History WesternAnimation / TheLandBeforeTime

The film released its first sequel in 1994, and Universal Cartoon Studios ended up making a sequel almost every year up to 2007, for a grand total of twelve. These sequels took a much LighterAndSofter tone than the original film, [[FanonDiscontinuity a move that alienated them from many of the first movie's fans]]. Still, others embrace these sequels into the canon of the series and see them as enjoyable, harmless, and frequently heartwarming kids' films that contain unexpectedly deep, complex themes and moral lessons. The series also had a short-running TV show in 2008 that lasted for one season. When this show ended, the series seemed to be headed towards a hard-earned retirement. [[{{Uncancelled}} But]] on February 2nd, 2016, a fourteenth movie was finally released, and it is the last installment for the series to date. With so many sequels, it would be an unorthodox way to teach kids Roman numerals, [[Franchise/StarWars alongside]] [[Franchise/FinalFantasy other]] [[UsefulNotes/SuperBowl franchises]].

* 2016 -- ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXIVJourneyOfTheBrave'': After learning that his dad is in trouble, Littlefoot sets off on a rescue mission to find him. Features Chomper's third film appearance, Bron's second and Ruby's first. Takes place after the TV series. Currently, the most recent film released.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeIITheGreatValleyAdventure'' (1994): The gang find a mysterious egg just outside the Great Valley and hatch it, finding that it's a Sharptooth egg.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeIIITheTimeOfTheGreatGiving'' (1995): A drought hits the Great Valley, and the dinosaurs within begin to crack under the strain.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeIVJourneyThroughTheMists'' (1996): Grandpa Longneck gets sick with a deadly illness. With the help of fellow Longneck Ali, Littlefoot and his friends journey to find the flowers that are the cure.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeVTheMysteriousIsland'' (1997): When locusts consume all the green food in the Great Valley, the herds leave to find more food, but Littlefoot and his friends get stuck on a strange island populated by Sharpteeth... and their old friend Chomper!
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeVITheSecretOfSaurusRock'' (1998): Littlefoot meets a dinosaur he assumes is "The Lone Dinosaur," and accidentally damages a very important stone, bringing bad luck to the Valley.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeVIITheStoneOfColdFire'' (2000): The gang, in addition to two mysterious outsiders, must race Petrie's uncle Pterano to find a magical meteor.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeVIIITheBigFreeze'' (2001): The Valley is once again put in danger, this time by a massive cold spell, while Spike meets members of his own kind.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeIXJourneyToBigWater'' (2002): When the Valley floods, Littlefoot meets a swimming creature called Mo and helps him get back to the Ocean (the titular "Big Water").
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXTheGreatLongneckMigration'' (2003): Littlefoot and his grandparents, following instinct, leave the valley to find The Great Circle, Littlefoot's friends following along. In addition, Littlefoot meets his father, Bron.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXIInvasionOfTheTinysauruses'' (2005): After accidentally getting rid of the fruits of a certain tree, Littlefoot blames a colony of tiny Longnecks. Meanwhile, Cera's father gets together with his old girlfriend, Tria.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXIITheGreatDayOfTheFlyers'' (2006): Tria and Cera's father are getting ready to bring a new hatchling into the world. Petrie is having trouble with a precision flying exhibition the flyers are putting on, and the gang helps a microraptor named Guido, who doesn't know what he is.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXIIITheWisdomOfFriends'' (2007): Littlefoot and friends help three dinosaurs to the distant Berry Valley.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXIVJourneyOfTheBrave'' (2016): After learning that his dad is in trouble, Littlefoot sets off on a rescue mission to find him. Features Chomper's third film appearance, Bron's second and Ruby's first. Takes place after the TV series. Currently, the most recent film released.

** Rather than sitting on Tricia's egg, Cera's parents incubate it by covering it with grass. It's theorized that this is exactly what certain dinosaurs did in real life (the fermenting vegetation would have warmed the eggs, and a ''Triceratops'' would likely be heavy enough to crush its eggs if it tried to sit on them.)

