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A Prehistoric Phenomenon
For kids of a certain age, The Land Before Time will never be forgotten.
No explanation could express how successful the franchise was throughout the late 20th century and onward. Littlefoot and friends could be found everywhere at the time, even at a theme park; however, that slice of the series was lost for several years until recently.
This is the story of The Land Before Time Adventure at Universal Studios Hollywood.
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Creating a Classic
Released in 1988, The Land Before Time was created by an all-star team of Hollywood’s finest: director Don Bluth alongside executive producers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, among others.
The Universal Pictures release was gorgeously animated with semi-accurate dinosaur character designs exploring poignant settings. The Land Before Time was a simply complicated film with a story that ranged from traumatic, to heartwarming, and everything in between. Its expressive cast of rugrat dinosaurs—Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike—relied on each other through themes of grief, discrimination, self-discovery, and friendship.
The journey was emotionally devastating, yet wholesome—intense, yet fulfilling. It was topped off with a heart-rending soundtrack by the late, legendary James Horner.
The Land Before Time captured the hearts of children everywhere and became a bit of a cultural phenomenon. The hit film reached beyond movie theaters and The Great Valley with all kinds of merchandise, fast food partnerships, video games, and—as expected—sequels.
What started off as a dark-yet-beautiful children’s film turned into a rampant franchise just in time for a dinosaur-obsessed decade. The Land Before Time brought on a staggering 13 direct-to-home-video sequels that took the series in a brighter, musical direction.
But, it didn’t end there: The Land Before Time got its own direct-to-theme-park spin-off as well.
Littlefoot’s Journey to Universal Studios
Toward the later part of the century, Universal Studios Hollywood was emerging as a proper theme park. Its famous Studio Tour was more cinematic than ever, and the park also gained standalone attractions thanks to the company’s work on Universal Studios Florida.
Universal Hollywood’s new emphasis on attractions included some strange stage shows over the years—but also palatably produced ones as well. Universal Studios had a show starring the most renowned mouse in all of Hollywood: Fievel Mousekewitz. An American Tail Live was a well-received show with vivid costumed characters, puppets, and a large-scale set that made the performers seem mouse-sized.
An American Tail was another Don Bluth production, similar to the era’s most renowned dinosaur franchise: The Land Before Time. Universal Hollywood had Littlefoot and Cera costumed characters guests could meet.
The potential was there for the series. Universal drafted an unbuilt concept for a boat ride called The Land Before Time Adventure, with artwork by Wes Cook. The blueksy ride had prehistoric environments and dinosaur figures—presumably animatronic—along the river. The detailed design included an eatery called Tree Star Terrace for a taste of The Land Before Time.
It’s unknown which Universal park this concept was intended for, but the idea was validating that The Land Before Time had a future at Universal Studios.
The Lost Adventure
In 1997, Universal Studios Hollywood debuted the latest installment of The Land Before Time franchise with a children’s stage show. The Land Before Time Adventure, as it was known, featured costumed characters, puppets, and original music. The 15-minute show ran about five times per day in a small outdoor venue on Universal Hollywood’s Upper Lot. Universal Studios allegedly considered bringing a version to Orlando, Florida, but retired the show in 1998 after two short years.
The Land Before Time Adventure faded away and went almost entirely undocumented to the public since its closure. Any mention of the show’s existence has been rare, even in newspaper archives. The only known available footage was a 30-second clip on a display at an event celebrating Universal Studios Hollywood’s 50th anniversary.
Note: Skip to 26:21 to view the clip.
Some lost media archivists and theme park enthusiasts have combed the internet for footage but came up short.
“Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart.”
— Littlefoot’s mother in The Land Before Time (1988)
In late 2024, reddit user u/BFGNZ surprisingly commented on a post about the show, claiming they had it on film. In December of that year, they uploaded a nearly full video of The Land Before Time Adventure to the YouTube channel Old Vintage Videos.
