The Gang of Five
The Land Before Time => 1988 Theatrical Release => Topic started by: WeirdRaptor on May 18, 2012, 04:13:42 AM
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Alright, we all know how sequel and remake-happy Hollywood has always been (though that usually excludes animated features concerning the latter, oddly). But let's say, hypothetically, that they DID remake this. What would have to be done, in your opinion, for them to get it right?
Also, please, no "can't be done, don't bother" answers. That's just lazy.
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I don't think anyone can make this better than Don Bluth. The Land Before Time can be improved in many ways but there are no people alive capable for this (well perhaps Bluth himself and Martin Rosen). The most important thing in a remake would be longer running time (some 150 minutes). In the current version things seem a bit rushed in some points. Sharptooth and building the gang's friendship should be in more important role. The film should be even darker and the heaven ending would be perfect.Remake must be in traditional animation and not computer. (I really dislike computer animations). It should look like the same as Bluth's version. Sadly all capable people for this are either dead or retired.
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I agree with what Sovereign said, with the exception of the heaven ending. I'm sorry, but that's just too depressing. The film is dark enough and has enough feel of mortality in it, and I feel the last thing fans new and old would want is to see our Gang end up dead after all they went through. Another thing to point out is that dinosaurs did not recognize Christianity, and to put those views in a film about dinosaurs would be too much, in my opinion. There are enough morals and lessons taught in the series that people of all walks of life can benefit from. It's a nondenominational film, if you will. In other words, I'm not on board with the whole heaven thing.
On another note, I will say I hope they don't make a remake, but you never know.
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I agree in the lenght.One thing I think they should definetly correct is the embarrasment about the way Cera tooke.I was confused that they called it wrong way.Littlefoot's mother said that they have to go where there are burning mountains,and there were burning mountains where Cera led them.I read in this forum that littlefoot discovered the valley before he went back to save his friends.Also, think it would be interesting to see how he finaly decided to go back for them.They should add this in my opinion.
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I agree in the lenght.One thing I think they should definetly correct is the embarrasment about the way Cera tooke.I was confused that they called it wrong way.Littlefoot's mother said that they have to go where there are burning mountains,and there were burning mountains where Cera led them.
Littlefoot's mother said they needed to go past the mountains that burn, while Cera was leading them through it.
I read in this forum that littlefoot discovered the valley before he went back to save his friends.Also, think it would be interesting to see how he finaly decided to go back for them.They should add this in my opinion.
Yep, one of the many lost scenes. There's already a page for this pinned to the top of the main forum, although you might need to search through several pages to find stuff. There's also some pictures of deleted scenes here; (http://amcalmaron.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d41k8wf (http://amcalmaron.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d41k8wf))
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If they did remake The Land Before Time, only thing I would hope that Universal would do is put Zack Snyder in the director's seat. He was the director of the remake of Dawn of the Dead, and it is the second highest grossing zombie made made (used to be the highest until Zombieland, which I found boring compared to Dawn of the Dead), and considered one of the best.
In short, if Zack Snyder directed the remake, that would be the main reason for me to watch it (especially after watching Dawn of the Dead and The Owls of Ga'Hoole: Legend of the Guardians, both directed by him), I would have a feeling a remake would be better if I see his name attached in anyway.
I don't think anyone can make this better than Don Bluth.
For the reason I explained with Dawn of the Dead's remake above, I'm sure that Zack Snyder could make a remake of The Land Before Time better than the original than most film directors or screenplay writers could.
Remake must be in traditional animation and not computer. (I really dislike computer animations).
Zack Snyder could make computer animation work as long as it is as realistic as Happy Feet (One or Two) or The Owls of Ga'Hoole: Legend of the Guardians, all made by the same, or similiar, studios, and they are more visually appealing than anything could be done in traditional. All three were praised for their animation style.
Even if it was done at the computer animation style of Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox (creators of the Ice Age movies and Rio), then it would look good in computer animation then too (example of 20th Century Fox/Blue Sky Studios animation in my signature image).
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I've been thinking the same thing: if they did make another one, I think it should be THE final one, left with no strongs attached.
Idk about computer animation, but as Adder stated, relistic animation would be fine. I just think that since the original LBT started out as an animated feature, back before there were computers, then it would be nice if they finished it that way.
... AND THEY SHOULD BRING PTERANO BACK! Seriously, the guy's not even mentioned until the TV series, and he's onyl MENTIONED then! I think they should have five cold times pass, bring him back, and just, well... something should happen, maybe a huge final battelw tih Red-Claw. C'mon Chomper and Ruby, you're asupposed to be finding out about red-Claw, right? DO YOUR JOB!
