The Land Before Time: Review By Diaigma

The Man Who Scared Disney: Reviews with History - Part 3 of 3

Bio: The winner was The Land Before Time, outperforming Oliver and Company in the worldwide box office and becoming the first animated film to have no people in it (expect for the narrator, who also voiced one of the dinosaurs). Although a success, Bluth felt that Spielberg had too much control over his films (and George Lucas, who executively produced The Land Before Time), so their short partnership came to a close. That's when Bluth struck a deal with Goldcrest Films and moved his studio to Ireland. His next venture would be All Dogs go to Heaven, which would release a year after The Land Before Time, but the angel-dog movie literally drowned in the wake of the "crisp-and-clear" The Little Mermaid; both released on the same day (November 17, 1989). This was a setback and a decision that would eventually demise Bluth's career.

Even after twenty years of this films release, we still know very little about the giant lizards that roamed the earth millions of years ago. However, The Land Before Time still stands as the most enduring animated film about dinosaurs to date, the first to be so, and it still enchants children to this day (I'll offer my son as a source, now that he watches it almost every day). The art, talent, imagination and perseverance is evident and abundant here, just like Bluth's previous two films. The Land Before Time is a heartfelt hallmark among animated films, depicting 'The Heroes Journey' while touching upon themes of prejudism, faith, and friendship in a most unusual setting.

A young Long Neck, Little Foot, is born into a dangerous world that's slowly dying. Any hope of survival lies in The Great Valley, a paradise where food is abundant and predators are absent. Unexpectedly, an encounter with the deadly Sharp Tooth and The Great Divide claims the life of Little Foot's mother and separates him from his herd. Other young dinosaurs join with him to find The Great Valley, but their only chance of getting there alive depends upon settling their differences, working together, and believing in something that they have never before seen.

What I Dug:

Art - all throughout, the film has an ominous, dying feel to it, making for the direst and most dismal setting in all of Bluth's films, but understanding how the surface of the earth was far different back then, especially near the end of the dinosaurs, it's incredible what the art team came up with. Realistically animated dinosaurs (the adults anyway) and highly detailed backgrounds are captivating and majestic.

Score - another work of art from composer James Horner, and though the score does have a tired tendency (recurring the main theme over and over), Horner managed to keep it fresh by altering each rendition until it literally explodes during the film's jaw-dropping, smile inducing climax.

No Songs - there is not one musical number here (something the direct-to-video sequels had no problem doing), which helps to balance out the sillier aspects of the film, along with the suspenseful parts that have no problem killing off a mother and showing herds of dinosaurs falling to their deaths. Like Bluth's previous films, this kid's pic isn't afraid to show its teeth.

Themes - watching this again as an adult, I can see that the film is laden with underlying themes that could be considered religious (hearing a message from a dead mother while looking into a pool of water inside a tree "star" (a form of divination) is the obvious giveaway). For example, the passage into The Great Valley, with the world dying, seems a lot like entering a heaven. I don't have a problem with these underlying themes, mostly because they are not blatant and are not used to promote any particular faith, but rather embraces a more encompassing theology. I like that, and again, it promotes questions for children and moral values that are admirable.

What I Buried:

Silliness - I complained about this before and I will again. This unusual herd gathers quickly, bringing character elements with them that are just passable. While this is my only problem with the film, I did not catch this as a child watching it in theaters, so the problem is marginal.

This classic tale of friendship and courage is a powerful story that I would recommend to anyone, especially for those who relish in animation. The Land Before Time is still one of the best movies about dinosaurs around (to which Disney's Dinosaur blatantly stole its plot from), and a possible inspiration for Spielberg's pursuit in making Jurassic Park. This brings the works of director Don Bluth to a close (the ones that scared Disney Studios, anyway), since most of the rest of his filmography lacks in coherence and overall enjoyability.

Bio: after the moderate success of All Dogs go to Heaven, Bluth produced Rock-a-Doodle, a financial and critical failure, do in part by a lack of resources, promotion and adult appeal (which was shadowed by Buena Vista's (a Disney company) Straight Talk and Newsis. Due to this failure, Disney breathed easy, giving little care to Bluth's future productions (which were not very good, I'll admit). However, with the start of Fox Animation Studios, Bluth directed Anastasia for them. Disney did not want to compete with another animation studio or Don Bluth again (Dreamworks just started with one of Disney's-departed Jeffrey Katzenberg (who was refused by Eisner to replace Frank Wells who died in a helicopter crash)). So what did they do? They re-released The Little Mermaid on the same day as Anastasia (not just in the US, but in EVERY country where and when Anastasia debuted). Disney received a lot of heat and negative media for this, but in the end, Anastasia was a hit, proving for a second time that Disney can't monopolize the market.

This awesome article goes into this with great detail.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,290103,00.html

Bluth's next film, Titan A.E., bombed terribly, due to mixed reviews, poor promotion, and a failure to target a specific audience. Fox Animation Studios closed down shortly thereafter, though Dreamworks did well with Prince of Egypt. Bluth hasn't made another film since, but he has expressed a desire to produce a film version of Dragon's Lair, based on his famous animated arcade game. However, with animation dominated with CG and Bluth's age, it's hard to say if we will ever see Dirk the Daring save Princess Daphne from the dragon Singe on the big screen.

That's all for this Reviews and History. Now you know, when I speak ill about Disney, it's more towards the Eisner Era than the studio name itself. Eisner was about commercialization and money, not quality film making (Disney's quality went downhill after Pocahontas, but still reaped the rewards). This included buying up other companies (ABC, Pixar, Marvel, Ghibli and Dreamworks distribution rights). However, with Eisner out and a new batch of artists coming in, Disney has a promising line-up ahead of them (Tangled). While I will always appreciate Don Bluth's legacy, the animation market grew too fast for him to keep up. That hasn't changed the fact that it was Bluth's early career that caused Disney to step it up (if only for a decade) and showed artists that you did not have to work for Disney to make successful animated films.