La tierra antes del tiempo II: Aventura en el gran valle

1994 was a huge year for children's entertainment. Disney's Return of Jafar may have got the ball rolling with it's "VHS premier" even though it was a thinly disguised pilot movie for the syndicated Aladdin tv series that would premier a few months later, but it was Land Before Time II that showed you could make something DTV and have it be as much or more of a cash cow than theatrical releases. And with Universal's Amblimation movies An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, We're Back: A Dinosaur Story, and Balto all posting disappointing box office numbers while the 6 Land Before Time movies raked in nearly $1,000,000,000 in VHS sales, Universal left the theatrical animated space and relegated themselves to churning out Land Before Time sequels every one to two years. These DTV titles have done massive damage to the reputation of the animation industry which is only now being able to escape this stigma, but even when taking all that into account the movie still isn't very good. At best it feels like the type of cartoon one would expect to see in syndication at 7:30 am on weekdays back when there WAS a syndication market for cartoons and it has low stakes, forgettable songs, and is a complete tonal 180 from the first movie. It'll entertain children while it's one, but it doesn't leave much of a lasting impact. It's on of those movies that has more of a reputation for what it caused than what it is.

Why doesn't the movie industry learn to leave a good thing alone? Why must they force out sequel after sequel (and each one is progressively worse)? It completely ruined the effect of the first movie when this and the sequels came out. The kids I baysit want to know why Littlefoot and the others don't sing in the first one, and keep pointing out where they think songs should go. I've had one kid insist they should redo the movie, since there are no songs. Really...singing dinosaurs? Why is this necessary?

"The Land Before Time". What can you say about it? It's a classic film with glorious animation, relatable characters, groundbreaking music, and a compelling, heart-wrenching story. There's no denying it had a huge impact on me as a three or four-year-old. It will remain a favorite of mine until the day I die.

Now imagine my surprise as a kid to find out that there had already been five sequels made. I wasn't too picky, so I gave them a watch. Back then, seeing more adventures of Littlefoot and his friends was pretty much all I cared about. Now, as a critic, I must see them with a more analytic and observant eye.

Some fans of the original have disregarded these sequels. The general reason for this is that they have a somewhat softer tone and never strike as much emotion as the original. Therefore, I agree, none are as good.

The questions you have to ask with a sequel are "Are the characters continued well? Do they become more developed? Does the movie follow the logic of the original?" In the case of the Land Before Time sequels, the answer is yes on all accounts. Because the characters are so close to me, watching them mature as the series progresses is like seeing a friend or sibling grow morally or spiritually. Case in point, "The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure".

In 1994, six years after the original was released, this movie, as well as its successors, was brought out straight to video. But there's so much effort put into elements that kids wouldn't care about that it easily could have been theatrical material. For direct-to-video fare, the animation is surprisingly first-rate. It's not quite as stunning as Bluth's animation, but great all the same. The score by Michael Tavera almost matches the brilliance of James Horner's phenomenal score from the first movie. There's good money in this.

As the opening song suggests, this movie takes place very shortly after the end of the first movie. Littlefoot the apatosaurus, Cera the triceratops, Petrie the pteranodon, Ducky the saurolophus, and Spike the stegosaurus have made it to the Great Valley, and are living a peaceful and playful life under the watch of their families.

We have mostly new voice actors, the only exception being Candace Hutson reprising her role as Cera. Veteran voice actor Jeff Bennett voices Petrie with the nasal consonance that Will Ryan had. Kenneth Mars, who is most famous for his voicing role as King Triton, is likable and solemn as Littlefoot's grandfather. Heather Hogan is cute as Ducky, but doesn't quite have the innocence that Judith Barsi so rightfully put into the character. Scott McAfee voices Littlefoot in the RAS trilogy (movies 2, 3, and 4), and out of all the voice actors for him in the entire series, McAfee is my favorite, sounding masculine enough in the high voice Littlefoot is known to have.

We're then introduced to the villains Ozzy and Strut. They are struthiomimus brothers, as verified in a lyric of their song "Eggs", which is the catchiest song in the movie. Strut loves to graze on plants much to the annoyance of Ozzy, who is most fond of eggs.

