The Land Before Time is an American animated television series, based on the Land Before Time film series created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss. It premiered on YTV in Canada on January 5, 2007 for a test, and officially premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 5, 2007 (although the first episode debuted on the 4th) after the DVD release of The Great Day of the Flyers.
With Charles Grosvenor as the supervising director, the plot involves the young Apatosaurus named Littlefoot having brand new adventures with his old friends like Cera and Petrie, and new ones such as Ruby. The gang finds a new cave for Ruby and Chomper (who had both came to the Great Valley to learn how dinosaurs get along and to escape from Red Claw), see old friends again, help each other with problems, go exploring and finding new wonders in their world, escape from natural disasters and Sharpteeth, and learn new lessons about life through all of their adventures.
The show was animated in 2D by using digital ink and paint with computer animated backgrounds, which the past sequels from The Great Longneck Migration onwards have used. The main antagonist in the series is Red Claw, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Screech and Thud, two Deinonychus, are the secondary antagonists of the show. The TV series presumably takes place after the events of The Wisdom of Friends, due to Chomper and Ruby being absent in that film. It is a companion piece to WordWorld.
Voice Actors[]
- Cody Arens as Littlefoot (speaking)
- Anthony Skillman as Littlefoot (singing)
- Anndi McAfee as Cera
- Aria Noelle Curzon as Ducky
- Jeff Bennett as Petrie/Longneck/Mutt/Doc
- Rob Paulsen as Spike/Thud/Ruby's Father/Longneck/Guido/Mo
- Max Burkholder as Chomper
- Meghan Strange as Ruby/Tricia
- Pete Sepenuk as Red Claw/Screech/Kosh
- Kenneth Mars as Grandpa Longneck
- Tress MacNeille as Mama Flyer/Mama Swimmer
- Nika Futterman as Ruby's Mother/Ali
- John Ingle as Mr. Threehorn
- Jessica Gee as Tria
- Elizabeth Daily as Rhett/Shorty
- Jessica Walter as the Old One
- Dorian Harewood as Mr. Thicknose
- Scott Menville as Nod/Sharptooth Mom
- Michael Kelley as Hyp
- Cam Clarke as Bron
- Cree Summer as Tippy
Airings[]
The show first aired in Canada on January 5, 2007 for a test, and officially premiered on March 4 and 5, 2007 on Cartoon Network. It later aired on Boomerang in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2007. The first season had begun airing on Cartoon Network India, with its premiere on April 7, 2008, and in Russia on TV Russia in March of 2009.
The show has neither aired on Cartoon Network in the United States nor on YTV in Canada since March of 2008, though in January 2017, the series began airing on Sprout (later Universal Kids) in the United States in time for the show's 10th anniversary.
Production[]
In 2005, Universal Studios announced its plan to launch a Land Before Time series, beginning with 26 episodes, featuring most of the characters from the movies, as well as introducing a few new ones. The animation would combine two dimensional and three dimensional backgrounds. This television series marked the first project from Universal Studios Home Entertainment's new family entertainment label. Craig Cornblau, president of USHE, mentioned that the new series was to fulfill a "huge consumer demand for high-quality, family-friendly content both on television and the home entertainment arena."
Universal Studios stated that the series, set to air in the first half of the year 2007, would debut on Cartoon Network. Glen Ross, who was hired in March 2005 to launch Universal Studios Home Entertainment Family Prods., said that the choice to have the series air first on Cartoon Network had been made on two basis: One, the network was well-noted for its good quality programming, and two, most of the movies in the film series had played on the network many times, so it was believed a good place to start.
The episodes were planned to be released on DVD after the series had aired.
Episodes[]
The series has currently run for one season, which consists of twenty-six episodes. There has no mention of a second season in production, as of yet.
All 26 episodes are available on the official YouTube channel for the show, in 1080p.
- The Cave of Many Voices- Chomper (from the second and fifth film) realizes his secret cave in the Great Valley becomes leaky and the gang goes exploring in the deep caves to search for another suitable cave for Chomper to live in. Meanwhile, the Gang's new member, a Fast Runner named Ruby, teaches Ducky how to act and talk big.
