The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock, directed by Charles Grosvenor, is the sixth installment in the Land Before Time film series. Originally released direct-to-video in 1998, it has subsequently been released on video and DVD many more times, as well as being periodically aired on several cartoon-based television channels.
The plot focuses on main character Littlefoot's admiration of a heroic but reclusive Diplodocus named Doc, whom he believes to be a legendary hero dubbed "The Lone Dinosaur". Despite being largely overlooked by the critics, and receiving mostly mixed reviews, the movie garnered a Young Artist Award for voice actress Aria Noelle Curzon (Ducky) in 2002.
Voice acting
English voice cast
The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock marked the first of four films in which Thomas Dekker provided the character Littlefoot's speaking and singing voice. He had previously provided Littlefoot's singing voice in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island. This is the only film in the series in which Jeff Bennett provides the character Spike's voice in place of Rob Paulsen. It is also one of only two films in which John Ingle is not the narrator. In this film, Danny Mann voices the Allosaurus.
- Thomas Dekker as Littlefoot
- Anndi McAfee as Cera
- Aria Noelle Curzon as Ducky
- Jeff Bennett as Petrie/Spike
- Kenneth Mars as Grandpa Longneck
- Miriam Flynn as Grandma Longneck
- John Ingle as Cera's Dad
- Danny Mann as the Allosaurus
- Kris Kristofferson as Doc
- Nancy Cartwright as Dana
- Sandy Fox as Dinah
- Nick Barcelona as the Brachiosaurus boy
- Frank Welker as Meanest Tyrannosaurus Rex
Japanese voice cast
- Minami Takayama as Littlefoot
- Rica Matsumoto as Cera
- Satomi Kōrogi as Ducky
- Yūji Mitsuya as Petrie
- Sailor King as Spike
- George Nakata as Cera's Dad
- Akio Ohtsuka as Doc
Plot
The Lone Dinosaur, in combat with the sharptooth.
The movie begins with Grandpa Longneck telling the children a story theorizing on the creation of the world. This is followed by a legend involving the residents of the Great Valley, a number of generations before, and how one day, an extremely ferocious Sharptooth attacked them, but was ultimately defeated by the legendary Lone Dinosaur; a Longneck who was known to protect societies by disarming Sharpteeth with his whip-like tail, but who preferred to live in solitude. Grandpa Longneck continues that some time later, a large rock emerged from the ground, resembling a long neck and bearing life-sized Sharptooth teeth encircled around its neck, which supposedly came from the Sharptooth the Lone Dinosaur defeated. The monolith was named "Saurus Rock", and a legend was spread that bad luck would descend upon the valley if the monolith were ever damaged.
The next day, the children are playing, when Littlefoot accidentally slips off a cliff edge. Before he hits the ground, he is caught by a strange longneck (Diplodocus) who introduces himself only as "Doc" and gives no knowledge of his history. Littlefoot is intrigued by the newcomer, especially upon discovering that one of his eyes bears a scar similar to one the Lone Dinosaur was supposed to have received from the Sharptooth, and when he displays prior knowledge of the Great Valley's topography. Littlefoot is quick to assume that Doc is the Lone Dinosaur, and informs his friends of this theory, narrating an apparently extemporaneous legend to support his assumption. Though Cera is quick to point out that the legend takes place several generations before their time, and the Lone Dinosaur would have passed away long ago, Littlefoot insists that he is right, and goes on to say that Saurus Rock likely resembles Doc to a match.
Night-view of Saurus Rock, a monolith vaguely resembling the Lone Dinosaur, and said to bear the teeth of the sharptooth he defeated.
Cera's visiting niece and nephew, Dinah and Dana, are intrigued by Littlefoot's theory, and set off on their own to find Saurus Rock. Upon discovering their absence, and knowing that her father will be furious that she didn't watch them carefully, Cera urges the others to help her find the twins. After narrowly escaping an Sharptooth along the way, they reach Saurus Rock and discover that the twins have climbed to the top of the monolith. In the process of retrieving them, one of the teeth on the neck of the monolith is knocked off, and they recall the bit of the legend involving the onset of bad luck. The Allosaurus then returns and gives chase. As it is pursuing them, they hide in a fallen log, which is thrown by the Sharptooth towards a gorge, where it becomes suspended between each side of the canyon. They carefully break out and creep to the other side, but the Sharptooth attempts to follow them across the gorge. The rotten log breaks under her weight, sending her plummeting into the ravine.
