This is one of the very few films I've ever seen, live-action or otherwise, that really succeeded in telegraphing the sheer pain it must cause to lose a beloved family member. Usually in movies, the requisite is one scene or so of a character grieving, and then the plot must continue on unabated. The Land Before Time managed otherwise. The tragic final scene between Little Foot and his mother achieves a poignancy I can't remember anything matching, and the effect of it is heightened by the fact that it is not simply brushed under the rug for rollicking journey adventures to continue. We continue to feel Little Foot's pain throughout the film, and this fact makes the respites from it he finds in his new gang of friends all the more effective. Admittedly a HUGE amount of the credit for this must go to James Horner for his brilliant score, but director Don Bluth never mishandles a character moment meant to be crucial in this thread.
Also, although much of the action is generally cartoon-level stuff, the opening is vastly more majestic and dignified than one might expect in a story such as this, and, combined with Pat Hingle's ultra-dignified narration, gives the film a weightier context than one might otherwise credit it with. The ending only confirms this, with the Great Valley opening up before the dinosaurs as one of the best and most blatant Garden of Edens ever shown on film. The excellent song over the ending credits clinches it even further.
This shouldn't imply its a perfect work. There are spaces in between the weightier moments when it lapses sadly into clichés and contrivances, and these deflate with depressing speed some of what the film has accomplished. But certainly not to a critical degree. Don Bluth seems to have made it a mission in his career to avoid playing it safe or being too predictable. I've gone over most of his films in the last few weeks, and I've noticed that he always seems to get into his plots and characters by some unusual route. In films like The Secret of NIMH or Titan A.E., this sort of thing works brilliantly, and even his lesser works (An American Tail, All Dogs Go to Heaven) are at least noble experiments. The Land Before Time is the product of a craftsman at work.
Also, although much of the action is generally cartoon-level stuff, the opening is vastly more majestic and dignified than one might expect in a story such as this, and, combined with Pat Hingle's ultra-dignified narration, gives the film a weightier context than one might otherwise credit it with. The ending only confirms this, with the Great Valley opening up before the dinosaurs as one of the best and most blatant Garden of Edens ever shown on film. The excellent song over the ending credits clinches it even further.
This shouldn't imply its a perfect work. There are spaces in between the weightier moments when it lapses sadly into clichés and contrivances, and these deflate with depressing speed some of what the film has accomplished. But certainly not to a critical degree. Don Bluth seems to have made it a mission in his career to avoid playing it safe or being too predictable. I've gone over most of his films in the last few weeks, and I've noticed that he always seems to get into his plots and characters by some unusual route. In films like The Secret of NIMH or Titan A.E., this sort of thing works brilliantly, and even his lesser works (An American Tail, All Dogs Go to Heaven) are at least noble experiments. The Land Before Time is the product of a craftsman at work.