To put my thoughts of this film in a nutshell: this is definitely one of the best animated films I've ever seen, and I consider myself a fairly avid fan of all things animated
as long as its good. High production values, good continuity, slightly rushed pacing, a simple, but firm plot, sufficient casting, good voice acting, great characterization, and all this was achieved in the meager running time of about one hour and ten minutes only. Don Bluth and company really knew how to pull it together, even with two big Hollywood producers breathing down their necks about
everything.
Everything fit in the film almost perfectly, with the exception of the pacing. But other than that Bluth and company brought together a truly memorable film of overcoming prejudice, that combined effects of several towards a single ideal is better than a single heroic individual working alone, the themes of the film are highly pluralistic. Another one of the major themes was finding hope in hopelessness. The idea that there is hope of success and survival, despite every that's coming down against you. It is dark moments of need when Littlefoot and the others' inner most strengths really come out. Don Bluth was able to take some very profound themes and put them very well in sync with the action and storytelling of the film.
One can confidently say that it is above the average animated children's film. One can also say that it is on par with animated films long since past that haven't been seen since Disney's day. The film is not without it's flaws, though. The meager running time of an hour and ten minutes forced the filmmakers to rush the pacing, and it seemed like they were forced to finish the story as quickly as they could by studio executives.
Despite this, the themes of the story and the character development were still woven in effectively. This is probably due to the simplicity of the story, itself: a small band of very different individuals overcome "racial" differences in pursuit of a single ideal, in this case five young dinosaurs lost and separated from their families, searching for a Utopian "Great Valley".
Pacing aside, everything else in the film was made to be as well as it could, and there was certainly no shortage of budget on this film. The animation, the backgrounds, the effects, the atmosphere, and the music all meshed together beautifully and more than made up for sub par pacing and almost forced story telling at times.
So here you have it. This is "The Land Before Time", a standing ovation in animated films in its own right. A modern classic film much remembered and still watched by those young and old alike, and was the film to spawn a record setting number of sequels, which are still in production to this day, nearly twenty years down the road from the original's release in 1988.
Everything fit in the film almost perfectly, with the exception of the pacing. But other than that Bluth and company brought together a truly memorable film of overcoming prejudice, that combined effects of several towards a single ideal is better than a single heroic individual working alone, the themes of the film are highly pluralistic. Another one of the major themes was finding hope in hopelessness. The idea that there is hope of success and survival, despite every that's coming down against you. It is dark moments of need when Littlefoot and the others' inner most strengths really come out. Don Bluth was able to take some very profound themes and put them very well in sync with the action and storytelling of the film.
One can confidently say that it is above the average animated children's film. One can also say that it is on par with animated films long since past that haven't been seen since Disney's day. The film is not without it's flaws, though. The meager running time of an hour and ten minutes forced the filmmakers to rush the pacing, and it seemed like they were forced to finish the story as quickly as they could by studio executives.
Despite this, the themes of the story and the character development were still woven in effectively. This is probably due to the simplicity of the story, itself: a small band of very different individuals overcome "racial" differences in pursuit of a single ideal, in this case five young dinosaurs lost and separated from their families, searching for a Utopian "Great Valley".
Pacing aside, everything else in the film was made to be as well as it could, and there was certainly no shortage of budget on this film. The animation, the backgrounds, the effects, the atmosphere, and the music all meshed together beautifully and more than made up for sub par pacing and almost forced story telling at times.
So here you have it. This is "The Land Before Time", a standing ovation in animated films in its own right. A modern classic film much remembered and still watched by those young and old alike, and was the film to spawn a record setting number of sequels, which are still in production to this day, nearly twenty years down the road from the original's release in 1988.