LAND BEFORE TIME ANNIVERSARY EDITION (DVD) DVD

The Land Before Time
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, All Movie Guide

Cast Gabriel Damon as Littlefoot Candy Hutson as Cera Judith Barsi as Ducky Will Ryan as Petrie Bill Erwin as Grandfather Helen Shaver as Littlefoot's Mother Pat Hingle as Rooter Pat Hingle as Narrator Burke Barnes as Daddy Topps Fred Gwynne as

Crew Dan Kuenster - Animator Lorna Pomeroy - Animator John Pomeroy - Animator Linda Miller - Animator Dick Zondag - Animator Ralph Zondag - Animator John Pomeroy - Animation Director Dick Zondag - Animation Director Linda Miller - Animation Director Lorna Pomeroy - Animation Director Ralph Zondag - Animation Director Deborah Jelin Newmyer - Associate Producer Nancy Mayor - Casting Russell Boland - First Assistant Director David Steinberg - First Assistant Director Don Bluth - Director Dan Molina - Editor John K. Carr - Editor Frank Marshall - Executive Producer George Lucas - Executive Producer Steven Spielberg - Executive Producer Kathleen Kennedy - Executive Producer James Horner - Composer (Music Score) Will Jennings - Songwriter Don Bluth - Production Designer John Pomeroy - Producer Don Bluth - Producer Gary Goldman - Producer Roy Smith - Producer Judith Barsi - Producer D.A. Lanpher - Special Effects Tony Geiss - Screen Story Judith Freudberg - Screen Story Brent Maddock - Screenwriter S.S. Wilson - Screenwriter Stu Krieger - Screenwriter

The Land Before Time
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, All Movie Guide
 

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General Specifications: Language Options: English, French, Spanish Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DTS: Digital Theater Systems (akin to 5.1) DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel Additional Features: Littlefoot's Playhouse - great moments from The Land Before Time series, sing-along songs from you favorite The Land Before Time adventures Jurassic Park Institute and much more! DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: G DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 69 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 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 Greenfood [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]