The Gang of Five
The Land Before Time => General Land Before Time => Topic started by: pokeplayer984 on June 15, 2009, 11:15:26 PM
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Okay, I wanted to take some time to talk about a little theory of mine. Now remember that this is only a theory of mine and is only a little thing I've had in me that I wanted to get out.
Now, if you were to ask me, Land Before Time was doing quite well for itself up to the time the 12th movie came out. We all have our own opinions on them, of course, but the fact is that it was doing good enough to be considered profitable, but not loved. However, that all soon changed.
We then get news that someone else is in charge of Universal. Someone had paid the main head millions and had taken over. Worst of all, we find out that the new head is a LBT hater.
Now, be it far from me, but if I was in charge of a company that had a show that I really, really hated, (like "I didn't want it to EVER exist, hated") I would do everything legally possible to ensure it died, but no one caught on. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if he did this.
Now, it's probably going to be a little hard for some of you to follow from here, but try to keep up, okay?
Now, he then gives them the green light for the TV Series. Fair enough, but they only have 1 week to get each episode done, rather then others where they are given at least a few more days to finish. The series ends up having plot holes, which none of us really approved of. Yet, we give it a chance.
At the same time, he give the green light to LBT 13. Giving them 2 projects to work on at the same time, thus increasing their failure rate. Any idiot would know this quite easily. They would avoid it, unless they were up to something. He gave them two projects to ensure it would be bad enough for the fans to NOT watch it or buy it. We still watched and bought them though.
So what else does he do? Well, if you wanted to save money, you would put a TV Series onto your own channel, if you own one, which Universal does, NBC. Did they do cartoons at the time? Yes, Saturday Morning only. Perfect time and chance for anything to get popular. I believe he knew this.
So what does he really do? He gets Cartoon Network to air it. Fine, it still has a chance to be popular. However, it then gets a Weekday time slot where children would NOT be watching it. They'd be in school. On top of this, it was at a time when nostalgia fans would be at their job, considering they were old enough. Did he secretly pay for this time slot? Probably.
So now most of us have to record it and show it off on the net to get others to watch it. He knew we would do this out of desperation. We fell for his trap. Thus, them getting even less money from it.
Then to supposedly make up for it, he has only 4 Episodes for each DVD. Fine, he could probably make up for it. Two big problems. It is sold only at a few places, (ie Walmart) and the same price as when movies are sold brand new. In order for it to be big, you have to expand to as many places as possible and have stores reasonably lower it if it's not selling well. He didn't do this. He knew it would fail because of this. Worse off, he only gives the US, the one country to get the biggest potential profit from, 25 episodes (One of which was added into the 13th movie as Bonus Material.) and not the full 26, cheapening the US out. (While other smaller countries get them all. He got less profit for more episodes.)
He does the same trick of not spreading out for the 13th movie. It was set up from the start to ensure there wouldn't be enough, plus there was now a chance others would only get 24 episodes.
We then get word that LBT 13 wasn't profitable enough and the LBT office had to close. However, this was ONLY because it wasn't spread out. It was limited supply, so it was rigged from the start.
And if we check other Universal movies, what do we see? Spread out profitability and reasonably priced. Not to mention that it shows the movies are well thought out and given reasonable time to work on.
LBT was defeated by a hater legally. We all fell for the trap, and I saw it all. Yet, I did nothing in the end to prevent. Though who would believe me?
It's only a theory, right?
Not from what I've seen. -_-
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To be honest, I did feel that LBT was getting too many movies. They were really pushing it once they released the 5th movie (although I liked that sequel). And 5 wasn't the last of it. There was 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, plus the 26 episodes. Personally, I feel they should have stopped at 4 or 5 and then released the TV series. When I told my dad there was going to be an LBT TV show, he said they should have released it back when LBT's popularity had peaked, which he claims was the mid-90's.
That's just how I see it. No offense intended.
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I don't think he would have closed it if he hated it so much. I think he would have changed it. His ultimate goal is to increase the profits of Universal. In fact, that's what I think he tried to do with the TV series and LBT 13. He believed that LBT should be targeted towards a younger audience. That's why he got the weekday slot. 2-5 year old's aren't at school on weekdays. Add the fact that the animation was changed to be more cartoon-like in the TV series and the theme of the 13th movie was dumbed down a lot and I think you're looking at that idiot's attempt to make LBT in his image of what would be most profitable. Yeah he killed it, but it wasn't because he was trying to. He thought he could make it better and he made it much worse and it died.
He even made a commercial for LBT 13. I've NEVER seen a commercial on TV for a LBT video. The only place I've seen them is on the video previews on another DVD movie.
