LBT 14

steetboris · **Reply #20 on:** January 01, 2008, 01:36:53 PM

Hi LBT fans,

I don't like too much bringing bad news, but this little bit of information I've found seems to be a little worrying - If I understood it the right way.
Here's what it says :

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Universal Cartoon Studios has shuttered the long-running Land Before Time and continues with the popular Curious George, delighting the tots on PBS.

Source :
http://www.animationguild.org/_Home/home_FRM1.html

(go to "current pegboard", then see the "what's happening in animation" section)

If you ask if this is reliable news or not, I can tell you this is a very reliable site. I often go there to see if Universal decides one day to make more Balto films (yes I'm more a Balto fan), but when I saw that, I thought I had to tell you about it...

It would still come as a surprise to me, if they decided to stop doing anything Land before time just after having started a TV series, released 12 sequels with one very recently - but then again, they totally forgot about Balto and An american tail after making two sequels, so at the same time...

This may also mean that they've stopped the TV series only, not the sequels, as the Curious george thing they're saying is actually a TV series for young children.

Kor · **Reply #21 on:** January 01, 2008, 02:01:18 PM

We'll have to wait and see if it means the movies and series or tv series only. They do call it the long running series. It may mean for good, not sure what they mean by shuttered. They may also still do the one off movie ever year, 2 or 3 years, but may not have an actual team doing one lbt movie after the other. Just assemble the team to work on the movie, then once its finished they go to other projects.

action9000 · **Reply #22 on:** January 01, 2008, 02:34:54 PM

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Shuttered: To cause to cease operations; close down: shuttered the store for the holiday.

You mean...okay, this will need a little more looking into but...that's ugly.

Petrie. · **Reply #23 on:** January 01, 2008, 03:03:43 PM

Ouch, but hardly a surprise. Some of the stuff has been getting really long in the tooth. If Curious George is fresh for the tots, then maybe that's the direction they need to take. I don't really know.

Noname · **Reply #24 on:** January 01, 2008, 06:42:45 PM

This could be because of the writer's strike... once that's over, things could go back to normal...

I only found this on blogs... is there any word from Universal itself saying that it is dead?

There would have been some sort of announcement... we would have heard of this some other way... I would like to hear this from a first-hand source before making any declarations.

They also spelled "shuttered" as "shuddered", which means that whoever posted this either doesn't know how to spell ("shuddered" means shivering, "shuttered" means shut down) or doesn't know what they are talking about. This could be some guy who heard a rumor about something and posted it on an otherwise reliable site.

EDIT: One site DID say "shuttered", but I was unable to find a second source for that information. Universal will probably say something about this, if it is really so.

Kor · **Reply #25 on:** January 01, 2008, 06:54:13 PM

Maybe it was spelled correctly and they meant the studio is so cold everyone shudders who has to work there. SOrry for the weak joke attempt.

I'm sure we''ll hear something sooner or later. Not sure if there is a site where universal announces such things or not.

Noname · **Reply #26 on:** January 01, 2008, 06:56:25 PM

If it is so, it will appear on a source more reliable than a blog.

Also, check the date: Sunday, November 11, 2007.

Doesn't anyone else think that some other site would have corroborated this information by now, or that Universal Studios would have said something about ending the series?

Malte279 · **Reply #27 on:** January 02, 2008, 08:01:45 AM

I'm not sure. The ending of a series is not usually announced as loudly as the beginning of one. It is not unlikely that they would let a series "die quietly". I regret if this information turns out to be true as it would destroy any hopes of the series recovering from the continuous degeneration which (in my opinion) set in with LBT 10. That hope however has always been vague and with the TV series the continuation of the regular sequels became even less likely. We don't know with absolute certainty if the information really means that we have seen the last LBT sequel, but if it does it would not be a big surprise I'm afraid.

steetboris · **Reply #28 on:** January 02, 2008, 01:26:14 PM

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is there any word from Universal itself saying that it is dead?

There would have been some sort of announcement... we would have heard of this some other way...

They didn't do it for An american tail and Balto, for which they stopped doing anything after having made two direct-to-video sequels. Ok, they've not been running since more than one decade like the Land before time sequels, but still.
Stopping a series is always seen as a bad thing, so they never talk about it.

