Land Before Time Banner

 I don't remember being really in to dinosaurs, but my favorite movies growing up might tell a different story. I absolutely loved 'The Land Before Time'. I was only 9 when it came out, so I was the perfect age for an animated movie about cute kid dinosaurs. I remember when the movie came out there was a Pizza Hut toy tie-in where, for 99 cents, you could get one of four rubber hand puppets of the cast. Growing up it was a bit of a special occasion for us to get Pizza Hut, so it took a lot of convincing to talk my parents into getting pizza, let alone shell out an extra dollar for me to get one of the character puppets. It eventually worked and I got Ducky. I loved that thing so much! I distinctly remember bringing it to school and playing with it at recess, showing it off to my friends. Not satisfied with only one, I kept pestering my parents to go to Pizza Hut again and get another character. Surprisingly it work and I got the Spike puppet as well! I was delighted, to say the least. I played with those things so much that I wore off most of their paint! The promotion ended and I was disappointed that I didn't get all of them.

Well, wouldn't you know it, when the movie came out on home video a year later, Pizza Hut did their puppet promotion again- and this time added two new characters! My pestering started back up again, much to my parents' chagrin. They decided to humor me and get pizza again. The two of them went to go pick it up and when they got home I excitedly asked them 'Did they have any of the different characters?' Reluctantly my mom pulled out of a bag the Cera puppet. I was so excited! She was far from my favorite character from the movie, but that didn't matter because I had a new one! As I was excitedly checking out this new puppet, my mom said 'Oh, and they had this...' and she pulls out of the bag a Littlefoot puppet as well! What?!? I was thrilled! I was jumping around with excitement at this point, one new character in each hand. Papa watching, laughing. 'And this...' Mom says as she pulls out the Petrie puppet. Unable to process this glorious bounty, I scream with excitement. 'We figured we'd finish the set...' My mom declares as she pulls out the final, and largest, Sharptooth puppet. I honestly fall to the ground unable to process what is happening! I am unable to form words because I am so excited, squirming with joy on the dining room floor. I have done it- I've collected all 6. Probably my life's greatest achievement at that point. Life does not get better than this for a 9 year old!

I've treasured those puppets my whole life, and along with it the movie they came from. So to say The Land Before Time has a special place in my heart is an understatement.

As the years went on I continued to display my Land Before Time character puppets in my room. Eventually some straight-to-video sequels came out, but by the time they did I was 14, way too old and cool to rent them from the video store and watch them. I continued to keep an eye on the series as the sequels kept rolling out. I never watched them but made a solemn promise to myself: some day I would watch each and every sequel released. Fast forward to a year ago- all the sequels are now streaming on one of the services we have! Guess who's going to finally fulfill that blood oath? That's right, I took a deep dive into all 13 sequels and loved every terrible minute of them! This renewed passion for the series had me looking one day on Facebook Marketplace for anything Land Before Time related. There were a few fun items, but the thing that really caught my eye was a 12 foot banner for the theatrical release of the first movie! As soon as I saw it I knew it must be mine. Even though we couldn't really afford it, Diana gave the go-ahead, and I bought it! It took a little time before we had the right place to display it, but now that I've got those great new movie shelves, the perfect place to display it was obvious: right above all my movies! Now, every time I'm down in my movie den, I gaze upon it and remember how passionate I was about the series and how much joy it has brought me over the years. Is it ridiculous for 42 year old man to love an animated series this much? Yes, and that's what's so wonderful about it.