The Land Before Time (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Chensiyuan (talk | contribs) at 01:57, 13 December 2007 (→‎Crew). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the 1988 film. For the series in general, see The Land Before Time (series).
The Land Before Time
File:Landtime.jpg
Directed byDon Bluth
Written byJudy Freudberg (story)
Tony Geiss (story)
Stu Krieger (screenplay)
Produced byDon Bluth
Gary Goldman
Kathleen Kennedy
George Lucas
Frank Marshall
John Pomeroy
Steven Spielberg
StarringGabriel Damon
Candace Hutson
Judith Barsi
Will Ryan
Pat Hingle
Helen Shaver
Burke Byrnes
Bill Erwin
Narrated byPat Hingle
Edited byJohn K. Carr
Dan Molina
Music byJames Horner
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
United States November 18, 1988
Australia September 7, 1989
Running time
69 minutes
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUSD$12,300,000 (estimated)
Box officeUSD$84,460,846 (worldwide)[1]

Template:Infobox movie certificates The Land Before Time is an animated film, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and directed by Don Bluth. It was originally released in movie theaters in 1988 by Universal Pictures.

Plot synopsis

The film's plot concerns an Apatosaurus named Littlefoot who becomes orphaned after the death of his mother, caused from injuries suffered while battling an antagonistic Tyrannosaurus ("Sharptooth") and the effects of an earthquake. Littlefoot flees famine and upheaval to search for the "Great Valley", an area which has been spared devastation. During his journey, he encounters four companions: Cera, a Triceratops; Ducky, a Parasaurolophus; Petrie, a Pteranodon; and Spike, a Stegosaurus.[2] Through many trials and tribulations, the five eventually make their way to the Great Valley, reuniting them with their relatives.

Voice cast

English voice cast

Japanese voice cast

Note: The Japanese voice actors are appearing so far.

Crew

Box office

The film was a box office success, grossing $48 million, as well as beating the Disney film Oliver & Company for the Number 1 spot during its opening weekend. It has since brought in a box office total of nearly $50 million during its domestic release, more than Don Bluth's previous film, An American Tail. The movie became a hit worldwide, grossing nearly $84 million worldwide, which Oliver & Company did not surpass.

Sequels and spin-offs

Main article: The Land Before Time (series)

The movie generated many direct-to-video sequels. The sequels depart from the style of the original significantly by adding "sing-a-long" musical numbers akin to Disney animated films and more transparent lessons of morality. One Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote that The Land Before Time was suffering from the "excessive sequel syndrome," with films that were "pure formula."[3]

Don Bluth and his animation studio have no affiliation with any of the film's sequels.

Editing of the Film

Like Disney's The Black Cauldron, which was made three years earlier, and Warner Bros./Zoetrope's The Outsiders, which was made five years early and starred Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, and C. Thomas Howell, The Land Before Time went under a severe cutting and editing of footage. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas thought that some scenes in the movie would appear too frightening or could even cause psychological damage to young children. Around 10 minutes of footage, a total of 19 fully animated scenes, were cut from the final film. A lot of the cut footage consisted of the Tyrannosaurus rex attack sequence and sequences of the five young dinosaurs in severe situations of peril and negative stress. Don Bluth was unhappy with the cuts, and unsuccessfully fought for the footage. In the end the movie ended up being only 69 minutes long, one of Don Bluth’s shortest; in fact one of the shortest feature films ever produced (depending on how "feature film" is defined).[4]

As of today, the original cut of the film with the removed scenes has not been released on video or DVD. In fact what actually happens in the scenes is not known because Don Bluth says that the scenes have been thrown away.

Another part of the movie that was going to be eliminated was the death of Littlefoot’s mother. However, it was thought that if the scene were removed it would simply produce problems in explaining why Littlefoot had to journey to the Great Valley alone. In the end, psychologists were shown the scene and gave feedback to the production team. The character of Rooter was bought in to the story to soften the emotional blow, and teach Littlefoot and the audience that although loved ones may die, they are always with us in the lessons we have learned from them. [4]

Some scenes with the characters in the movie screaming were revoiced with them having milder exclamations. [4]

Production Notes

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas originally wanted the film to have no dialogue, like The Rite of Spring sequence in Fantasia, but the idea was abandoned in favor of using voice actors in order to appeal to children.[4] It was George Lucas's idea to make Cera a girl.[4]

The end credits for the film featured the hit song "If We Hold On Together" by Diana Ross, the only lyrical song in the original film.

Fred Gwynne was considered the narrator of the film before being replaced by Pat Hingle.[citation needed]

Animation Production took place at Sullivan Bluth Studios in Dublin, Ireland.

The Land Before Time in popular culture

Films

TV series

Others

References

  1. ^ The Land Before Time (1988) at Box Office Mojo
  2. ^ http://www.landbeforetime.com/main.html
  3. ^ The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists (1996) Review from Rotten Tomatoes
  4. ^ a b c d e The Animated Films of Don Bluth by Jon Cawley
  5. ^ http://www.retrojunk.com/details_trailer/999/

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Land Before Time (film).
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Land_Before_Time_(film)&oldid=177567646"