Happy birthday to the Land Before Time series

[rhombus]

It was on this day 30 years ago that the original film of the Land Before time series was released in American theaters.  Though I did not see the film on the first day of its release, I do remember seeing it in the theater within the subsequent weeks.  Though I was only five years old at the time the film made a strong impression in me that was only reinforced later when I purchased some of the sequels for my young nephew in the 90s.  The rest, as they say, is history.  While we wish our beloved series a happy 30th birthday, feel free to share your memories of the original film and the series as a whole.  How did all of you come to discover the Land Before Time?

Oh, and the obligatory: "Happy hatchday!"    

[Mumbling]

Happy birthday! I wasn't even a thought yet when this film was released

According to my mom, my first time watching the original Land Before Time movie was during Christmas 1996 when I was 3 years old. It was aired on TV as a typical Christmas movie. I have no memory of this however. My first real memory of LBT dates back to a VHS we had of LBT 4, which was played over and over and over again since it was one of the few movies we owned. My cousins and I once rented all the movies from the local library and did a marathon. This was right after the release of LBT 8.

Reconnected with the series when I was 13 and joined the GOF a few months later. Good memories

[Sovereign]

It is really an amazing fact that today’s the anniversary of the day the greatest animated film ever was released. I regret I wasn’t able to witness the film’s success back then but I’m extremely happy that I was introduced into the franchise later. Land Before Time as a series was an integral part of my childhood and I loved watching the films again and again. However, as funny as it is, I saw the original film perhaps once or twice and to my young mind, which thought the sequels were “the real LBT”, the original felt extremely weird and dark. It felt like an outlier in a series I already knew.

However, it were the vague memories I had of the original film that brought me back and especially Horner’s soundtrack which still lingered in my head years later. It was from the memory of Discovery of the Great Valley and its reprisals that reintroduced me to the film and I was immediately amazed by the first movie when I saw it again. It was a short
struggle after that to get to the sequels but, well, I got over it.

Looking back at it now, it’s fun to think that all these films and the things that have happened on GoF wouldn’t have come to pass if Spielberg hadn’t paid that one visit to Don and Gary nine years before I was even born. The original LBT has, whatever comes to pass in the future, already created a phenomenal legacy, this site being a great part of it. Congratulations to Land Before Time for these 30 years!  

[DiddyKT2]

I also wasn't around then to see the original release, but happy Hatch Day! 

I first discovered the Land Before Time when I was about 5, since I had a childhood fascination with dinosaurs. My mom rented a VHS of the original movie for me at some point in the late 90's, and from there I grew to love the series for a few years, then grew out of it, but eventually grew to love it again years later. I've only ever seen the original film probably ten times during my lifetime, but it forever made an impact in my love for dinosaurs, and I will forever be proud to say that this movie changed my life.

The original five heroes all had their own flaws that helped make them identifiable to people of all ages, and they've become some of the most beloved child characters ever! The one thing that saddens me about these characters is the fact that these great creatures have been extinct for 65 million years..., but that's beside the point. They've captured our hearts for 30 years, and let's hope they continue to do so in the years to come.

[Sneak]

Oh my gosh...
Today is the day...

Can't describe how I envy for people who managed to watch LBT on first days of its release back in 1988, wit trip to theaters. That old good times... That first experience and emotions... I believe it was something.

And well, I believe the most of people who watched it years later for the first time don't remember what exact day was there when they watched it, so this day could be considered as celebration of first watching as well, since it is when a new adventure was born. Adventure for all of us, who loves original LBT, for those, who likes franchise.

Happy anniversary, Land Before Time! No words needed to describe how much you mean for me, and for many others!

----------------

(so.. did creators or somebody else released or plans to release something to anniversary?..)

[Hypno]

Today's The Day! Happy anniversary TLBT!

I grew up as a child watching the movies, and somehow I still like all of them, even the thirteenth to an extent. But most importantly, the first film holds a special place in my heart, for it is simply the best put together film in the franchise, and of course, it was the one that started it all, not just for the Land Before Time franchise, but for Universal's future dinosaur movies (Jurassic Park/World in particular, a franchise I don't have as much nostalgia for, but I still like it.

First time I saw the original movie (along with II through VI) was when I was just three years old. I was born 14 years before the first film was released, so I'm kinda late to the party compared to a lot of other people Anyway, I'm sixteen now, and though I don't have as much as interest in the franchise as I used to, due to getting older and growing out of it (as well as other interests; I love dinosaurs in general, not just TLBT ones) the franchise will still be very special to me, and of course, I will watch all of the films again some time in the future!

So again, Happy 30th Anniversary of The Land Before Time!

However, it were the vague memories I had of the original film that brought me back and especially Horner’s soundtrack which still lingered in my head years later. It was from the memory of Discovery of the Great Valley and its reprisals that reintroduced me to the film and I was immediately amazed by the first movie when I saw it again. It was a short
struggle after that to get to the sequels but, well, I got over it.

I love the soundtracks too! The musical scores in the entire franchise, by both James Horner and Michael Tavera (as well as Billy Martin a bit) are incredible. Wish I could say the same thing for all of the songs, but unfortunately there are only a select few of those that are just as amazing. But anyway, I love Discovery of the Great Valley as well. Probably one of, if not the best track out of all the soundtracks.

(so.. did creators or somebody else released or plans to release something to anniversary?..)

All they released was a mediocre playset, no new movie, no deleted scenes. Not that I was surprised, but I just hoped for more.