* InformedSpecies:
** Guido is a ''Microraptor'' but has a toothless parrot-like beak instead of a dromeosaur head and lacks the signature wing-like legs of his species. Also, he’s blue even though evidence shows his species was black.
** The Yellow Bellies are supposed to be Beipiaosaurus but they look more like mostly featherless Dodo's in appearance.

** The ''Liopleurodon'' is ''very'' accurately depicted, especially for the time the movie came out in (though it is closer in size to a ''Kronosaurus''). Most dinosaurs in the series, including sharpteeth, have a stylized, cartoony look about them. The ''Liopleurodon'' does not, and looks like a real animal. The effect makes for a fairly threatening villain, even if it never gets to cause any real damage.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Cera.

* {{Melodrama}}: ''Very'' much.

* {{Shorttank}}: Cera.

* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker: Ducky and Petrie.

%%* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Cera.

%%* {{Melodrama}}: ''Very'' much.

%%* {{Shorttank}}: Cera.

%%* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker: Ducky and Petrie.

** An odd case; at one point in the seventh film, Sierra makes a paddling motion with one foot while [[KidnappingBirdOfPrey carrying Ducky in the other]]. While this was ''definitely'' not something pterosaurs could do, it is behavior displayed by modern birds of prey when they're carrying particularly heavy loads in their talons.

[[folder:''The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock'']]

* DroolHello: Although Cera's companions see the Sharptooth coming, she doesn't notice it (thinking it's a gag) until it starts to drool on her.
-->'''Cera''': ''(screams'') Sharptooth drool!
* {{Irony}}: Grandpa Longneck is thankful that "Sharpteeth aren't very smart". In real life, Sauropods (longnecks) are by far the ''dumbest'' dinosaurs and Theropods (sharpteeth) are by far the ''smartest''.
* RecycledPlot: This film reuses the plot from the third movie about the water mysteriously drying up, which was incredibly unnecessary as it only lasts for one scene and is never brought up again.

[[folder:''The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water'']]

* BigNo: Littlefoot gets one as he watches Mo lead the swimming sharptooth away.
* {{Expy}}: The swimming sharptooth, who is a Liopleurodon, has a bit of a resemblance to the one in ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses'']]

* EverybodyCries: Ducky, Petrie, and Spike all cry TearsOfRemorse after shunning Littlefoot.
* JerkassBall: Nearly everyone gets this, particularly Cera (teases Littlefoot for his small size which leads to him accidentally knocking down the tree-sweets in the first place and later threatens her friends due to being angry about her father finding a new love).
* TheNapoleon: Big Daddy the leader of the Tinysauruses -- with the deep booming voice of Creator/MichaelClarkeDuncan!
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: After Littlefoot had no choice but to own up to his lies that led up to the events below, he is given this by [[WhatTheHellHero his friends sans Cera]]:
---->'''Ducky:''' You messed up the tree-sweets tree, so I did not get any tree-sweets and neither did anybody else!\\
''[[EvenTheDogIsAshamed (Spike grunts in agreement)]]''\\
'''Petrie:''' You make friends with tiny ones, but you make everybody mad at them, so they unhappy now, too! So, why you make friends with them in the firstest place?\\
''(Spike grunts in agreement again)''\\
'''Ducky:''' You made the grown-ups so mad, that they knocked rocks down on the tiny little longnecks, so they're now covered up with rocks and I do not think that is fair, either!\\
'''Petrie:''' Plus, Spike eated all the bestest tree-stars me found this morning!\\
''[[RuleOfThree (Spike grunts in agreement once more.)]]''\\
'''Littlefoot:''' I didn't do ''that'', Spike did.
*** After this, they proceed to turn their backs on Littlefoot, having him walk away with a "Fine!" But after he leaves, the three start giving this to ''each other'':
---->'''Petrie''': Me no believe you talk to Littlefoot like ''that''! [[WhatTheHellHero You so, so mean]]!\\
'''Ducky''': ''(scoffs in disgust)'' ''[[HypocrisyNod You]]'' [[HypocrisyNod were the one who made him the saddest!]] Yep, yep, yep!\\
''([[EvenTheDogIsAshamed Spike is shocked and then grunts in agreement]], as Petrie becomes [[JerkassRealization taken aback]])''
* SickeningSweethearts: Tria and Topps were apparently young and sappy together. Upon reuniting years later, they pick up immediately where they left off. There's giggling involved.
* WasTooHardOnHim: Petrie, Ducky, and Spike feel this way after giving Littlefoot the cold shoulder (and, in the case of the former two, a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "reason you suck speech"]]).
* WhatTheHellHero: After Littlefoot admits that he lied about the Tinysauruses destroying the tree-sweets, the others are understandably not too happy with him.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers'']]

