The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave

The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave
What a not-so-brave way to end the Land Before Time franchise...
Genre: Comedy Adventure Directed by: Davis Doi Produced by: Lisa Melbye Deidre Brenner Starring: Felix Avitia Meghan Strange Aria Curzon Anndi McAfee Jeff Bennett Rob Paulsen Distributed by: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Release date: February 2, 2016 Runtime: 82 minutes Country: United States Language: English Prequel: The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends

The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave is a direct-to-video animated film created by Universal Studios Home Entertainment and was released in February 2, 2016, it serves as the sequel to The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends and is the fourteenth/(and so-far)final film in The Land Before Time series.

Plot

Littlefoot is eagerly awaiting the arrival of his father Bron, who returns to the valley with his herd once a year. However, he soon learns from a Nothronychus member of his dad's troupe named Wild Arms that his father became stranded in the wilderness when the fire mountain erupted, leaving the rest of the herd to go on without him. They ask Wild Arms for help, but he belligerently says no. After worrying about his father, Littlefoot sets out alone. However, the others soon catch up with him. They do fine at first, but run into the earth divide. It is suggested that they follow the Long Valley instead, but Littlefoot says that that will take too long, and that they must cross there. Luckily, they are able to knock down a tree, and get across.

After two close encounters with a duo of Yutyrannus, night falls and the children go to sleep. Meanwhile, the elder dinosaurs learn about their children's trek, and decide to go after them with two younger ones - Chomper and Ruby. They attempt to have Wild Arms guide them back to where Bron was last seen, but he faints at the mere sight of Chomper, a sharptooth, and has to be carried, leaving Chomper to lead the way with his nose. The next morning, and a disagreement between Littlefoot and Cera on which path to take causes Littlefoot to decide to go ahead alone. A sand cloud (sandstorm) then occurs, and Littlefoot is trapped in a cave, where he meets a Pteranodon named Etta, who knows his father. Meanwhile, Cera, Ducky, and Spike lose Petrie, who comes across a tribe of diggers. They soon find him, and they soon leave the diggers, who elect themselves a new leader.

Meanwhile, Etta tells Littlefoot what happened to Bron, and that he may well be dead. She also says that it was because Bron had rescued Wild Arms that he got into that mess. After many failed attempts to dig their way out of the cave, they head deeper into the cave itself, she sings a song to lead him on his way. The rest of the kids, meanwhile, run into a Carnotaurus, though Etta is able to hit a hole through the cave ceiling and help them get away where they reunite with Littlefoot who makes up with Cera for the argument. Etta eventually leads Littlefoot and his friends out of the cave, and to the fire mountain where they find Bron. It looks hopeless as he is surrounded by lava, and Bron tells them to go so they do not get hurt, but Littlefoot refuses.

Later, the grownups, plus Chomper and Ruby, come across the Carnotaurus. Chomper smells it and they are able to hide from it, but are nearly discovered due to Wild Arms cowering in fear and making noise. Just before the sharptooth discovers them, it is distracted by a flock of Archaeornithomimus. Back at the fire mountain, Etta and the kids spring into action to save Bron. They are able to halt the Flowing Fire by sending water onto it, and use a tree to free Bron, though the flowing fire returns and Littlefoot and his father are trapped on the other side. Bron scoops him up, however, and jumps across the lava, and right after, the adults, Chomper, and Ruby, find them. Reunited with his father and the rest of the herd led by Chomper back home to the Valley, the group extol the virtues of working together, and finding bravery through companionship.

