Are the Land Before Time sequels really that bad?

You know what was really really bad? The animated series.

And why was it bad?

Not saying this as a defensive fan of it, just wanting to know why it's bad.

It takes every vice from the sequel movies and ramps them Up To Eleven.

I'm willing to admit I loved the second one as a kid. Mainly because it had two T-Rexes, and goshdarnnit, I love Tyranosauri as a kid. Who didn't?

But yeah, it's kinda terrible.

We would have less complaints if they were named something else.

Wait, a fourteenth is in development? They're not done yet?

The animation department is closed, and it's been a few years since the thirteenth video. I doubt they're making anymore.

Despite the obvious fact Land Before Time has become nothing more than Cash-Cow Franchise, I like to keep in mind that these are aimed at children, and thus the story may be silly at times because it appeals to them. Then again, they must think Viewers Are Morons...

Anyway, I love the Land Before Time, I have since I was young. I got bored one summer and decided to watch them again (up to a certain point), and I noticed that it started to get unlikeable when it came to story and characters around the time of The Big Freeze. Heck, I came to this conclusion before I asked my own mother what she thought of the sequels, and she agreed to the same thing.

I would later find that though the animation looked a little better as time went on, the Conspicuous Cg was everywhere, which does ruin the movie at times, if not the entirety of it. I think this was more noticeable in Journey to Big Water, then it was everywhere in Great Migration. Marz Gurl goes into better detail than I will, there's no need for me to repeat her own words.

Am I glad there aren't anymore sequels to be made? I am. To be honest, the franchise needed a mercy kill this whole time, if it hadn't been killed and brought back as a zombie tenfold the whole time.

I admit more sequels of the current series would likely be bad. It might interesting to see something of a new directional idea made by an alternate company, like a reboot of sorts. Maybe they'd make something closer to Bluth's original concepts (similar to the new Winnie the Pooh movie).

Stopped at the eight one! Suffice to say I'm shocked there is thirteen. When I heard there was an eleven and twelfth one I just knew something akin of a Franchise Zombie was beginning to form.

I think the only ones that were so okay it's average for me was two to six and that was up until I was eleven I think.

It depends what your expectations are. If you go in expecting them to be as good as the original, then they will certainly not live up. The reason they made so many sequels in the first place was 1) they were the only thing Universal Animation Studios had that was making enough money to keep them from being closed, and 2) the same reason the Godzilla franchise, the James Bond franchise, and every slasher movie ever made has so many sequels: people love these characters. Say what you want about the films, but the five main characters are very memorable, and people were willing to buy the sequels to see more of them. So I think, first off, you're looking at the Land Before Time sequels in the wrong context if you're expecting them to be good as stand alone films. They aren't meant to be story driven and coherent. They simply continue the story of characters that people really like. If you watch them from the stand point that these are basically character films, they can actually be very like able, assuming you liked the kids in the first place.

Yes.

In essence, no. They are not as terrible as their reputation makes them out to be. It's a very easy franchise to mock because of how long it's lasted, and because of how often it's mocked and the sheer exasperation people have at how many sequels it produced they tend to scrutinize it more harshly than most other films. I'm a die hard fan of every Land Before Time film except the thirteenth, and I can see why people dislike the movies. Still, I say it's mostly their loss, as they can very enjoyable and even touching at times.

edited 31st Jan '13 1:30:15 PM by Lyiofcycleprotector

I think the last one I watched was 6, which was average IIRC, I don't remember aliens or such so I don't know what happened after that one. I remember Sarah was an unlikable Jerkass and for the longest I couldn't tell whether or not Littlefoot was a boy or a girl.

I liked them when I was little.

Also, I watched the sing-a-long VHS a lot.

There was that TV show that came out I think when I was a teenager. I watched it once out of nostalgia and didn't really like it.

Cera wasn't that bad,...actually the sequels were surprisingly good with Character Development if there was anything remarkable about them.

The 5th even got to the point that Cera was calling her own kind bossy.

I remember in one of them (the third?) Spike saying his first word was an awesome moment that everyone suddenly stopped because of. Then two or so movies later he was singing like an old blues singer.

...okay, maybe a nerdy blues singer, not old.

edited 8th Feb '13 10:24:10 PM by 0dd1

I've watched a number of The Land Before Time sequels as well as the first. The first was definitely good, no question. The sequels are obviously not on the first film's level, but that's why they should be judged on their own merits.

I would say that they have a number of redeeming qualities. They showed that Sharpteeth are not Always Chaotic Evil, especially with adorable little Chomper. They turned Cera's father, that unmitigated racist Jerkass, into a G-rated Archie Bunker. They got Cera an attitude adjustment. Spike proved that he could speak.

With all that said, I'll admit that when a franchise reaches 13 films, and they start removing the numbers from the titles, it's time to pull the plug. I know people mock Disney for songs, but Disney songs generally have better quality than what was shown in TLBT.

The first four were (The first was the best, though) and the rest were awful.

You had idiotic singing that even the kids disliked. Characters got old and a couple movies were based around them only.

Plus the villains got more pathetic as time went on, and you wondered why the characters even bothered running from them.

On the other hand,the the themes themselves by Michael Tavera were near perfect mimics of a James Horner score.

The Credits Theme to the third

The Credits Theme to the fourth and fifth, this one was so good of a mimic I thought it was in the original and found myself very disappointed when it wasn't.

@Title: Considering how, pardon my bad language, "epic" original movie was and how much kiddified sequels where along with cliche cartoon series episode plots... I'd say "yes".

They say that Chinese Water torture is better for your kids than making them watch these.

That's bullshit! That applies to Secret of Nimh II nicely though.

True. Putting them on a spiked bed would be better than having to watch the Land Before Time sequels.

Face Palm

Nope, sorry, Nimh II is better. Tim Curry automatically raises ranking.