Alla ricerca della valle incantata 4 - La terra delle nebbie

This edition of the Land before time franchise very obviously touches on the subject of race relations and childhood. "Allie" was, I am assuming raised to believe she should communicate only with others of her own species. But as with many childrens' movies, it has them join forces to solve a problem together. So obviously it's hard for me to appreciate this film quite as much now that I am an adult, but that doesn't stop me from looking back on my childhood. I can't listen to the Sarcosuchus anymore without hearing the crazy cat lady from the simpsons.

The Great Valley is still an idyllic paradise but arriving refugees speak of an approaching mist which is a precursor to doom. Littlefoot sets off to find a particular flower for medicine in the land of the mists. He's joined by new friend Ali.

It's a little off with Littlefoot being alone. He needs his friends and they do finally join him. I'm also not sure about a sea turtle as a new friend. I don't see the turtle being able to outrun a crocodile. The mist is over-sold. The story is really straight forward which is fine for a kids movie. It's an hour long. This is fine but don't expect much for adults. This is a kids' movie.

This movie despite what others say is actually quite good. In my opinion this is the best Land before time. It does not fail in the plot and it does not fail in the entertainment value. This is overall a solid movie and I cannot get enough. I think anyone who is a true Land Before time fan will fully and whole-heartedly love The Land Before Time: Journey through the mists. This has more of a mature plot than the others,seeing that it has something to do with a potentially fatal situation, not just because of sharp teeth but also because of a journey they must take and a deadly illness. I cannot believe that people are saying this movie blows mad chunks when it really is not bad at all.

Shortly after a herd of migrating Longnecks enter the Great Valley, Littlefoot befriends one his age named Ali (who is afraid of Littlefoot's other friends Ducky,Petrie, Cera and Spike). Littlefoot's Grandpa falls ill shortly after the arrival of the migrating herd. The Herd's leader, The Old One, says there's a special flower that grows in their previous land that can cure those afflicted with illness (which is given no name) but because the land from whence they came has changed into a marshland of vermin and predators the her refuses to help. Littlefoot must now travel to the Land of Mists to find the "Night Flower" and save his grandpa.

The final Land Before Time sequel to be directed by Roy Allen Smith and written by Dev Ross, The Land Before Time IV keeps itself mostly in line with its predecessors II and III. It's really no better nor worse than the previous two, though maybe it gets a few points for having slightly more stakes than the first entries. With the crux of the movie being a ticking clock to save Littlefoot's Grandpa it definitely feels like it has more weight than the previous two entries with II teaching the moral of obeying your parents, and III being a vehicle for Bullying, resource conservation, and fire safety advice. I can say that IV feels more like an actual movie rather than an extended TV episode.

The movie's villains this time around, crocodile like creature Dil and bird like Ichi, are basically like Ozzy and Strut from the first film except rather than eggs they're trying to eat our heroes (also in a break from the norm, unlike other "Sharpteeth" in the series they can talk). The defining shtick is basically them complaining to each other that one does more work in their food gathering relationship than the other. It's not particularly endearing or amusing but I suppose it does try to shake itself up.

The songs are mostly forgettable. Grandma's Lullaby was probably the best by virtue of tying itself to Grandpa's illness and having a decent enough melody. Other songs were either annoying like the villain song "Who Needs You?" or a filler song "It takes all sorts" which basically retreads the message of the original Don Bluth movie without subtlety. Otherwise pretty much anything said of the other two sequels can apply here.

Land Before Time IV is basically more of the same. It's slightly better than the other two sequels by virtue of having a plot with heftier stakes and slightly more drive and focus, but it doesn't have much in the way of emotional or tonal weight.

While it's way better than the second, it's still isn't as good as the original which made me feel touched and cry some tears. The dialog is inane, the songs are forgettable (with Take All Sorts as the exception), and the story falls into the predictable zone and it's short like the rest of the sequels, but there are some redeeming qualities that saved the film. The animation is very nice despite it's average editing, the characters are decent, but the villains, despite some great voice work from Jeff Bennett and Tress MacNellie, are the most uninteresting villains in the franchise. At least the voice acting in the rest of the characters are pretty good.

Overall, way better than the second, but not as excellent as the original.