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I've been thinking the same thing: if they did make another one, I think it should be THE final one, left with no strongs attached.
Idk about computer animation, but as Adder stated, relistic animation would be fine. I just think that since the original LBT started out as an animated feature, back before there were computers, then it would be nice if they finished it that way.
... AND THEY SHOULD BRING PTERANO BACK! Seriously, the guy's not even mentioned until the TV series, and he's onyl MENTIONED then! I think they should have five cold times pass, bring him back, and just, well... something should happen, maybe a huge final battelw tih Red-Claw. C'mon Chomper and Ruby, you're asupposed to be finding out about red-Claw, right? DO YOUR JOB!
Thank you, StrutEggStealer. Yes, they should bring Pterano back. :D I'm glad you agree with me.
Yes, that's right. Pterano got mentioned in the tv series, but made no appearances. :cry Poor guy.
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Loving these replies. Sorry I never replied back. I was too busy enjoying the theories. I'll have my own take on it next time.
Though I'd have to agree with everyone who said "the lost scenes full restores".
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There are a lot of good points being thrown around here. Here's my two cents on it.
Obviously, I would want the original cut with ALL of the deleted scenes included and arranged in the correct order. I'm referring to switching the scene where Littlefoot discovers the Great Valley to being after the encounter with Sharptooth instead of right after he left the group. I feel this flow would make a lot more sense and it would make the tension a little greater and more of a necessity for Littlefoot to save his friends.
I think the heaven ending needs to be left out of the movie, but maybe have it as an alternate ending as a bonus feature on a DVD. This is of course hypothetically saying, the likelihood of this happening is slim to none, but I digress. While I agree that the film is dark enough so it wouldn't need the heaven ending, I'm sure there are some of us that would still be interested in just seeing how it would have been executed, even if it were just in storyboard format or whatnot. Again, it wouldn't be necessary but could still be potentially interesting.
Choosing the director would be a tricky one. I agree that Don Bluth did an incredible job with the original and it would be very hard to try and match that same greatness. However, I do agree Adder about how Zack Snyder did an amazing job with Dawn of the Dead. So it would certainly be a tricky thing to figure out, but I'm sure somebody could do a great take on the original.
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Wait a minute. I thought the intention was that Littlefoot discovered the Great Valley after he had the fight with Cera and he had come back to save the others. This was the original order, but in the movie, he found it after they killed Sharptooth.
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That's what I mean. He had the fight, left the group, found the Great Valley and then went back to save the others. I may have gotten it mixed up, but if the scenes were reorganized in that order it would have been more effective in my opinion.
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... AND THEY SHOULD BRING PTERANO BACK! Seriously, the guy's not even mentioned until the TV series, and he's onyl MENTIONED then! I think they should have five cold times pass, bring him back, and just, well... something should happen, maybe a huge final battelw tih Red-Claw. C'mon Chomper and Ruby, you're asupposed to be finding out about red-Claw, right? DO YOUR JOB!
I couldn't agree more with you on that. From what I remember, I think there was actually a false rumor going around that he was supposed to make a return in the Great Day of the Flyers. But, hence the sequel's release, it never actually happened... A real shame, too.
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I don't understand why Pterano wasn't in The Great Day of the flyers. It would of been a great come back. Evil or Good...
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Part of the reason I wat Harry Potter re-made is so that I can see a truer adaption of the books. What's wonderful about LBT, however, is that it's simply LBT, and not an adaption of any story. It's true to itself! :exactly
The one thing that would seemingly make it perfect would be the deleted scenes...except, with those, it wouldn't be the exact same LBT we grew up knowing and loving. :yes
So why re-make it? If anything, a re-make would likely get the same criticism from fans of the original that the Harry Potter movies got from fans of the books. If anything strayed from the original movie (e.g. modernisms in dialogue, changes in characters) fans would be unhappy, and if it was exactly like the original, fans would complain that they wasted their time just watching a carbon CGI copy of a film that's much truer and purer in it's original format.
So no, I think it's safest if LBT stays a timeless classic that is untouched. Plus...if they were to remake it, wouldn't new score have to be composed?! Can you imagine, for a moment, LBT without James Horner's incredible score!? :!
Basically, my hopes are of someday getting a long, epic CGI film set in the prehistoric world that is as good as the original LBT (I can't say "Dinosaur" did it for me) and this classic staying an untouched piece of our childhood. ;)
I respect the opinions anyone who thinks otherwise, however. :exactly
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I agree with everything. But imagine if they ever did re-make LBT into a CGI film! If they ever do, I'm hoping Illumination Entertainment or something can disturbute the film with Universal! If not, or in any case if the movie is filled with stuff like pop culture references and toilet humor...I'll be the first one to say...
DARN YOU UNIVERSAL!!! YOU RUINED MY CHILDHOOD FOR GOOD!!! WHY?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But anyways, I still agree.
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I guess it's time to throw in my two cents.
Alright, well, one thing I would like to see a remake of LBT do is to make it a longer movie with the original cut scenes spoken for. As time goes on, it's becoming more and more evidence that we are NEVER going to see the actual cut footage from the original, but a remake might be able to give us something very close to them.
So I'd want an overall longer movie. Let's face it, it's a great movie, but 69 minutes is very short. I think if they added thirty minutes to it, it'd go from great to perfect.
Oh course I wouldn't want them to include pop culture or crude humor, but not all family films do that, so let's say they avoid it altogether.
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If not, or in any case if the movie is filled with stuff like pop culture references and toilet humor...I'll be the first one to say...
DARN YOU UNIVERSAL!!! YOU RUINED MY CHILDHOOD FOR GOOD!!! WHY?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol :lol :lol
Annonymous Person, so far I am really liking you on here! Here's a late welcome to the GOF, and here's hoping this is the start of a long, fun membership for you! :exactly
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Actually, I've been on this forum for two months. But thanks to a member that hasn't visited this forum since...
*gets amnesia for two minutes for no reason, then regains memory*
What was I gonna say? Oh well, forget it, great to have you back, blah blah blah.
(PS: Am I starting to sound like JitteryDragon?)
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Don't worry, you'll remember.
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Don't worry, you'll remember.
Nah, I meant that to be sarcastic, which is what I love about my good-humored self!
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Me, too! ;)
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OHHEYI'MNOTDEAD
AND HEY, BRUTON, GOOD TO SEE YOU.
So, if the film were ever remade huh? Personally, I wouldn't like to see the sequels scrapped, (they were kind of what made LBT LBT, I suppose) they should stay as they are. But, if the original were to be remade I'd want it to stay in 2-D animation rather than CGI or 3-D.
CGI is fine and all, but for me, 2-D animation is one of the things that give the movies I liked to watch when I was really little their magic, so I'd like for the original to stay as a 2-D animated film. Personally, I'm getting tired of all the CGI and 3-D animated movies going on nowadays. It's like, a movie comes out, and guess what? Like every other new movie companies are spewing out nowadays, it's CGI/3-D. But, it's not like I can change anything.
I'd say that the cut scenes should also be put in, or they should at least have a deleted scenes feature if it ever came out on DVD. That's a must for me. Besides, I would really like to see some of the original ideas that were scrapped in the process of making the film. Also, I heard that the fight between Littlefoot's mother and Sharptooth was longer, and a lot bloodier, so I'd like to see how the first copy or so of that played out. I have a feeling it would be quite interesting indeed.
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With a remake, they could get an early start on tying in things we see in the sequels, such as the inclusion of a sub-plot concerning how the other herds came to work together after they met up on the other side of the divide and even perhps cameos by Pterano and Mr. Thicknose.
Then in a remake of LBTII, we could get an early appearances by Hyp, Mutt, and Nod. And so on and so forth.
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^I know you meant "herds", but with "nerds" you really cracked me up. :lol Thanks for cheering me up with a typo.
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Speaking of which, how would you guys tie in later sequels in a remake of the first movie?
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^Well, as I see it, there's really no continuity break from LBT I to II plot-wise, but the overall tone has changed a lot of course, especially with the addition of Chomper and showing his parents as loving parents, which is a very different portrayal of sharpteeth compared to original sharptooth being a terrible, merciless force of nature. It really brought home the eternal mortal struggle in the natural world. The remake would have to tone down the terror aspect of sharptooth considerably, to make a smoother transition to the sequels. But I don't think that would make the remake any better than the original, and being better should be the primary goal.
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The alternative would be to have a remake of the sequels too, but with a slightly darker atmosphere. Rather than making the original movie's sharptooth appear less threatening I would prefer for the conflict of a sharptooth leafeater relationship to be included more prominently in the sequel. For example it has always felt strange to me that never ever the aspect of Littlefoot's mother's death is mentioned in this context. Littlefoot (and the others too) just accept Chomper without many questions and conflicts are shown (Chomper biting Cera) but never concluded (she seems to like him anyway after he bit Strut too). There is a lot more potential in the story though it might get a little too complex for the original target audience and admittedly a problem which can perhaps never be absolutely solved.
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I wouldn't say the conflict between sharpteeth and leaf eaters would be too complex for the young audience. Have you seen some of the complex stories that have been showing up in the world of animation lately? Trust me. They can handle it.