The Land Before Time (2018 film)

The Land Before Time is an upcoming 2018 American-Irish animated adventure drama film directed and co-produced by Don Bluth and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall. Produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios, Amblin Partners's Amblin Entertainment and Lucasfilm (despite not receiving an official credit nor the film's marketing bearing the studio's logo), it features dinosaurs living in the prehistoric times. The plot concerns a young Brontosaurus named Littlefoot who is orphaned when his mother is killed by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Littlefoot flees famine and upheaval to search for the Great Valley, an area spared from devastation. On his journey, he meets four young companions: Cera, a Triceratops; Ducky, a Saurolophus; Petrie, a Pteranodon; and Spike, a Stegosaurus.

Cast

 * Felix Avitia as Littlefoot
 * Anndi McAfee as Cera
 * Aria Curzon as Ducky
 * Jeff Bennett as Petrie
 * Helen Shaver as Littlefoot's Mother
 * George Ball as Cera's father
 * Barry Bostwick as Grandpa Longneck and The Fat Crown-Head
 * Pat Hingle as Rooter
 * Frank Welker as Sharptooth, The Grey Nose, Domeheads and Dinilysia

Editing
Throughout production, The Land Before Time underwent a severe cutting and editing of footage. Spielberg and Lucas thought that some scenes in the movie would appear too dark and intense for young children. Spielberg told Bluth while looking at the scenes from the film, "It's too scary. We'll have kids crying in the lobby, and a lot of angry parents. You don't want that." About 10 minutes of footage, comprising a total of 19 fully animated scenes, were cut from the final film, to attain a G rating instead of a PG rating. Much of the cut footage consisted of the Tyrannosaurus attack sequence and sequences of the five young dinosaurs in grave danger and distress. Some screams were re-voiced using milder exclamations. Though Bluth was unhappy with the cuts, and fought for all the footage, he had to settle on a final running time from 79 minutes to 69 minutes, one of his shortest. The sequence of Littlefoot's mother's death was shown to psychologists who gave their feedback to the production team, and the character of Rooter was added to the story to soften the emotional blow. Brief portions of the scene which showed the mother's neck and back bitten have since been edited out of home-video releases and television airings, though this footage was present both in the theatrical cut and on earlier VHS copies of the film.