The Land before time: the big freeze

This animated children’s film is the seventh sequel to Don Bluth’s “The Land before time” (1988) and continues the adventures of Littlefoot, a young and impetuous apatosaurus. In this instalment Littlefoot lives contentedly with his elderly grandparents in Great Valley, but when they experience a snowstorm for the first time, excitement turns to concern upon realising that significant climate change odes badly for the dinosaur community. Ducky, an anatosaurus, experiences sibling rivalry, resentful of her adopted brother, Spike, a stegosaurus who has to decide whether to join his own migrating tribe or stay with his adoptive family. When several family members become stranded and their lives are imperilled, Ducky learns the value of respecting her elders, particularly Mr Thicknose, a dinosaur with whom he falls into constant conflict. Although the plot is trite, and the dialogue cloying, this animated children’s movie still entertains as it imagines the world inhabited by dinosaurs. Features frequent musical interludes and the voices of Jeff Bennett, Rob Paulsen, Aria Noelle Curzon, Thomas Dekker, Robert Guillaume, Susan Krebs and Kenneth Mars.