MovieChat Forums > The Land Before Time (1988) Discussion > rewatching it now...

rewatching it now...

posted 16 years ago by bring_back_Pluto
10 replies | jump to latest

I can't believe it, but I can't stop crying! I was eight years old when this came out, and loved it as a kid. Now, over twenty years later, I'm watching it again for the first time in a long time - and I'm blown away by its emotional resonance. It's so insanely tragic. From an allegorical perspective, I'm especially appreciative of the depiction of the life-cycle - an extinct species, shifting unwittingly towards oblivion / the Great Valley. I also enjoy the depicted relations between differing subgroups (three-horns and long-necks never interact!). I realize that much of the symbolic interpretation of the film is highly subjective, and I'm normally reluctant to imbue movies with heightened "meaning", but in this case I feel it's warranted. What a great movie!

oh and by the way, the score is devastatingly beautiful!

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] bring_back_Pluto 16 years ago

thank you, buddy!! man, you have to check out that movie again - and I'm talking about the 1988 original only (because it's the only one I've seen) ...

yeah, dude - the animation blows minds. It's really outstanding - honestly. The artwork/backgrounds are also excellent

Actually, it wasn't a Disney movie - believe it or not... It was made by Don Bluth, the same guy who did An American Tail -- and Steven Spielberg ... I also think George Lucas was involved

brotha, check out this fan trailer I just found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm9B-2CnmM4

the narration is done by some (awesome) dude on youtube (awesome for digging the movie!) --- so it's not "professional" -- but the music and footage rocks... and the stuff he says rocks! and I swear man, I just actually f'in started crying again just watching that!! insane

radical

edit:

OOOH MAN!!! NOOO!!! check out this absolutely BRILLIANTLY awesome trailer! it's so absurdly hardcore, dark, awesome, and epic! ...... pure raw awesomeness!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2LWRFHbKF0

wow!

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] mavrick45 16 years ago

I share a similar experience.
I was 4 years old when this came out and I recall it being the very first motion picture I saw in theaters. I'm 25 now and just watched it for the 2nd time. Strangely everything seemed so familiar as if I had watched it yesterday!
I think it had some very deep impacts on my psyche when i was 4 :|

[–] bring_back_Pluto 16 years ago

that's really cool, mav

man - you saw it once when you were a tiny kid - - - and watched it twenty years later, and it seemed insanely familiar? that's awesome

- extremely rare and fortunate reaction! I love it!

here
here's a beer

how cool would it be to have a Land Before Time Nostalgia Party? With people in their mid to late-20s all rewatching the movie... drinking beer... and probably sobbing like maniacs for the entire film

I can't believe how much I wept, man - the movie kills me! the way the music swells at the end, and the clouds part - focusing a beam of sunlight over the rocks - and revealing the Great Valley... the music is SO epic - I break down completely during that closing narration:

The Great Valley

was all they dreamed
it would be--

A land of green,
leaves and life.

There were waterfalls,
grassy meadows,

enough tree stars
to feast on forever

and raising upon them,
their families.

And Littlefoot

found his grandmother
and grandfather at last--

The same loving faces
he'd looked into

on the day of his birth.

And they all grew up
together in the valley--

Generation upon generation,

each passing on to the next

the tale of
their ancestors' journey

to the valley... long ago.

oh man, I'm getting misty-eyed just copy/pasting that!

[–] acsgrlie 15 years ago

I haven't thought about this movie in years but just watched the clip of littlefoot's mother dying and I was bawling!! I remember watching it when i was 5 or 6 and having to skip that part of the movie every time because it was just too sad.

[–] OmegaWolf747 15 years ago

This was one of my favorites as a child, mainly because I was (and still am) a dinosaur nut. I just wish they had left in all the violent footage; that would've made it even cooler.

--
"House. My room. Can't walk. My medal. My father. Father, don't!"

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] batgirl1415 14 years ago

I couldnt' say any more than you have already. I agree and understand completely. In fact, I avoid this movie now because all I do is cry.

“Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.” -Dr. Seuss

[–] waltzesstatueschess 14 years ago

Yeah, I feel the need to contribute here for the exactly the same reasons, this film had the most extraordinary effect on me last night after watching it for the first time in about 13 years. As a kid the story never upset me as such, but I was fascinated by it and watched it all the time. Now, as an adult, the tears did not stop from beginning to end, and I never cry at films. There's such an intense resonance in everything, the music, the characters.. It seems so deeply rooted into who I am, even though I wasn't aware of it, and re-watching it brought so many values to light. It's startling how unconsciously familiar I still was with all the visual textures and the nuances of the voices etc.

I definitely won't be watching it in the company of people anytime soon.