The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers is the twelfth film in the Land Before Time series. It was a 2007 film and released in February 27, 2007.
Voice Actors
English Voice Cast
- Nick Price as Littlefoot
- Anndi McAfee as Cera
- Aria Noelle Curzon as Ducky
- Jeff Bennett as Petrie/Petrie's Brothers
- Rob Paulsen as Spike/Guido/Mr. Clubtail/Mo
- Tress MacNeille as Petrie's Mother
- John Ingle as the Narrator/Mr. Threehorn
- Camryn Manheim as Tria
- Kenneth Mars as Grandpa Longneck/Hollowhorn
- Ken Stacey as a Pterosaur
- Windy Wagner as a Pterosaur
- Nika Futterman as Tricia/Petrie's Sisters
- Susan Blu as Petrie's Sisters
- Rob Trow as a Pterosaur
- Pete Sepenuk as Spinosaurus
Japanese Voice Cast
- Minami Takayama: Littlefoot
- Rica Matsumoto: Cera
- Satomi Kōrogi: Ducky
- Yūji Mitsuya: Petrie
- Sailor King: Spike
- Yumiko Hori: Tria
- George Nakata: Topsy
- Kae Araki: Tricia
- Urara Takano: Mama Flyer
Note: The Japanese voice actors are appearing so far.
Plot
The Day of the Flyers, an important event for the Flyers in the Great Valley, is approaching, and free-style Petrie is having trouble flying in formation with his siblings. His friends try to help him, but a "fuzzy" newcomer named Guido gives the most helpful advice - that it's always best to just "be yourself". No one has ever seen anyone else like Guido, and when the gang tries to figure out what kind of dinosaur he is, their questions lead them on a journey to the Mysterious Beyond!
Reception
Parenting Magazine called The Great Day of the Flyers "Uplifting and adorable!", but Disney Family.com's critic Nancy Davis Kho said that while the film can stimulate discussions between parents and children about peer encouragement and the arrival of younger siblings, and while the songs are also very uplifting, they "almost make Barney songs sound sophisticated". She also believed that the film was slow-paced, and that Petrie's broken English might encourage children to speak that way.[1]
Rating
The film was rated G by the MPAA. It was also rated G in Canada and in Australia.
List of ratings:
- Australia: G
- Brazil: Livre
- Canada (Alberta): G
- Canada (BC/SK): G
- Canada (Ontario): G
- Canada (Manitoba): G
- Canada (Maritime): G
- Canada (Quebec): G
- Canada (Home Video): G
- Denmark: A
- Finland: K-3
- Germany: o. Al.
- Ireland: G
- Italy: T
- Japan: U
- Malaysia: U
- Netherlands: AL
- Spain: T
- Sweden: Btl
- United Kingdom: U
- United States: G
Production
The project was announced on August 8, 2005 along with The Land Before Time TV series. It was the first sequel in the series to be filmed in widescreen and the first to be filmed in the high-definition format, although the Region 1 DVD was in full screen (cropping the left and right of the image), though not pan and scan as the camera stays directly in the center of the image. Like other television shows filmed in high-definition (such as American Idol, Father of the Pride, Curious George, and Out of Jimmy's Head) and other films filmed in high-definition (such as The Proud Family Movie, Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry, Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy?, and High School Musical), the monitor the animation team would have worked from would have 16:9 and 4:3 safe areas so that the full screen version would not crop off too much of any important visual elements (such as characters). However, the previous film The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration was matted to anamorphic widescreen on DVD in Israel.
This film was originally subtitled The Day of the Flyers, but the word "great" was added to the subtitle, due to the Flip, Flap and Fly music video mentioning the current subtitle.
This was the first time the Universal Studios website notes this film as a "tween film".
The same production team remains, with Charles Grosvenor as director and producer. It was produced by Universal Animation Studios and distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. It was the first film in the series to use the 2006-present Universal Animation Studios logo.
This was the second film in the series to contain slow-motion after The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration; as Littlefoot jumps off the falling tree, he is very slow until he lands on the cliff.
Skip Jones, who is credited for character animation, also animated the characters in the original Land Before Time around 19 years earlier. Most of the animation in this film is by the Wang Film and Cuckoo's Nest studios in Taiwan (the animators for the most recent sequels), so only a small portion of his work is seen.
Music
The music score was composed by Michael Tavera and Kyle Kenneth Batter with additional music composed by Billy Martin. This was the second film in the series without James Horner's original score from the first film (the first was The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration), although Michael Tavera's older themes from the previous sequels can still be heard in this film.
This was the sixth time Spike sings; his lips can be seen moving when the rest of the gang sings One of a Kind. It was also the first film in the series to end with the ending music from The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire since The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water.
Songs
The songs were written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom.
- One of a Kind
- Things Change
- Flip, Flap and Fly (an instrumental version can be heard in the end credits)
Flip, Flap and Fly music video preview
To help promote the film's release, the three-minute Flip, Flap and Fly music video was shown in theaters during early screenings of Curious George. It can be seen on the Curious George and PollyWorld DVDs as one of the opening previews. It was never included on the film's disc. The final version of the sequence seems to be different from the music video by using alternate scenes, such as ones that didn't make it to the video, for example, the shot that reveals that the little green flyer was the egg that got lost throughout the song. Also, the music video included some shots that were not in the film. Instead, the whole Flip, Flap and Fly scene just ends with all flyers flying in a formation.
Cultural References
- The title for the song "Flip, Flap and Fly" is a parody of the song "Flip, Flop and Fly" from Chicken Run.
- Tap-dancing feet of an egg during the song "Flip, Flap and Fly" are similar to the 2006 film Happy Feet.
TV Airings
- Disney Channel (2009)
Trivia
- This is the only film that Nick Price voices Littlefoot.
- Petrie's Siblings have a big role in this film for the first time.
- Grandma Longneck and Mama Swimmer appear but have no speaking roles.
- Ducky mentions that she has an aunt who sleep swims.
- This is the third film in the series to show a reappearing guest character, the first two being The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, which features Chomper as a major character, and The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, in which Mo made a cameo appearance during Adventuring.
- Mo, Big Daddy and the other Tinysauruses make cameos in the "Flip, Flap and Fly" number.
- This was not the first appearance of a feathered animal; the first two were Ichy the Ichthyornis, from The Land Before Time IV: Journey through the Mists, and the green Archaeopteryx, seen in The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire, although it was the first appearance of Guido, a Microraptor.
- This film reveals Petrie is afraid of flying through Sky Puffies.
- This is the last film in which Kenneth Mars voiced Grandpa Longneck, as the character did not have a speaking role in The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends and the actor died of pancreatic cancer in 2011.
- It was originally rumored that Pterano along with his henchmen Rinkus (a Rhamphorhynchus) and Sierra (a Cearadactylus) were going to appear again. However the idea was apparently dropped, if ever considered.
- Adult Stegosauruses didn't appear in this movie, the same thing with the 2007 movie The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends.
- This film was the last one to use numeric titles, as 13 and 14 don't have XIII or XIV in the titles.
Goofs
- Strangely, when Cera crosses the log while singing "Things Change", the whites of her eyes turn blue This could be or not be an error, since it represents tears in her eyes.
- After the flyer's "best practice flight ever", Petrie's voice is replaced by one of his siblings when his mouth moves and says "Guido, come on!"
- The Spinosaurus in this film has only two fingers, while real Spinosauruses had three fingers.
- When Grandpa Longneck says "If only Grandma was here to see this" after Topps falls into the mud, his lips don't move, and when Littlefoot says to the gang "We better go" his lips also don't move.
- When Guido states "Not that anyone's saying you're disturbed, least of all me..." to Topsy, his wing feathers change color from pale green and yellow to turquoise, like the rest of his body.
