The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration is a 2003 direct-to-video animated adventure musical drama film and the tenth film in The Land Before Time series.
It was released on December 2, 2003. The plot of the movie focuses on a large quantity of Longnecks anticipating a solar eclipse, believing it to be a sign that the Bright Circle (sun) is about to fall from the sky, and that only they can stop this from occurring. A subplot involves main character Littlefoot finally meeting his father, Bron.
Arguably one of the better-received sequels to the original The Land Before Time, The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration has also been re-released several times, while the new characters, Bron and Shorty have become iconic characters among fans of the series.
It is often considered to be the best sequel in the franchise.
Voice Actors[]
This is the only film in the series in which Alec Medlock provides Littlefoot's voice. In every film from this one onward, the character has been voiced by a different actor (although Cody Arens voiced the character in every episode of The Land Before Time TV series). This is also the only time Kiefer Sutherland and Brandon DePaul voice Bron and Shorty. Cam Clarke and Elizabeth Daily voice the characters in the TV episode "The Big Longneck Test", while Scott Whyte voices Bron in The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave.
- Alec Medlock as Littlefoot
- Kiefer Sutherland as Bron
- John Ingle as the Narrator/Mr. Threehorn
- Kenneth Mars as Grandpa Longneck
- Miriam Flynn as Grandma Longneck
- Aria Noelle Curzon as Ducky
- Jeff Bennett as Petrie
- Rob Paulsen as Spike
- Anndi McAfee as Cera
- Brandon DePaul as Shorty
- James Garner as Pat
- Bernadette Peters as Sue
- Pete Sepenuk as Belly Dragger [known as Sarcosuchus]/Sharptooth pack
Plot[]
Plagued by mysterious dreams, Littlefoot, Grandma and Grandpa Longneck decide that the time has come for a journey, however they have no idea why, where to, or when they will leave. After telling his friends, Littlefoot is told that it is time to leave, and departs from the Valley with his grandparents. Ducky, Petrie and Spike wish that they could go with them, but Cera insists that the whole idea is stupid. But a later dream, in which the longneck family returns in glory to the Valley to a standing ovation from the other dinosaur herds, she decides to follow them to find out what is going to happen.
Littlefoot and his grandparents travel through the Mysterious Beyond, where Littlefoot is saved from a Belly Dragger by young Supersaurus named Sue, who laments about how no matter where she goes, she is always the tallest. They soon meet other Longnecks who have had similar dreams. These Longnecks travel together, soon numbering in the hundreds. Finally they arrive, at an enormous crater, where hundreds and hundreds of Longnecks have gathered.
Cera and the others who have been following them, are attacked by the same Belly Dragger, and shortly after are attacked by a gray Tyrannosaurus, who walks off after they hide. They then meet an old Apatosaurus named Pat, who joins them on their journey.
Littlefoot is in for a surprise, however. As Littlefoot is confronted by another young longneck named Shorty, an argument between the two ensues, which is broken up by an older Longneck. As he apologizes for Shorty, Grandpa Longneck recognizes the longneck and reveals to Littlefoot that he is his father, Bron, whom he has never met before. Littlefoot runs, upset, hurt and confused by this sudden revelation, but Bron finds him and explains his absence to Littlefoot: when the region in which Littlefoot was born suffered from a drought, he went off in search of a better land to raise Littlefoot (who had not even been laid in an egg at the time). When Bron returned, the Great Earthshake (earthquake) seen in the original film had occurred, and he could not find his family anywhere. He continued to search for them, hoping every time he saw a young longneck that it might be Littlefoot, but found no trace of them. Another dinosaur informed him of what happened to his wife, but had no information on what became of Littlefoot or his grandparents. In the meantime, dozens of longnecks of various ages, including Shorty, looked to Bron for support, and he ended up as the leader of a new herd.
As Bron and Littlefoot bond over a matter of days, Bron informs Littlefoot that while most of the orphaned Longneck children he found were adopted, Shorty never got adopted. Shorty has become jealous of Littlefoot for now receiving most of Bron's attention, since Littlefoot is his biological son, and bullies Littlefoot consequently. At dawn one day, Shorty plans to run away, but Littlefoot persuades him not to leave, suggesting that they cease in their rivalry and form a brotherly bond. As they return to the other herds, Petrie appears to tell Littlefoot that the others will be along shortly. Cera, Ducky and Spike do indeed show up, but are being chased by an orange Sharptooth. Pat bravely fights the Sharptooth but is slightly weakened due to an injury he got during the journey. Luckily, Bron awakens to the sound of a Sharptooth and hears the the children scream for help. As Bron rushes in to protect the children and fends off the Sharptooth, the gray Sharptooth and another Sharptooth arrive and attack the group. A battle ensues with Littlefoot and his friends, Bron, Grandma and Grandpa Longneck and Pat banding together against the three Sharpteeth, and after a fierce struggle, drive them off. Suddenly, the rest of the Longnecks appear on the ridge of the crater as the sky goes dark. Believing the Bright Circle to be going dark and falling, the Longnecks stretch their necks up, ready to push the sun back into the sky, just as their ancestors did in the legends. As it happens, what is truly happening is a solar eclipse, which soon passes. The Longnecks rejoice, believing they have averted disaster.
