The Land Before Time (1988)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Don Bluth

Writers:

Judy Freudberg (story) &
Tony Geiss (story) ...

Release Date:

18 November 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Drama | Animation

Tagline:

The adventure that started it all!

Plot:

Four orphan dinosaurs travel the ruins of their world, while grieving the loss of their families and banding together to face the odds of survival.

Plot Keywords:

Dinosaur | Brontosaurus | Anthropomorphism | Prehistoric World | Tyrannosaurus

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

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

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA | Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Brazil:Livre | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Portugal:M/6 | Australia:G | Finland:K-6 | France:U | Sweden:7 | UK:U | USA:G | West Germany:6 | Singapore:G

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

CASTLE THUNDER: The Haunted Mansion thunderclap is heard right at the beginning of the first storm, when it frightens Baby Cera.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Littlefoot's lips don't move when he says "Cera, you came back!" while pushing the boulder on the Sharptooth.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Once upon this same earth, beneath this same sun, before you, before the ape and the elephant, before the wolf, the bison and the whale, before the mammoth and the mastodon, in the time of the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs were of two kinds. Some had flat teeth...

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

Soundtrack:

If We Hold On Together

Don's Best - Endearing Cast,Exquisite Animation

I've adored this film ever since I first saw it at the cinema in '88. Sweet Littlefoot, Bold Cera, Chatty Ducky, Timid Petrie & Greedy Spike are the cutest dinosaurs ever. Anyone unmoved by their adventures must have a heart of stone. The animation is superb and so is the soundtrack. Each dinosaur has a distinctive personality and you laugh and cry with them throughout. I only wish the film had been longer. The sequels are cute but it is the original that has the most heart. 10/10