The Land Before Time
This beloved hand-drawn classic follows young Littlefoot and his new dinosaur friends as they journey through a harsh prehistoric world to reach the lush Great Valley. It is a genuinely moving film with real emotional weight, including the on-screen death of a parent and several frightening predator sequences that can hit harder than the cute cover art suggests.
Most comfortably enjoyed by children ages 5 and up, and best watched with a grown-up nearby for the heavier moments.
If you’d rather skip
Sharptooth appears suddenly and attacks; Littlefoot's mother fights him off in a tense battle before a massive earthquake separates the herd. This sequence is the most frightening stretch of the film.
Littlefoot finds his mortally wounded mother during a dark, rainy night and watches her die; the film then lingers on his grief for several minutes. This is the most emotionally intense passage in the movie.
A kind older dinosaur named Rooter gently comforts Littlefoot after his loss, offering one of the film's most tender and discussion-worthy moments about grief.