With their mission completed, the herds depart. However, Cera notices that Littlefoot seems upset. He informs her and the others that now that the longnecks have done what they set out to do, he is stuck with the choice of either returning to the Valley with his grandparents and friends, or living with his father's herd. Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike tell him that no matter what he chooses, and no matter where he goes, they will always be his friends.
Ultimately, Littlefoot realizes that his friends and family need him, and he needs them, and tell's Bron that he's not ready to leave them behind. Littlefoot asks Bron to adopt Shorty, knowing how much Shorty needs a family and to be loved and Bron agrees. Bron also insists that they will meet again soon. He and Littlefoot embrace, then he scoops Shorty up on his head and heads off with his herd. Littlefoot watches them leave, and then joins his friends and family to return to the Great Valley.
Production[]
The original title for the film was simply "The Great Migration", which is incidentally the same name as one of the melodies on the soundtrack of the original The Land Before Time. Even though this film was presented in full screen on DVD worldwide (since that was what aspect ratio the film was created in), the film is matted to widescreen (cropping the top and bottom of the image) on a Hebrew DVD in Israel. This was the first film in the series to use fully computer-generated dinosaurs.
In a 2009 interview with Shiela Roberts of MoviesOnline, on his role as General W.R. Monger in DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens, Kiefer Sutherland made a brief reference to his role as Bron in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, and states that he wanted the character's voice to sound like his own, so the audience would recognize him in the part; a practice he said he commonly applies to his animated roles.
Music[]
The music for The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration was scored by Michael Tavera. This was the first film in the series that did not use James Horner's original score. Only one older theme from two previous sequels was used in two parts of this film; one time where Shorty trips Littlefoot and the other time where Cera tries to jump over a river.
Songs[]
The songs are written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom. The end credits version of the song, "Bestest Friends", is performed by Olivia Newton-John.
- Adventuring
- Me and My Dad
- Bestest Friends - also known as "Best of Friends". The music of this song is heard multiple times throughout this movie in the background. It is heard when Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike are missing Littlefoot after he leaves the Great Valley with his grandparents, and when Littlefoot tells Bron he wants to stay with his grandparents and friends in the Great Valley.
Trivia[]
- This is the first appearances of Shorty and Bron.
- Mo makes a cameo appearance in the "Adventuring" musical number. This, along with his cameo appearance in the "Flip, Flap, Fly" musical number in The Great Day of the Flyers makes him the only recurring character from the sequels besides Tria to appear in three films.
- It is revealed in this film that Bron was called "Littlefoot" as a child. This would seem to imply Littlefoot's mother gave her son her husband's nickname as a given name, contradicting an earlier explanation given in a tie-in book.
- It is paired with DreamWorks Animation's Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.
- This movie can be featured in 2 Tales of Discovery and Friendship.
- It has trailers that come with the VHS version, Beethoven's 5th, Casper/Babe, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Dr. Seuss video collection, and Mommy and Me: Playgroup Favorites.
- It has trailers that come with the DVD version, Beethoven's 5th, Dr. Seuss video collection, and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, except for the following previews in the VHS version, Casper/Babe and Mommy and Me: Playgroup Favorites aren't shown in the DVD.
- Pat's name is likely derived from his species name, Apatosaurus. Similarly, Bron's name is apparently derived from "Brontosaurus" the now obsolete scientific name for the species, and Sue may be derived from the name of her species, an extremely large sauropod named Supersaurus.
- Bron's referral to Grandpa Longneck as "Papa Longneck" indicates that he is Grandpa and Grandma Longneck's son-in-law.
- Although Littlefoot and Bron are both saddened by the loss of Littlefoot's mother, Littlefoot understands Sharpteeth better than his father does; this is likely due to his experiences with Chomper. With nothing to dissuade him, however, Bron hates carnivorous dinosaurs and thinks of them as "cowards".
- The movie's title sparked rumors that the guest character Ali (from The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists) would make a reappearance, as she was part of a migrating herd, and many of the character's fans were disappointed that she did not appear. However, she does reappear in "The Brave Longneck Scheme" episode of the TV series. It's also possible that Doc would've appeared in this film, but did not what so ever and since Doc is much of a loner it's highly possible he refused to join the other longnecks in the migration.
- The story regarding the supposed "feud" between the Night Circle (moon) and Bright Circle (sun), and how the longnecks acquired their namesake by saving the latter, is contradicted by another story in the later-released TV series episode, "The Legend of the Story Speakers", which instead posits that the longnecks gained their namesakes after the Night Circle lengthened their necks to compensate for the Bright Circle making the trees taller.
- Littlefoot is no longer considered an orphan, as he meets his father.
- Now that Littlefoot and Shorty are adoptive brothers, Littlefoot is no longer an only child.
- Littlefoot's eyes twinkle when he's dreaming.
- This is the third film in which Grandma Longneck is shown crying.
- This is the fifth film in which Littlefoot cries.
- With the running time of 84 minutes, this is considered the longest Land Before Time film in history.
- It is also currently Universal's second longest animated direct-to-video production after Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You.
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