- During "Flip, Flap, and Fly", Topsy and Tria are seen watching the aerial displays. After the song is over, when Tricia falls into the river, the duo are back at their nest, asleep.
- After the Universal logo shows in the opening, the continents merge back into the supercontinent, Pangea. Pangea existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, whereas the events in the franchise take place during the late Mesozoic era.
Character Debuts
- Recurring characters:
- Species debuts:
- Microraptor
- Spinosaurus (possibly influenced by Jurassic Park III)
- Eudimorphidon
- Scaphognathus
- Cryptoclidus
- Orodromeus
Releases
International
The film was released on the PAL anamorphic widescreen DVD in Australia on December 6, 2006.[2] It was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2007.[3]
Airings
The film was originally intended to air on Cartoon Network in the United States on February 25, 2007, two days before its DVD release, but Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase re-aired instead. Also, it was once intended to re-air on Cartoon Network in the United States on February 27, 2007, which is the film's release, but The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island re-aired instead.
Region 1
It was released on DVD in the United States and Canada on February 27, 2007.[4][5] When the DVD release happened on February 27, 2007, a Wal-Mart Exclusive DVD 2-Pack with two episodes of The Land Before Time TV series was also released to promote the Cartoon Network airing of the TV series in the United States.[6]
Bonus Features
- Petrie and Guido's Flying Game
- Guido's Sleepwalking Adventure
- Sing-Along Songs
- Dino-Mite Read Along
Home video release history
- February 27, 2007 (DVD)
Memorable Quotes
Cera : So bye. I'm heading out to the Mysteirous Beyond to see if I can get eaten by a Sharptooth.
Topps : Ok, don't be late.
Tria : Have fun.
- Cera, angry at the way her parents are ignoring her
Guido: Sorry, did I scare you? I have that effect on folks sometimes.
- Guido intro
Topps: Some of us are trying to hatch eggs.
Guido: Oh, I'm sorry lady! I didn't realize!
Topps: (Growls) Not me!
- Guido and Topps
Topps: (Gruffy) Out of my way!
Guido: (Nervous) Um, I wouldn't go that way if I were you.
Topps: Well, you're not me. (Falls in mud). (Others laugh at him). (Glares at Guido and growls).
Guido: Ok, ok. (Jumps into mud).
Topps: Just what we need, another weirdo.
Grandpa Longneck: I just wish Grandma had been here to see this.
Ducky: I will get Cera. If we have an adventure and Cera is not here, she will get so mad. I do not like it when Cera gets mad. Oh no, no, no!
Credits
- The film starts with the Universal Studios logo. When the jingle ends, the globe stops and the "Universal" text spins away by going left. After the jingle ends, all countries move, re-forming into the prehistoric continent called 'Pangaea' (the setting of the films) and the camera zooms into the Earth.
- The Universal Animation Studios logo, seen after the end credits for the film, contains cue music instead of its original music because the end credits are too short to end the song "Flip, Flap and Fly".
References
- ↑ Nancy Davis Kho's review on The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers, at Disney Family.com family.go.com Retrieved on April 23rd, 2008.
- ↑ The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers - Universal Pictures Australia Retrieved on April 22nd, 2008.
- ↑ Amazon.co.uk: The Land Before Time 12 - The Great Day Of The Flyers: DVD: Charles Grosvenor Retrieved on April 22nd, 2008.
- ↑ The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers - Universal Studios - NBC Universal Store Retrieved on April 22nd, 2008.
- ↑ Universal DVD - Library Favourites Retrieved on April 22nd, 2008.
- ↑ Land Before Time: The Great Day Of The Flyers (Exclusive), The (Full Frame) - Wal-Mart Retrieved on April 22nd, 2008.
External Links
- The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers at the Internet Movie Database.
- The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers video trailer.
- America's Beloved Prehistoric Pals Return in an All-New Dino-Mite Adventure 'The Land Before Time(R): The Great Day of the Flyers'.
| Preceded by: "The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses" |
The Land Before Time film series | Followed by: "The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends" |