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "Many changes had occurred on this day of changes," as pointed out by WebVideo/MarzGurl.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: At the beginning of the film, Petrie accidentally messes up during practice for the titular event and later that night, he gets chewed out by his angry siblings.
--->'''Petrie's sibling 1''': Petrie, you'll never get it right!\\
'''Petrie's sibling 2''': Yeah, you don't pay attention!\\
'''Petrie's sibling 3''': You flap your wings at the wrong time!\\
'''Petrie's sibling 1''': You go up when we go down, and you go ''down'' when we go ''up''!\\
'''All siblings''': You're ''hopeless''!
* WasTooHardOnHim: When Petrie's siblings get mad at him for ruining their practice for their flying, Guido steps in and try to tell them not to be so hard on him.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends'']]

* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: The Yellow-Bellies are very colorful.
* BrokenAesop: The film seems to be trying to say "trust your instincts as well your mind", but sometimes comes across more like "just wing it and hope you get lucky".
* DumbDinos: The Yellow-Bellies aren't very bright, to say the least.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Perhaps a little too much in that [[spoiler:the film is giving constant hints to the twist of Foobie being the "wise one" of the Yellow-Bellies, which might make said twist very easy to see coming from a mile away for some viewers.]]
* GoofyFeatheredDinosaur: The film portrays the Yellow-Bellies (Beipiaosaurus) as scaredy-cat comic relief characters.
%%* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Meta-example: This is the 13th ''Land Before Time'' movie to get made, and is universally considered the worst entry in the series by both fans and non-fans of the sequels alike. For a long time, it was also the last film in the series.
* ShakingTheRump: Three Yellow-Bellies shake their butts during the song Yellow Belly Bounce.
* ToiletHumour: [[spoiler:While sheltering from a storm, the Yellow-Bellies accidentally sit on top of Ducky and Petrie and one farts on them.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave'']]

