Land Before Time Retrospective #14
[Responding to a forum thread asking which moments from the first film had the biggest impact on you…]
I’m tempted to just say “the entire movie.” Often I prefer longer movies, but one of the great things about Land Before Time is that there’s no padding or filler. Nothing is wasted. Every scene feels meaningful. And the music. Even listening to just the music gets me emotional.
It’s also darker and more somber than a lot of other children’s animated films, even many of the ones you see to this day. It has a unique balance that you don’t see too often. It has such a haunting quality to it; it’s sad and scary and beautiful all at once. There’s some good action scenes too, despite it not being an action movie, per say.
Another thing I noticed is, near the beginning when Littlefoot is wondering why he can’t play with other dinosaurs, his mother tells him, “We all keep to our own kind. The threehorns, the spiketails, the swimmers, the flyers, we never do anything together.” Notice she lists off the four other species of dinosaur who will in fact go on to become Littlefoot’s closest friends. Throughout their adventure, it’s shown that the kids all needed each other if they were going to pull through.
I grew attached to the characters so quickly. The entire journey is memorable; from the part where they pile up on top of each other to try and reach the green food, to when they go to sleep that night (especially the music), to when Littlefoot and Cera have their fight, to the trek through the volcanic wasteland. And then Cera shouting “I’M COMING!!!” before arriving just in time to save the day; still one of my favourite moments of the entire series.
The topic of racism resonates with me, as I’ve dealt with (ex-)friends in the past who were prejudiced. It’s sad to watch Littlefoot, a gentle and sweet kid, get so unfairly bullied just for being a longneck. Which makes it all the more uplifting at the end when the kids are able to overcome their parents’ prejudices and become true companions. And of course that adorable group hug.
Lastly, the film has inspired me to want to check out Don Bluth’s other movies. As with The Land Before Time itself (before I joined the forum), many of Bluth’s films I can remember from my childhood, but I haven’t watched them now for a very long time. It’d be interesting to see them again all these years later. But I’ll save that for its own thread. Gotta watch the Land Before Time TV series first.