For the first time in several decades, the once-lost Land Before Time Adventure could be seen with our eyes and our hearts.
The Show Experience
Hide and Seek
The Land Before Time Adventure took place on a lush yet simple set of The Great Valley from the films. A warm narrator, like in the movie, introduced the scene as Littlefoot and Cera played hide and seek. Littlefoot asked the audience where to hide and buried himself in a hollow log. Cera showed up looking for him, egging on the crowd to stomp their feet and scare Littlefoot out of his hiding spot.
The rattled Littlefoot quickly got over the prank. The two costumed dinos—standing on two legs throughout the show—then broke into a sing-along song about being best friends.
“Best friends. Best friends. You and me are best friends.”
No More Moonberries
After the number, Ducky and Spike puppets showed up. Petrie, who’s not known for being the strongest flier, crashed his way onto the scene. He stammered to tell Cera she was in trouble for eating all the moonberries in the Valley. Luckily, Ducky knew where to find more: in The Lost Forest. Littlefoot warned Cera about the dangers in The Lost Forest, but Cera stubbornly ventured off by herself anyway.
The staged cleared except for Ducky, who shared words of wisdom in her voice of innocence.
“The Lost Forest is so scary. It should stay lost.”
Exploring The Lost Forest
Two new puppet characters popped up: Esther and Lester. Together, they were the Nesters. The two young dinos overheard Cera’s plan and didn’t want her taking any moonberries. The Nesters ran off to The Lost Forest.
The curtains lifted revealing the dark and scary Lost Forest where Cera was searching for moonberries. The eerie forest sounds spooked Cera, but she found courage by singing about being brave.
“I’ll just be brave. I’m brave. I’m getting very scared. I’ll just be brave.”
As the music got louder and faster, a vicious sharptooth roared in the distance and startled Cera. She screamed and fell down a pit.
Unfortunately, the most complete known footage of the show cuts out at this point, but the snippet from the park’s 50th anniversary archived the next moment. Littlefoot and the other friends saved Cera by pushing over a tree and pulling her out of the pit.
The Search Continues
Cera was too proud to fully thank her friends, but they all sang together about being a team.
“There’s nothing whatsoever that we can’t do. We put it all together.”
And they put together all their personalities by chanting their catchphrases.
“Pitter-patter, pitter-patter. Chomp, chomp, chomp. Yep, yep, yep. Stomp, stomp, stomp.”
A sharptooth roar abruptly ended the song and scared the whole group. The sneaky Nesters murmured about how they were the ones roaring—not an actual sharptooth—but they hushed before any of Littlefoot’s friends could overhear them.
The main group continued searching for moonberries all night long until Littlefoot got separated from the others. Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike all went home and nervously waited for Littlefoot to return.
A Wholesome Ending
Littlefoot showed up soon after with a surprise: He found moonberries, but that wasn’t all. Littlefoot had one more surprise for his friends: He found the sharptooth—well, kind of.
Littlefoot found out the Nesters were pretending to be a sharptooth all along. Esther and Lester fessed up and explained they were scaring everyone away from their moonberries because Nesters need them to survive. They cannot eat leaves like the other dinosaurs.
As they were all getting along, loud footsteps approached the group. They panicked thinking it was a real sharptooth this time, but it was just Esther and Lester’s mom. She told everyone how proud she was of them for the lessons learned along the way.
Littlefoot invited the Nesters to join their friend group, and they ended by singing the best friends song from the beginning of the show.
“Best friends. Best friends. You and me are best friends.”
The Show’s Closure and Legacy
The Land Before Time Adventure was a cute show for kids and a decent extension of the franchise. It had nice-looking characters and puppets with articulated movements, as well as a catchy little soundtrack.
The Land Before Time Adventure at Universal Studios Hollywood closed in 1998 for unknown reasons—possibly for typical factors like budget, guest feedback, attendance, and so on.
Thankfully, the show is once again available to the public.
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