THE LAND BEFORE TIME: ANIMATED MOVIEBOOK

Long ago, on an Earth still young, and unlikely herd of young dinosaurs set out on a long journey in search of a magical place they had heard about all their lives.

Now children can join the fun as Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike wander through the enchanting world of "The Land Before Time Animated Movie Book".

• Beautiful illustrations create a magical world for you to explore. Lots of 'clickables' in every scene.
• Play and learn with The Dinosaur Name Game. Fun facts about dinosaurs.
• Lead Littlefoot across wild landscapes by pointing out shapes and objects in the Pathfinder Puzzles.
• Laugh while learning to spell simple words in the Swamp Bubble Spelling Bee.
• Explore the Great Fossil Hunting Grounds to collect and identify rare fossils.

• The tale of the tiny dinos' search for the Great Valley is told in ten animated landscapes (31 pages).
• Narrated text, character animations and full-motion video clips and even more excitement to the absorbing story.
• Puzzles, games and other activities delight (and educate) young children, aged Preschool and First Grade.
• Designed to entertain and challenge young minds with creative fun for hours on end!

~ from the back of the box

 
I've covered a lot of educational titles on this site, and many of them have been based on Disney films. One of their more interesting (to Disney Adults at least) are the Animated Storybooks. Essentially, they're picture books retelling the famed movies with a bunch of hidden animations and mini-games thrown in all in the service of teaching kids how to read. They all but retired the name in the late 90s, but here comes Don Bluth with a blatant rip off. Released in 1998, The Land Before Time: Animated MovieBook does exactly what Disney did, but does it do it better?

While it's not a total dud, the magic of the movie doesn't shine through like the Disney CD-ROMs. The adventures of Littlefoot and friends are stalely told and lazily written with animation as stiff and lifeless as a Natural History Museum exhibit. Unless your an ardent fan of the movie (of which I'm sure there are many), you won't get much out of this one.

The jigsaw image will be based on the page you accessed it from (left).

Sometimes, the pages themselves will sprout little quizzes and conundrums (right).

What you do get is thirty-one pages over ten barren backdrops and five mini-games. The best of the bunch is the Great Fossil Hunting Grounds. You will be presented with a black and white line drawing of a location, and hidden within are a number of prehistoric animals to find. It's a simple premise, but the developers seem to have spent more time on this one than the others. It includes its own separate map screen, multiple locations and an obvious care to each placement that actually offers something resembling a challenge (at least for the visually impaired). 

The Dinosaur Name Game is essentially a puzzle game where you piece together the bones of one of seven different creatures. Each bone in place will offer up an interesting dino fact that kept me playing more than the puzzle itself. Swamp Bubble Spelling Bee is the worst of the lot. Wait for ages until the correct letter bubble up from the swamp then click on it whack-a-mole style to spell out a word. There is no challenge here other than your patience. The last game fares much better; Pathfinder Puzzles has you guide Littlefoot across a treacherous route by following the matching symbols, colours or specified pattern. Nothing too challenging but it does enough to occupy the mind.

Finding fossils in the hidden image game is always fun, but the dino facts always peak my interest (left).

Guide Littlefoot across a number of treacherous locales by following the specified route (right).

All of these mini-games are unlocked by finding a specific item in one of the pages. It has to match the silhouetted shape on the bottom right of the screen which is a pain as you'll come across many of each item throughout the story. One of them is Littlefoot's five-pronged leaf which, if you've seen the move, plays a significant role in his characters arch. Another is an insect which are everywhere. Despite this, the game encourages you to click on everything so most players will find each with ease. There is one mini-game that is always present; your basic jigsaw puzzle. Every location has its own unique image to put back together, though the pieces don't vary in number, only shape.

The Land Before Time: Animated MovieBook is a decent enough title for the little kids, and the designers do an admiral job for one without the backing of a behemoth like Disney, but it is missing a certain charm. I saw the original VHS on repeat in my youth (though I tended to prefer An American Tail) so I'm ripe to get nostalgic over it. Unlike the many Disney offerings, I'm sad to say I didn't. We'll see if my favourite Don Bluth animation will make for a better MovieBook.

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses the DOSBox-X build of DOSBox running Microsoft Windows 3.1 to get the game working on modern systems. Read the ChamberNotes.txt for more detailed information. Tested on Windows 10.

File Size: 185 Mb.  Install Size: 320 Mb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

Download


The Land Before Time: Animated MovieBook is © Universal City Studios, Inc, Sound Source Interactive & MCA Music Publishing
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

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