During a night that Ozzy and Strut go out to steal an egg, Cera wakes up Littlefoot, Ducky, Spike, and Petrie and tells them that she's sick of being treated like a hatchling, and tries to work out a plan to go on strike. Littlefoot is tired of being a kid, but is still somewhat opposed to the plan. But when they notice Ozzy and Strut walking away from Ducky's nest with an egg, they all see their chance to prove themselves independent. They chase them into the Mysterious Beyond, the land outside of the Great Valley, and straight into a cave where the darkness causes everyone to panic and run amok, resulting in a landslide. The egg coincidentally rolls safely back into Ducky's nest. The gang lands in the Mysterious Beyond relatively unharmed, and come across a large egg that they mistake for the one Ozzy and Strut stole. The five work together to bring it home again, only to find Ducky's egg there.

Believing that Ducky's egg was there all along, they come to the conclusion that Ozzy and Strut stole this one from a different nest. They start to think it might be fun to raise the hatchling as their own, so they stand around the egg waiting for it to hatch. When it does, they realize that the egg contained a baby tyrannosaurus. But Littlefoot shows the rest of the gang that he's harmless and they welcome him into the valley, which starts the song "You're One of Us Now". I like the spirit of this song, but the lyrics aren't a lot. There's even a part where Littlefoot seems to cram too many words into one line.

We also get the best fight scene in the series, complete with dutch angles, when a local battle breaks out between two tyrannosaurs and the adult dinosaurs, with the kids participating somewhat. One of the most memorable scenes is when Littlefoot's grandpa fights off one of the sharpteeth in a lake.

The film delivers a good message on making the most of your young years and how fun it is to be a kid. Yes, that isn't the strongest message when you compare it with that of the original, but here's how I see it: The first movie tells the story of these characters' greatest redemption. They will continue to learn throughout the series. And if you ask me, this is a good place to start. It's certainly not as good as the original, but it, and (most of) its successors, are good sequels in their own rights.

7/10 for "The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure".

Genre: Animation, dinosaurs, sequel.

Main characters: Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike. I like these characters and I'm glad you see them so often on all these L.B.T films.

Actors: The ones who do the main characters are Scott McAfee (Littlefoot), Candace Huston (Cera), Heather Hogan (Ducky), Jeff Bennet (Petrie) and Rob Paulsen (Spike).

What happens: Some of our favourite cartoon dinosaurs are back in this really good sequel, this time happy to be in the great valley. They see two "egg-stealers" stealing an egg and go after them (which means braving the MYSTERIOUS BEYOND). Will they retrieve the stolen egg?

My thoughts: I think this L.B.T is underrated. It is a good, clean, fun family film, with characters who are easy to relate to and a good and exciting storyline - perfect for children and some older people! :-) Yes, it is more happy than the original "Land Before Time" but children don't want to see another loved character dying - do they (although I love that film anyway)?

For the wee ones, this is a good film for them to sit down to and probably for parents as well. After that you may wish to watch the others, go ahead if you wish! :-) This is a good series from beginning to end. Of course, this and the others have lots of flaws, but you are likely not to be disappointed by at least one aspect in each film!

What you may like about the film: You may like the lovely and fun songs. You may like the animation. You may like the plot and storyline. You may like the characters. You may like the feeling of the story. These features pleased me and I hope they please you.

Recommended to: Families who like cartoon films, people who thought the first L.B.T was a tad bit too sad and particularly for cartoon-loving children. Enjoy! :-)

My Take: Decent straight-to-video effort.

Granted, sparks won't fly freely in the direct-to-video sequel THE LAND BEFORE TIME II: THE GREAT VALLEY ADVENTURE, but it's good enough to satisfy your kids hunger for fun. It's a film where you could just leave the kids and allow yourself to do something else. It's harmless, family movie, which, surprisingly, I found decent.

Like all direct-to-video efforts, expect it to have a low-quality plot, weak characterizations and childish situations. But with all it's low shots, you can just look in your child's eyes and see how you rate the film. I remember watching this non-stop sequels over and over again when I was a kid, in other words, I was a big fan of all this stuff. But know, THE LAND BEFORE TIME II has dated badly. Now, I remember how inferior the new plot is to the original's plot. But, rating as a kid flick, it's something to keep the kids busy. It's a bit better than the other sequels that followed.

By the end, upon seeing the eyes of the kids, you decide what rating you'll give to the film, but I give it, at least ***, a high rating for a film that isn't that good on quality. Nevertheless, it provides as much fine fun to kids and as decent enough as I remember.

Video movie rating: *** out of 5.