The Land Before Time (1988) is a cherished animated classic. Directed by Don Bluth (An American Tail) and executive produced by George Lucas (Star Wars) and Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park), it’s a heartwarming story about love, friendship, and loss.
It follows Littlefoot, a young, orphaned dinosaur who sets out on a dangerous journey to a safe haven known as the Great Valley after a cataclysmic event destroys the land. Along the way, he meets a group of other young dinosaurs and forms unlikely friendships.
While The Land Before Time spawned 13 direct-to-video sequels and an animated series, it never reached the heights of other similar franchises like The Lion King. More surprisingly, it has also yet to be remade. But at least this means that the original is preserved in time.
A Remake of The Land Before Time Is in Development
Although there are no official projects in development, the 1988 film is getting an unofficial remake by British filmmaker Joey Lever, best known for creating the fan film Spiderman: Lost Cause back in 2014.
Following months of teasing snippets of the film on social media, Lever, a filmmaker, director, and animator, has now uploaded a new video to his YouTube channel to share a huge update about the upcoming project titled Littlefoot (TBA). You can watch it below:
Littlefoot Is a Celebration of the 1988 Film
“What made this film so powerful wasn’t just the animation,” Lever says of the original 1988 film. “Though it was ground-breaking for its time, it was the emotional core. A film that didn’t talk down to the kids. It embraced themes like loss, death, and resilience with honesty. And it left a mark on generations — and that included me.”
“The Land Before Time just wasn’t another dinosaur movie for me,” he continues. “It was one of the first films that made me feel something as a kid. It taught me that stories can be emotional and exciting. And animated films can really say something real.”
“Years later, I’ve decided to take that inspiration and do something super ambitious. Today, I want to introduce you to Littlefoot.”
Related: Live-Action Remake of ‘The Land Before Time’ Explained
Lever describes Littlefoot as “a short film” that he “and a few friends have created as an independent reimagining of the original.”
The film continues with the themes of the 1988 film, such as loss, grief, and friendship.
“This film follows Littlefoot, alone, grieving, and trying to make sense of a world that has just completely fallen apart,” Lever says. “And slowly, painfully, he begins to allow others in. Not just because he wants to, but because he needs to. It’s about one character learning how to carry grief and then realizing he doesn’t have to do it alone.”
Related: The Circle of Life: How The Land Before Time Inspired The Lion King : Disney Fanatic
Littlefoot Doesn’t Share The Lion King 2019’s Visual Style
Unlike the original film, Littlefoot will be told in 3D animation. But it won’t be anything like Disney’s The Lion King (2019) — instead, it has adopted a visual style similar to Pixar.
“We knew straight away that we weren’t going to do hyper-realistic animals,” Lever says, explaining that modeling the character designs off those in The Lion King remake was never an option for the film. “There’s a reason why The Lion King 2019 didn’t connect emotionally. One of the big problems were their faces. They just didn’t allow for deeper connection because they were too realistic.”
He adds: “We’re trying to the ground tactile realism of live action with the expressive shape language of Pixar. The lighting is moody, the environments are filled with atmosphere, smoke, dust, debris. We just wanted to create a different kind of visual style that even the king Don Bluth would approve of.”
Littlefoot Voice Cast
The film has already found its full cast, however, Lever is currently only able to confirm Summer-Joules, who’s voicing Littlefoot, and Larissa, the voice behind Littlefoot’s mother.
Why Are They Remaking The Land Before Time?
Lever explains in the video why the team is remaking such a beloved film.
“The big question is, ‘Why are we doing this?’ Because most people don’t understand why remakes should be a thing. And honestly, most of the time they’re right, but The Land Before Time to me is different. A lot of people today haven’t seen it.”
He adds, “In a world where remakes are everywhere, it’s rare to find one that actually deserves to be brought back. This story does. It’s emotional, it’s raw, it’s quietly powerful.”
Lever goes on to say that he thinks the original film is “perfect” and that the crew aren’t trying to improve upon it in any way.
“While the original was 2D, I’ve always been a huge lover of 3D animation. This isn’t about copying the original, or maybe there’s problems with the original and this is making it better, that’s not the case – the original is perfect. I wouldn’t want to touch that; it’s just reimaging it with today’s technology.”
“I genuinely believe that we’re doing something super special,” he says in closing. “We’re reintroducing The Land Before Time into a world that’s completely forgotten about it. It’s a stunning, beautiful piece of art.”
Littlefoot is expected to be 15 minutes in length. Lever says that the reason the film is so short is because feature films cost millions, adding that their film is “an independent project made with no money, made with heart, time, and a tiny team,” but one that’s being treated with “the care and emotion of a full-length project.”
For updates on the progress of Littlefoot, and to subscribe and show your support, you can follow Joey Lever on YouTube channel, Facebook, and Instagram.
Would you like to see an official remake of The Land Before Time? Let us know in the comments!
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