The Land Before Time


The Land Before Time is an American franchise of animated adventure films by Universal Pictures centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous The Land Before Time, directed and produced by Don Bluth and executive produced by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. It was followed by 13 direct-to-video musical sequels plus a TV series, video games, soundtracks and related merchandising. Neither the sequels nor the series involve the participation of Bluth, Lucas, or Spielberg. All 14 films were released in a Complete Collection DVD set on June 14, 2016.

Plot

The films follow a friendship of a group of young dinosaurs by the names of Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike. After finding the Great Valley, they raise a carnivorous baby who they name Chomper, survive a drought, a cold snap, encounter aliens, and witness a solar eclipse. Throughout all films, they embark upon adventures, learning lessons about life and friendship along the way.

List of titles

Films

The following is a list of the fourteen films in the series.
#TitleRelease DateDirectorWriterProducerEditorComposer
1The Land Before TimeNovember 18, 1988Don BluthScreenplay:
Stu Krieger
Story:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Don Bluth
Gary Goldman
John Pomeroy
Executive producers:
Steven Spielberg
George Lucas
Co-executive producers:
Frank Marshall
Kathleen Kennedy
Associate producer:
Deborah Jelin Newmyer
John K. Carr
Dan Molina
James Horner
2'December 13, 1994Roy Allen SmithScreenplay:
John Loy
John Ludin
Dev Ross
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Roy Allen Smith
Co-producer:
Zahra Dowlatabadi
Animation producer:
Nelson Shin
Jay BixsenMichael Tavera
3'December 12, 1995Roy Allen SmithScreenplay:
Dev Ross
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Roy Allen Smith
Zahra Dowlatabadi
Animation producer:
Nelson Shin
Jay BixsenMichael Tavera
4'December 10, 1996Roy Allen SmithScreenplay:
Dev Ross
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Roy Allen Smith
Co-producer:
Zahra Dowlatabadi
Animation producer:
Nelson Shin
Warren TaylorMichael Tavera
5'December 9, 1997Charles GrosvenorScreenplay:
John Loy
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Charles Grosvenor
Associate producer:
Rocky Solotoff
Jay BixsenMichael Tavera
6'December 1, 1998Charles GrosvenorScreenplay:
Libby Hinson
John Loy
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Charles Grosvenor
Associate producer:
Melinda Rediger
Rocky Solotoff
Jay BixsenMichael Tavera
7'December 5, 2000Charles GrosvenorLen Uhley
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Charles Grosvenor
Associate producer:
Daniel J. Wiley
Danik ThomasMichael Tavera
8'December 4, 2001Charles GrosvenorJohn Loy
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Charles Grosvenor
Associate producer:
Daniel J. Wiley
Danik ThomasMichael Tavera
9'December 10, 2002Charles GrosvenorDev Ross
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Charles Grosvenor
Associate producer:
Daniel J. Wiley
Jay BixsenMichael Tavera
10'December 2, 2003Charles GrosvenorJohn Loy
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Charles Grosvenor
Executive producer:
James Wang
Associate producer:
Daniel J. Wiley
Jay BixsenMichael Tavera
11'January 11, 2005Charles GrosvenorJohn Loy
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Charles Grosvenor
Associate producer:
Daniel J. Wiley
Jay BixsenMichael Tavera
12'December 6, 2006Charles GrosvenorJohn Loy
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Charles Grosvenor
Associate producer:
Daniel J. Wiley
Jay BixsenMichael Tavera
Kyle Kenneth Batter
13'November 27, 2007Jamie Mitchell
Supervising director:
Charles Grosvenor
John Loy
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Daniel J. WileyJay BixsenMichael Tavera
14February 2, 2016Davis DoiElana Lesser
Cliff Ruby
Characters:
Judy Freudberg
Tony Geiss
Lisa Melbye
Deidre Brenner
Luke GuidiciMichael Tavera

Albums

A television series based on the films began airing on YTV in Canada on January 5, 2007. It consisted of one season of 26 episodes, and officially premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 5, 2007, after the DVD release of '. The TV series takes place after the events of '. It has since been collected and released on 6 DVDs, each containing 4 episodes, in the United States and the UK.

Games

The series has spawned 14 spin-off games, eight for PC, one for the Game Boy Color, two for the Game Boy Advance and three for the original PlayStation, but none for the Macintosh. The PC games are usually educational games aimed for preschool and kindergarten. Games for the Game Boy Color and Advance include The Land Before Time and The Land Before Time: Into the Mysterious Beyond, in which the original six characters must search for Chomper. Games for the PlayStation include The Land Before Time: Big Water Adventure, a spin-off of Journey to Big Water, The Land Before Time: Great Valley Racing Adventure and The Land Before Time: Return to the Great Valley.

Cast

Principal characters

Recurring characters