The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure

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.

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.

I finally was able to watch all the Land Before Time sequels, as silly as they may be, I loved the original Land Before Time and I read a lot of these scary comments, I was still curious about them. So I was expecting nothing but trash when it came to the first sequel, granted I know that the singing doesn't really do much for the story and it's a bit stupid, but actually I thought this was a decent family movie that is very enjoyable. It's a great story for the kids, it's harmless and has great morals. The reason I think there's a lot of hate on the sequels is because of the love we all have for the first Land Before Time, but I think this is just a new way for the generation of today to enjoy the same stories we had.

Littlefoot and his friends are living happily in their new home, under their families' watchful eyes. When the gang tries to get to the sheltering grass to play, but land in the quicksand surrounding it, the grownups come and rescue them, then lecture them that night. Cera then tells the others that they need to prove they are independent by running away for a while into the Mysterious Beyond, a location just outside the valley. Before they leave, they notice two egg nappers stealing an egg from Ducky's nest. They chase them into the Beyond, during which a landslide occurs. The egg rolls safely back to the nest, but the five are under the impression that it was destroyed in the landslide. Then, Ducky notices what looks like the egg, only slightly larger. The gang "return" this egg to the Valley, only to find out that the stolen egg and this one are not the same. They decide to hatch it, nonetheless, until the egg hatches, revealing a baby sharptooth. While the others run away, Littlefoot decides he's safe, and tries to raise the hatchling on leaves. When he hears the others calling for help, as the egg nappers Ozzy and Strut are attacking them, he runs to their aid, while "Chomper" follows him. Chomper's shadow frightens the villains away, after which Littlefoot exchanges introductions between Chomper and the others and they accept him. But how is the Valley going to accept a sharp tooth? You'll have to watch to find out.

Yeah, the plot is predictable, the singing isn't necessary, and the story may be a little Barney-like, but don't go into these sequels expecting Citizen Kane. Just have fun with them. I know I'm a sap, but I just loved Chomper and Littlefoot's relationship, it was so adorable the way Chomper just wanted to hang onto Littlefoot and was like his shadow. I felt that this story had a great moral to the kids and personally as an adult I still find it very watchable. These movies are made more so for the kids, so give these films a break, The Land Before Time 2 is a good movie.

6/10

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?

Along with "The Time of the Great Giving", "The Great Valley Adventure" is one of the better sequels. As a sequel it is decent, but the original which is a timeless, haunting and poignant masterpiece will always be the best. The film does have its problems; it is too short, I did find the songs forgettable (with the exception of "Eggs"-that was catchy), the dialogue uninspired and the plot meandering in places. Consequently it lacks the heart of its predecessor. However, there is some nice colourful animation and above average editing, and it was a delight hearing the heart-rending main theme from the original again. This is definitely the Land Before Time sequel with the best peril, with the sharp teeth quite sinister sometimes. The main villains, called Ozzy and Strut are quite likable and very funny. When I first saw this when I was little I actually thought Tim Curry voiced Ozzy, there are parts when he sounds like him. Actually it was Jeff Benett and he did a great job with the voice, I barely recognised him. The voice acting was very good, with Heather Hogan delightful as Ducky(if somewhat lacking the innocence and vulnerability of Judith Barsi) and Kenneth Mars dignified as Grandpa. The best asset of this sequel though was Chomper, he is absolutely adorable and by far the best character of the movie and possibly the cutest supporting character in any of the sequels put together. The part when he and Littlefoot say goodbye at the end was the closest I came to crying, and I did genuinely have tears welling up at that bit. Overall, while lacking the heart and charm of its predecessor, it is a decent sequel and easily one of the better sequels of the Land Before Time franchise. 6/10 Bethany Cox