlefoot’s grandfather, Littlefoot’s grandmother, Rooter

Cool Stuff: Tree Star

Cool Music: “If We Hold on Together”

Cool Quote: “Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely."

This is the shortest movie on my list (69 minutes). I have read that it was supposed to be longer (by about ten minutes) but it would have resulted in it being too scary for kids. What we do get in the short amount of time is great characters and lots of emotion. Littlefoot is the heartbroken Longneck who loves his mom. Cera is the stubborn Three-horn, Ducky is the chatty Swimmer, Petrie is the frightened Flyer, and Spike is the quiet Spiketail. The group spends their time trying to get to the Great Valley and away from Sharptooth. Littlefoot’s mom is very protective of her son and teaches him many great things.

One of the many things Littefoot learns from his mom is about Tree Stars. They are very cool because you can play with them and use them to remind you of your mom. Much of the emotion from the movie comes from the great soundtrack. My girlfriend owns it and listens to it frequently. The closing song by Diana Ross, “If We Hold on Together”, captures the innocence and sweetness of the characters and reminds us all of what it was like to be a kid. As for cool quote, yet again it’s something that is taught to Littlefoot by his mom: “Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely.”

This is probably one of the saddest animated movies you will ever see. The Lion King was definitely influenced by it (who am I kidding, The Lion King was influenced by a lot of things). There is a scene where Littlefoot sees his mother’s shadow and runs to it only to find it is his own and he is left alone. Poor little guy. His mom left big shoes to fill, but with the help of his friends he will succeed. Speaking of success: this movie spawned 12 (and counting) direct-to-video sequels. And they all have musical numbers. That is a lot of singing dinosaurs ... yep yep yep!

Next movie to review: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure