The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water

This has to be the most successful animated series ever. I've collected them all. This is one of the best. Our heroes help a dolphin find his way home. It's cute and full of fun. Mo is a lively new friend and the water setting creates a unique adventure. 8/10

This was my favourite film when I was a child and I love it even now

Generally, 'The Land Before Time' sequels are not so bad, though none of them come close to the near-perfection of the charming and poignant original film. Of the sequels, from personal opinion 'Wisdom of Friends' was the only bad one, the rest range from slightly mediocre to pretty decent.

'Journey to Big Water' has problems, but generally it's one of the better later sequels (made around a point where the franchise was starting to feel over-milked after the eighth instalment or so). In fact, perhaps one of the better entries in the series.

On the most part, with the exception of some rushed-looking character designs, awkward movements and plastic-looking trees (for example), the animation is decent. There are some lovely vibrant colours, the backgrounds and sceneries are detailed, the underwater scenes are very beautifully animated and the storm and nature effects are some of the most vivid of the series. The music score fits nicely, with its share of whimsical parts, sinister parts and energetic parts, all lush in instrumentation and clever in orchestration.

The story may be predictable and episodic, but it's paced breezily, has real cuteness and charm without laying it too thick with the sentimentality and sugar, the conflict does have some genuine tension and the messaging and values (important ones that anybody can identify with) don't feel forced or heavy-handed. The characters are a mixed bag, Mo is adorable (almost as much as Chomper) and the sharptooth swimmer is suitably antagonistic. Ducky and Spike never fail to bring a smile to my face, both are cute and amusing.

However, the adult dinosaur characters are underwritten and have little in their material of worth. Petrie is a little annoying at times, Littlefoot is sometimes likable but bland in other parts while Cera is an annoying (sometimes to the point of being insufferable) brat. The voice work is also mixed, John Ingle's distinguished narrator and Kenneth Mars' distinguished Grandpa stand out in the adults, while the best voice work overall comes from Aria Noelle Curzon and Rob Paulson as Ducky and Mo. Thomas Dekker varies in confidence as the voice of Littlefoot, sometimes sincere but he struggles being natural in the weaker material, while Jeff Bennett and Anndi McAfee over-compensate, especially McAfee.

'Journey to Big Water's' biggest weaknesses are the dialogue and the songs, criticisms that are true for most of the sequels actually. The dialogue too often doesn't sound very natural, with the humorous parts coming over as corny and the emotional parts mawkish too often, though both have their moments. The songs are not just forgettable and unnecessary (not to mention very badly sung), but the lyrics are likely to have even the most tolerant of children squirming in their chairs in embarrassment, "Imaginary Friend" is particularly hard to sit through.

Overall, not great but decent. One of the better sequels. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Don Bluth's original film of 1988 is a minor modern classic, no matter how we might scrutinize it. All the direct-to-video sequels are another matter, however: though none are specifically bad, the quality is somewhat variable yet often middling, and 2001's 'The Big Freeze' was too dully even-keeled for even its best ideas to land. As 'The land before time' grew to nine installments in 2002, there's no reason to anticipate that the new iteration would be any different. And sure enough, for better and for worse, it's not. 'Journey to Big Water' is once again modestly enjoyable, but unless one has a special reason to watch, there's no need go to out of your way for it.

Rest assured there is much to appreciate. One might nitpick some facets of the animation (shading, character designs, or the relative sterility and unnatural look that follows from burgeoning digital methods), but by and large the visual experience is solid, of course including beautiful, detailed backgrounds, and active elements largely rendered with just as much care. The voice cast may not make a major impression, but they are reliable, including icons like Jeff Bennett and Rob Paulsen; much the same could be said of composer Michael Tavera and his score. By this point in the series the original songs still aren't great, but they're not as entirely gauche, and some are notably better than others. And the writing, and the feature at large, are fairly simple and unsophisticated - this is built for light entertainment, geared for a very young audience, much more than earnest substance that can appeal to all - but there is worth here all the same. The story and scene writing can claim strong notions, and the dialogue and characterizations have settled into a consistency that's steady, and arguably sturdier than before.

In most every regard there are some odds and ends that are decidedly brighter than others, whether in the scene writing, in a passing joke or gag, in the animation, in underlying themes, in the voice acting or singing, or otherwise. Nevertheless, it's hard to summon especial enthusiasm for this flick. Maybe it's just me, or maybe it comes from watching the 'Land before time' franchise back to back to back - or maybe it really is the case that filmmaker Charles Grosvenor, and all others who participated in these creations, had grown so comfortable with the space they play in that the doing was altogether growing stale. The adventure is mild, the drama is mild, the humor is mild, and it increasingly seems as if the visuals, the voice acting, the music, and the sum total of it all is also pointedly mild. True, that is perhaps all it needs to be with its goal of soft, fleeting fun. Yet if a movie is going to leave so little of a mark, even in those moments that are ostensibly the most "urgent," might we not be disinclined from watching in the first place?

There is value here. There are no major, emphatic faults. 'The land before time IX' is a duly good time, and some tidbits are splendid. The problem is that there's nothing here that particularly stands out, and that would help the whole to stand the test of time in a meaningful fashion. As it exists we can "watch" without actively engaging, for the picture neither requires nor inspires us to do so, not even as our beloved diminutive dinos make the lengthy titular trek. There's nothing wrong with watching, and may you get more out of it than I do; part of me wants to like it more than I do. Just know that 'Journey to Big Water' is just about as safe and undistinguished as this series can get (I hope), and to whatever extent we may like it, there are also more deserving ways to spend our time.

The Land Before Time IX: Journey to the Big Water, the ninth installment in the Land Before Time series and once again I really enjoyed this sequel. Honestly what was so wrong with this film? I thought it was absolutely adorable. Again I know that these movies are a bit silly and very kidish, but they are just light hearted fun that provide entertainment for the whole family. Seeing Littlefoot and his friends on another adventure together, though these kids seem to get into more trouble than your average group of friends, these stories are nevertheless always very fun to watch. The animation is getting brighter, it's a little different than the original, but it's still all good and I'm enjoying what these sequels have brought since the original Land Before Time.

When heavy rains create a mysterious "new water", Littlefoot sets off to explore the Great Valley. All his friends are busy trying to fix whatever happened during the rain to their land, so he goes beyond the Great Valley. He quickly becomes friends with Mo, a swimming fish like dinosaur who has been isolated from his pod by the weather. Littlefoot's friends finally catch up with him when they're all done with their chores and are introduced to Mo. They decide to help Mo get home safely, but the families don't want to risk the possible danger ahead of them. Littlefoot decides to go ahead anyways and his friends are going to help him. When Littlefoot and his friends get separated from their parents because of the Earthshake, they help Mo get back home to the Big Water, while avoiding a hungry dinosaur that looks like the Lochness Monster. On the way, Littlefoot and Mo discuss such interesting and see dangerous things like imaginary friends, the concept of loneliness, and the true meaning of a brother.

The Land Before Time IX: Journey to the Big Water is a good family film, I mean how could you not love Mo? Yeah he's a bit hyper and crazy, but still he was so cute and such a party animal. I loved the friendship between him and Littlefoot, it kind of reminded me of Chomper from the second sequel in the Land Before Time series. This has great morals, good humor, and a fun story as the adventures continue, OK that's a little cheesy, but these movies are making me smile. Don't take the ratings on here seriously, these are great family films and are just harmless fun. Littlefoot, Mo, Spike, Cera, Peetry, and Ducky are awesome! If you don't like them, you have no heart.

6/10