Okay, bear with me everyone, this one is going to be LONG!
So, I want to try and bring back Land Before Time. How would I do that exactly? Heck, where do I start? If anyone out there took a good hard look at Land Before Time, it's a freaking mess right now.
As I have discussed before, the TV Series was bad enough. That alone may as well have been the executioner on the franchise. However, Wisdom of Friends was the one that killed it. It's pointless trying to prove it never existed. There's just WAY too much evidence on the net to support it. (My site having the songs from said movie are proof enough of it's existence.) So we have to just move on from these two tragedies and do all we can to bring it back. This is going to be sweet!
Regardless of what kind of idea anyone can make, they have to do everything they can to make it appealing to kids. They have to grab onto that G Rating and hold on to it at all costs. Today though, getting that rating, while still taking as many risks as possible is far more difficult than it was when the first movie came out.
The sequels have shown that this is no easy task. Journey to Big Water was the last sequel that tried to go as far as possible without grabbing that PG rating. The dark material is indeed not up to par with that of the original Land Before Time, but nothing we make today ever will be. At least, not without going beyond the G rating.
Still, that doesn't mean you can't come up with a plot that shows your freaking serious here!
The one's going for it can start by trying to figure out a plot that will be worthy enough to get kids interested and get on the good side with parents. However, they may also want to go with a topic that let's them be as flexible as possible with the G rating. I think I know the one plot in mind that can work and it's pretty much gone from the franchise.
How about bringing back the plot of racism?
I understand that it was mainly focused as a threehorn/longneck thing, but perhaps it's time to bring it further. A new character is introduced. One that is racist beyond belief. This character is so racist that they hate the idea of the different dinosaurs in The Great Valley living together. This one new character makes a plot to drive them apart.
The character at hand becomes the antagonist of the film. They then try to drive the gang we know and love apart. They tell believable lies about the other members of the gang and succeed in their plan.
Enter, the storyline. Here, the different members of the gang start by trying to find new friends of their own species to play with. We get introduced to new kids and are given the reason they were never with those kids in the first place. (Maybe introduce some harsh teasing or something like that.) We also find out that it just doesn't work being with other members of their species. The gang we know have been best friends so long that getting upset at one another for what they did was just silly.
On the way back to meet with one another, and let bygones be bygones, we are given reasons they are such great friends. Stuff happens that ends up showing why they enjoy being with one another. Maybe even reverse the role of Ducky and Petrie where instead Ducky is the one to save Petrie's life. (Seriously, if anyone takes the time to study it, you'll realize that Petrie is the one who usually saves Ducky. Let's reverse the roles for a change.) They then meet again and make up for what happened.
The antagonist then re-enters the scene and tries a more physical approach at separating them. They try putting the gang's lives in danger in various ways and finds that they depend on each other to get out of problems. In the end though, the plan backfires and they get in danger.
The gang then finds the poor character trapped and the gang saves their life. However, even after being saved, the antagonist is not grateful for being saved by 5 kids who are different from one another. The character leaves without another word, still holding on to their beliefs.
Cera wonders what is wrong with the character, but Littlefoot tells her to let it go. They then head off to play with one another, their friendship stronger then it ever was.
That is basically the idea I would use to try and bring it back.
Also, I would try to shoot for 1:45 to 2 hours in length. Let's face it. The movies just aren't long enough.
So, what do you guys think?
