MovieChat Forums > The Land Before Time (1988) Discussion > Was the Great Valley real or metaphorica...

Was the Great Valley real or metaphorical?

posted 14 years ago by Joshuarayjames
6 replies | jump to latest

As a kid I always just assumed this was a true happy ending and that at the end the kids really were reunited with their friends and loved ones, but as I grow older and rewatch this classic movie I can't help but get the sneaking suspicion that the ending could have an alternate interpretation.

What if the kids never actually made it? What if the Great Valley didn't exist, or only existed in their minds, or perhaps as some version of the afterlife? When they first stumble upon it, it's quite obviously just a dead, abandoned stretch of land devoid of life.

Is it possible that the kids succumbed to starvation and fatigue and that there never was a Great Valley at all? The ending takes on a whole new meaning then. It's either the hallucination of the dying or the dinosaurs' version of heaven. We all know that the real story of the dinosaurs didn't end with them finding safe haven from the disasters wrecking their world. They succumbed to their fate and passed from history and from life. Disregarding the miserable sequels, does anyone else find this to be a possible true ending?

[–] Leopardii 14 years ago

It's not meant to be metaphorical this has been stated by don himself.

[–] Bfler 14 years ago

If all are dead and the GV is heaven, where is Littlefoots mother. Beside his friends it is the person he loves most and therefore she should also be in the GV, but there are only his grandparents.

[–] peccadillo 13 years ago

People on IMDb bring up this exact theory constantly (i.e. it was all just a dream, or they really all died and some of what was shown was either a projection of their dying thoughts or else occurred in the afterlife) with loads of different films. I don't blame you for hypothesizing, but to be honest, it's probably one of most worn-out of movie theories currently brought up.

Some of the more prominent ones are Ferris Bueller's Day Off was all in Cameron's head, and similar theories exist for the films Minority Report, The Descent, Taxi Driver, Total Recall, and Observe and Report.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] profprimbud 8 years ago

Can these theories be considered valid b/c I doubt they'll come right out to say it?

I never think about the future, it comes soon enough

[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 8 years ago

If you disregard the sequels, maybe it was heaven.

Metallica and Iron Maiden are Bronies