* AdultsAreUseless: Zigzagged in this film. Aside from the main plot being about the kids deliberately setting out to save an adult, none of the other adults seem to be willing to do anything to help. Grandpa and Mr. Threehorn ''do'' follow after the kids to make sure they're alright, [[spoiler: but even then, they catch up seconds after the kids have already done all the work rescuing Bron.]]
* ContinuityPorn: As the first film in almost a decade, it recaps the general plot of the first film and that of ''The Great Longneck Migration'', as it revolves around rescuing Bron, who debuted in that film.
* NeverSayDie: Usually employed, but the cast mention possibly being killed outright a few times. The opening poignantly makes mention of how "the perils of this world claimed [Littlefoot's mother]."
* StockSoundEffects: The T. Rex sounds from ''Film/JurassicPark'' are used for the Carnotaurus.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:TV Show]]
* AdultsAreUseless:
** Hoo boy. One episode has Spike trapped in a hole, so Mister Thicknose and Topps come to help. They spend so long arguing that the kids get Spike out themselves, then the two begin arguing over whose method would have gotten Spike out ''faster'' if they hadn't been arguing.
** An episode where the gang eat a bunch of sweet fruits that were keeping the valley safe could have been avoided if the adults had shown the children where the trees were and said "These fruits smell bad to predators, they may look tasty but if we ate them predators could get in." Instead the adults look shocked that the children ate these amazingly important fruits... that they didn't know existed more than a few days ago.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: From "March of the Sand-Creepers", after Cera [[RageBreakingPoint finally blows up]] at Scuttle for asking the Gang one favor too many.
-->'''Cera''': You have to go to the Great Valley!\\
'''Scuttle''': Why should I?\\
'''Cera''': Because without the other sand-creepers, WHO'S GONNA LISTEN TO YOUR DUMB STORIES?!\\
'''Scuttle''': (taken back) Well, you got me.
* ContinuityNod: One of the strongest points about the show is that it's willing to bring up characters and events from previous films, showing that these characters and events ''did'' matter.
* ConvectionSchmonvection: The episode "The Canyon of Shiny Stones" is made of this trope (although they do, at least, remember that volcanoes produce choking smoke).
* DoingInTheWizard: In one episode, the gang and Mr. Thicknose go off looking for a legendary dinosaur called "Hidden Runner", thought to be a super fast, carnivorous dinosaur that can instantly turn itself invisible. [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, we learn that Hidden Runner is fast, but not super fast and his "invisibility" is actually his cryptically colored skin allowing him to camouflage himself. He kind of looks like a featherless ''Troodon'']].
* EvilEggEater: Defied. Despite being an ''Oviraptor'', Ruby is depicted as [[ShownTheirWork one of the protagonists with an omnivore diet and her species referred as a "Fast Runner" rather than an "Egg Stealer"]].
* GodGuise: Happens to Spike in "Stranger From the Mysterious Above", where a colony of horned gophers believe him to be the "Big Wise One" from their legends.
* GoneHorriblyRight: In one episode, to stop Ali's friend Rhett from boasting, the kids stage a plan to make Chomper look extremely dangerous and fierce. While Rhett does get scared off, this leads his and Ali's herd to try and drive Chomper out of the Great Valley.
* IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam: The episode where Chomper loses his tooth has a subplot where Tria takes Cera and some of the other kids to her secret mud pool. Cera is at first very unenthusiastic about sitting in mud all day, but when Tria urges her to give it a try, and she discovers that the mud is warm, she ends up liking it just as much as the others.
* InformedAbility: Red Claw is stated to be the biggest and most dangerous Sharptooth around. Considering his accomplishments so far, including retreating from having fruit thrown at him, as well as [[LighterAndSofter the tone of the TV series]], this is a status he will never live up to.
* JerkassBall: Ducky in "Search for the Sky Color Stones". Especially jarring since she never acts this way before or after.
* LighterAndSofter: More so than the sequels, being a series aimed at pre-school aged children.
* MaliciousMisnaming: With a bit of AccidentalMisnaming, when Rhett confronts Littlefoot for questioning his bravery.
-->'''Rhett''': Oh, yeah, Littleneck?\\
'''Littlefoot''': My name is Little''foot''.
* MusicalisInterruptus: In "Return to Hanging Rock", Ruby gets interrupted before she finishes singing "Feel So Happy".
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The episode "The Hidden Canyon" has the kids finding a canyon filled with delicious tree sweets that they scarf down. It's only after they eat a lot of tree sweets that they discover that the smell of them is rancid to Sharpteeth, and their eating the sweets is lessening the potency of the smell, thus making it easier for the Sharpteeth to enter the Great Valley...
* NoodleIncident: How exactly the gang met Ruby and the Great Valley accepted Chomper is never shown.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In "Search for the Sky Color Stones", Ducky uncharacteristically acts like a greedy hoarder when she finds many geodes to the point she no longer trusts her friends, who are clearly disturbed by this.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring:
** Littlefoot's grandparents outlive their daughter, who famously suffers a fatal injury protecting her son from a ''Tyrannosaurus Rex''. In the sequels we see them filling the void by lovingly [[RaisedByGrandparents raising their grandson.]]
** Heavily implied to be the case with Cera's father. Cera's clutch included three other hatchlings, and after the Great Earthshake, Cera makes a point of not needing the other children because she's going to find her sisters again. While Cera is reunited with her father at the end of the movie, Cera's mother and clutchmates are nowhere to be seen, and they never show up in the sequels.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Cera, upon reaching her RageBreakingPoint from receiving one request from Scuttle too many, gives one to the crustacean who counters that with one of his own.
-->'''Cera''': ''That'' '''''DOES''''' ''it!'' Of all the mean and nasty, low-down creepy-crawlers!\\
'''Scuttle''': And you, lady! Your tongue is sharp as your horn and your heart twice as hard!
* RememberTheNewGuy: Ruby wasn't in any of the movies made prior to the series, and yet the others treat her like a long-time friend. Justified since the series take place after the movies prior, which gave the gang plenty of time to meet and know her.
* SuddenlySpeaking: The TV episode "Through the Eyes of a Spiketail" has it so the audience can hear what Spike's thinking.
* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: Often, and it rarely goes deeper than sad, mad, or glad. Considering the original movie's handling of boundless joy and crippling grief, this is a little jarring.
* ToTheTuneOf: Several songs in the show reuse the melodies of previous songs, whether from the movies or from the show.
* TranslationConvention: Averted in the episode where Chomper and one of the Fast Biters get trapped together. They both speak the Sharptooth language to each other, and there are subtitles at the bottom of the screen.
* WouldHurtAChild: At one point, Ali's herd corners Chomper and make it ''very'' clear that they intend to kill him. He speaks up to say "please don't hurt me", they're stunned by this...and then they decide to kill him anyway.
* YouCanTalk:
** Ali's herd reaction to Chomper saying "Please don't hurt me."
** This is also the gang's reaction to Scuttle being able to speak their language, unlike the other crabs.
[[/folder]]

