How'd I get into it? ... Man, I don't even know...
Well, the movie came out before I was even born, so I know I didn't see it in theaters... I only have it as a recorded-tape instead of a bought one, and there's a show for toddlers on before it. My brother saw the original at a friend's house when he was maybe four or something (he was born the year LBT went into theaters), and then he recorded it or asked my parents to when it came on television. I don't remember much of seeing it the first time, except that I always laughed at Petrie, and I was sobbing when Littlefoot's mother died. I remember seeing it many more times with my brother, and apparantly I loved the series a lot, because we would always play pretend with an old "friend" of my brother's (AKA girl who would hang around with him and had a crush on him). I wanted to be Cera, but the other girl always claimed that role, so I was Ducky instead. My brother was Littlefoot and we'd always have adventures about being chased by sharpteeth and such. I would "talk" to Spike even though we had no one to play him, and I would sometimes make comments for Petrie.
I don't remember a specific time before getting LBT 2, but I remember after that my brother would sometimes be Chomper as well, most often in a scenerio where he was older and could talk (you have no idea how thrilled he was when we got LBT 5). LBT 3 came along and there was no big change. We got the Sing-A-Long Songs and I would watch it every day until I had memorized most of the songs on it.
When LBT 4 came around, I was estatic because the Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus type dinosaurs were my favorites, and I loved seeing a female one. When it came time to play pretend again, I wanted to be Ali, but my brother told me I couldn't because he was Littlefoot. I didn't understand him at the time, but after another viewing or so I did.
We first watched LBT 5 at my grandmother's house, and I was singing the songs constantly (along with crying at "Always There"). We sang "Friends for Dinner" and "Big Water" in the car ride home (for two days) until my parents told us to be quiet. At this point, I was extremely obsessed. We got LBT 6 and my obsession intensified. At this point, I was expecting a new movie every year, and when 1999 rolled around and I got no LBT 7, I was disappointed.
Somewhere between 6 and 7, my brother stopped playing pretend. It was understandable, as he was eleven and had friends of his own, but I was a naive little girl and wasn't good at making friends. I wasn't atheletic, so I spent my time in my imagination, playing anything with the few kids I could and using the television to cultivate my creative side. Sadly, no one I played with knew of LBT.
When LBT 7 unexpectedly hit shelves, I went to get it, but a little half-heartedly. My obsession was waning, and when LBT 8 came out it took me at least a month to pick it up. I wasn't even keeping track of releases, and school work pulled me away from LBT 9, which I still have to see.
I saw LBT 10 at Blockbuster one day and wanted to rent it because of the word 'Longneck' in the title. I remembered Ali, my favorite character from when I was younger, and figured she'd be in it. I was very disappointed to learn she wasn't, but pleased to find Littlefoot's mother hadn't been forgotten.
I heard of LBT 11, but I was now in the dreaded Junior High School and therefore had no time to watch old children's cartoons, as I thought. By the time I could've watched it, my interest was gone, and the movies I owned, 1 through 8 and the first Sing-a-Long just sat discarded on my shelf like most of the other movies from my childhood.
Well, it was actually only a week ago when I can say I got back into LBT. I admit I'd heard of the series, and I'd wikipedia-ed LBT 12 when I was bored one day (a habit of mine ever since discovering the website), but I merely sighed because I figured the series was only being milked now and had lost all the messages of the old ones, and the characters of my childhood. I was looking through the Digital Cable Guide last week (another habit of mine), and decided to see what was on Cartoon Network while I was gone. I grinned upon seeing one of the movies would be on (LBT 5, I think), and then saw the series would be before it. I shrugged and looked at the summary to find myself squealing for joy like a little child. My old obsession with Ali had paid off, because the episode that would be coming on was the one she made her re-appearance in. I set a tape and decided to see if the series was worth my time. When I got home from school and watched it, I found myself slightly disappointed, but also wanting more. I took out my old tapes and began to view them, and set another tape for the next morning. It was only by chance that I happened upon this website while searching for a place to listen to "Always There", and here I am.
I'm hoping when I get enough money (ie during the summer), I can go and buy the rest of the movies and perhaps get DVDs of ones I already have. Needless to say, I'm quite obsessed with the films again, and Littlefoot's mother's death
still makes me cry.