The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island is a 1997 direct-to-video animated film directed by Charles Grosvenor and thefifth installment in The Land Before Timemovie franchise.
It was the first film in the series since The Land Before Time to have no involvement from Roy Allen Smith and the first be directed by Charles Grosvenor, who had consistently directed the movies up until The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers. He was producer for The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends. The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island was also the first animated Universal film to use the 1997-2012 Universal Studios logo at the beginning, but the logo contained cue music instead of the original music by Jerry Goldsmith. It was also Universal's first direct-to-video film to use a Universal Studios logo in the United States and Canada; American and Canadian versions of Universal's previous direct-to-video films contained the 1991-2006 Universal Cartoon Studios logo replacing the 1990-1998 Universal Studios logo.
The plot involves the entire population of the Great Valley leaving the valley after a swarm of locusts devours all of its vegetation. As the herd becomes bitter and argumentative due to famine, Littlefoot and the other main characters set out to find food to keep the herd together. In the process, they become trapped on an island, where they meet an old friend - Chomper, the baby sharptooth from The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure.
The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island is one of the more popular films with the fans and critics, and has received reasonable ratings. Since its first release, it has been released to video, laserdisc and DVD many more times, and has aired on several TV channels for multiple years.
Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Voice Actors
- 3 Music
- 3.1 Songs
- 4 Trivia
- 5 Gallery
Plot[]
After a cloud of “Swarming Leaf Gobblers” (locusts) descends upon the Great Valley, devouring all the plants and leaving it a barren wasteland, the inhabitants have no choice but to leave and seek another place where they can survive until the plants in the Great Valley have grown back. However, the swarming leaf gobblers have left a path of devastation behind them, leaving no food for the dinosaurs to find. After wandering for many days through the desolation, the herd quarrels and threatens to separate.
Not willing to let the grownups' decision separate them, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike set out on their own to find food for the herd in order to keep it together, on the basis that the adults will follow their children. After a long walk, during which they try to leave a distinct trail for the grownups, they are at the edge of giving up the endeavor as no food is in sight, when they suddenly reach something they have never seen before; the "Big Water" (ocean). Nearby, they discover a verdant island connected to the mainland by a very thin land bridge. While the group is crossing the bridge, they are surprised by an earthquake that nearly drowns them and destroys most of the bridge, trapping them on the island.
Unable to call the attention of their families, who have indeed followed their trail to the beach, the children try using Cera's idea to escape from the island on a floating log (which makes her seasick). However, the attempt fails when a hungry Swimming Sharptooth (resembling a Cretoxyrhina) attacks, and the kids barely make it back to the island. They find a spot to sleep for the night, though longing to be with their families brings them a case of insomnia which lasts them most of the night.
The next morning, Littlefoot wakes up and sees the shadow of a Sharptooth. He wakes up the others, and they flee, with the still unseen Sharptooth chasing them. Soon they are cornered, however, the Sharptooth turns out to be Chomper, the baby Sharptooth they hatched in The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure. At first, Chomper wants to introduce his parents to the gang, but the latter refuses to meet them. Chomper's parents find their son (while the gang hides in a nearby bush) and tell him that dinner is ready. Chomper asks if he can invite some friends, but to his silent shock and dismay, they assume that the friends are for dessert. Chomper's father smells a Longneck close at hand (Littlefoot), but Chomper stops him with the alibi of eating Longneck for breakfast and that he burped. Buying the alibi, they tell Chomper to come along with them. Telling them he will not be long, Chomper is left with no other choice but to assist the gang in hiding from his parents.
Despite all his efforts to hide his friends, make them feel comfortable, and provide them with green food (plants), Cera bears and openly displays a great distrust for Chomper for the fact that he is a Sharptooth. This grieves Chomper, who then departs. Littlefoot follows to apologize, but they are interrupted by Chomper's mother. She nuzzles her son gently, ignoring Littlefoot (whom she presumes is prey). Littlefoot is amazed that Sharpteeth are capable of generating or experiencing love.
Unaware of Chomper, his parents, or the main characters, another Sharptooth (resembling a Giganotosaurus) has been living on the island. He surprises the children in their hiding place, chases them out, and ends at the edge of a cliff above the ocean, where he has the children trapped. At this moment Chomper shows up, to defend the others, and is soon followed by his parents, who begin a fierce fight with the foreign Sharptooth. The Giganotosaurus shows amazing persistence, jumping over a ditch and lifting over a rock the gang were hiding under in an attempt to get at them, and fights off both of Chomper's parents with his claws and tail, including knocking out Mama Sharptooth. The fight ends when he is knocked over the edge of the cliff by Chomper’s father before the Giganotosaurus could reach his mate. While falling, he sweeps Chomper off the cliff and into the ocean. Seeing this, and not wanting to forsake his friend, Littlefoot plunges into the water to save Chomper. The sharptooth continues to attack them in the water, but is ultimately washed away by the current and presumably drowns.