I don't know if it may interest you or not, but we had to send them a petition to know if they definitely stopped the Balto sequels or not. Here's what Glenn Ross answered (he is the head of Universal Studios Home Family Entertainment) :

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"We had been entertaining the idea of producing another Balto movie, but the sad truth is that not enough people bought the last one to make it attractive to produce another. You see, in order to be able to produce a film, we have to know enough people are interested in buying it to be able to pay for the cost and marketing.

We really like the Balto character and are pleased to know that there are people like you out there that are such big fans.

My best regards,
DICTATED BUT NOT READ,

Glenn Ross

Of course I'm not saying that this little bit of info is absolutely true, I just wanted to inform you that you shouldn't be surprised if they stopped the TV series and/or the LBT sequels...

I still think it's bad news, one more company turning to 3D...(yes Universal is preparing its first 3D animated film, The Tale of Despereaux which is to be released late 2008)

Noname · **Reply #29 on:** January 02, 2008, 01:43:25 PM

Where did the information that the Balto series had been stopped come from? The "announcement" the the land before the series had been stopped came from a blog. Blogs aren't known for their reliability.

steetboris · **Reply #30 on:** January 02, 2008, 02:15:00 PM

I said it : it came from a petition WE (the fans from my site)sent them. One of the member (the one who sent the petition) received the letter/answer and typed it.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #31 on:** January 02, 2008, 02:36:57 PM

All the big talk is about TV. Yeah, the TV series is probably dead, but c'mon, I mean, curious george movies??? :blink: Gimme a break! I thought that was just a tv series. I never liked that show even as a kid.

: Balto went quite after only a few movies, whereas LBT has been through 13 movies and a tv series. The probability of curious george taking over the series is close to none. I mean, it was old news when I was born.

:

steetboris · **Reply #32 on:** January 02, 2008, 04:18:59 PM

I had contacted the author of this information, and it is confirmed...Here's what he answered :

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Land Before Time (series and features) is shut down. Its longtime director Charles Grovesnor has moved on to other projects.

Nothing (that I know of) re "Balto."

Don't have any e-mail contacts, I get my information by walking through the place.

Best,
Steve Hulett

I'm really, really sorry to bring so much bad news, because I know how much it hurts. I HATE Universal. Especially that I know that they will do the same thing that they did for An American tail, We're back and Balto : totally forget about it.

Money, money, money...

Kor · **Reply #33 on:** January 02, 2008, 05:05:44 PM

It seems the sad truth. Though we can keep it alive with fanfiction, rp and such. And some of the fan fiction, if not a lot, can be better then some of the movies and tv episodes.

Petrie. · **Reply #34 on:** January 02, 2008, 05:43:59 PM

Took a chance and emailed Universal directly:

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To who it may concern:

I operate the Land Before Time fansite located at http://z7.invisionfree.com/thegangoffive and it has come to our attention through the Animation Guild blog that all production has ceased on Land Before Time projects. Is it an accurate statement that Universal Family Entertainment is no longer continuing production on the Land Before Time movies and television series? Additionally, can we expect anything regarding an anniversary release of the original film in the foreseeable future?

Thank you.
[my name]
Founder, the Gang of Five

Noname · **Reply #35 on:** January 02, 2008, 06:03:33 PM

I suppose it doesn't look good. Not at all. Still, Charles Grosvenor has left the series, I think we can be sure of that. The new guy who directed the 13th movie might still be going at it, however... maybe. I expect the worst. This is... abrupt.

The Chronicler · **Reply #36 on:** January 02, 2008, 08:37:45 PM

This bit of news does seem shocking, but I think it's too early to call it official. When I see Universal's reply to Petrie's email, then I'll know what to say about this.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #37 on:** January 02, 2008, 09:09:37 PM

Dang! If this is true, then this is quite some sad news.

*sighs* I was hoping for at least one last sequal. Something big to end it all off of that we could be proud of. I just can't believe it ended this way, despite what everyone has said or will say.

Oh well! Had to end sometime, right? -_-

At least I'll find some way to make my fanfic end big when the time comes.

Petrie. · **Reply #38 on:** January 02, 2008, 10:08:16 PM

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At least I'll find some way to make my fanfic end big when the time comes.

That's the sort of positive attitude Malte is taking on.

Sky · **Reply #39 on:** January 03, 2008, 11:06:19 AM

That's truly sad news. But it's still not official so there might be a chance.
LBT can't just end like this. There are still many things to explain. Like how Ruby and Chomper met each other and how Chomper got off the island.

That's not a really good start for a new year. :unsure: