The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure

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

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.

After the original classic animated film "The Last Before Time", there came many direct-to-video release sequels with which the original director and animation crew had no relation with. A lot of the sequels, and there are many of them, are not all that good, especially not when compared to the original. The original "Land Before Time" showed the dinosaur world as being tough and frightening even to viewers. The sequels are not so frightening or tough, less violent, and are notorious for their reaching out to really young children audiences with their singalong songs. And the first of the sequels, being this film, is a bit like that.

I have only recently seen this film for the first time in years. I had seen a few of the later sequels before this and was very unimpressed. But the first sequels is by far, much better than those that followed. It sticks the closest to the original film's style and although nowhere near as good, is still a fine family film. This is the one sequel in the series I think the whole family will enjoy.

This one also has the best peril in it, making the tyrannosauruses (called sharp teeth) a lot more frightening and compelling villains than those that followed. And unlike the later sharp teeth, who mostly just growled, these ones roar like the original Sharptooth, the antagonist from the first film. And they are more violent and frightening and thus, more convincing. The other villains are a pair of egg-stealing struthiomimuses named Ozzy and Strut who are bumbling villains just trying to find lunch, but keep missing their meals. Ozzy and Strut are actually very comical and somewhat likable villains, even though they aren't nice guys. And in fact, their song "Eggs" is the only song in the entire series that I find catchy.

The film also retains the qualities and characteristics of the character the best. They are more serious in the first sequel than the later ones. True, they do sing annoying songs, but are still shown struggling to grow up and mature in life and prove that they believe they can take care of themselves, very much like the audience members who primarily watch movies like this. But Littlefoot is still the most cautious, Cera the strongest, and so on and so forth. The character of Chomper was a fine addition to the cast and thankfully, he doesn't talk like he would in later sequels.

Bottom line, out of all the notoriously bad sequels that followed the original "Land Before Time", the second one "The Great Valley Adventure" is by far, the best out of them all. And it's not all that bad really. I actually found it to be quite entertaining in its own way. So this one I can recommend. But those that followed after this one, I can't really speak as highly of.

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