** While it's still debatable how broad ''Pteranodon'''s diet might have been (e.g. just fish, or fish plus other sea critters), there's no question that leaves were ''not'' on its menu. Vegetation takes so long to digest, and has to be consumed in such quantities due to its low nutrient content, that an herbivorous ''Pteranodon'' would be too loaded down by its food to fly. Petrie's diet is never mentioned in the original film, and the idea of him being an herbivore is purely a sequel invention.

The film released its first sequel in 1994, and Universal Cartoon Studios ended up making a sequel almost every year up to 2007, for a grand total of twelve. These sequels took a much LighterAndSofter tone than the original film, [[FanonDiscontinuity a move that alienated them from many of the first movie's fans]]. Still, others embrace these sequels into the canon of the series and see them as enjoyable, harmless, and frequently heartwarming kids' films that contain unexpectedly deep, complex themes and moral lessons. The series also had a short-running TV show in 2008 that lasted for one season. When this show ended, the series seemed to be headed towards a hard-earned retirement. [[{{Uncancelled}} But]] on February 2nd, 2016, a fourteenth movie was finally released, and it is the last installment for the series to date. With so much sequels, it would be an unorthodox way to teach kids Roman numerals, [[Franchise/StarWars alongside]] [[Franchise/FinalFantasy other]] [[UsefulNotes/SuperBowl franchises]].