[Petrie]

Though I was very much alive at the time LBT came out in theaters, my first recollection of the film (and just liking dinosaurs in general) was watching it on VHS (remember those?) back when they were like $40 to buy!  I watched it at home in grade school.  I'd even sit a tape recorder by the TV to record it so I could listen in bed.

Happy anniversary LBT! 

[OwlsCantRead]

I knew this day was coming but it still crept up on me haha!

Land Before Time was like the profound myth that haunted my childhood because I still believe to this day that my first exposure to it is via some educational CD-ROM game that I really can't find evidence of even existing. I just remembered the phrase, "Land Before Time" and my mind was like, "that is one catchy title."

Fast forward to when I was around 17 or so at the year 2014 and I actually watched the OG film for the first time around when Jurassic World was released in theaters. To say that it caught me off guard was an understatement. That first viewing was something special. I didn't know what to expect from a prehistoric kiddy movie about dinosaurs and was captured immediately by the atmosphere — the haunting yellow-tinted prehistoric backgrounds, the charming voices, the music score, the tension, the overall journey the five children embark on... it sucked me in.

It was quite unlike almost every other animated film I'd watched up to that point. I really cared for them all, dammit.

First exposure with the rest of the series was buying a DVD of LBT5 and taking the plunge into the sequel train. Wasn't as bad as what the internet had made it out to be, so there ya go.

And yeah, happy 30th anniversary to the Land Before Time!

[Littlefoot505]

Happy starday!! 

I was actually born about a full decade after the original was released (October 1998). I first got into LBT when I was around 5. I don’t remember much besides that I really loved dinosaurs and really wanted to watch Jurassic Park, but my mother felt like that was not very age-appropriate, so she countered with LBT, and we rented it on DVD. I basically just remember that I really loved the series and I saw up to #6 as a kid. I then slowly lost my interest in LBT (but not before I turned my best friend at the time on to it). Fast forward to when I was 18. One day, I was browsing Netflix and I stumbled upon LBT 14. Seeing the synopsis for that one got me interested in revisiting LBT. A few months later, I got around to doing that as I was transitioning into college. After that, I met someone with whom I immediately bonded over LBT, and I began exploring (and joining) some LBT fan sites, including GOF.

[RubberDucky]

Happy 30th starday, The Land Before Time!
I'm a relative newcomer to the series, as I started watching in chronological order in August 2018. While I had heard of The Land Before Time series when I was younger (before movie 14 was released) since I was interested in dinosaurs, I didn't really know how to watch them because they were not available in India. They still aren't, so I watched them online. My interest in dinosaurs resurged this year, so that's why I decided to watch. I've watched all of the films now, and they're all great (except for 13 of course, but I liked 13's songs and the Yellowbellies to an extent).
Thanks to the Land Before Time, I discovered these forums and the rest is history...

[Flathead770]

Happy belated 30th starday to LBT! (hey, I mentioned it on time on Discord )

I don't exactly remember when I started watching it, only that when I was fairly young I remember owning the 3rd movie and I loved it. Must've watched it every day. From there I watched the first 2 and continued to watch LBT until the 8th film where I started to lose interest and started trying to be the "cool" kid. A couple years or so later a friend was over at my house and we decided on watching through the first one and I was amazed on how good it was and fell in love with the series all over again. It must have been at least a year later I started going through some fanfiction on FF.net when the GoF was mentioned and the idea of a LBT forum fascinated me though it was way harder to track down on the internet back in 2007. I think I eventually found it buried in some google search

I'm not exactly sure when I became inactive. I know I left for a bit, came back, then left again and I've found some of my posts around the 2012 mark. There were a couple reasons for my inactivity, such as no new movies coming out and with University being a big one to keep me distracted. Soon LBT slipped from memory once again. I actually saw the notification on the facebook group that the 14th movie was coming out, which certainly shocked me but not enough to come back (though I did end up watching the movie when it came out).

My actual desire to come back came from a boring closing shift at my job where the random thought to pass the time was to see if the GoF even still existed. To my surprise it was still around and the nostalgia all came back to me (and the sudden realization that it was right around exactly 10 years when I first joined). I also happened to be fooling around with drawing with a friend and drew some LBT related stuff. From there my interest was back up and felt ready to return and have been back for a year and a half.

It seems like my life has been some sort of sinusoidal LBT interest curve and while I'm certainly not as big into it back in the day or even a year ago, I'm hoping that my drawing and friends I've met on the GoF will keep it from going back into obscurity.

[ImpracticalDino]

Happy belated 31st anniversary to the first ever LBT movie!!!

[Anagnos]

Happy belated anniversary, LBT!

[rhombus]

Happy belated starday!   

[OwlsCantRead]

Oh, yeah! Happy late birthday to the original film. Fantastic tale, you.

[StardustSoldier]

I already posted about this in a different thread a few days ago. But regardless, yes, happy anniversary to this wonderful film, which by extension introduced me to this wonderful community.

[rhombus]

Happy birthday!    It is hard to believe that the series that we all know and love turns 32 years old today.  Though, considering the original film has now had 13 "children" maybe it is somewhat easy to believe now that I think about it. 

In any case, here's hoping that the next year brings great things for this series and the community that loves it! 

[Anagnos]

Happy 32th birthday, Land Before Time! Wow, to think that it's been around such a long time. Seems it was only yesterday that I watched the original for the first time in my life.

[OwlsCantRead]

Ayyyy it's that time again! Congrats for making it 32 years, Land Before Time!

[Sneak]

Happy Starday, my dear Land Before Time. ^^