The Land Before Time is a 1988 Irish-American traditionally animated adventure drama film directed and produced by Dragon's Lair co-creator Don Bluth and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall. The film stars the voices of Gabriel Damon, Candace Hutson, Judith Barsi and Will Ryan with narration provided by Pat Hingle.
Produced by Amblimation and Sullivan Bluth Studios Ltd., it features dinosaurs living in the prehistoric times. The plot concerns a young "Longneck" named Littlefoot, who is orphaned when his mother is killed by an earthquake. Littlefoot flees famine and upheaval to search for the Great Valley, an area spared from devastation. On his journey, he meets four young companions: Cera the "Threehorn", Ducky the "Bigmouth", Petrie the "Flyer", and Spike the "Spiketail".
The film explores issues of prejudice between the different species and the hardships they endure in their journey as they are guided by the spirit of Littlefoot's mother and forced to deal with a "Sharptooth". This is the only Don Bluth/Amblimation film of the 1980s in which Dom DeLuise did not participate (instead, he starred in Disney's Oliver & Company that same year), and the first classic Amblimation film that is not a musical. Released by Universal Pictures on November 18, 1988, the film spawned a franchise with one theatrical sequel, three direct-to-video sequels, a television special and a TV series as well as merchandise.
Plot[]
During the age of the dinosaurs, a massive famine forces several herds of dinosaurs to seek an oasis known as the Great Valley. Among these, a mother in a diminished "longneck" herd gives birth to a single baby, named Littlefoot. Years later, Littlefoot plays with Cera, a "three-horn", until her father intervenes and tells her that three-horns don't play with longnecks, whereupon Littlefoot's mother describes the different kinds of dinosaurs: "three-horns", "spike-tails", "swimmers", and "flyers". That night, as Littlefoot follows a "hopper", he encounters Cera again, and they play together briefly until a large "Sharptooth" attacks them. Littlefoot's mother comes to their rescue, but receives fatal injuries in the process. An earthquake swallows up the Sharptooth and divides Littlefoot and Cera and other dinosaurs from their herds while some die in the process, including Littlefoot's mother, who gives her son some words of advice about finding the Great Valley before she dies that night. Confused and in grief, Littlefoot meets an old "clubtail" named Rooter, who consoles him. He is then guided by his mother's voice telling him to follow the sun to the Great Valley and pass several landmarks, such as a rock formation that resembles a Longneck and the "Mountains that Burn" (volcanoes).
Later, Littlefoot meets a "bigmouth" named Ducky and a "flyer" named Petrie, who accompany him on his journey. Cera, who is attempting to find her own kind, finds the unconscious Sharptooth inside a ravine and mistakenly wakes him up. She escapes and bumps into Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie; she tells them that the Sharptooth is alive and pursuing them, but Littlefoot does not believe her. As Cera describes her encounter, she accidentally flings Ducky to the direction of a lone hatching "spiketail", whom she names Spike and inducts into the group. Seeking the Great Valley, they discover a cluster of trees, which is abruptly depleted by a herd of Longnecks. Searching for remaining growth, they discover a single leaf-bearing tree, and obtain food by stacking up atop each other and pulling it down. Cera remains aloof, but at nightfall, everyone including herself gravitates to Littlefoot's side for warmth and companionship.
The next morning, they are attacked by the Sharptooth, but they manage to escape through a tunnel that is too small for him to follow. Beyond this, they discover the landmarks mentioned by Littlefoot's mother. Cera stubbornly decides to go another way, but Littlefoot refuses, and their ensuing fight leads to a schism that divides him from the others. However, when Ducky and Spike become endangered by lava and Petrie gets stuck in a tar pit, he returns to rescue them. They then rescue Cera as she is being ambushed by a pack of "domeheads". Ashamed of her fear and behavior, and reluctant to admit her mistake, Cera leaves them in tears. Later, while crossing a pond, Petrie overhears the Sharptooth nearby. The group devises a scheme to lure him to the pond and drown him in the deep side using a nearby boulder. During the ensuing struggle, a draft from the Sharptooth's nostrils enables Petrie to fly for the first time.
The plan nearly fails when the Sharptooth begins attacking the boulder while the group attempts to push it onto him. However, Cera reunites with the group, and she headbutts the boulder, causing the Sharptooth to fall into the water below with the boulder falling on him in the process. The Sharptooth momentarily takes Petrie down with him to his death, but he later emerges unharmed. Littlefoot, alone, follows a cloud resembling his mother, which guides him to the Great Valley. He is then joined by the others. Upon arrival, the five are reunited with their families: Petrie impresses his family with his newfound flight; Ducky introduces Spike to her family, who adopt him; Cera reunites with her father; and Littlefoot rejoins with his grandparents. The group then rejoins at the top of a hill and embrace each other in a hug.