Why It's Not Brave

1. To get the Elephant-In-The-Room: This is so far the final film in The Land Before Time series, except unlike some other amazing final film installments previously that does a great job of having a since of finality to them (E.G Back to the Future Part III, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, Shrek Forever After(formaly) and etc), The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave has absolutely nothing that feels like a finale to The Land Before Time series, and feels more like an average everyday Film, not even the trailers suggest that this is the final film in the series.
2. It tries to sugarcoat serious issues like the fact that Littlefoot's dad has mysteriously disappeared, which The Land Before Time X: The Wisdom of Friends already did in an even worse manner. Even Littlefoot's grandparents and Spike ignore this issue.
3. It has Chomper and Ruby (who debuted in the TV series) without any explanation. There's also no explanation as to who Ruby is or where she came from unless Fans watch the TV series, a problem that was present with Guido in The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers.
4. Topsy and Grandpa Longneck's new voice actors (Barry Bostwick and George Ball respectively) don't even sound remotely close to their old ones (John Ingle and Kenneth Mars, both of whom unfortunately passed away).
5. Wild Arms is annoying and serves no purpose other than to be an unfunny comic relief who waves his arms around every chance he gets, much like the Yellow Bellies from The Land Before Time: XIII: The Wisdom of Friends. In addition to Wild Arms also being a rip-off of Guido from The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers, he can also come across as a gigantic jerk on multiple occasions though out the film, such as refusing to add Littlefoot in his quest to find Bron and also refusing to add Grampa Longneck and Topsy to find Littlefoot and the others.
6. No mention of Shorty, Little Foot's Step Brother, despite him also being one of Bron's kids and has a big role in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration.
7. When Littlefoot asks Wild Arms what happened to his dad, he says that the Fire Mountain killed him and as stated in the #5 segment, refuses to take Littlefoot back to it. He doesn't even realize how big of a deal Littlefoot's father going missing is!
8. No real climax and/or final battle, which in a film that suppose to be the FINALE is unacceptable.
9. Plot hole: Why would Littlefoot ask for Wild Arms' help instead of either the herds, his grandfather and/or his friends for help finding his dad if they're right behind him?
10. Poor usage of 3D Animation that looks out-of-place in The Land Before Time franchise.
11. After Grampa Longneck, Topsy and Wild Arms find out that Chomper and Ruby were fallowing them, Wild Arms suggest them doing a High-Five, despite that sequences being way, WAY, WAAAAAAY after the time of Dinosaurs.
12. False Advertising: Like with all of the previous The Land Before Time sequels, this is a sequel in-name only.
13. Cera purposely angers Littlefoot by somehow swimming in the lake, washing off the stinkweed, getting discovered by sharp teeth, being chased by the sharp teeth and almost dying because of them.
14. It so-far ended The Land Before Time franchise on a sour note. It also caused Universal to make more sequels to the Curious George series because of this.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Beautiful animation that's a step up from the previous Land Before Time sequels.
2. Some funny moments here-and-there, such as the scene were after the Carnotaurus goes after a flock of Archaeornithomimus and leaves, Chompers says "He's Gone.", to which Wild Arms gets ecstatic and spurs out "You hear that? He's gone!", only to then be angry and/or sarcastically glared at by both Grampa Longneck, Topsy, Chomper and Rudy respectively, which cause Wild Arms to get nerves and whispers "He's gone! Isn't that great?" as he then gets a weak smile.
3. The Character-Of-The-Day, Etta, is a likable character who actually adds Littlefoot and his friends in a neat way, it also helps that she's voiced by Reba McEntire, a popular music singer.

Reception

Elizabeth Learned from TheCelebrityCafe stated that "After fourteen movies, the films still encompass the heart and friendship that lies in the storylines featured," and that "Fans of Littlefoot and friends will love this movie."

Fan Reception

From the initial, accidental confirmation of the film's existence, Journey of the Brave was a highly anticipated release among fans of the series. Many fans have welcomed the new director, hoping for a better film than the perceived disappointment of The Wisdom of Friends.

Once the Journey of the Brave was released, reception was quite mixed; though additions such as the character of Etta have generally been praised, alongside the presence of Chomper and Ruby, references to previous films, and the song 'Look for the Light', aspects of the film such as Topps and Grandpa Longneck's new voice actors and the character of Wild Arms have been much more divisive, and other aspects, such as the 'Hot and Stinky' song, the absence of Shorty, the heavy use of cartoon sound effects, and the ending (which is often seen as rushed), are generally seen as negatives.

The sharpteeth were also praised by fans as being more scientifically accurate and giving them better senses of smell and hearing. The Carnotaurus was also praised for its intimidating appearance, but was criticized for its lack of screen time. Also, the lack of the character interactions with the Sharpteeth was another negative.

Despite its mixed reception, Journey of the Brave is still generally seen as a better film than the near-universally panned thirteenth installment.

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