It starts out with narration so the kids (THE TARGET AUDIENCE) understand the setting. Not many 3 year olds would understand a carnivore vs. an herbivore, nor would they be interested in fancy terms like triceratops, brachiasaurus, and stegosaurus; These aren't animals that kids learn as their first words, like "cat" and "dog". They made up easy terms for kids, like "long neck", "flyer", "big mouth", and "sharptooth". And without the narration describing the "leaf-eaters" and "meat-eaters" in the beginning, they wouldn't know what to call them when they point out to their parents: "Mommy! Look! Littlefoot is a ____!" (Although, as I got older, I grew to resent these made up names; it makes it confusing for kids when they actually start school and start learning the real terms for dinosaurs)
Have you ever watched a movie with a 2 or 4-year-old? Without the narration, the 15 seconds we see of Cera looking embarrassed and ashamed, my kids would be all over me, "Mommy, is Cera sad? Why is she sad?". Sure, any good parent is more than willing to explain this, but with the narration offered, the don't have to.
Personally, having grown up on this movie, I always liked Pat Hingle's narration. I think he has a great voice for animation. I'm glad we got to hear him more than merely with Rooter. I can't imagine this movie without this narration. It would be like watching The Princess Bride without the grandfather's narration of the story throughout; just because this movie doesn't open with a kid in bed and a parent reading a book doesn't make the narration useless.
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