The Land Before Time (TV series)
| The Land Before Time | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Genre | Adventure Fantasy |
| Created by | Charles Grosvenor Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
| Developed by | Ford Riley |
| Directed by | Scott Heming Dick Sebast |
| Voices of | Cody Arens Anndi McAfee Aria Curzon Jeff Bennett Rob Paulsen Max Burkholder Meghan Strange Kenneth Mars Miriam Flynn John Ingle Tress MacNeille Pete Sepenuk Dorian Harewood Jessica Gee |
| Theme music composer | Roc Gagliese Steve D'Angelo Terry Tompkins |
| Opening theme | "The Land Before Time Theme Song", performed by Ladysmith Black Mambazo |
| Ending theme | "The Land Before Time Theme Song" (instrumental) |
| Composers | Cory Lerios (score) Michele Brourman (songs) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producers | Diane A. Crea Charles Grosvenor |
| Running time | 23 minutes |
| Production companies | Universal Animation Studios Amblin Entertainment |
| Distributor | NBCUniversal Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | Cartoon Network |
| First shown in | Canada |
| Original release | March 5, 2007 – January 21, 2008 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends (2007) |
| Followed by | The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave (2016) |
The Land Before Time is an American animated television series, based on The Land Before Time film series created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss. It was developed for television by Ford Riley for Cartoon Network and was produced by Universal Animation Studios and Amblin Entertainment (Amblin Entertainment produced the first film with Sullivan Bluth Studios), and animated by Toon City in the Philippines. It premiered on YTV in Canada for a test on January 5, 2007 and premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 5, 2007.
It was made as traditionally animated with CGI backgrounds, which the past sequels from The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration onwards have used, with occasional cel-shaded computer animated characters in wide shots. The main antagonists in the series are Red Claw, an evil villainous Tyrannosaurus, and Screech and Thud, two henchmen Deinonychus. The TV series takes place after the events of The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends, due to Chomper and Ruby being absent in that film.
Voice cast[]
Main[]
- Cody Arens as Littlefoot[1] (Anthony Skillman performs Littlefoot's singing voice)
- Anndi McAfee as Cera
- Aria Curzon as Ducky
- Jeff Bennett as Petrie
- Rob Paulsen as Spike
- Max Burkholder as Chomper[1]
- Meghan Strange as Ruby
- as Red Claw, Screech
- Rob Paulsen as Thud
Recurring[]
- Kenneth Mars as Grandpa Longneck
- Miriam Flynn as Grandma Longneck
- John Ingle as Daddy Topps
- Tress MacNeille as Petrie's Mother/Ducky and Spike's Mother
- Dorian Harewood as Mr. Thicknose
- Jessica Gee as Tria
- Meghan Strange as Tricia
- Susanne Blakeslee as Additional Voices
Guest appearances[]
- Anndi McAfee as Lydia/Corythosaurus
- Aria Curzon as Ceratogaulus Girl
- Jeff Bennett as Brontosaurus #2/Ruby's siblings/Skip/Mutt/Doc/Kosh (The Amazing Threehorn Girl)/Ceratogaulus Elder
- Rob Paulsen as Ruby's father/Brontosaurus #1/Hidden Runner/Mo/Milo/Stegosaurus/Guido/Lambeosaurus
- Meghan Strange as Plower/Maiasaura/Iguanodon/Corythosaurus
- Pete Sepenuk as Kosh (The Star Day Celebration)/Saro/Allosaurus
- Nika Futterman as Ruby's Mother/Ali
- Elizabeth Daily as Rhett/Shorty
- Jessica Walter as Old One
- Cree Summer as Tippy
- Susan Krebs as Tippy's mother
- Cam Clarke as Bron
- Susan Blu as Dara
- Mikey Kelley as Hyp
- Scott Menville as Nod/Mother Deinonychus
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Scuttle
- Dorian Harewood as Great Hideous Beast
- Jess Harnell as Swooper
- Dee Bradley Baker as Baby Acrocanthosaurus (uncredited)/Sarcosuchus pack
Episodes[]
