When We Are Out There
in the dark,
we’ll dream about the sun.
In the dark we’ll feel the light.
I think that The Land Before Time is the best movie ever made, ever. I have watched it probably a hundred times and haven’t gotten bored of it. It touches on themes and lessons that other kid movies sort of just don’t. Such as:
Little Foot and his mother discuss faith: “Have you ever seen the Great Valley?” “No.” “Well, how do you know it’s really there?” “Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart.”
Little Foot and his mother discuss racism: “We all keep to our own kind. The three-horns, the spiketails, the swimmers, the fliers. We never do anything together.” “Why?” “Well, because we’re different. It’s always been that way.” “Well, why?” “Oh, don’t worry so much.” As well, we’re shown very plainly that a parent’s beliefs and views influence a child’s greatly.
Little Foot’s mother tells him not to wander off. The first time he does, he is not met with dire consequences. His mom does have to come “protect” him from Cera’s dad, but I think it’s assumed that Little Foot was not in mortal peril. The second time he wanders off, he finds himself in a life-threatening situation and it results in the death of his mother. Life is harsh, and one little mistake can impact you and those around you if you don’t learn from your mistakes the first time around.
Little Foot believes that his mother killed Sharptooth when she pushed him into the underground, off a cliff created by the earthquake. He is so convinced of this (perhaps out of fear of the alternative) that he does not listen to Cera’s assertions that she has seen Sharptooth alive. Little Foot’s refusal to believe her puts him and his friends in danger because they are not being appropriately careful. When the group (unknowingly?) falls asleep for the night in one of Sharptooth’s footprints, it serves (to me) as a symbol of denial. Later, when the group narrowly escape with their lives, Little Foot has lost the gift from his mother, the tree star, having left it in the footprint in his haste to escape. It gets trampled to pieces. In most kid shows, I feel like this wouldn’t happen. But in this movie, mistakes have consequences. Little Foot loses his most dear possession because he wouldn’t listen to his friend.
The fact that the main character is dead wrong about something and has flaws is refreshing. There is true relational conflict in this movie. They don’t all just effortlessly get along; they really have to work at harmony. Even apart from the obvious conflicts between Little Foot and Cera, there is friction at times between all of them. Little Foot gets angry when Petrie rips his tree star. Ducky understands this, and tells Petrie to protect the tree star instead of wrecking it, but Little Foot refuses to let him. Much later, after Cera and Little Foot have a massive fight and the other three opt to follow Cera because her way is easier, Little Foot is enraged in the moment and turns his back on them as they ask him to wait. However, when he finds them in danger after he has a chance to cool off, he rescues them without thinking. I think it beautifully illustrates how the strong feelings we have in a moment of anger can blind us.
Even though most of them go “the wrong way”, the easy way, they eventually are brought back to the correct path (after much more effort than simply taking the “hard” way would have taken!) and arrive at the Great Valley, which shows that even if you mess up in life, you can be brought back if you have stellar friends.
The hundred Land Before Time sequels are disappointing in that they have none of the depth and symbolism the first one had. But that’s all I’m going to say about that. I know there was a buck to be made there, so why not, I guess.
As much as I adore The Neverending Story, The Land Before Time will always hold a special, special place in my heart.