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I have seen commercials for LBT on TV before LBT 13. LBT 6 is one such commercial I recall seeing on TV. And I'm positive I've seen LBT 10 previews on TV as well. LBT Movie commercials aren't really new, far as I know.
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Commercials have indeed been done for EVERY movie and the TV Series. Then again, in the area of film, it's the only advertising thing you CAN go with, right?
Also, I can not over look that "limited stores" deal. It's kind of hard to in the end. If you want to make it big, at least go for the following combo:
Walmart
Target
Best Buy
Circuit City
Toys R' Us
And any other big store that sales videos in the area
This combo can easily get you something big even out of a crappy video. Besides, not everyone goes to the same store. You HAVE to have variety. Not even an idiot can overlook this.
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I have seen commercials for LBT on TV before LBT 13. LBT 6 is one such commercial I recall seeing on TV. And I'm positive I've seen LBT 10 previews on TV as well. LBT Movie commercials aren't really new, far as I know.
Hmmmmm...well I don't watch the kid channels. Perhaps that's where they usually air. I just watch everything on demand and download whatever I see that looks like a good show.
But I saw a LBT commercial while watching the Science channel. I've never seen one before that time the LBT 13 one came on.
Walmart
Target
Best Buy
Circuit City
Toys R' Us
The movies were and still are sold at all those places (well I can't say it's sold at Toys R' Us because I haven't been there in over 10 years). It's also available at major online retailers such as Amazon.com. They didn't limit their distribution for LBT.
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Yeah, they're still sold at Toys R Us as far as I know. I have not been there in about eight months, so I dunno. Yeah, I sometimes pop into Toys R Us, mainly to add to my threehorn collection. Hey, I'm a kid at heart. What can I say ;)?
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Walmart
Target
Best Buy
Circuit City
Toys R' Us
The movies were and still are sold at all those places (well I can't say it's sold at Toys R' Us because I haven't been there in over 10 years). It's also available at major online retailers such as Amazon.com. They didn't limit their distribution for LBT.
Well, it was limited in my area, that's for sure. For my town, it was Walmart only. That's why I had such big suspicions here.
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I did here what you did pokeplayer . I often asked myself that question but we couldn't stop it even if we had known.
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Costco is making a bad move when purchasing LBT videos. They're selling them in random packs. Like movies 3 and 9 and such. Stupid move.
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Now conspiracy theories have arrived with LBT, have they? :rolleyes:
Seriously, the quality in the LBT sequels had decreased quite a bit and one need not be an LBT fan or an LBT hater to see that. One of the consequences was that LBT 13 (from what I have heard, though I must admit I don't remember the source and can therefore not guarantee the authenticity of the information) was the first ever LBT movie not to return the production costs.
The ending of the franchise is the logical consequence when it starts creating red numbers. We need not talk ourselves into believing LBT was a victim to some kind of LBT hater conspiracy (unless you want to because it makes you feel better). As a matter of fact it is more likely that LBT had some "friends" in important positions in the company's management to ensure it was one of the longest ever direct to video / dvd cartoon series.
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I still hate how they have not given LBT a proper ending. Nice of Universal to screw their LBT fans over like that <_<.
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I have been a fan for a long time
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I think its pretty unlikely that someone purposefully did all this. What probably did the LBT office in was a combination of LBT's waning popularity and the horrible moves you outlined pokeplayer. Malte is right, I would have to say LBT had some big fans in Universal's upper management in order to have survived as long as it did.
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The horse was already dead...new management didn't need to do that. There was a reason LBT ended...it tried to do too much with a series that had too little to work with if they were going to stick to their target audience. You can only do the same things so many times before its no fun or just plain dull.
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For starts, LBT started becoming unprofitable way before #13. LBT 10 was the first title to come back with red figures instead of black ones yet still, production continued obviously because the creators felt they had something to keep going on. For all accounts and purposes, I'm glad that they did. Granted that there a lot of punched holes in the titles and the TV series but I wouldn't have thought that it would come to a conspiracy to end the LBT saga. Lest we forget, "LBT hater or not", Universal is a business and LBT is a product that they released onto a consumer market for people to obtain (by one means or another). Pray tell, what business would ever go ahead with a project/product that they'd prime to have fail? What benefit would that do the company? It's one thing to try it out AND THEN it failed due to lack of responses, but I seriously doubt that the makers of LBT had the frame of mind to release these new titles & short series with the intention for it to fail. If LBT had bombed that badly, the makers would have been out on their arses the second those figures rolled in.