Season 1 (2007)[]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Cave of Many Voices" | Scott Heming | Ford Riley | March 5, 2007 | |
| Chomper realizes his secret cave in the Great Valley becomes leaky and the gang goes exploring in the deep caves to search for another suitable cave for Chomper to live in. Meanwhile, the gang's new member, a Fast Runner named Ruby, teaches Ducky how to act and talk big. | |||||
| 2 | "The Mysterious Tooth Crisis" | Richard Sebast | Jack Monaco | March 6, 2007 | |
| When Chomper loses his tooth, he, Littlefoot, Petrie and Ducky travel around the Great Valley to figure out what is wrong. Meanwhile, Cera, Spike and Ruby relax in Tria's secret mud spa. | |||||
| 3 | "The Star Day Celebration" | Scott Heming | Krista Tucker | March 7, 2007 | |
| Ruby misses her family on her "Star Day" (birthday) and the gang tries to help cheer her up by being true friends and bringing Ruby her favorite food. | |||||
| 4 | "The Canyon of Shiny Stones" | Richard Sebast | John Loy | March 8, 2007 | |
| When Cera accidentally loses Tria's special shiny stone, the group decides to find a new stone to return to Tria by traveling to the Canyon of Shiny Stones. | |||||
| 5 | "The Great Log-Running Game" | Scott Heming | Phil Harnage | March 9, 2007 | |
| While trying to get a tree sweet, Ducky makes up a game called the "Log Running Game", and competes against the group in a competition on how long they can run on a log in the water. But when Cera tries to prove Threehorns are the best, she gets swept away on a log to Roaring Falls, forcing the gang and Topps to try and save her. | |||||
| 6 | "The Brave Longneck Scheme" | Richard Sebast | Phil Walsh | March 12, 2007 | |
| Ali's herd returns to the Great Valley, and Littlefoot and Cera find out that Ali has a new friend, Rhett, who boasts about himself and claims Sharpteeth fear him. The gang decides to bring a real Sharptooth (Chomper) to convince Ali that Rhett is making up the stories. However, when Rhett sees Chomper, he runs away to tell his herd, who in turn come to kill Chomper. They let Chomper live after the kids confess the truth, the gang for their prank and Rhett for making up the stories. | |||||
| 7 | "The Meadow of Jumping Waters" | Scott Heming | Jack Monaco | March 13, 2007 | |
| The gang decides to travel beyond the Sheltering Grass to see the Meadow of Jumping Waters that Ruby and Chomper passed by when traveling to the Great Valley. | |||||
| 8 | "The Days of Rising Waters" | Richard Sebast | Catherine Lieuwen | March 14, 2007 | |
| When a heavy rainstorm wipes out Petrie's nest, he flips out at the prospect of having to move. Meanwhile, Cera insists that Ducky take on the seemingly impossible task of teaching Tricia how to swim. | |||||
| 9 | "Escape from the Mysterious Beyond" | Scott Heming | Jack Monaco | March 15, 2007 | |
| When exploring inside the caves, the group accidentally goes into the Mysterious Beyond and get chased by Red Claw, Screech and Thud. An earthshake occurs, and Chomper and Ducky get trapped on a ridge with Thud. | |||||
| 10 | "The Hidden Canyon" | Richard Sebast | Don Gillies | March 16, 2007 | |
| When the kids discover a hidden canyon filled with fruit trees, they decide to keep the place a secret. But the secret becomes dangerous when Red Claw and his henchmen use the canyon to enter the Great Valley! | |||||
| 11 | "The Legend of the Story Speaker" | Scott Heming | Kent Redeker | March 19, 2007 | |
| Grandpa Longneck tells Littlefoot and his friends stories about why Longnecks have long necks and about Starwatcher. And then Grandpa Longneck and Saro, his old friend, meet. Saro tells him that all the Longnecks are forgetting the great Longneck stories and he needs to come with him to tell them again. But Grandpa Longneck refuses as he has a home in the Great Valley. Angry, Saro runs out, and Littlefoot and Chomper follow him into the Mysterious Beyond. Saro tells Littlefoot and Chomper a story about Tall Stepper, a Longneck who saved his sister from the wind. | |||||
| 12 | "The Bright Circle Celebration" | Richard Sebast | Corey Powell | March 20, 2007 | |
| Petrie is very excited about the Bright Circle Celebration. But Cera thinks it is silly to thank the Bright Circle for shining. Cera and her dad steer clear of everyone preparing for the festivities, but they rush in to help when a fire threatens everything. | |||||
| 13 | "The Lonely Journey" | Scott Heming | Noelle Wright | March 21, 2007 | |
| It is lonely being the only Sharptooth in the Great Valley. Chomper decides to go to the Mysterious Beyond to teach the Sharpteeth how to be friends. | |||||
| 14 | "The Missing Fast-Water Adventure" | Richard Sebast | Don Gillies | March 22, 2007 | |
| When an earthshake causes the fast-water to dry up, the dinosaurs decide to try and fix the problem by removing the rocks. On the way, they meet an old friend, Mo. | |||||
| 15 | "The Spooky Nighttime Adventure" | Scott Heming | Jack Monaco | March 23, 2007 | |
| One night, Ruby tells the group a scary story about an invisible dinosaur named "Hidden Runner" and gives everyone scary sleep stories. They see Mr. Thicknose to tell him that she made up the story and there is nothing to worry about, but the story of Hidden Runner was true, and they decide to venture into the Mysterious Beyond to search for him. | |||||
Season 2 (2008)[]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | "The Lone Dinosaur Returns" | Richard Sebast | Phil Walsh | January 7, 2008 | |
| One day, Doc, The Lone Dinosaur, comes back to the Great Valley in search of his lady friend, Dara. After Chomper hears the stories of him and how he despises Sharpteeth, the dinosaurs try to hide him. | |||||
| 17 | "Stranger from the Mysterious Above" | Scott Heming | Holly Huckins | January 8, 2008 | |
| When Spike falls down a hole, he encounters a colony of mammals who think of him as the "Big Wise One" from the Mysterious Above. Meanwhile, his friends try to save him but only find trouble when Mr. Thicknose and Topps cannot agree on what to do. | |||||
| 18 | "The Forbidden Friendship" | Richard Sebast | John Low | January 9, 2008 | |
| When Tippy's herd comes back, the adults get into a fight and the kids cannot play with each other, but they sneak out and find green food. | |||||
| 19 | "The Amazing Threehorn Girl" | Scott Heming | Jack Monaco | January 10, 2008 | |
| When the gang gets chased by a pair of Belly Draggers, Cera gets separated from the others and ends up trapped, but she accidentally sets off a rock slide that frightens the Belly Draggers away. When she finds the gang and tells them about it, Petrie flies around telling everyone in the valley, and suddenly everyone thinks Cera is a hero, even when she insists she is not, but she soon lets the fame go to her head and begins to fabricate her story, which Littlefoot and Ruby become skeptical of. However, the Belly Draggers return, and they have brought friends. | |||||
| 20 | "The Big Longneck Test" | Richard Sebast | Ford Riley | January 11, 2008 | |
| Littlefoot gets a visit from his father and adoptive older brother, getting the news that he will be the one taking "The Big Longneck Test," a test of three stages to see if a Longneck is capable of leading a herd. So while Littlefoot takes the test, Shorty tries to lead his younger brother's friends on an adventure. | |||||
| 21 | "The Hermit of Black Rock" | Richard Sebast | Don Gillies | January 14, 2008 | |
| On a windy day, when Guido and Petrie practice gliding, they are blown into Black Rock and are trapped because Petrie hurts his wing, Guido hurts his foot, and there seems to be no way out, but a blind old hermit and flyer named Swooper decides to help. | |||||
| 22 | "Return to Hanging Rock" | Richard Sebast | Jack Monaco | January 15, 2008 | |