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeVITheSecretOfSaurusRock The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock]]'' (1998): Littlefoot meets a dinosaur he assumes is "The Lone Dinosaur," and accidentally damages a very important stone, bringing bad luck to the Valley.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeIXJourneyToBigWater The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water]]'' (2002): When the Valley floods, Littlefoot meets a swimming creature called Mo and helps him get back to the Ocean (the titular "Big Water").
* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXTheGreatLongneckMigration The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration]]'' (2003): Littlefoot and his grandparents, following instinct, leave the valley to find The Great Circle, Littlefoot's friends following along. In addition, Littlefoot meets his father, Bron.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXIInvasionOfTheTinysauruses The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses]]'' (2005): After accidentally getting rid of the fruits of a certain tree, Littlefoot blames a colony of tiny Longnecks. Meanwhile, Cera's father gets together with his old girlfriend, Tria.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXIITheGreatDayOfTheFlyers The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers]]'' (2006): Tria and Cera's father are getting ready to bring a new hatchling into the world. Petrie is having trouble with a precision flying exhibition the flyers are putting on, and the gang helps a microraptor named Guido, who doesn't know what he is.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXIIITheWisdomOfFriends The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends]]'' (2007): Littlefoot and friends help three dinosaurs to the distant Berry Valley.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeXIVJourneyOfTheBrave The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave]]'' (2016): After learning that his dad is in trouble, Littlefoot sets off on a rescue mission to find him. Features Chomper's third film appearance, Bron's second and Ruby's first. Takes place after the TV series. Currently, the most recent film released.

* AcrophobicBird: Petrie the Acrophobic ''Pterosaur''. He spends pretty much the entire movie on the ground, afraid to fly.

** While it's still debatable how broad ''Pteranodon'''s diet might have been (e.g. just fish, or fish plus other sea critters), there's no question that leaves were ''not'' on its menu. Vegetation takes so long to digest, and has to be consumed in such quantities due to its low nutrient content, that an herbivorous ''Pteranodon'' would be too loaded down by its food to fly. It should be noted that Petrie's diet is never mentioned in the original film, and the idea of him being an herbivore is purely a sequel invention.

* BigBad: Sharptooth, who spends pretty much the entire movie pursuing the group with hostile intentions.

* CleanPrettyChildbirth: The film has the baby dinosaurs hatching totally clean. Nobody knows for sure about dinosaurs, but modern reptiles and birds are usually wet and have some residue from being in the egg, until they're able to dry off.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Though a favorite trope of Bluth's, this movie takes it to a very high level for an animated film. First and foremost, Littlefoot loses his mother and is devastated over her death, which should make him alone a big enough victim of this trope. Both Ducky and Cera, and presumably Petrie as well, are separated from their families in an earthquake, and Spike appears to have been orphaned ''before he was even born''. Later the entire group faces massive bouts of starvation during their journey, and have to avoid the ever looming threat of the Sharptooth, as Littlefoot tries to keep everyone together while trying to find the Great Valley. Fortunately, they do find it, and all of them get their families back, with Spike even ending up HappilyAdopted by Ducky's family.

* MisplacedWildlife: The entire franchise has many species of dinosaurs which lived millions of years apart all living in the same period.

* PapaWolf and MamaBear: The parents of the five main characters, but also Chomper's parents. Notably, they were willing to enter the Great Valley to search for their child (whom Littlefoot and his friends accidentally brought in when trying to rescue another egg that Ozzy and Strut stole), and when they saw Chomper in danger, they made absolute certain that whoever harmed them paid in full, even doing so to members of their own kind.

** Rather than sitting on Tricia's egg, Cera's parents incubate it by covering it with grass. It's theorized that this is exactly what certain dinosaurs did in real life (the fermenting vegetation would have warmed the eggs, not to mention the fact that a ''Triceratops'' would likely be heavy enough to crush its eggs if it tried to sit on them.)

* AdultsAreUseless: Zigzagged in this film. Aside from the main plot being about the kids deliberately setting out to save an adult, none of the other adults seem to be willing to do anything to help. Grandpa and Mr. Threehorn ''do'' follow after the kids to make sure they're alright, [[spoiler: but even then, they catch up literally seconds after the kids have already done all the work rescuing Bron.]]

* AnAesop: Two, actually.
** Follow your heart. Littlefoot followed his mother’s advice, and reached the Great Valley.
** The right way is not always the easiest one. As a result of taking an alternate path, Cera put herself and the rest of the group in harm’s way simply to prove her worth to her father.

* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Loofah and Doofah see a pack of sharpteeth running towards them and mistaken them for a mirage and don't realize that they are actually real until they have already started running. If Foobie hadn't gotten them to run in time, they would have been dead.]]
* TheVoiceless: Foobie.

The film released its first sequel in 1994, and Universal Cartoon Studios ended up making a sequel almost every year up to 2007, for a grand total of twelve. These sequels took a much LighterAndSofter tone than the original film, [[FanonDiscontinuity a move that alienated them from many of the first movie's fans]]. Still, others embrace these sequels into the canon of the series and see them as enjoyable, harmless, and frequently heartwarming kids' films that contain unexpectedly deep, complex themes and moral lessons. The series also had a short-running TV show in 2008 that lasted for one season. When this show ended, the series seemed to be headed towards a hard-earned retirement.

[[{{Uncancelled}} Or was it?]] After almost nine years since the last one, a fourteenth movie was finally released on February 2nd, 2016. It is currently the last installment for the series.

* * AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: The Yellow-Bellies are very colorful.

* TooDumbToLive: Loofah and Doofah see a pack of sharpteeth running towards them and mistaken them for a mirage and don't realize that they are actually real until they have already started running. If Foobie hadn't gotten them to run in time, they would have been dead.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Perhaps a little too much in that [[spoiler:the film is giving constant hints to the twist of Foobie being the "wise one" of the Yellow-Bellies, which makes the twist very transparent.]]

* GoofyFeatheredDinosaur: The film portrays the Yellow Bellies (Beipiaosaurus) as scaredy-cat comic relief characters.

* DroolHello: In the sixth film, although Cera's companions see the Sharptooth coming, she doesn't notice it (thinking it's a gag) until it starts to drool on her.

* {{Irony}}: In movie 6, Grandpa Longneck is thankful that "Sharpteeth aren't very smart". In real life, Sauropods (longnecks) are by far the ''dumbest'' dinosaurs and Theropods (sharpteeth) are by far the ''smartest''.
* RecycledPlot: Movie 6 reuses the plot from the third movie about the water mysteriously drying up, which was incredibly unnecessary as it only lasts for one scene and is never brought up again.

* BigNo: Littlefoot gets one of these in ''The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water'', as he watches Mo lead the swimming sharptooth away.

* EverybodyCries: In ''Invasion of the Tinysauruses'', Ducky, Petrie, and Spike all cry TearsOfRemorse after shunning Littlefoot.
* JerkassBall: Nearly everyone gets this in Movie 11, particularly Cera (teases Littlefoot for his small size which leads to him accidentally knocking down the tree-sweets in the first place and later threatens her friends due to being angry about her father finding a new love).

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In movie 11, after Littlefoot had no choice but to own up to his lies that led up to the events below, he is given this by [[WhatTheHellHero his friends sans Cera]]:

* WasTooHardOnHim: In ''Invasion of the Tinysauruses'', Petrie, Ducky, and Spike feel this way after giving Littlefoot the cold shoulder (and, in the case of the former two, a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "reason you suck speech"]]).
* WhatTheHellHero: In ''Invasion of the Tinysauruses'', after Littlefoot admits that he lied about the Tinysauruses destroying the tree-sweets, the others are understandably not too happy with him.

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: From ''XII'': "Many changes had occurred on this day of changes," as pointed out by WebVideo/MarzGurl.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: At the beginning of ''The Great Day of the Flyers'', Petrie accidentally messes up during practice for the titular event and later that night, he gets chewed out by his angry siblings.

* WasTooHardOnHim: In ''The Great Day of the Flyers'', when Petrie's siblings get mad at him for ruining their practice for their flying, Guido steps in and try to tell them not to be so hard on him.

* ContinuityPorn: As the first film in almost a decade, the film recaps the general plot of the first film and that of ''The Great Longneck Migration'', as it revolves around rescuing Bron, who debuted in that film.