I don't really know why it's only a cult classic. I know I'm in a minority here but I really dislike Pixar films. It is against them that I compare films like Atlantis or Brother Bear. They're no masterpieces like Bambi or Secret of NIMH but they're the best this millennium has to offer, at least for me.

To answer Snik's question, remaking Land Before Time successfully is a huge task. First of all, NO composer would be able to best or even match Horner's soundtrack. Any kind of remake would have to strive to its level but it would always be a disappointment. Also, the animation should be close to Bluth's style. If it's computer animated, count me out...

The places for improvement (these are only details) would be voice acting. I personally prefer the cast of Journey of the Brave to the original (especially Petrie) and it would be interesting to see how they would replace the original cast. Perhaps  a remake could focus the world more in detail: I mean that we saw few characters in the film. The cut domehead scene would have been a nice touch. Also, there could have been three or four landmarks along the way to the Valley. That would give the film a longer run time but I don't know if it would get too repetitive...

In the end, I can only come up with minor improvements to the film we have. I cannot see any way anyone would be able to capture its spirit like the original film did.

Those two are some of Disney's worst films. Home on the Range's whole idea was horrible and Black Cauldron didn't just work for me. Gurgi's design is all I had to know to know about the movie but I still watched it. I shouldn't have...
 
I agree that Brother Bear is one the best later Disney films. Phil Collins' songs were already great for Tarzan but even then Brother Bear's songs are a major improvement. His version of Transformation is just great... I wouldn't call the film a masterpiece but it's one of the best from Disney since 2000, along with Atlantis and Frozen.

Minor spoilers!

Even though I haven’t been active for a long time, I’d like to share my thoughts on the movie.
First of all, I really liked it, well mostly. JOTB was the best sequel since 7 and perhaps the second best sequel overall.

On the first view time, I had more problems with this, but on the second time they didn’t feel as bad.

The story was pretty solid and worked well. Perhaps not the most complex but should it be?

The animation was interesting: mostly it was great but sometimes really awkward, especially the CGI. I’m very glad that Universal got as great animator as Ruben Aquino as directing animator. Plus the backgrounds were amazing.

I actually liked every song. My favorite one was probably Today’s the day though Look for the Light was very good too. The two others were nice, nothing great, but four solid songs were a positive surprise.

The voice actors mostly did an awesome job. Ball and Bostwick weren’t as good as Ingle and Mars but they were okay. Avitia was one of the best Littlefoots to date.

I really liked Etta: she had a good role and I liked her personality. I was very concerned about Wild Arms but he turned out okay: usually I hate purely comic characters but he wasn’t that bad.  Personally I dislike Tria and Tricia so their absence was a great relief.

I actually had only two major problems with the movie. First were the lizards: they were terrible. Watching the movie, I felt that they were the last thing we needed.  Luckily their brief screen time prevented any major damage.

The other thing was the ending. It was rushed and unbelievable. Bron has been lying on a rock, middle of lava for days, his leg apparently injured and then he just runs away after cooling the lava with water? Ugh. Also, Shorty’s absence was strange but nothing that bothered me too much.

I’m really puzzled by the comments on sound effects. After two viewings, I still remember none.
Overall, a very good film. I’d give it 8/10.

Thank you for such a great piece of info.  
Sorry if I'm being too precise but you say that Pomeroy does most of the close-ups of the characters? Is this the case in other animators' sequences as well? If so, some of Pomeroy's scenes would last only a few seconds. :blink:
  Also you said that upon closer inspection you can find out the animator. Where can you find that information, if I may ask?  
 By the way, do you know some scenes animated by Dan Kuenster?. The only scene I know is in NIMH.

The battle between Sharptooth and Littlefoot's mother. Especially Sharptooth is very dynamic and masterfully drawn. His attacks are one the best things ever animated. Every Sharptooth scene is very good but the first one is easily the best. In fact I think it is better than the Monstro chase in Pinocchio which considered a masterpiece of dynamic animation.
   Another great scene is where the little flier gives Littlefoot his berry. It is very simple yet very powerful and emotional. (animated by Lorna Pomeroy). The footprint scene is very well-thought and gentle. Death of Littlefoot's mother is excellent but I feel it could have been even more. Opening is technically challenging because of the water. And the backgrounds are simply awesome in the whole film, easily Don's best.
     What do you think?

How do you know this? Was this in the uncut or the theater version? And I must say the word "dark" doesn't really mean the same as intense fighting. It means rather an depressing story, dark environment and lack of happy moments and comics.
  Have you seen your friends copy or does he just claim that he has the original version?

I'm amazed about the lack of information about the production. After all this was the second highest-grossing animated film ever, so one would guess there would be more info available. If not from Don, then maybe from some of the important persons in the film (Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy and Morris Sullivan for example). Do they think no one's interested or just don't care about LBT? Everyone asks just about Nimh and nothing else from Don. (Even the same questions in many interwiews). Why doesn't anyone interwiew Lorna Cook or Dan Kuenster for example?
 And I'm quite sure Don animated the fight between Jenner and Justin as well. He was a directing animator for Nimh and the Rescuers so there must be many more of his scenes there.
  What were the sequences Don didn't storyboard in LBT?

Could you tell which book it is?  John was only one of the directing animators but I'd imagine the most influential one considering he was one of the founding members of the Don Bluth Productions (aka Sullivan Bluth Studios).
I didn't mean that Don didn't do much work but at least to my knowledge he didn't animate any scenes. Then again Gary did and he wasn't a credited animator so perhaps there are a few Bluth animated scenes as well?

I've tried to look for information of the directing animators of original Land Before Time and their work. I haven't found anything useful, only rumors and LBT wiki ( which isn't a very reliable source of info.) I'm really interested in the subject so it would be very nice to learn more about LBT's animators' work. Does anybody know about this?

I'm really sorry to hear about the passing of the second lbt voice actor who has been involved with every sequel. Thank you for great narration and voice work.
R.I.P