The Land Before Time is one of the film equivalents of lightning in a bottle. With the creative talents of animator Don Bluth and directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas collaborating, it tells a timeless story of young dinosaurs banding together to reach a valley paradise. It touched on power themes of prejudice, grief, and the power of belief, while not being afraid to show children darker imagery and even death.
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As the world shifted towards home video releases, Universal Studios decided to use Land Before Time as their flagship series. As of 2016, thirteen musical sequels have been released without Bluth, Spielberg, or Lucas' involvement. They vary in quality, but some of them are enjoyable kids movies with a shadow of the original's quality.
II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994)
Although Littlefoot and his friends are living in the Great Valley, things are not as peaceful as they were hoping. Feeling frustrated by their parent's rules, the kids chase after some egg thieves to prove their maturity and find a mysterious egg. They decide to hatch it to be better parents than their own but are shocked when it hatches into a baby tyrannosaurus they name Chomper.
As the first sequel, there are some growing pains to overcome. The songs are not very good, and the drop in animation quality takes time to adjust to. However, the film makes up for it with good themes about the difficulties of parenthood, and it continues the overcoming prejudice themes of the original with the kids befriending a carnivore.
III: The Time of The Great Giving (1995)
In the aftermath of a meteor shower, all water in the great valley begins to dry up. Cera's father takes it upon himself to ration the remaining water, but his attitude causes tension between the dinosaur species. What's more, Littlefoot and his friends find themselves accosted by a trio of bullies as they conduct their investigations into the crisis.
Focusing on Cera and her father allows someone other than Littlefoot to get character development, and it pairs well with the bullies in offering a cautionary tale about what happens when parents push their kids too hard. The film explores bullying by showing that kids don't just decide to be bullies: there is usually something that drives them. It also has one of the stronger climaxes among the sequels, involving the adults fending off an entire pack of raptors.
IV: Journey Through The Mists (1996)
A herd of brontosauruses visits the great valley, bringing sad tidings of how their homeland was charged into a misty marshland by changing climate. Littlefoot's grandfather also gets sick, and the only cure is a golden flower that grows in the mist. With a young brontosaurus named Ali agreeing to guide him, Littlefoot sets off to save his grandfather's life, unaware of the dangers waiting for him.
The strength of this movie is how it handles the themes of mortality. Littlefoot's grandmother sings a song that does a very good job of explaining the cycle of life and death to children without talking down to them, and Grampa Longneck putting his affairs in order feels like it's trying to help children prep for when their own grandparents will die. The message does get undercut a little because Grampa gets better, but it still approaches the topic better than other alternatives.
V: The Mysterious Island (1997)
When a swarm of locusts devours all the food in the great valley, the dinosaurs are forced to migrate. Not wanting their herd to split up due to limited resources, the kids set out on their own and arrive at the ocean. They travel to and become stranded on an offshore island, but they also stumble upon their friend, Chomper the tyrannosaurus.
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The Mysterious Island mirrors the plot of the original with the fallout of the locust attack, and the tension between the adult dinosaurs is believable given the situation. It also marks the first time Littlefoot has mentioned his mother in the sequels, during the song "Always There". Unfortunately, while it's nice to see Chomper again, the stuff on the island doesn't follow up on this conflict, since the kids are removed from it and the adults find food offscreen.
VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (1998)
After listening to a story from his grandfather, Littlefoot becomes enamored with tales about the legendary Lone Dinosaur. When a mysterious stranger named Doc, played by Kris Kristofferson, visits the valley, Littlefoot believes that he might be the figure from the stories. However, the stories inspire Cera's nieces to go to Saurus Rock, which according to the stories, will bring bad luck upon the valley should anything happen to it.
The themes of belief in stories and superstitions echoes Littlefoot's faith in his mother's stories in the first movie. It's never made clear if Doc really is the lone dinosaur or if the bad luck was caused by a curse, or if everything is just a coincidence. This ambiguity allows viewers to come up with their own conclusions, and is book ended with a good message about how sometimes the best heroes are those who tell you the stories in the first place.
VII: The Stone of Cold Fire (2000)
One night, Littlefoot witnesses a strange meteor wreathed in blue fire instead of the usual red. Two rainbow-faced travelers call it a stone of cold fire and claim that it was sent from a place beyond the mysterious beyond. Though the adult dinosaurs are quick to dismiss it, Petrie's uncle, Pterano, wishes to learn more incase the stone has the power to grant him leadership over the great valley.
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Along with having a good mystery surrounding the stone, this sequel has the best antagonist in the franchise besides the original. Pterano is a man who wants to be leader because he thinks his ideas can improve everyone's lives, but is unable to realize when his plans grow too big for their own good. It's a fascinating character for a kids' story to explore, and having him be related to one of the main characters adds another layer of drama.
VIII: The Big Freeze (2001)
Ducky finds herself reaching her limit with her adopted brother, Spike, who has been keeping her up with his snoring and eats all the food. She also finds herself getting jealous when a herd of stegosauruses arrives in the valley and Spike begins to spend more time among his kind. Then it begins snowing for the first time in the valley, and when the stegosauruses prepare to migrate to find food, there is a good chance Spike might go with them.
The idea of Spike connecting with his own kind is an interesting one. It teaches kids about exploring their roots, and brings up ideas of what it means to be part of a family. In Ducky's story, they also explore the anger and frustration siblings can feel towards one another, and how not properly managing them can be harmful to young children.
X: The Great Longneck Migration (2003)
Night after night, a mysterious dream of travel and the sun falling from the sky has been plaguing the sauropods in the great valley. Littlefoot and his grandparents decide to follow the call of the dreams and head off to a crator full of sauropods of all kinds. Among them is Bron, Littlefoot's long-lost father, who would love if Littlefoot would join his herd.
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The idea of introducing Littlefoot's father could have introduced an interesting moral dilemma of who Littlefoot will live with, but the movie doesn't do a good job of explaining why Bron's herd can't just come to the Great Valley. Instead, the film's strength comes from its world-building. Through talking to an older sauropod, Littlefoot's friends learn of a legend telling how the sauropods grew long necks and their relationship with the sun, which offers a fascinating insight into the dinosaur culture.
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