The Land Before Time 30th Anniversary Retrospective Part 13 · 1:19pm Nov 15th, 2018
Originally I said that both this sequel and the TV series will be reviewed together, but I found that I’m making good time by about a day and now both will be separate. With the sequels being from either average to great depending on who you ask, it would only be a matter of time before we come to this. Though the TV series is produced before this, this takes place before the series.
After the usual narration, we start off the movie… Surprisingly dark. Littlefoot’s grandmother almost falls off a cliff saving her grandson. Suffering a nightmare later on, Littlefoot asks to talk to her about “The Wisdoms” or “say so’s” according to his friends.
A short while later, they come across three Beipiaosaurus Loofah, Doofah, and Fooby voiced by Cuba Gooding Jr, Sandra Oh, and Pete Sepenuk. These three were on a pilgrimage to a place like the Great Valley, but full of berries. However, they do not know where their herd is, hell, they are practically clueless just where they need to start. Cera tells them that it’s not their own business, but Littlefoot wants to make sure of their safe and drags his friends along.
They travel through a desert, get attacked by a pack of Baryonyx, and soon come across the rest of the Yellow Belly herd. Seeing as they are just as clueless as sheep, Littlefoot insists that they lead them on to Berry Valley. They do come across a small grove, but suspect that this isn’t the right place.
While climbing up a mountain, Doofah gets lost and would’ve been in a mud cake had it not been for the Gang of Five. The Baryonyx pack catches up to the herd, but apparently, the berries they ate were gummy berries. They bounced here and there and everywhere, with damage that’s little to compare. They finally reach Berry Valley and finally part ways. Their families catch up with them, but are given a scolding for not following one wisdom,
“Stay in a group.”
The verdict? I think it’s clear what canceled the TV series and put the series through a nine-year hiatus. It’s beyond stupid, even with the worst of the previous sequels top this. The moral they try to teach is how to be safe. But the previous sequels, starting with 2, I think it’s clear the children know the consequences of being in danger, especially on their journeys to the Mysterious Beyond.
The animation is clearly a step-down, a true sign that Universal wasn’t ready in producing a movie and a TV series at the same time.
Also these things… I know they’re supposed to be Therizinosaurs, but do they even remotely resemble them?
Considering this was made alongside the TV series, perhaps the best course of action regarding a rewrite would be if this was produced before the TV Series as a pilot movie akin to what Tailspin did. It would focus on how Chomper and Ruby arrived in the Great Valley and would end with the events of the episode “The Cave of Many Voices.”
Sadly, in this universe, the damage is done.
I actually had never heard of a lot of the dinosaur species mentioned in this review before!