| On the day of the Flying Rocks of Many Nights (meteor shower), Ruby remembers a memory of her family meeting at Hanging Rock when she lived in the Mysterious Beyond. Ruby adventures alone to find her family, but Chomper, Ducky and Spike come along to help. Along the way, they meet Skip, a mammal who knows the Mysterious Beyond very well, and the gang learns an important lesson of being family. | |||||
| 23 | "March of the Sand Creepers" | Richard Sebast | Don Gillies | January 16, 2008 | |
| One morning, a herd of "Sand Creepers" (crabs) mysteriously come to the Great Valley. Curious, Littlefoot, Cera, Petrie, Chomper, and Ruby set off to an adventure to find out why the Sand Creepers have come to the Great Valley. They meet Scuttle, a Sand Creeper who can speak the language of leaf-eaters, and try to enlist his help, but Scuttle tries to take advantage of them to the chagrin of Cera. | |||||
| 24 | "Search for the Sky Color Stones" | Scott Heming | Jack Monaco | January 17, 2008 | |
| When the gang sees the sky colors in the sky disappear (a rainbow), the gang splits up to find sky color stones (geodes). | |||||
| 25 | "Through the Eyes of a Spiketail" | Richard Sebast | Ford Riley | January 18, 2008 | |
| On the first day of the cold time, Mr. Thicknose tells the gang about Hard Water Sweets (frozen grapes), and the gang set off on an adventure to find them. | |||||
| 26 | "The Great Egg Adventure" | Scott Heming | Noelle Wright | January 21, 2008 | |
| Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie and Chomper (followed by Hyp, Nod and Mutt) find a nest of Fast Biter eggs. They decide to carry the eggs away from the valley so the baby Sharpteeth can grow up without eating anyone, and set off on a journey into the Mysterious Beyond. When a mother Fast Biter sees that her eggs have been stolen, she becomes very angry and starts tracking them. | |||||
Broadcast[]
The show premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 5, 2007. It also on Boomerang in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2007. It premiered in Japan on Kids Station in May 2007. The show has neither aired on Cartoon Network in the United States nor on YTV in Canada since March 2008. On January 14, 2017, the show began airing in reruns on Sprout.[2] It aired on Spacetoon on January 1, 2011 after Spacetoon English closed and the Spacetoon Group was rebranded. It aired on TV Russia on May 2, 2009 after TV Russia Service Television (TV RSTV) closed. Reruns of the series began airing on Universal Kids upon the channel's launch on September 9, 2017.[3]
Reception[]
Michael D. Schaffer of the Philadelphia Inquirer said that the animation in the series, although below the animation of the original 1988 The Land Before Time movie, was above-average for modern television. Although he praised the theme song, saying it had a "bouncy, almost calypso beat", he was less pleased with the songs "Adventuring" and "Talking Big". He finally described the series as "bland, inoffensive stuff", and appropriate viewing for very young audiences.
Merchandise[]
Universal Studios Consumer Products Group and Playmates Toys announced a domestic licensing agreement, whereby Playmates served as the master toy license for the then-upcoming animated television series, The Land Before Time. The 22-minute animated series aired on Cartoon Network beginning spring 2007. The toy line launched in fall 2007 with the introduction of a full line of figures, vehicles, playsets and plush.[4]
Home media[]
Twenty-four episodes of the series were released on DVD by Universal Studios between 2007-2008 in North America (region 1) and 2010 in Australia (region 4) in the form of six four-episode volumes. A six-disc box set was later released in the UK (region 2) in 2012 containing the 24 episodes from the previous volumes. Two episodes were not included in those releases: "The Hidden Canyon" and "The Big Longneck Test". While "The Hidden Canyon" was later released as a special feature on the stand-alone DVD release of The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends, "The Big Longneck Test" has never been released on home media.
| Vol. | DVD name | Release dates | Episodes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 4 | Region 2 | |||
| 1 | Amazing Adventures! | August 28, 2007[5] | March 31, 2010[6] | "The Cave of Many Voices" (1), "Canyon of the Shiny Stones" (4), "The Meadow of Jumping Water" (7), "The Spooky Nighttime Adventure" (15) | |
| 2 | Good Times & Good Friends | November 27, 2007[7] | March 31, 2010[8] | "The Star Day Celebration" (3), "The Brave Longneck Scheme" (6), "The Great Log Running Game" (5), "The Bright Circle Celebration" (12) | |
| 3 | Adventuring in the Mysterious Beyond | February 19, 2008[9] | June 30, 2010[10] | "The Great Egg Adventure" (26), "Escape from the Mysterious Beyond" (9), "The Lonely Journey" (13), "The Hermit of Black Rock" (21) | |
| 4 | Through the Eyes of a Spiketail | May 13, 2008[11] | June 30, 2010[12] | "Through the Eyes of a Spiketail" (25), "Stranger from the Mysterious Above" (17), "March of the Sand Creepers" (23), "The Forbidden Friendship" (18) | |
| 5 | Magical Discoveries | August 26, 2008[13] | September 1, 2010[14] | "Search for the Sky Color Stones" (24), "The Amazing Threehorn Girl" (19), "Days of Rising Waters" (8), "Return to Hanging Rock" (22) | |
| 6 | Friends Forever | December 2, 2008[15] | September 1, 2010[16] | "The Mysterious Tooth Crisis" (2), "The Missing Fast-Water Adventure" (14), "The Lone Dinosaur Returns" (16), "Legend of the Story Speaker" (11) | |
| 1-6 | Complete TV Series | March 12, 2012[17] | Contains all 24 episodes from previous volumes. | ||
Music[]
The songs are written by Michele Brourman (music) and Ford Riley (lyrics).
The theme song is performed by the South African choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The theme is written by Roc Gagliese, Steve D'Angelo, and Terry Tompkins of the eggplant. The music score is by Cory Lerios.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons Third Edition. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8160-6599-8.
- ^ http://www.sproutonline.com/tv-schedule/2017-01-14
- ^ NBCUniversal Is Launching A New Channel: Universal Kids
- ^ DeMott, Rick. "Playmates Toys With The Land Before Time". Animation World Network. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
- ^ "The Land Before Time: Amazing Adventures". Amazon. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Land Before Time Amazing Adventures Volume 1 DVD Region 4". Kogan.com. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Land Before Time: Good Times & Good Friends". Amazon. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Land Before Time Volume 2 - Good Times and Good Friends". Booktopia. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Land Before Time: Adventuring in the Mysterious Beyond". Amazon. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Land Before Time Volume 3 - Adventuring in the Mysterious Beyond". Booktopia. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Land Before Time: Through the Eyes of a Spiketail". Amazon. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Land Before Time Through the Eyes of a Spiketail Volume 4 DVD Region 4". Kogan.com. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "Land Before Time, The: Magical Discoveries". DVD Empire. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Land Before Time Volume 5 - Magical Discoveries". Booktopia. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "Land Before Time, The: Friends Forever". DVD Empire. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Land Before Time Volume 6 - Friends Forever". Booktopia. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Land Before Time: Complete TV Series [DVD] [Import Anglais]". Amazon (in French). Retrieved June 19, 2020.
External links[]
 |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Land Before Time (TV series) |
| show Authority control  |
|---|
Categories:
- 2007 American television series debuts
- 2008 American television series endings
- 2000s American animated television series
- The Land Before Time
- Television series by Universal Animation Studios
- YTV (TV channel) original programming
- Animated television shows based on films
- Animated television series about dinosaurs
- English-language television shows
- Television series by Amblin Entertainment
- Television series by Universal Television
- American children's animated adventure television series