I definitely prefer the old animation. I know there are a lot of people who find the animation the series has had since 2000 to look smoother and more impressive, but I just don’t like it as much.
Obviously the original film captured the look and feel of the prehistoric world perfectly, and movies 2-6 manage to continue doing exactly that without being exactly like the original. Even though the sequels were technically meant for a younger audience than the original, they still looked (to me, anyway) like something everybody could appreciate.
But then, movie 7 happened.
Someone mentioned brightness (aka, over saturation) being the problem, but I don’t even think that was really a factor of the art shift. I was looking through some reviews recently and it’s actually between 4 and 5 that the films switch from a washed-out look to a more saturated one. While I definitely prefer the washed-out style, it didn’t effect the overall look of the films too much, imo.
The art shift in 7 did, however. Watching the stuff from this point on, I just don’t get that magical sense of being taken to a timeless prehistoric world anyone can appreciate; rather, I’m taken to a modern one that’s meant to appeal to younger kids. It’s shiny-looking, it’s contemporary, and it just doesn’t, well, put the timelessness in Land Before Time! I heard someone mention how the characters look better in the older movies. I agree; Petrie looks especially bad in later films. Overall, I don’t hate the look of movies 7-14; two of my favorites (9 and 14) are from this era, and they still do a good enough job capturing a prehistoric world. But it it’s the actual land before it time I want to be taken to, the earlier films are going to be the ones to do the job.