- The Mysterious Tooth Crisis- When Chomper loses his tooth, he, Littlefoot, Petrie and Ducky travel around the Great Valley to figure out what is wrong. Meanwhile, Cera, Spike and Ruby relax in Tria's secret mud spa.
- The Star Day Celebration- Ruby misses her family on her "Star Day" (birthday) and the gang tries to help cheer her up by being true friends and bringing Ruby her favorite food.
- The Canyon of Shiny Stones- When Cera accidentally loses Tria's special shiny stone, the group decides to find a new stone to return to Tria by traveling to the Canyon of Shiny Stones.
- The Great Log-Running Game- While trying to get a tree sweet, Ducky makes up a game called the "Log Running Game", and competes against the group in a competition on how long they can run on a log in the water. But when Cera tries to prove Threehorns are the best, she gets swept away on a log to Roaring Falls, forcing the gang and Topps to try and save her.
- The Brave Longneck Scheme- Ali's herd returns to the Great Valley, and Littlefoot and Cera find out that Ali has a new friend, Rhett, who boasts about himself and claims Sharpteeth fear him. The gang decides to bring a real Sharptooth (Chomper) to convince Ali that Rhett is making up the stories. However, when Rhett sees Chomper, he runs away to tell his herd, who in turn come to kill Chomper, but let Chomper live after the Gang confesses the truth.
- The Meadow of Jumping Waters- The gang decides to travel beyond the Sheltering Grass to see the Meadow of Jumping Waters that Ruby and Chomper passed by when traveling to the Great Valley.
- The Days of Rising Waters- When a heavy rainstorm wipes out Petrie's nest, he flips out at the prospect of having to move. Meanwhile, Cera insists that Ducky take on the seemingly impossible task of teaching Tricia how to swim.
- Escape From The Mysterious Beyond- When exploring inside the caves, the group accidentally goes into the Mysterious Beyond and get chased by Red Claw, Screech and Thud. An earthshake occurs, and Chomper and Ducky get trapped on a ridge with Thud.
- The Hidden Canyon- When the kids discover a hidden canyon filled with fruit trees, they decide to keep the place a secret. But the secret becomes dangerous when Red Claw and his henchmen use the canyon to enter the Great Valley!
- The Legend of the Story Speaker- Grandpa Longneck tells Littlefoot and his friends stories about why Longnecks have long necks and about Starwatcher. And then Grandpa Longneck and Saro, his old friend, meet. Saro tells him that all the Longnecks are forgetting the great Longneck stories and he needs to come with him to tell them again. But Grandpa Longneck refuses as he has a home in the Great Valley. Angry, Saro runs out, and Littlefoot and Chomper follow him into the Mysterious Beyond. Saro tells Littlefoot and Chomper a story about Tall Stepper, a Mamenchisaurus.
- The Bright Circle Celebration- Petrie is very excited about the Bright Circle Celebration. But Cera thinks it is silly to thank the Bright Circle for shining. Cera and her dad steer clear of everyone preparing for the festivities.
- The Lonely Journey- It is lonely being the only Sharptooth in the Great Valley. Chomper decides to go to the Mysterious Beyond to teach the Sharpteeth how to be friends.
- The Missing Fast-Water Adventure- When an earthshake causes the fast-water to dry up, the dinosaurs decide to try and fix the problem by removing the rocks. On the way, they meet an old friend, Mo.
- The Spooky Nighttime Adventure- One night, Ruby tells the group a scary story about an invisible dinosaur named "Hidden Runner" and gives everyone scary sleep stories. They see Mr. Thicknose to tell him that she made up the story and there is nothing to worry about, but the story of Hidden Runner was true, and they decide to venture into the Mysterious Beyond to search for him.
- The Lone Dinosaur Returns- One day, Doc, The Lone Dinosaur, comes back to the Great Valley in search of his lady friend, Dara. After Chomper hears the stories of him and how he despises Sharpteeth, the dinosaurs try to hide him.
- Stranger from the Mysterious Above- When Spike falls down a hole, he encounters a colony of mammals (Ceratogaulus) who think of him as the "Big Wise One" from the Mysterious Above. Meanwhile, his friends try to save him but only find trouble when Mr. Thicknose and Topsy cannot agree on what to do.
- The Forbidden Friendship- When Tippy's herd comes back, the adults get into a fight and the kids cannot play with each other, but they sneak out and find green food.