When they get home, Cera is confronted by her father, who sternly scolds her for not being watchful of the twins. Over the next few days, ill fortunes ranging from the water hole drying up to a vicious tornado plaguing the valley. The adults blame Doc, in whose wake the misfortunes have apparently come. Littlefoot is convinced that the accident at Saurus Rock is responsible for the misfortunes, and eager to redeem himself and prevent Doc from being banished from the valley, he retraces his steps back to the canyon. He walks down protruding rocks on the cliffside and approaches the unconscious Sharptooth, but as he attempts to extract a tooth from inside her mouth, to replace the broken one, the Sharptooth wakes up and rises to her feet. Littlefoot jumps out of her mouth and flees. As the Sharptooth corners him, he is rescued by his grandfather. A large T-Rex then enters the fray, but is subdued by Doc. The two Longnecks combine their efforts and imprison the Sharptooth in a landslide mound.
Littlefoot and his friends then retreive a tooth and repair the monolith, while Doc declares his departure, assuring Littlefoot that he already has a hero on whom to depend - his grandfather. Littlefoot later creates a legend of his own based on this new paradigm, portraying his grandfather as a savior.
Reception
Analysis
Brian Webster, on Apollo Guide, said he was tired of hearing the characters' catchphrases ("Yep, yep, yep!") and that he wished they would not portray the dinosaurs as living in nuclear families, sitting around campfires and listening to stories, as it makes them seem too human.[1] TheOnion.com, in its review for this film, mistook all of the Land Before Time movies to be associated with Don Bluth,[2] when only the first movie was.
Ratings
The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock has a current rating of 4.8 stars out of 10 at the Internet Movie Database, based on 564 votes.[3] It also has a rating of two and a half stars out of five at www.flixter.com, based on 624 user reviews.[4]
Awards and nominations
In 1999, The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock was nominated for an Annie award, for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Home Video Production, but lost to Disney's The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.[5] In 2002, voice actress Aria Noelle Curzon won a Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Voice-Over, for her role as main character Ducky in The Land Before Time IV: The Secret of Saurus Rock, as well as for voicing the character in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire, and The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze.[6]
Music
Songs
The songs are written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom.
Soundtrack
TBA
Cultural Influence
Merchandise
The original VHS cover for The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock.
Universal Studios Home Video teamed up with Quaker Oats in a promotion for The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock. On January 3rd, 1999, Quaker Oats issued $1 off coupons on videos for the film; also including fifty cents off of a box of their "Dinosaur Eggs" cereal.[7]
The movie was originally released direct-to-video and laserdisc on December 1st, 1998. It was released on VHS again on December 4th, 2001. On April 1st, 2003, it was released for the first time on DVD. On December 2nd that same year, it was released on DVD again, as well as being released on VHS for the final time, in the "4 Movie Dino Pack (Volume 2)" and the "9 Movie Dino Pack". The movie was released on DVD again in the "2 Mysteries Beyond the Great Valley" DVD, on November 29th, 2005.
TV Airings
After five months of disappearance on American television since March 2008, the film re-aired on Cartoon Network on September 10, 2008.
United States
- Disney Channel (1999-2004)
- Toon Disney (1999-2004)
- Cartoon Network (2000-2008)
References in media
- The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock is analyzed in the fifteenth episode of the twenty-first season of the Danish series Troldspejlet.
- Beethoven's 3rd shows some scenes from this film.
References to media
- "The Lone Dinosaur" seems to be a parody of The Lone Ranger. The character Doc also exhibits similar traits to characters played by John Wayne; his name even sounds similar to Wayne's nickname "The Duke".
Trivia
- The Allosaurus was portrayed as having two fingered hands in some scenes of the movie, and it's correct three in others. Allosaurus are orange to brown like this female sharptooth in the 6th movie. The female brown Allosaurus must be it's ghost.
- This is the third film in which Cera cries.
- This is the fourth film in which Littlefoot cries.
- "Bad Luck" is Spike's second song.
- This is the second film in which Grandpa Longneck got knocked over by a sharptooth when fighting with one. The first time happened in The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure when he was fighting Mama Sharptooth at a lake. In this film, the Unidentified Sharptooth knocked him over by kicking him with his foot.
