This show is a continuation of the Land Before Time movies, taking place between XIII (Wisdom of Friends) and XIV (Journey of the Brave). I would really only recommend it for TLBT fans; the target demographic are elementary school kids, so most adults probably wouldn't find it interesting. But if you like TLBT (by which I mean, movies I-XIV, not just I), it's worth checking out.
The show adds two characters to the gang: Chomper (from II and V) and a new character, Ruby. I know you all must be wondering what Chomper is doing here, but the show never properly explains it. That is bad writing, but Chomper is SO GOOD that he more than justifies being inexplicably in the show IMO. Most of the good episodes are centered around Chomper, and the show DOES NOT IGNORE the fact that he is a meat-eater running around with his prey. In fact, this is highlighted often, and generates the show's best source of conflict: Can carnivores be "rehabilitated" to be friends with herbivores? If you, like me, are a Chomper fan and ate up all of his scenes in TLBT II and V, the good news is that you get MULTIPLE Chomper-centric episodes that flesh him out and really celebrate him as a character. I promise, you won't care about the fact that his parents and his home from V are virtually never mentioned or even referenced.
Cera has a few episodes devoted to her that are fun, and she is otherwise enjoyable throughout the show, but she never develops as a character. Littlefoot has many nice moments and the show builds on him as the "critical thinker" of the group (as seen in VIII), but almost none of the episodes center around him and the ones that do are hit-or-miss. The writers go in an interesting, inclusive direction with Spike towards the end of the show which was jarring at first but actually pretty cool. But Ducky has very little to do and just kind of feels "there."
The bad news is if you are watching for the other characters. The show writers actively make Petrie the worst character. This show features the Petrie we see in IX (in which he boasted about having imaginary friends), not the snarky prankster Petrie we see in the early films. Some episodes just make him seem downright infantile. Ruby, despite being introduced IN THIS SHOW, is extremely underutilized and never justifies her existence. She may as well not be there.
There are several returning characters from the movies too. We kind of get little sequels to some movies, like III, IV, IX, and X. Mr. Thicknose from VIII is the most common recurring character, kind of replacing Littlefoot's grandparents as the main source of wisdom and knowledge for the adventuring party. He is basically a completely different character from the lovable, wheezing old man he was in VIII though--in the show, he is more like a cool, hip young tour guide who is ready at a moment's notice to take you questing through the jungle.
An important thing to note is that the creators made the intentional decision to force THREE songs into every episode. However, they reuse the same songs from a pool of like, six (I did not count), and just change the lyrics every time. You get used to it quickly, but it was a very poor direction choice.
Some episodes are fun adventures if you like the movies, and others kind of fall flat. I would watch this for the characters, particularly Chomper. It is fun just having more opportunities to see the main cast interact with each other and have fun, even if they are underutilized or poorly written sometimes. This show came out in the late 2000's when there really wasn't anything like it still on television. It feels like something from an older time, like the 80's or 90's when adventure shows like DuckTales with high quality (but expensive) animation were more common. The show is not perfect by any means, but if you like Littlefoot and the gang, check it out. At the time of writing, all episodes are available for free on YouTube. My recommendations are "The Mysterious Tooth Crisis," "The Bright Circle Celebration" (a Christmas episode for atheists, and with a positive message...very rare!), "The Forbidden Friendship," "Search for the Sky Color Stones," or (especially if you or somebody you know has ASD) "Through the Eyes of a Spiketail."
Review by MorganucodonBlockedParent2021-03-07T18:01:20Z
This show is a continuation of the Land Before Time movies, taking place between XIII (Wisdom of Friends) and XIV (Journey of the Brave). I would really only recommend it for TLBT fans; the target demographic are elementary school kids, so most adults probably wouldn't find it interesting. But if you like TLBT (by which I mean, movies I-XIV, not just I), it's worth checking out.
The show adds two characters to the gang: Chomper (from II and V) and a new character, Ruby. I know you all must be wondering what Chomper is doing here, but the show never properly explains it. That is bad writing, but Chomper is SO GOOD that he more than justifies being inexplicably in the show IMO. Most of the good episodes are centered around Chomper, and the show DOES NOT IGNORE the fact that he is a meat-eater running around with his prey. In fact, this is highlighted often, and generates the show's best source of conflict: Can carnivores be "rehabilitated" to be friends with herbivores? If you, like me, are a Chomper fan and ate up all of his scenes in TLBT II and V, the good news is that you get MULTIPLE Chomper-centric episodes that flesh him out and really celebrate him as a character. I promise, you won't care about the fact that his parents and his home from V are virtually never mentioned or even referenced.
Cera has a few episodes devoted to her that are fun, and she is otherwise enjoyable throughout the show, but she never develops as a character. Littlefoot has many nice moments and the show builds on him as the "critical thinker" of the group (as seen in VIII), but almost none of the episodes center around him and the ones that do are hit-or-miss. The writers go in an interesting, inclusive direction with Spike towards the end of the show which was jarring at first but actually pretty cool. But Ducky has very little to do and just kind of feels "there."
The bad news is if you are watching for the other characters. The show writers actively make Petrie the worst character. This show features the Petrie we see in IX (in which he boasted about having imaginary friends), not the snarky prankster Petrie we see in the early films. Some episodes just make him seem downright infantile. Ruby, despite being introduced IN THIS SHOW, is extremely underutilized and never justifies her existence. She may as well not be there.
There are several returning characters from the movies too. We kind of get little sequels to some movies, like III, IV, IX, and X. Mr. Thicknose from VIII is the most common recurring character, kind of replacing Littlefoot's grandparents as the main source of wisdom and knowledge for the adventuring party. He is basically a completely different character from the lovable, wheezing old man he was in VIII though--in the show, he is more like a cool, hip young tour guide who is ready at a moment's notice to take you questing through the jungle.
An important thing to note is that the creators made the intentional decision to force THREE songs into every episode. However, they reuse the same songs from a pool of like, six (I did not count), and just change the lyrics every time. You get used to it quickly, but it was a very poor direction choice.
Some episodes are fun adventures if you like the movies, and others kind of fall flat. I would watch this for the characters, particularly Chomper. It is fun just having more opportunities to see the main cast interact with each other and have fun, even if they are underutilized or poorly written sometimes. This show came out in the late 2000's when there really wasn't anything like it still on television. It feels like something from an older time, like the 80's or 90's when adventure shows like DuckTales with high quality (but expensive) animation were more common. The show is not perfect by any means, but if you like Littlefoot and the gang, check it out. At the time of writing, all episodes are available for free on YouTube. My recommendations are "The Mysterious Tooth Crisis," "The Bright Circle Celebration" (a Christmas episode for atheists, and with a positive message...very rare!), "The Forbidden Friendship," "Search for the Sky Color Stones," or (especially if you or somebody you know has ASD) "Through the Eyes of a Spiketail."