History YMMV / Thelandbeforetime

* [=~They Just Didn't Care~=]: If you hadn't gotten the hint from the earlier sequels, then ''[[AWorldWidePunomenon Invasion of the Tiny-Sauruses]]'' will tell you so.

* BreakoutCharacter: Chomper was originally just a guest character brought in for the second film. Then he was brought back for the fifth film, and then he became a main character for the tv series, almost to the point where he became a SpotlightHog.

* OffModel: an unfortunate side effect from outsourcing to [[{{AKOM}} South Korea]] and [[WangFilmProductions Taiwan]].

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: Many people think the apocalyptic scenes in the movie are terrifying. This troper remembers being quite terrified of such scenes.

* {{Narm}}: Some of the facial expressions fall into this.

* {{Hatedom}}: A lot of jokes have been made regarding the length of the series, but some view the series as..
** GuiltyPleasures: Hey, some people actually ''like'' the sequel series.
*** I can't possibly be the only one who loves the Eggs Song, sung in Land Before Time 2 by the two struthiomimus. Speaking of them...
*** ''Big, big, big, big water...''
* LargeHam: Pterano from ''The Stone of Cold Fire''.
** Complete with biological CapeSwish.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Many people think the apocalyptic scenes in the movie are terrifying. This troper remembers being quite terrified of such scenes.

* SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying: Surprisingly, in terms of dinosaur representation in animated features, this film is ''the most'' historically accurate (though the anatomy is a little off in some characters -- still really good for 1988). Make of that what you will.
** Of course, the movie ''will'' make the paleontologists cry anyway, if [[TearJerker for entirely different reasons]].

* AnachronismStew: While the opening narration gets "Before the mammoth and the mastodon" right, that's basically the extent of accuracy in this regard. While most of the species in the film are from the Late Cretaceous of North America, Littlefoot (an ''Apatosaurus'') and Spike (a ''Stegosaurus'') are both Jurassic. While Littlefoot and family could be [[http://en.wikipedia.org/Alamosaurus Alamosaurus]], a sauropod from the proper time and place, there's no excuse for Spike's appearance. And let's not forget the even older ''Dimetrodon'' encountered halfway through the film.
** Some apologists have tried to {{Handwave}} this away by saying that Spike is a member of an undiscovered type of stegosaur.
** [[MST3KMantra It's a movie about talking dinosaurs]].

** Interesting, except that its been Jossed by Don Bluth and the other creators.

* {{Sequelitis}}

* WhatAnIdiot: So Cera was really crazy enough to lead the others through an area with [[spoiler: active volcanoes, rivers of lava, tar pits, all with little land to move around in when minutes earlier complained to Littlefoot that his path was easier?]]

**** [[hottip:FridgeLogic!: While it's perfectly possible that it was the mass extinction event, that doesn't mean that all the dinosaurs immediately up and died. In fact their breeding pools at the end are probably too low to sustain the species anyways. Usually a minimum of at least a hundred is needed without the species dying off from inbreeding, although it can go as low as a few dozen]]

* {{Sequelitis}}: The MostTriumphantExample.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: Almost literally in a particularly horrifying interpretation of the film. [[hottip: Click if you want to never be able to watch this movie again: The earthquake near the beginning was a result of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, AKA the extinction of the dinosaurs. Meaning everyone was DeadAllAlong. The film is their journey through purgatory towards heaven, represented by the Great Valley. The dinosaur that comforts Littlefoot directly after his mother's death is an angel trying to get him to overcome his anger over his mother's death, for which he blames both her and (secretly) himself. The lava field is where Cera overcomes her sin of excessive pride, and where the rest of the group learns that there are no "shortcuts" to heaven, and that they must go on the path set for them, and have faith in it, or they'll never get there. The sharptooth is representative of the kids' fear of their own mortality, and by killing him, they have finally let go of all of their earthly attachments, aside from Littlefoot, who still has guilt for the death of his mother. When he finally accepts her death, he finds the Great Valley, along with everyone else, where the rest of their families are waiting for them in the afterlife.]][[DespairEventHorizon Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to hang myself]].

* TheyJustDidntCare: If you hadn't gotten the hint from the earlier sequels, then ''[[AWorldWidePunomenon Invasion of the Tiny-Sauraeses]]'' will tell you so.

** [[hottip: Don't click: So his mother went to hell?]]
*** [[hottip: Might as well click if you clicked the last two already: [[PowerOfLove And she still came back] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming to lead Little Foot to Heaven!]]]]
**** [[hottip: Click to be cheered up: No, she's in heaven. The rest of the dinosaurs are in hell, aka the sequels;]]
**** [[hottip: Fridge Logic!: While it's perfectly possible that it was the mass extinction event, that doesn't mean that all the dinosaurs immediately up and died. In fact their breeding pools at the end are probably too low to sustain the species anyways. Usually a minimum of at least a hundred is needed without the species dying off from inbreeding, although it can go as low as a few dozen]]

* TheScrappy: Again, it varies from person to person. But in particular, the Yellow Bellies from the final movie, ''The Wisdom of Friends,'' are widely hated.

** Complete with biological CapeSwish.