- This is the last Land Before Time movie animated with traditional cel animation. The remaining films & the TV Series are animated with digital ink & paint.
- In the scene where the gang are jumping in the bubbling mud pit it seems to be very deep (such as when Dinah & Dana push Cera in). However while they are singing "The Legend of the Lone Dinosaur" the mud pit appears to be shallow enough for them to walk across it.
- This was originally intended to be the last film in The Land Before Time series.
- Plot hole: If The Lone Dinosaur only comes when Sharpteeth enter the Great Valley, where was he during Great Valley Adventure or Invasion of the Tinysauruses?
Character Debuts
Recurring characters
One-off characters
- Dinah & Dana
- The Allosaurus
- The T-Rex at the end of the film
- The T-rex at the beginning of the film in the story
- The unnamed Brachiosaurus kid in the story
Species debuts
- Diplodocus
- Allosaurus
- Lambeosaurus
- Yangchuanosaurus
- Postosuchus
Memorable quotes
- Cera: And I can still remember the day when Dinah said her first words... or was it Dana? "Shiny peepeye no-no"; whatever that means.
- Ducky: It is simple. That means "The bright circle is shining in my eyes and it hurts".
- Cera: How do you know that?
- Ducky: I am also a twin. Thirteen of us hatched at the same time. Thirteen twins!
- Cera: So... what does "No-no Grampy three-dee grr" mean?
- Ducky: That means "Do not make Grandpa Three-Horn mad".
- Cera: Are you sure about that one?
- Ducky: No, but it is good advice just the same.
Littlefoot: I just figured out who Doc is!
- Cera: What's the big mystery? He's a squinty-eyed old Longneck with no friends.
- Petrie: Me could have told you that!
Littlefoot: Who needs them, anyway? I'm a lone dinosaur; I don't need anyone! Gee, I wonder if all the other lone dinosaurs talk out loud to themselves like this? They must; it would be too quiet.
Littlefoot (Inside the mouth of the Allosaurus) Good thing there's a breeze in here. Wait a second. I'm inside a dead Sharptooth. Why would there be a breeze? Un...less...it's...breathing...but if it's breathing...then that means...IT'S ALIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!
Littlefoot: Guys! You came for me!
- Cera: Don't we always?
Littlefoot: Doc! Doc! You don't have to leave. The time of bad luck's almost over.
Doc: It's about time I'd be goin' kid.
Littlefoot: Yeah, but....
Doc: This herd life's not for me. Too much talkin'
Doc: Well, I'll be seeing you, kid.
Littlefoot: Oh, okay, Doc. And thanks!
Doc: Good luck, kid.
Littlefoot: Doc! Don't go too far! You'll never know when we might need a....a hero!
Doc (Turns toward Grandpa Longneck) You already got yourself a hero, kid.
_________________________________________________________
(The gang mistake the foot of the Allosaurus for a tree trunk)
Littlefoot: One of these trees? I don't think so.
Cera: (Noticing the "tree trunk") Oh yeah? Watch this. (Rams the foot)
Littlefoot: Uh, nice one
Cera: That sure didn't feel like a tree trunk.
Petrie: It no look like tree trunk either.
(The Allosaurus growls)
Ducky: And it does not sound like a tree trunk no, no (They realize it's the Allosaurus), NOO!
(The Allosaurus begins to chase them)
Littlefoot: It is not a tree trunk.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Brian Webster's review of The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock www.apolloguide.com Retrieved on April 26th, 2008.
- ↑ Hollywood California's The Onion.com review of The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock.www.theonion.com Retrieved on March 19th, 2008.
- ↑ The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock at the Internet Movie Database.
- ↑ The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock at www.flixter.com.
- ↑ The Annie Awards Ceremony of 1999, at theInternet Movie Database. Retrieved on August 28th, 2009.
- ↑ The 2002 Young Artist Awards Ceremony, at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on August 28th, 2009.
- ↑ Billboard magazine; 5 Dec 1998, page 107. ISSN 0006-2510 Published by Nielsen Business Media, Inc. [1]
External links
- The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock trailer at the New York Times webpage.
| Preceded by: "The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island" |
The Land Before Time film series | Followed by: "The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire" |