The Land Before Time 30th Anniversary Retrospective Part 2

Leaving the safety of the first movie, we now enter sequel territory. Are they as bad as people say? Do they deserve to be forgotten? To each their own, I will be the judge on that.

We begin the movie in outer space as meteors collide with each other and the moon before burning up in Earth’s atmosphere. After a gap of six years since the original film, the narrator, this time for many of the films by the late John Ingle, introduces us to the world of the dinosaurs, thriving as they are in greater numbers than in the first film.

It’s especially so in the haven known as The Great Valley, which from now on is the main starting point of all the sequels and TV series. A few days, perhaps, have passed since the events of the first film. The children are reunited with their families, no longer have to worry about starving, and are playing together regardless of race while being introduced to a new element in the franchise: musical numbers.

With Sharptooth dead and gone, we are introduced to a new set of villains in the villains in the movies. A pair of Struthiomimus named Ozzy and Strut, voiced by Jeff Bennett and Rob Paulson respectively. Voice actor humor aside, these two enjoy being in the valley as well. But while Strut enjoys the bounty of vegetation, his brother wants to live up to his kinds name. Remember how one of their kind tried to steal Littlefoot’s egg? Well, that’s what they are: Egg Stealers.

Being called over to breakfast, Grandpa Longneck, voiced by the late Kenneth Mars outside of Atlantica, bends a tree over to give the last treestar to his grandson. Interested, the little Longneck tries the same thing on tree his size but fails since, as Grandpa puts it, is still too young.

But enough of that for now. Candace Hutson reprising her role, Cera invites Littlefoot, now voiced by Scott McAfee to play with Ducky, now voiced by Heather Hogan, Petrie, now voiced by Jeff Bennett as well, and Spike, now also voice by Rob Paulson. After a mother Edmontosaurus yells at them for rolling rocks down the hill, and saving her nest from both them and Ozzy, the group decides to go to a clump of tall grass to play “Sharptooth Attack” (how does this not bring back harsh memories of the first film is never explained… Even to Littlefoot since he asked first).

The problem with that idea is that the grass is on an island surrounded by quicksand. Cera tries proving how badass she is, but fails. The gang tries to rescue her but need saving themselves. Their wish is granted, but they did get a very long talk. Seeing as they almost lost them in the first movie, they don’t want to lose them again and ask that they stay close to the herds.

Later that evening, Cera gathers everyone up and tells them that they should prove themselves to that they’re not kids. She knows of a good hiding spot with a good view of the Valley. Too good in fact, for they spot Ozzy and Strut making it off with an egg from Ducky’s nest. Cera finds this the perfect opportunity to prove their worth and convinces the gang to pursue them.

They once again cause a little trouble, the consequences of which will soon rise up. The gang find themselves in the outside world again, called officially The Mysterious Beyond. While spooked at the site of numerous corpses in stagnant water while hearing the sounds of their predators, they assume that the rockslide they caused might’ve smashed the egg they tried to save. They’re quickly proven wrong when they find another egg. With every bit of strength they have, they carry the egg home the next morning.

However, they find that the egg did indeed survive and made it’s way over to the nest Rube Goldberg style. Assuming Ozzy and Strut stole that egg too, the gang decide to hatch it and raise it as their own. But they don’t have to wait long. Hands down the best character introduced, Chomper proves from the get-go that not all Sharpteeth are bad. Still, his natural diet proves to be a problem as he chases a bunch of butterflies while Littlefoot consults his grandparents.

The Egg Thieves catch up with the others and threaten to kill them when Littlefoot shows up. Chomper proves more effective by scaring them with his shadow. Immediately the others warm up to him with a little song… Until Chomper bites Cera’s tail. Feeling unwanted, the baby Sharptooth runs away.

The gang looks for Chomper when a nearby volcano erupts. They barely make it out, but now they’ve run into a pair of a mouthful of teeth with a bad attitude. Their families catch wind of this and are able to fend them off. But then comes the question as to how they got inside in the first place. Rooting out the info from the kids, they wander off to search for the break in the wall.

Noticing Chomper is missing, Littlefoot goes against his Grandpa’s orders and looks for him. The Sharpteeth find the both of them, but they do not attack when they realize that Chomper is their missing child and soon makes their way home. Ozzy and Strut, having their meals ruined by the children, decide to kill Littlefoot by throwing him over the Great Wall. Chomper and his parents spot them doing so and chase them off. Hard as it is, the gang had to let him go to his regular habitat and where they return to where they belong. On the condition that the kids do what their parents tell them, all is forgiven as they close the breach in the wall.

Twenty four years have passed since this movie was released, so what do I think of the second entry of the series?

Well, like you, you’d no doubt notice the drop in quality. Animated by AKOM (which has been known to produce shoddy animation) instead of Don Bluth studios, the animation isn’t all dynamic. Many of the characters often have hard lines (I see this often with Littlefoot’s grandparents) and the color pallette tries to resemble that of the original movie. As is expected, there are some animation errors.

The music is composed by Michael Tavera, who has also composed music for several animated series. James Horner’s work from the first movie plays as well, including parts that weren’t included because of the deleted scenes.

The story does suffer, however. If they were going to continue on the story from the first film, they aren’t following the continuity all that much (at least being aware of the danger in the valley). The moral they do try to teach is that things there are things best handled by adults, a good lesson but badly executed. Ozzy and Strut are lackluster villains and probably would’ve worked if they were silent villains like Wile E Coyote or The Thief from The Thief and the Cobbler. Of the songs, Peaceful Valley is my favorite out of them. “Eggs” is okay though, but I think that song would be the most memorable. Though he does get top billing, Chomper appears a little over halfway through the film.

My verdict for this? They should’ve been reminded about the first film before going with this one. Removing the songs would’ve added more time, especially when it comes to Chomper’s development. Littlefoot wouldn’t warm up to him right away, and it’s more towards that end that he realizes that Chomper isn’t all that bad just when he has to let him go (White Fang Style to say the least).

On another hand, I would’ve loved to see this done by Spielberg himself in his defunct Amblimation studio. After all, An American Tail: Fievel goes West was released in theaters, why couldn’t they use this opportunity to make this ready for theaters? I have no grudge against what we have now, but this, if done right, would’ve worked alongside Jurassic Park better than “We’re Back! A Dinosaurs Story.” There aren’t any Disney Films released that year either, so that’s a complete plus.

All I’m is saying is imagine this scene

In the style of this

But if they were releasing it as direct to video, they could’ve used a better studio like TMS or the closed down Spectrum animation studios.

Overall, this isn't a good start, but I do owe it this much for starting the franchise. Plus it has some of my favorite voice actors including the late Kenneth Mars. It's not unwatchable, but it's not great either. Still, if you like it as you have as a kid, feel free to continue.