Land Before Time Retrospective #32
I don’t really have any special or unique LBT merchandise, but I thought this would be a good time to share the story of how I wound up with four DVD copies of the first film. đ
Many years ago, my family owned the original Land Before Time on VHS, although it’s long gone now. I’m guessing it was either sold at a garage sale, donated/sold to a video store or something, or else it just got lost during my family’s move to a different home, but I don’t know for sure what happened to it. I did also wonder if it might still be tucked away in a dusty old storage box at my step-mother’s house. I was certainly hoping my old childhood VHS would still be there, even if I doubted it. But, alas, my step-mother checked for me and she didn’t find it.
Either way, when I revisited the film as an adult, I checked out a DVD copy from my local library. Of course, then I fell in love with the film and wanted to own it again, so I purchased a copy from Amazon soon after. However, once I got my copy, I ended up being a bit disappointed with it. For it turned out that, unlike the one I’d rented from the library, this was not the “Anniversary Edition” release from 2003 celebrating the movie’s 15th anniversary. Rather, my copy was a more recent DVD release from 2015.
Since I realized that I wanted the Anniversary Edition, I ordered another DVD.
But thankfully it ended up being the one that I wanted.
Up to this point, it was only the first film that I owned and had watched recently. Soon after, however, is when I decided I should see the rest of the films as well. So I ordered the 14-film DVD set (which also includes its own copy of the 2015 LBT 1 DVD).
It’s a pretty nice set. Although I did find it a little strange that the cover features Etta, of all characters, alongside the rest of the main cast. Flathead770 joked that it makes her look like the 8th main character. Even Ruby’s inclusion I thought was a bit odd, as this set doesn’t include any of the TV episodes, and her only other appearance is a relatively small one in the 14th film. I guess they were just featured because #14 is still the newest film, and because Ruby is officially part of the Gang now, even if that was only really established in the TV series.
Alas, a few months ago, my Secret of Saurus Rock/Stone of Cold Fire DVD got chipped after I used it inside my computer, and now it doesn’t work properly.
So then I ordered another 14-film set as a replacement. đ
In hindsight, I realize that I could’ve just ordered an individual Saurus Rock/Cold Fire double feature DVD and it would’ve been cheaper. Although on the other hand, now I have extra DVDs of the other films as well in case another one of my copies gets damaged. Indeed, I haven’t yet unwrapped my newer 14-film DVD set and am currently keeping it in reserve.
But anyway, so why did I want to own the Anniversary Edition specifically? It’s because of a little moment here on the DVD menu (which isn’t on the 2015 DVD).
On the ‘Bonus Materials’ section, it plays the music from when Littlefoot and Ducky first meet each other (at 0:50 of “Foraging For Food” on the OST), one of my favourite cues in the film. Combined with the image, it was very emotional for me. There’s been multiple occasions when I would open up this part of the menu just to listen to the music and see the dinosaurs embracing each other.
If you watch the film proper, it automatically takes you to this submenu after the credits. I distinctly remember one time in particular after I had just watched the film, whereupon I was already feeling emotional, and then coming to the submenu, which only brought on even more feels.