- The Amazing Threehorn Girl- When the gang gets chased by a pair of Belly Draggers. Cera gets separated from the others and ends up trapped, but she accidentally sets off a rock slide that frightens the Belly Draggers away. When she finds the gang and tells them about it, Petrie flies around telling everyone in the valley, and suddenly everyone thinks Cera is a hero, even when she insists she is not, but she soon lets the fame go to her head and begins to fabricate her story, which Littlefoot and Ruby become skeptical of. However, the Belly Draggers return, and they have brought friends.
- The Big Longneck Test- Littlefoot gets a visit from his father and adoptive older brother, getting the news that he will be the one taking *The Big Longneck Test a test of three stages to see if a Longneck is capable of leading a herd. So while Littlefoot takes the test, Shorty tries to lead his younger brother's friends on an adventure.
- The Hermit of Black Rock- On a windy day, when Guido and Petrie practice gliding, they are blown into Black Rock and are trapped because Petrie hurts his wing, Guido hurts his foot, and there seems to be no way out, but a blind old hermit and flyer named Swooper decides to help.
- Return to Hanging Rock- On the day of the Flying Rocks of Many Nights (meteor shower), Ruby remembers a memory of her family meeting at Hanging Rock when she lived in the Mysterious Beyond. Ruby adventures alone to find her family, but Chomper, Ducky and Spike come along to help. They meet Skip along the way, a multituberculate who knows the Mysterious Beyond very well, and the gang learns an important lesson of being family.
- March of the Sand Creepers- One morning, a herd of "Sand Creepers" (crabs) mysteriously come to the Great Valley. Curious, Littlefoot, Cera, Petrie, Chomper, and Ruby set off to an adventure to find out why the Sand Creepers have come to the Great Valley. They meet Scuttle, a Sand Creeper who can speak the language of dinosaurs, and try to enlist his help, but Scuttle tries to take advantage of them to the chagrin of Cera.
- Search for the Sky Color Stones- When the gang sees the sky colors in the sky disappear (a rainbow), the gang splits up to find sky color stones (geodes).
- Through the Eyes of a Spiketail- On the first day of the cold time, Mr. Thicknose tells the gang about Hard Water Sweets (frozen grapes), and the gang set off on an adventure to find them.
- The Great Egg Adventure- Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie and Chomper (except Cera, Spike and Ruby and followed by Hyp, Mutt and Nod) find a nest of Fast Biter eggs. They decide to carry the eggs away from the valley so the baby Sharpteeth can grow up without eating anyone, and set off on a journey into the Mysterious Beyond. When a mother Fast Biter sees that her eggs have been stolen, she becomes very angry and starts tracking them.
Return of the Egg Stealers[]
A long-rumored 27th episode, titled above, was a fake episode that was supposedly set to air in 2008 or 2009 that involved the return of Ozzy and Strut. It was added to articles on the TV series on unreliable sites such as Wikipedia and IMDb. It spread on the internet, including the Land Before Time wiki, causing fans to believe that the episode was real. IMDb and Wikipedia are not reliables sources, so others denied that this episode was real. After the Land Before Time offices closed in 2009, this episode was proven as a fake.
Music[]
The songs are written by Michele Brourman (music) and Ford Riley (lyrics).
The theme song is performed by the South African choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The theme is written by Roc Gagliese, Steve D'Angelo, and Terry Tompkins of the eggplant. The music score is by Cory Lerios.
DVDs[]
- Amazing Adventures
- Good Times & Good Friends
- Adventuring in the Mysterious Beyond
- Through the Eyes of a Spiketail
- Magical Discoveries
- Friends Forever
Trivia[]
- Chomper has been slightly modified in the TV series. He is now more purple and his teeth are positioned differently.
- Max Burkholder, the voice of Chomper, also voices Roo on My Friends Tigger & Pooh.
- In the Japanese version of the TV series, Chomper's voice is provided by Ikue Otani, the voice of Pikachu on Pokémon.
- To set up low budgets, the characters and quality of animation are much lower than in the films; most of the characters were given minor alterations or less detail designs in order to keep a standard budget for each episode. In order to keep this budget new, more inexperienced animators were included into making The Land Before Time TV series.