Alla ricerca della valle incantata - L'invasione dei minisauri

There may not be a more memorable character in American cinema than Littlefoot. Movie after movie, he and his friends never fail to disappoint me. I've watched them grow up before my eyes; Littlefoot has been with me through it all, my first kiss (I wish), my 11th birthday, everything. This is the eleventh film in this series and for me, it never gets old. Littlefoot and his friends brought me in to their world eight years ago and I have never left. This film showed me something about myself; upon the conclusion, I found myself utterly weeping, weeping for all the dinosaurs who didn't make it. Littlefoot, if you're reading this, thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking me along for the ride. It's been fun.

Alright. To be honest, I think all the sequels are let down by the idea of musical numbers; it turns what was originally an animated film for slightly older children into a Disneyfied trip of cavity-inducing irritation. This one has the worst musical numbers in the whole series (some of the others admittedly weren't bad).

My biggest problem with this film was lack of plausibility. Granted that's quite a strange thing to accuse this kind of film of this late in the series, as any paleontologist would tell you, along with everyone jumping down various throats and saying, "Yes, but it's a kids film so accuracy doesn't really matter." Fair enough. I'm not disputing that.

However, the original film and its sequels up to this point were...well, at least believable within the Land Before Time universe. The idea of Littlefoot and pals raising a baby sharptooth or journeying to find a magic flower or having to deal with bullies are fine.

But minuscule longnecks...no! That really does push the boundaries to breaking point! If it had been little creatures, then this could have kept up the passable trend with the other sequels, but just what was the point in these creatures? A fair idea that was let down by a lousy concept. The reason I'm giving it three stars instead of one was that this film does deal well with a fairly sensitive issue; namely that of a single parent finding someone else and how it can affect both children and adults.

Though I could quite happily have lived the rest of my life without finding out that Cera's dad was named Topsy...

These sequels are getting VERY annoying. The first land before time was great. Wonderful and original. Now its story is being treated like dirt when Grosvenor decides to make more and more sequels getting worse every time.

The first one is fantastic. The second one is good. So is the third one. Then along came this director and decided to make 9 more! Whats more, there's a TV series! In the first one, Don Bluth was going to make it that they died in it and the Great Valley was heaven. He should have so that there could be no more sequels.

This movie wasn't even good. The movies are becoming the same old plot line every time with nothing worth watching in it.

Most of the sequels haven't been too bad actually, though none of them are as good as the wonderful and poignant original. I am sorry to say this sequel is one of my least favourites of the franchise, my least favourite being Wisdom of Friends. The animation is pretty decent, the voice acting is well done, the film moves quickly, there is some nice messaging and the Tinysauruses are cute. However, this sequel also has an episodic story structure and laboured plot, forgettable music, childish dialogue and the characters are less emphatic here. Ducky is fine but Cera is very bratty here. Overall, it is okay, but it isn't great. 4/10 Bethany Cox

I have loyally collected each instalment of this cute animated adventure & this is one of the best. Littlefoot discovers that even a little lie can have dire consequences & the importance of owning up. While heavy on the moral issues at times, this is an exciting story with romance on the side. Friendship is tested to the limits, but there is laughter to balance the tension. The "Tinysauruses" are a colourful bunch who just want to have fun and feed, but are misunderstood by the Great Valley inhabitants. Three of them play essential roles in the drama that unfolds. Plus a tender hearted Threehorn called Tria. Three songs too. This series continues to impress & no doubt there'll be more. I hope so. 9/10