The Land Before Time (1988)

"Once upon this same earth, Beneath the same sun, Long before You, Before the Ape and the Elephant as well. Before the Wolf, the Bison, the Whale, Before the Mammoth and the Mastodon in the time of the Dinosaurs," a drought is occurring and some dinosaurs are heading to the "Great Valley", an area with lots of leaves.

A "Longneck" (Brontosaurus) herd gives birth to a single baby, named Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon). Littlefoot comes across Cera (Candace Hutson), a "Three-horn" (Triceratops), practicing head-butting while trying to smash a Beetle with her horn; Littlefoot thinks it is funny. Cera challenges Littlefoot, who accepts and the two children charge headfirst toward each other until Cera's father, Topsy (Burke Byrnes), intervenes. Littlefoot's mother (Helen Shaver) explains the different kinds of dinosaurs: "Three-horns, Spiketails, Swimmers, Flyers" and that they're different and it's always been that way, but she promises Littlefoot that there will be other longnecks for him to play with in the great valley. That night, as Littlefoot follows a "Hopper" (Frog), Cera plays with Littlefoot for a while until a "Sharptooth" (Tyrannosaurus Rex) (Frank Welker) attacks. During their escape, Littlefoot accidentally blinds Sharptooth in one eye with a thorn. Littlefoot's mother battles with Sharptooth and suffers severe injuries, but defeats him by pushing him into a deep chasm.

At the same time, an "earthshake" (earthquake) occurs, opening a deep ravine in the ground. It swallows up the Sharptooth and many other dinosaurs, separating many herds, including Littlefoot's and Cera's. Littlefoot finds his mother when the earthquake ends, but she is near death. She gives Littlefoot instructions on how to get to the Great Valley and how to follow the "bright circle" (sun) past the "great rock that looks like a longneck" and then past the "mountains that burn" (volcano). Now feeling depressed and confused, Littlefoot by chance slides down a ravine, where he meets an old (Polacanthus) named Rooter (Pat Hingle), who consoles him upon learning of his mother's death. After mourning for some time, Littlefoot begins to search for the Great Valley, and tries to get Cera to join him, but she refuses.....