The Land Before Time 30th Anniversary Retrospective Part 6

With the fifth one being somewhat lower in quality, with the one high quality I have for it being a Christmas Present way back when. But with this movie, there is one high honor to be had; released in 1998, this too will receive a 20th-anniversary retrospective and an early one for the sake of this review.

For the first time, John Ingle does not provide the narration. Instead, Grandpa provides it as he tells a “campfire” story to the children. It seems that the creation of the Earth is told via oral tradition (this would be explained just as well in the eighth film later on). The next story he speaks tells of a lone Diplodocus risking his life against a T. rex. Losing an eye and a scarred neck, The Lone Dinosaur moves away. Sometime after, a large monolith erupts from the ground and is called Saurus Rock.

The morning after, the gang play along when they happen to come across a newcomer, a Diplodocus named Doc, voiced by Kris Kristofferson. Since he saved his life earlier today, Littlefoot, now fully voiced by Thomas Dekker, goes a little gaga for this stranger. When he sees the John Wayne Dinosaur’s scar on his face, Littlefoot believes Doc to be the Lone Dinosaur. Cera objects to this (“That story your Grandpa told us was from a long time ago. The real Lone Dinosaur couldn’t still be alive. … Could he?), but Littlefoot still holds to his hypothesis nonetheless.

The Long Neck is awoken the next morning, for Cera lost her niece and nephew Dinah and Dana (voiced by Sandy Fox and Nancy Cartwright respectively). Having heard Littlefoot’s story just after being yelled at by their aunt, the twins set out to find Saurus Rock with the Gang of Five following them. After being chased by an Allosaurus, they see for the first time Saurus Rock and the Twins. Another chase soon follows and it sends the Sharptooth falling down a canyon. Their efforts are vain, unfortunately, as Cera’s Dad quickly finds out and grounds her.

“Me and my big mouth…” Littlefoot muttered ashamedly. The others, sans Spike, who is voiced here by Jeff Bennett in lieu of Paulson, tell him it was just “bad luck.” That strikes a bit of fear in the Longneck, for it’s said that if anything happens to the monolith, and they did remove a large stone saving the twins, bad luck would descend upon the Great Valley. Grandpa assures him that it's no more than a story.

However, it turns out the next day that things are indeed going to pot. Ducky and Spike got stung by bees, Cera being grounded, and Petrie… just getting clumsy I guess. The Valley too is becoming affected, including a very severe tornado (which is odd considering they’re surrounded by mountains. The inhabitants place their suspicions on Doc, believing that their misfortunes began when he entered.

Littlefoot still fanboy’s about this and decides to venture off to fix the real cause of the problem. Retracing his steps, he finds the same Allosaurus lying unconscious for God knows how long. However, the beast isn’t dead and gives chase. When Littlefoot is cornered by an out of nowhere T. Rex, Grandpa Triton shows up and really shows some creativity with his fights.

The other Sharptooth catches up with him and so does Doc.

“You sure have a habit of showing up at the right time.” Grandpa complements

“Just lucky, I guess,” Doc responds before both sauropods crush the Sharpteeth under a bunch of rocks.

The sky loses a baby tooth which they use on Saurus Rock. Doc still leaves, either way, telling Littlefoot, “There’s already a hero,” pointing to Grandpa. Inspired by this fact, Littlefoot tells the tale to a bunch of even younger dinosaurs including the Twins but replacing the Lone Dinosaur with his Grandpa.

The verdict? Many consider this one of the better of the films, citing Doc as an interesting character. There are some things I can consider that does put it up as one of the better films. The animation is a step up from 5, though you can still tell a bit of a style change when comparing it to 2 - 4 (the color palette certainly warmed up a bit). If Doc himself was any indication, then the overall theme of this film is of a Western. Even Michael Tavera’s compositions have leitmotifs you could recognize in a Spaghetti Western.

Need I say more with this song?

But, as I would be sorely remiss if I didn’t, nothing is perfect. One issue is that Dinah and Dana are there just for the sake of having child characters. Great care must be taken when developing child characters for an animated feature; the best one to date that I know of is Lumpy from the Winnie the Pooh franchise. Here, it’s just annoying. Another issue is how Littlefoot idolizes a person just for saving him a few times. I, who is just about as lone a wolf as Doc is, would get pretty agitated if push comes to shove (in once instance, Doc was actually considering that). Worse is that he puts him over his grandparents, the real heroes right in front of him. I’d never go as far as I am now if I didn’t put them first as my idols.

Now, I have suggested changes to the story in the previous sequels, but this one is going to be the most dramatic out of them so far. Why not have the story be told in flashback when Littlefoot’s great great grandfather (the one who told his grandson the stories before telling him to his grandson) was his age and the dinosaurs were settling into the Great Valley for the first time. Like pioneers establishing a town, they wouldn’t call the place “Great” at first. They would explore some of the dangers, but with it otherwise very plentiful, some individuals decide to stay in the valley while their herds would continue on to other pastures.

But in every new town, there are outlaws. But here, these outlaws crave flesh and blood. Enter a younger Doc, still wandering around like a certain Samurai from the farthest future. At first, these “bandits” would be small, raptor-like creatures coming through using a small path. Praise is given, though he finds it unneeded. Eventually, more “settlers” come in, adding more to order and a common defense to these trespassers. Not wanting to be a part of this, the Diplodocus makes his way for the exit. Some time passes before this common defense gets totaled by the T. rex in Grandpa’s story. Several smaller Sharpteeth and a couple in between in size enter as well.

These slightly larger Sharpteeth are the first ones Doc notices and handles them before they could finish off a Leaf Eater. As they and the Raptors are sent packing, Doc follows them to the “goat path” and seals it off by kicking the sides of the mountains.

But that still leaves the T. rex, and from then on, what we have currently is kept intact. There would be occasional breathers akin to “The Princess Bride” (funny enough that this is Grandpa talking to his grandson and friends). The scene after would be somewhat of an epilogue, though with some differences. As a story, Littlefoot wouldn’t believe as true. Instead of playing “The Lone Dinosaur,” they would instead be playing a game of tag. Littlefoot would fall off the edge and be saved by this old stranger.

“Just passing through.” He responds before turning the other way. Upon seeing the scar, Littlefoot realizes the story is indeed true. And it’s there that the story ends.

Overall, I consider it one of the better ones in the series, but perhaps it could’ve been fleshed out more. Would my complete revamp of this sequel work? Maybe… If executed properly.

Comments

[Tarbtano]

Ah a film I remember fondly, but am privy to the flaws in. Nice rewrite idea for sure though!