The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water | |
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DVD cover | |
Directed by | Charles Grosvenor |
Written by | Dev Ross |
Based on | Characters by Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss |
Produced by | Charles Grosvenor |
Starring | |
Edited by | Jay Bixsen |
Music by | Michael Tavera James Horner (music from The Land Before Time ) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Studios Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 75 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water is a 2002 direct-to-video animated adventure musical film and the ninth film in The Land Before Time series. It was produced and directed by Charles Grosvenor. This is also the last film to use the soundtrack composed by James Horner. During the year this was released, Universal brought back on DVD, for the first time, two of the previous The Land Before Time films: The Great Valley Adventure and The Time of the Great Giving .
When heavy rains create a mysterious "new water", Littlefoot sets off to explore the Great Valley. He quickly becomes friends with Mo the mischievous Ophthalmosaurus who has been isolated from his pod by the weather. When Littlefoot and friends get separated from their parents because of an Earthshake, they help Mo get back home to the Big Water, while avoiding a hungry " Sharptooth Swimmer ". On the way, Littlefoot and Mo discuss such interesting and see dangerous things like imaginary friends, the Sharptooth Swimmer, the concept of loneliness, and the true meaning of a brother.
After a period of harsh rain, the Great Valley is partially flooded and covered in debris. Littlefoot tries to play with his friends, but they are preoccupied: Cera and her father are removing a large log from their nesting area, Ducky and Spike are relocating their nest with their family, and Petrie has gotten a cold. A bored Littlefoot wishes for a brother, but eventually explores on his own and discovers a large area flooded by the rains. The adults advise their children to stay away, fearing that dangerous creatures from the outside may have been washed into the Valley. However, Littlefoot returns and meets Mo, a playful young Ophthalmosaurus that had been caught in the floodwater.
Littlefoot quickly strikes a friendship with Mo and describes him as his mud brother. His other friends also eventually befriend him. Mo explains that he is from the Big Water , and he swam into the Valley during the flooding. He confirms that he is alone, but soon after, a Liopleurodon attacks the group. Littlefoot requests help from the adults to help Mo return home, but they refuse, not wanting to risk leaving the Valley to aid an outsider. A subsequent earthshake separates the children and Mo from the rest of the Valley, but it also imprisons the Sharptooth in an underwater cavern. Unable to return, they decide to take Mo home on their own.
The children follow a river that they believe leads to the ocean. A Diplodocus mother allows them to take refuge at her nest for the night, and the friends are present to witness the hatching of her offspring. The next day, Littlefoot and the others realize that they are near the ocean, as they have begun to taste salt in the water. Suddenly, the Sharptooth – who has escaped from the cave – attacks them that night. The land – which surrounds the river – is steep and slick with mud, and the children are unable to escape. Mo distracts the Sharptooth and lures it further down the river. Reappearing the next day, Mo explains that the Sharptooth had smelled the ocean in the distance and abandoned the chase, choosing to return to the sea.
The children reach the ocean, but Mo is saddened to learn that his friends must depart. He wishes to remain with them, but the others explain that he cannot, and Littlefoot reminds Mo that the two will always be brothers. Mo reunites with his family and asks them for directions to the smoky mountains , as the children know how to find the Valley from that location. Before leaving, Mo offers to show Littlefoot his home. Littlefoot accepts the offer, and is amazed by the underwater world's beauty. Littlefoot and his friends say goodbye to Mo and return home, where they are greeted by the adults.
By June 2000, a ninth film in the Land Before Time series was in development by Universal. [1] This was the first Land Before Time film in which the eggs are animated; they can be seen when Littlefoot and his friends find Ducky in a female Diplodocus's nest. When the eggs hatch, hand-drawn elements are mapped onto each egg.
The music score of this film was composed by Michael Tavera. The music that plays in the background when the gang cool off is the cheese factory scene music from An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island . This is the second and last time the music is used in the series, after The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze . It is also the last time James Horner's original themes (including instrumental uses of "If We Hold on Together") from the first film are heard in a Land Before Time film, despite Tavera's rearrangements of Horner's old themes still being heard in some shots of Invasion of the Tinysauruses .
Big Water is borrowed from the fifth film, The Mysterious Island, in which the songwriters also collaborated. This was the first The Land Before Time film to contain more than three songs.
All track are written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom.
No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Chanson D'Ennui (Song of Boredom)" | Thomas Dekker, Anndi McAfee, Aria Curzon & Jeff Bennett | |
2. | "Imaginary Friend" | Thomas Dekker, Anndi McAfee, Aria Curzon & Jeff Bennett | |
3. | "Big Water" | Thomas Dekker, Anndi McAfee, Aria Curzon & Jeff Bennett | |
4. | "No One Has to Be Alone" | Thomas Dekker, Anndi McAfee, Aria Curzon, Jeff Bennett & Miriam Flynn | |
5. | "No One Has to Be Alone (Reprise)" | Donny Osmond | |
6. | "If We Hold on Together" |
Bruce Fretts of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" and wrote: "Exposing innocents' ears to Donny Osmond (who whimpers the syrupy ballad 'No One Has to Be Alone' over the closing credits) borders on child endangerment". [3] In August 2014, the New York Post ranked each of the 13 Land Before Time films released up to that point, placing Journey to Big Water at number 6 and writing that it "provides a breath of fresh air" by introducing underwater species. [4]
Thomas Dekker received an award for "Outstanding Young Voice-Over" at the 24th Young Artist Awards in 2003 for his role as Littlefoot. [5] It was nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Home Video Production" at the 30th Annie Awards that same year, losing to Rolie Polie Olie: The Great Defender of Fun . [6] Journey to Big Water received five nominations from the DVD Exclusive Awards in 2002, including "Best Animated DVD Premiere Movie", "Best Animated Character Performance", "Best Original Score", and two "Best Original Song" nods. [7]
Award | Date | Nomination | Nominee | Result |
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Annie Award | February 1, 2003 | Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Home Video Production | The Land Before Time IX | Nominated |
DVD Exclusive Awards | 2002 | Best Animated DVD Premiere Movie | Charles Grosvenor (producer) | Nominated |
Best Animated Character Performance | Kenneth Mars (voice, Grandpa), Bunis Yang (character animation, Grandpa) | Nominated | ||
Best Original Song | "Imaginary Friend" performed by Aria Curzon, Anndi McAfee, Thomas Dekker, and Jeff Bennett | Nominated | ||
"No One Has to Be Alone (End Title Version)" performed by Donny Osmond | Nominated | |||
Best Original Score | Michael Tavera (composer) | Nominated | ||
Young Artist Award | March 29, 2003 | Outstanding Young Voice-Over | Thomas Dekker (Littlefoot) | Won |
Kenneth Mars was an American actor. He appeared in two Mel Brooks films: as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in The Producers (1967) and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in Young Frankenstein (1974). He also appeared in Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up Doc? (1972) as well as Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987) and Shadows and Fog (1991).
The Land Before Time is a 1988 animated adventure film directed and co-produced by Don Bluth from a screenplay by Stu Krieger and a story by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss; it is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall. The film stars the voices of Judith Barsi, Burke Byrnes, Gabriel Damon, Bill Erwin, Pat Hingle, Candace Hutson, Will Ryan and Helen Shaver. It is the first film in The Land Before Time franchise.
The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure is a 1994 American direct-to-video animated adventure musical film directed by Roy Allen Smith without any involvement, support and input from Don Bluth. It is the second installment and a sequel to the 1988 film The Land Before Time. It was released six years after the original and was the first in the series to be a direct-to-video production.
The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving is a 1995 direct-to-video animated adventure musical film directed by Roy Allen Smith. It is the second sequel to The Land Before Time and the third film in the film franchise.
The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists is a 1996 American direct-to-video animated adventure musical film produced by Universal Animation Studios and directed by Roy Allen Smith. It is the fourth installment in the Land Before Time series as well as the final installment to feature any cast members from the original film. The film was nominated for two Annie Awards. This was also the final film to feature Linda Gary as the voice of Grandma Longneck, as she died on October 5, 1995.
The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island is a 1997 direct-to-video animated adventure musical film produced and directed by Charles Grosvenor. This is the first film in the series to be directed by Grosvenor, as well as the first film in which Anndi McAfee voices Cera, Aria Noelle Curzon voices Ducky, and Miriam Flynn voices Grandma Longneck. It is also the only film in which Brandon LaCroix plays Littlefoot; it is the first in which Thomas Dekker provides the singing voice for Littlefoot. Three songs for the film were written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom, with music composed by Michael Tavera and the London Symphony Orchestra.
The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire is a 2000 American direct-to-video animated adventure musical drama and the seventh film in The Land Before Time series, produced and directed by Charles Grosvenor. It stars the voices of Jeff Glen Bennett, Anndi McAfee, Thomas Dekker, Aria Noelle Curzon, Rob Paulsen, Kenneth Mars, Miriam Flynn, John Ingle, Tress MacNeille, Jim Cummings, Charles Kimbra, Patti Deutsch and Michael York. This was the only Land Before Time film to be written by Len Uhley. This is the first installment to not have John Ingle's narration. Starting with The Stone of Cold Fire, Taiwanese-American studio Wang Film Productions takes over the overseas animation work on the entire Land Before Time series until the 2007–08 television series of the same name and The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends, after South Korean studio AKOM provided their animation for the last five direct-to-video sequels: The Great Valley Adventure, The Time of the Great Giving, Journey Through the Mists, The Mysterious Island, and The Secret of Saurus Rock.
The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock is a 1998 direct-to-video animated adventure musical film and the sixth film in The Land Before Time series about four dinosaurs and a pterosaur who live in the Great Valley. It is the first film in which Thomas Dekker is the voice of Littlefoot. This was the second The Land Before Time direct-to-video film to be produced and directed by Charles Grosvenor.
The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze is a 2001 direct-to-video animated adventure musical film and the eighth film in The Land Before Time series.
The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses is a 2005 direct-to-video animated film and the 11th film in The Land Before Time series. It was released on January 11, 2005, by Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration is a 2003 direct-to-video animated adventure musical drama film and the tenth film in The Land Before Time series. Also in this film, it features two colored variations of the Dryptosaurus: brown, green and gray.
The Land Before Time is an American animated musical 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 Cartoon Network and was produced by Universal Animation Studios and Amblin Entertainment, and animated by Wang Film Productions in Taiwan and Toon City in the Philippines. It premiered on YTV in Canada for a test on January 5, 2007 and premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 5.
The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers is a 2006 animated musical direct-to-video film, and is the twelfth film in the Land Before Time series. It was released on TV on December 6, 2006, and then on DVD on February 27, 2007, by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. This was the final film role of Kenneth Mars before his retirement and death in 2008 and 2011 respectively.
The Land Before Time is an American animated feature film series and media franchise created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, distributed by Universal Pictures and about dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous The Land Before Time, directed and produced by Don Bluth as well as executive produced by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. It was followed by 13 direct-to-video musical sequels, a TV series, video games, soundtracks, and related merchandising. The sequels and the series did not have the participation of Bluth, Lucas, or Spielberg. The 14 films were released as a Complete Collection DVD set on June 14, 2016.
The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends is a 2007 direct-to-video animated film and the thirteenth film in The Land Before Time series.
Scott Cody McAfee is an American actor best known as the voice of Littlefoot from The Land Before Time films II-IV. He is the younger brother of Anndi McAfee, who is the current voice for The Land Before Time character Cera.
Dev Ross is an American screenwriter, children's book author, performer, director, and producer in theater, film, and television industries.
The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave is a 2016 American direct-to-video animated feature film and the fourteenth and final to date installment in The Land Before Time series. Its 9-year gap from 2007's The Wisdom of Friends marked the longest between two films in the series. The film was directed by Davis Doi and written by Cliff Ruby and Elana Lesser. It was made available on DVD and Digital HD on February 2, 2016, with the DVD version exclusive to Walmart stores in North America until May 10, when it became available in other stores. The film features the voices of Reba McEntire, who performs the song "Look for the Light", and Damon Wayans Jr. Like all other The Land Before Time films, it is traditionally-animated.