Both are rescued by a friendly Plesiosaur (resembling an Elasmosaurus) named Elsie, who sets the two of them ashore. The main characters are at first worried that Chomper's parents will eat them, but the sharpteeth are thankful for the rescue of their son, and therefore promise that they will do them no harm. Even under the Sharpteeth's protection, Littlefoot and the others miss their families and are anxious to get back home. Overhearing their trouble, Elsie proposes to carry Littlefoot and the others back across the Big Water, an offer they gladly accept despite Chomper’s disappointment over their departure.
After a bit of reunion between the herd and the main characters, the adults show them that they have found a lush, green place at the shore, where they may live until the Great Valley is regrown, at which time they shall return home.
Voice Actors[]
This was the first film in which Littlefoot was voiced by Brandon LaCroix, Cera was voiced by Anndi McAfee, Ducky by Aria Noelle Curzon, Grandma Longneck by Miriam Flynn, Chomper by Cannon Young, and Mr. Clubtail and Spike by Jeff Bennett. LaCroix and Young did not resume their roles as Littlefoot and Chomper in any later films.
Anndi McAfee and Aria Noelle Curzon also worked as voices for many characters on the Disney television series Recess.
- Jeff Bennett as Petrie/Mr. Clubtail
- Aria Noelle Curzon as Ducky
- Thomas Dekker as Littlefoot (singing voice)
- Rob Paulsen as Spike
- Miriam Flynn as Grandma Longneck
- John Ingle as the narrator/Cera's Dad
- Brandon LaCroix as Littlefoot
- Tress MacNeille as Mama Swimmer/Mama Flyer
- Kenneth Mars as Grandpa Longneck
- Anndi McAfee as Cera
- Christina Pickles as Elsie
- Cannon Young as Chomper
Music[]
The songs are written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom. This is their second collaboration in the series.
Songs[]
- 1: Big Water
- 2: Always There
- 3: Friends For Dinner
Trivia[]
- The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island has a lot in common with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (just like how The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure has a lot in common with The Lost World: Jurassic Park):
- Both are the fourth sequel to their original films and the fifth film (of both their film series and movie franchises).
- Both include a main antagonist (Plated Sharptooth for The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island; Captain Salazar for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales).
- Both of their main villains die in their movies by drowning.
- And by extension, both of their main villains share similarities to other main villains from earlier movies in their film series (and movie franchises). The Plated Sharptooth (in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island) is similar to Sharptooth (from the original The Land Before Time) as both are persistent Sharpteeth. Salazaar (in Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) is similar to Davy Jones (from Pirates of the Carribbean; the first film) because they are cursed and cannot set foot on land.
- This is the second appearance of Chomper and his parents. While this film was Mama and Papa Sharptooth's last appearance to date, Chomper would eventually become one of the main characters in the TV series.
- This film uses subtitles for the Sharpteeth whenever they speak in their native language. The only other instance to-date, in which this is done, is the TV episode "Escape from the Mysterious Beyond".
- This is the first of two in the film series to show blood explicitly (the original The Land Before Time did include a brief view of Sharptooth shredding Littlefoot's Mother's skin off in shadow form, but with no explicit gore; scenes featuring blood in injury may have been cut). In this case, during the fight between the Plated Sharptooth and Chomper's parents, blood is drawn from the snout of Papa Sharptooth and seconds later the Plated Sharptooth claws at Mama Sharptooth's thigh, slashing her painfully. The second appearance was in the next film, where the Lone Dinosaur had what is blood where the Meanest Sharptooth attacked him on the face, leaving his telltale scar.
- The song "Always There" is noted as being the first mention of Littlefoot's mother since the original film, as well as one of the few moments in the sequels where Littlefoot appears to mourn her (as opposed to simply remembering her or referring back to her)
- This movie was released 8 daysbefore James Cameron's Titanic movie.
- Chomper is shown to be able to speak fluent "leaf-eater" language (heard as English to the viewer) in this film. How the character is able to speak it so well, when he only spent a very short time with Littlefoot the others after his birth (and why they are not surprised by his ability to speak the language) has never been explained.
- Some European releases of the film did not include the subtitles translating Chomper's conversations with his parents (apart from in closed captioning).
- At the beginning of the film, a Sharptooth with the same coloring scheme as Mama Sharptooth is seen, apparently making a meal out of two Corythosaurus. It is uncertain whether or not this Sharptooth and Mama Sharptooth are one and the same. Incidentally, a dark green Sharptooth resembling Papa Sharptooth was seen at the beginning of The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, the Sharptooth family's first appearance.
- It reproduces as a non-Sesame Street segment.
- This is the third film in which Ducky is shown crying. She cries twice.
- This is the second film in which Grandma Longneck cries.
- This film casts doubts on the idea of Sharpteeth being true villains.