As for the channels spiel, I'm not surprised Universal chose to use Cartoon Network as a distributor for the LBT series. CN & Boomerang are well known kid broadcasting channels here in the UK but we don't have NBC or anything like that. CN is a primed choice as a non-company specific broadcaster for third party shows that operates on a global scale. The only other channels we could have hoped the LBT TV series to come to would have been either Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel. I dunno about the US but neither of those channels on this side of the pond support any shows that doesn't have their logo slapped somewhere on it!
LBT has had a good run but I think it's best assumed that we're probably not gonna be seeing any more new adventures from our dino gang any time soon. But this donkey has be flogged for too long and there doesn't seem to be anything left for it. I'm glad it's bowed out when it has. We've got plenty to sift through when that nostalgic spark flares up again after a time spent away from it. Despite the flaws and potholes in its contingency, I've enjoyed what LBT has had to show.
Just a point to note, who exactly is this "LBT hater" that came in, overruled Universal and wished to see LBT culled off? Do we have a name or is this purely spectulative?
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How much do you think the rights to LBT would cost? I think I'm interested in taking it over when I can afford to (which should be when I'm about 30 if everything goes as I planned). Of course it's not only the rights I'd have to purchase.....I'd have to make my own productions company. You think 300 million would cover it?
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Okay, maybe I overreacted in all this. -_- I guess with these things that I noticed being exclusive to my area, I just assumed the worst, ya know? I mean, there was just too much going on that you couldn't miss and it was rather easy for anyone to speculate and assume the worst. So... yeah... Sorry! :(
How much do you think the rights to LBT would cost? I think I'm interested in taking it over when I can afford to (which should be when I'm about 30 if everything goes as I planned). Of course it's not only the rights I'd have to purchase.....I'd have to make my own productions company. You think 300 million would cover it?
I'm not sure. Maybe half-a-billion would be a better estimate by then? :P:
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I some how agree with this.
I seen this happen before and I know it could happen. :neutral
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I agree with Malte on this. While it is sad to see Land Before Time go, just look at how many movies it has made. 13! Most movie franchises are lucky enough to even warrant a fourth sequel.
Going back to what Malte said, I do agree that the later sequels had started to lose their feel. To me, the later sequels were starting to lose the magic and wonder that the first movie and the earlier sequels had. I didn't think they were bad. I was actually pleasently surprised by LBT 9, but they just felt too different from the others.
I don't believe there is a conspiracy of any kind involved. Land Before Time had a great run and lasted two decades. That's very impressive IMO. Especially for a cult classic animated series. But the series was bound to end at some point. Just because it's over doesn't mean we can't still enjoy it. It's not like our LBT merchandise will just dissappear into thin air because the series is over.
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& the way hollywood loves to reboot and remake stuff it may get rebooted or remade at some point.
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Cancerian Tiger Wrote:
I still hate how they have not given LBT a proper ending. Nice of Universal to screw their LBT fans over like that.
LBT did have a proper ending. The end of the original movie. Seriously, it closes up the story and tells what happens perfectly. The sequels are just filler between the eventual outcome that the narrator tells us of and it actually happening.
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Good point, WeirdRaptor.
I kinda agree with the arguement that LBT had just run it's course, and was probably long overdue to be laid to rest. You bring up some undeniable truths though, pokeplayer. I'm sure all those probably had a part in finally stopping production of LBT. It's too bad this fascist you speak of was a hater and not a diehard LBT lover who would've kept making them at a loss. :(
But who knows what the future holds? Maybe some years in the future someone in a big chair will deem it time for an LBT throwback. :^.^:
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I don't think it has run it's course. It has more to do with not having good writers or directors. The hollywood folks likely thought the lbt fans will buy anything so decided to go cheaper with hiring writers and such and not try a hard. It works for a while, but always eventually kills the series/franchise, though Hollywood never learns the lesson. If you have good writers, the right writers, and directors no reason you can't have 20 or 50 movies in any 1 movie series.
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I'm just bummed that I joined after LBT 13 got released and so never got to be on this forum while a movie was being made :(
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I'm just bummed that I joined after LBT 13 got released and so never got to be on this forum while a movie was being made sad.gif
I don't mean to be rude but what does it matter? You're here now aren't ya? What would have been so great about being around here when the movie was still in production?
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Maybe it would have been nice for him to have had something to look forward to... like some new, official material from the makers of the franchise... oh well.
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I don't mean to be rude but what does it matter? You're here now aren't ya? What would have been so great about being around here when the movie was still in production?
Once I watched the movie I could have come over here and read what everyone else thought and join the conversation in real time. We'd all be on the same boat, as it was a new release. Plus Threehorn and others could have given us updates and the theories would have been actual soon-to-be-found-out theories as opposed to wishful thinking :) :(
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well said Pokeplayer, now all we have to do is get rid of this idiot and hopefully universal gets someone better(and someone who dosen't hate LBT)