The Land Before Time XI - The Invasion of the Tinysauruses [Import]

We own all the Land Before Time videos, and I was disappointed in this one. Although the tiny dinosaurs are cute (and so is Cera's dad's girlfriend), the characters are either mean-spirited, dumb or ineffectual. Littlefoot and Cera are shown to be spiteful, Cera's dad is a raging, lying bully and Grampa has regressed from being a wise elder to being a weak and ignored character. The plot: Littlefoot feels inadequate for being short so he tries to eat the tree blossoms that Cera's dad guards fiercely. The tiny dinos come and eat what Littlefoot knocks down, Littlefoot lies to protect himself and Cera's dad organizes a posse to hunt and kill the little ones. The songs include references to eliminating others, how bad dads are, and other choice themes I'd rather not sing aloud with my 5 year old son. This is by far the worst of the lot.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed on how the way this movie turned out. I expected a little more "flare and care" then this. Don't get me wrong, it's not a horrible film.....but it's not great either.

The plot is this:

Littlefoot discovers a new species of dinosaur known as the Tinysaurus. (Heh. Take a guess at how they thought up the name...) Though they may seem cute, these little longnecks are also hungry....and Great Valley foods are on the menu for them. Naturally, Cera's father leads a protest against them, and the grown-ups of the valley make it their job to get rid of the pests. Littlefoot however, sees a good side to these guys, as he accidently stumbles upon them one day and finds out how nice they really are.

On the other side of the valley, Cera is having problems of her own. Her dad has been paying more attention to his girlfriend then to her (Cera). This leads to some anger management problems, as you can probably figure out.

The songs? Umm.....they're ok..I guess. True, they don't teach very good "lessons", which stinks. However, they have a really good beat to them. I surprised even myself when I started dancing to the music....

In a nutshell, this movie is good...but not great. Yes, the main plot is to bash all fathers of their evil intentions, with a sub-plot stating that "a little lie can cause big problems". However, it's up to you to decide if the kids will like it or not. It's pumped enough air into the tires that little toddlers might enjoy it, but hasn't put enough flavor in the lollypop to enthusiasticate the older kids. Just my opinion. Enjoy the movie at any rate.

After watching this movie, my 4 year started singing dads are dumb, dads are dumb- because that's all she could remember of the song. Sometimes pre-schoolers don't "get" the entire message of a song or movie. You may have to have a long discussion over the meaning of this movie, so be prepared!