The Land Before Time (TV series)

The Land Before Time is an American animated television series, based on the Land Before Time film series created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss. It was developed for television by Ford Riley for Universal Animation Studios and Amblin Entertainment (Amblin produced the first film), and first premiered on YTV in Canada for a test on January 5, 2007.

The show officially premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 5, 2007 (although the first episode debuted on the 4th) after the DVD release of The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers. It aired on Boomerang in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2007. It first premiered in Japan on Kids Station in May 2007. The first season has begun airing on Cartoon Network India, with its premiere on April 7, 2008. The show has neither aired on Cartoon Network in the United States nor on YTV in Canada since March 2008. It aired on Spacetoon on January 1, 2011 after Spacetoon English closed and the Spacetoon Group was rebranded. It aired on TV Russia on May 2, 2009 after TV Russia Service Television (TV RSTV) closed.

It was made as traditionally animated with computer-animated backgrounds, which the past sequels from The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration onwards have used, with occasional cel-shaded computer animated characters in wide shots. The main antagonists in the series are Red Claw, an evil villainous Tyrannosaurus, and Screech and Thud, two henchmen Utahraptors. The TV series takes place after the events of The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends, due to Chomper and Ruby being absent in that film.

Episodes

Voice cast

Main characters

• Cody Arens – Littlefoot^[1] (singing voice: Anthony Skillman)
• Anndi McAfee – Cera
• Aria Curzon – Ducky
• Jeff Bennett – Petrie
• Rob Paulsen – Spike
• Max Burkholder – Chomper^[1]
• Meghan Strange – Ruby
• Pete Sepenuk – Red Claw/Screech/Thud

Recurring characters

• Kenneth Mars – Grandpa Longneck
• Miriam Flynn – Grandma Longneck
• John Ingle – Daddy Topps
• Tress MacNeille – Petrie's Mother/Ducky and Spike's Mother
• Dorian Harewood – Mr. Thicknose
• Jessica Gee – Tria
• Meghan Strange – Tricia

Guest characters

• Anndi McAfee – Lydia/Corythosaurus
• Aria Curzon – Tickly Fuzzy Girl
• Jeff Bennett – Brontosaurus #2/Ruby's Siblings/Skip/Mutt/Doc/Kosh (The Amazing Threehorn Girl)/Tickly Fuzzy Elder
• Rob Paulsen – Ruby's Father/Brontosaurus #1/Hidden Runner/Mo/Milo/Stegosaurus/Guido/Lambeosaurus
• Meghan Strange – Plower/Maiasaura/Iguanodon/Corythosaurus
• Pete Sepenuk – Kosh (The Star Day Celebration)/Saro/Allosaurus/Tarbosaurus
• Nika Futterman – Ruby's Mother/Ali
• Elizabeth Daily – Rhett/Shorty
• Jessica Walter – Old One
• Cree Summer – Tippy
• Susan Krebs – Tippy's Mother
• Cam Clarke – Bron
• Susan Blu – Dara
• Mikey Kelley – Hyp
• Scott Menville – Nod/Mother Utahraptor
• Kevin Michael Richardson – Scuttle
• Dorian Harewood – Great Hideous Beast
• Jess Harnell – Swooper
• Dee Bradley Baker – Baby Acrocanthosaurus (uncredited)/Rutiodons
• Kari Wahlgren
• Sherman Howard
• Kath Soucie
• Pat Musick

Music

• The songs are written by Michele Brourman (music) and Ford Riley (lyrics).
• All of the songs sung in the TV series (with the exception of several from the films) do not have official names, and those listed below are approximations.
• All of the songs are generally very short, and only span roughly a minute.
• Every episode of the TV series has exactly two songs in it.
• Many of the song's melodies are reused in other episodes with different singers/lyrics (a la Nerima Daikon Brothers):
  • The songs Talking Big (with a different absolute pitch), Fix Your Tooth, Do Anything, My Reality, Sniff Him Out, and Find Those Stones are all melodically the same with different lyrics, as are Remembering, Everything Will Be Okay, What To Do, Be Quiet Now, and Follow Me (with a different absolute pitch).
  • I Feel Mad, We Need a Plan, Must Believe, Made a Mistake, Hide My Stones, Me Need New Home (with a different absolute pitch), We Must Be Brave, and Is It True She Lied are all melodically the same with different lyrics.
  • My Way is melodically the same as Oops-Eeps.
  • It's Good to Be Home is melodically the same as Feel So Happy.
  • Good Times, Good Friends shares its melody with Please Be Careful.
  • The songs Hidden Runner, Big Longneck Test, and Don't Be Scared are melodically the same as Big Water from the film The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island.
  • Above the Mysterious Above and The Amazing Threehorn Girl (with a different absolute pitch) are melodically the same as Beyond the Mysterious Beyond from the film The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire.
  • The Legend of the Lone Dinosaur from the film The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock shares its original melody with Up in the Sky.
• The only film songs played in the TV series that never share their melodies are Adventuring from The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration and Friends for Dinner from The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island. Adventuring is also the only repeating song played in the TV series that never shares its melody.
• The song Adventuring is taken from the film The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration. Friends for Dinner and Big Water are also taken from the film The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island. The Legend of the Lone Dinosaur is also taken from the film The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock.
• In the episode Days of Rising Waters, the song Feel So Happy is played with a different absolute pitch than other versions of the song.
• In the episode The Missing Fast-Water Adventure, the song Remembering is played with a different absolute pitch than other versions of the song.

Theme song

The theme song is performed by the South African choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The theme is written by Roc Gagliese, Steve D'Angelo, and Terry Tompkins of the eggplant. The music score is by Cory Lerios.

See also

• Dink, the Little Dinosaur

Notes

External links

• The Land Before Time at the Internet Movie Database
• The Land Before Time at TV.com