The Dinosaur Classic Leaving Netflix Needs To Be Seen By A New Generation
If you ask most people from my generation what the biggest dinosaur movie of their childhood was, they’ll say Jurassic Park. However, when I think of the dinosaur movie that had the most significant impact on me as a kid, only one title comes to mind: 1988’s The Land Before Time. From its tearjerker of a beginning to a T-Rex climax that rivals the one in JP, The Land Before Time is an epic animated masterpiece, and lucky for you, it’s streaming right now on Netflix!
But you have to get in on the action soon, because it leaves the streamer on July 31.
Littlefoot’s Big Adventure
The Land Before Time starts with a baby “longneck”(apatosaurus) named Littlefoot losing his mother during an earthquake and getting separated from the rest of his herd. Littlefoot journeys to a place his mother called “The Great Valley,” knowing that’s where the other longnecks are headed. Along the way, he picks up a bunch of other baby dinos separated by the earthquake.
Littlefoot and his friends, Ducky, Petrie, Cera, and Spike, face many challenges on their adventure, including several run-ins with a giant “sharptooth” (Tyrannosaurus). Eventually, the dino buddies find that the Great Valley and The Land Before Time—like every other kids’ movie on Netflix—ends happily.
Short, Sweet, And Simple
It’s not a particularly deep film, but it’s sweet and, at a breezy 69 minutes, not a huge time commitment. The Netflix title’s short runtime resulted from Steven Spielberg thinking the original cut of Land Before Time was too scary for kids. This is a weird sentiment coming from a man who made Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom a violent gross-out movie and then demanded it still get a PG rating.
Of course, Temple of Doom wasn’t solely Spielberg’s fault, and wouldn’t you know, George Lucas’s name is also attached to The Land Before Time!
A Powerhouse Production All Around
Yes, the two biggest names in 1980s Hollywood produced this humble little dinosaur cartoon. Initially, Spielberg suggested he and Don Bluth follow up An American Tail with something similar to Bambi—but with dinosaurs. Lucas liked the ideas so much that he jumped on board the project.
With so much talent on board, is it any wonder that The Land Before Time ended up so beloved that people are still watching it on Netflix in 2024?
Could Have Been An Entirely Different Movie
Yeah kind of. The two artsy-fartsy film school graduates wanted the movie to have no dialogue like the sequences in Fantasia. Luckily, Don Bluth had enough experience as a Disney animator and on with his own work to know that kids would be bored to tears by a silent cartoon.
Dinosaurs or not, a silent Land Before Time would have sunk like a lead balloon and been forgotten well before Netflix even existed.
Instead, the movie was filled with fun, snappy dialogue and became a box-office smash. Don Bluth was realistically the only one giving Disney a run for their money in the ’80s, and The Land Before Time is no exception. Decades before it would land on Netflix, The Land Before Time would debut in theaters on November 18, 1988, and immediately become the number-one film in America.
Stream The Land Before Time Before It’s Too Late!
GFR SCORE
The movie would gross $84.5 million on a budget of $12.3 million and spawn 13 made-for-video sequels and a television series. You probably don’t need me to tell you that all the spinoffs are hot garbage water with a twist of lime. The original is still solid, however, and definitely worth a watch (or rewatch).
The Land Before Time is currently available to stream on Netflix and deserves to be viewed by a new generation of children. It’s Gen Alpha’s turn to bawl their eyes out when Littlefoot’s mom dies. You have to hurry, though, because as of July 31, The Land Before Time is leaving Netflix. Stream it here, and quickly before the movie goes extinct.
