The Land Before Time

G

Now Playing

1 hr. 6 min.

Kids & Family

Adventure

Animation

List

65%

65 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

250,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon), a young plant-eating dinosaur, is orphaned after his mother (Helen Shaver) perishes while protecting him from a vicious carnivore. With her last breath, she tells him how to get to the legendary Great Valley, where he will be reunited with others of his kind. With his friend Cera (Candace Hutson), Littlefoot sets out for the fabled land, meeting a variety of new friends along the way -- while also being tracked by the killer dinosaur that mortally wounded his mother.

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Critics Consensus

Beautifully animated and genuinely endearing, The Land Before Time is sure to please dino-obsessed tykes, even if it's a little too cutesy for older viewers.

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Peter C

the movie theater needs to fucking re-do everything. they have fucked up and need to fix their terrible problems!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/07/24

Full Review

Bobby

One of my all-time favorites! I’m thrilled to have seen it in theaters.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/04/24

Full Review

Ryan G

Still fresh after all these years. It is worth seeing on the big screen it you can. Still waiting for a worthy sequel though in the midst of all the direct to video attempts

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/31/23

Full Review

Grace

it was amazing to watch the movie I grew up watching on the big screen!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/03/23

Full Review

Mark S

Took my 9 year old grandson to it. He enjoyed it, which is all I can ask for. Besides, I thought it was cute as well.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/05/23

Full Review

Nathan R

Anyone not giving this movie a 100% has no heart or soul.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/17/24

Full Review

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Don Bluth

Director

Gabriel Damon

Littlefoot

Candace Hutson

Cera

Judith Barsi

Ducky

Will Ryan

Petrie

Bill Erwin

Grandfather

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The Land Before Time: Official Clip - Petrie Saves His Friends From Sharptooth

2:12

The Land Before Time: Official Clip - Finding Green Food

2:13

The Land Before Time: Official Clip - Littlefoot is Born

2:12

The Land Before Time: Official Clip - Littlefoot Meets Ducky

2:12

The Land Before Time: Official Clip - Flyers and Cherries

1:28

The Land Before Time: Official Clip - The Friends Find Spike

1:52

The Land Before Time: Official Clip - The Great Valley

1:57

The Land Before Time: Official Clip - Littlefoot and Ducky Meet Petrie

1:10

The Land Before Time: Official Clip - Littlefoot to the Rescue

2:59

The Land Before Time: Official Clip - Littlefoot's Mother Dies

3:04

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Anne Stephenson

Arizona Republic

Just when you think animated movies for children have become a triumph of marketing over imagination, along comes Don Bluth to make you think again.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

Amy Greene

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The story does have a certain degree of charm, but the biggest flaw is that it covers several Major Life Themes without much subtlety or use of symbolism.

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

Jay Carr

Boston Globe

The spirit of Land Before Time is right. And, thanks to Bluth and his staff, the film's style is right, too.

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

Mat Brunet

AniMat's Review (YouTube)

Before all the sequels and the dozens of episodes of the TV show, it was just a simple story of five young dinosaurs on a journey to a promised land, and that’s all you need for a heartfelt picture.

Rated: 9/10

Apr 7, 2023

Full Review

Eleanor O'Sullivan

Asbury Park Press (NJ)

Bluth and his enormous team of artists have done an exceptional job, drawing you into a world forbidding and, in the expected happy ending, enchanting.

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

Stephen Hunter

Baltimore Sun

What it's got in endless abundance is charm, humor and some moments of genuine pathos. It's like classic Disney, in that it transcends its boundaries as a child's movie: nearly everybody will enjoy it.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon), a young plant-eating dinosaur, is orphaned after his mother (Helen Shaver) perishes while protecting him from a vicious carnivore. With her last breath, she tells him how to get to the legendary Great Valley, where he will be reunited with others of his kind. With his friend Cera (Candace Hutson), Littlefoot sets out for the fabled land, meeting a variety of new friends along the way -- while also being tracked by the killer dinosaur that mortally wounded his mother.

Director: Don Bluth
Executive Producer: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy
Screenwriter: Stu Krieger
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Lucasfilm Ltd., Amblin Entertainment
Rating: G
Genre: Kids & Family, Adventure, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 18, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $45.8M
Sound Mix: Surround

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