Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that the youngest viewers may be disturbed seeing the childlike dinosaurs torn from their parents by an earthquake and pursued by a Tyrannosaurus rex. Littlefoot's mother fights the T-rex, is badly injured, and dies. Littlefoot finds his grandparents in the end, though, and his friends are reunited with their families, too.
Families can talk about dinosaurs, of course. Just how many there were and how long ago they roamed the earth. Follow up these amazing facts with a trip to the natural history museum.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Common Sense Media
While scores of dinosaurs are on the move to find food during a massive drought, a baby long-necked dinosaur is born. His mom and grandparents, coo and ahh and name him Littlefoot (voiced by Gabriel Damon). When a rambunctious little three-horned dinosaur named Cera (Candace Hutson) tries to engage the newborn in play, Littlefoot's family discourages him from consorting with her kind of dinosaur. Good thing he doesn't listen to them when disaster strikes.
Kid dinosaurs must unite when a ferocious T-rex kills Littlefoot's mother and an earthquake creates a massive schism separating them from loved ones. Littlefoot and Cera are joined by Petrie, Ducky, and Spike in their journey to the Great Valley, where food and families are sure to await them.
The Land Before Time is a very simple story, nicely animated, that both gives kids some perky characters to follow and shows them the kind of earth dinosaurs roamed. Viewers see how changes in the earth's climate forced dinosaurs to roam long distances to find food, and how earthquakes, volcanoes, and even other dinosaurs made survival difficult. In the beginning we learn that Littlefoot is the only hope for future generations of longnecks. His friends represent different types of dinosaurs -- such as those that could fly or swim.
Apart from the factual-based content, the movie conveys lessons kids will relate to. The baby pterodactyl Petrie finds flying too difficult, but with courage finally achieves it. Stubborn Cera thinks she doesn't need any help from anyone else, but sees that she does need her friends and they need her, too. Although he's told that dinosaurs stick with their own kind, Littlefoot is a friend to everyone. Each kind of dinosaur has unique abilities that help the group survive.
There are numerous sequels, which should tell you something about the popularity of this series among the kindergarten set. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg executive produced the first one, and the Jurassic Park Institute sponsors some content of the DVD. Kids can find the real names for the dinosaurs referred to only by descriptive terms such as "longnecks" and "three-horns" in the movie. A fun and educational activity on the DVD for big kids is to decode the meaning of dinosaur names by breaking them down to their Latin or Greek roots.
Kids who enjoy this movie will also like Ice Age and Ice Age: The Meltdown.
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ViolenceAn aggressive "sharptooth" (Tyrannosaurus Rex) kills Littlefoot's mother and chases the young dinosaurs until they drown it. A massive earthquake rips through the ground and separates families. |
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