You Just Burst My (Happy) Bubble Don! :-(

[RFZT]

Very interesting commercial, Zilla.

I think they took out Littlefoot saying "Now we'll always be together" because it sort of suggests they all died and went to Heaven. Originally the Great Valley was going to be portrayed as Heaven.

But uh...where's Petrie in that commercial?

[Zilla]

The heaven ending was just a rumor, the ending shown in the filom was always the one planned.

[Kor]

The heaven rumor has spread pretty far hasn't it?

[Malte279]

The heaven ending was just a rumor, the ending shown in the filom was always the one planned.

Has it?
I'm not entirely certain about this. Of course it is a rumor as there is, as of now no confirmation whatsoever of it, but neither am I aware of any official source (e.g. Don Bluth) confirming that there had never been such intentions.
Actually the idea of Great Valley planned as a kind of heaven sounds rather plausible to me. "Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart" does go in that direction. Death was a subject closely touched by some children cartoons ("All dogs go to heaven" being the most striking example). With every child knowing that dinosaurs are extinct the idea of them continuing to exist in a "Dinosaur heaven" would have probably had a certain appeal to the kids while the tragedy of the story would have had an appeal to grownups. Littlefoot being reunited with his mum in the end would have also been an effect the movie makers may well have considered. It is also official that sharptooth scenes were cut from the movie as they were considered too scary by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. If they intervened there because of the scenes being to scary, is it so unlikely that they would have (at an earlier state) intervened upon a note that all of the characters were to die?
I do not know if there is substance to the rumor, but it sure is more credible than most rumors and is still in want of official revoke.

PS: It is certain that the ending is not quite the one that was originally planned by the way. An earlier idea (one which supports the concept of the Great Valley being an actual place rather than a heaven by the way) had Littlefoot discover the Great Valley shortly after the quarrel with Cera and the separation from the others. Rather than entering the Great Valley he returned to lead the others there. The final version of the movie of course has him discover the Great Valley only after all other "business" is done.

[Petrie.]

PS: It is certain that the ending is not quite the one that was originally planned by the way. An earlier idea (one which supports the concept of the Great Valley being an actual place rather than a heaven by the way) had Littlefoot discover the Great Valley shortly after the quarrel with Cera and the separation from the others. Rather than entering the Great Valley he returned to lead the others there. The final version of the movie of course has him discover the Great Valley only after all other "business" is done.

Exactly my point.  There were definitely alternate paths this was going to take and editing won't cover it up.  The soundtrack has an early placement of the "If We Hold on Together" theme in "Rescue/Discovery of the Great Valley" indicating that Littlefoot had likely found the Great Valley much sooner and rushed back to help his friends who didn't follow him.  Also, there's a bad edit of Littlefoot in the film where he's in front of some really dead trees when he says "the Great Valley!" and then then next pan he's no longer there.  But this would indicate he isn't in heaven or anything because he wouldn't have been able to help the rest get there, so I don't see the heaven story as being plausable, and the fact the animators were not considering heaven as the destination in the stages of the film either.

[Kor]

There are some bad edit spots in the movie.  One is it seems obvious to me that Littlefoot found the valley first, likely as said above after he leaves in one direction and Cera and the others go in another, he finds the Great Valley then goes back to get the others.  I do wish they had kept this since it would have shown more of what sort of character Littlefoot was.  He could have gone into the valley, but choose to go back and get his friends, even though they had had a fight and had left going in another direction instead of sticking with him.   I wonder if their dealing with the sharpteeth took place during this time, and the scene was moved since Littlefoot finding the valley first and going back was cut out.

[Zilla]

I will admit that there are a lot of rough cuts in the film, and it would be good to see them. but the heaven ening was always a rumor, don bluth confirmed this.

[Malte279]

but the heaven ening was always a rumor, don bluth confirmed this.

When and where did he?
His word would of course be the kind of official statement (we could always ask at www.donbluth.com to make sure) that could end the discussion.
Note that as far as I understood the rumor, the whole idea of GV = heaven must have been dropped very early, so (as pointed out) there would be no trace in the drawing while a couple of text lines may still be interpreted as alluding to it (not so much the "now we'll always be together" but more the "Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart").

[Adder]

I wonder how much longer the movie would be if most of those were added in.  It would likely improve the movie and fill certain holes.

Only, ten minutes longer. I found that through a link on wikipedia, it said that ten minutes of scenes were cut from the film. But they were FAR to violent for kids under 13. It was supposed to be PG-13 for Violence with a brief scene of gore.

[Bruton the Iguanodon]

             

I want the full version! I want to see Littlefoot find the great valley on his own and go back to get the others! I want every freakin' scene that was cut from this movie!    

And for the seuquels!!  

[Hypno]

...and of course, now I'm not really sure if we can believe this "the scenes are gone" crap. More stuff for cut scenes in Don Bluth films have been found in 2 years than the last ten or more!

[ADFan185]

Wow can't believe this was gonna be PG-13 sad that we won't get those sence anymore

[Hypno]

I don't think it was going to be PG-13. It wasn't going to go THAT far with intense scenes.

[Midnight]

I would like to see those scenes for sure, but am I the only one who thinks having them re-added (if that's ever going to happen) would hurt the film instead? I don't know, I find the original LBT to have some weird timing as is.

[ADFan185]

Ah okay true I agree don bluth wouldn't be that dark in a kids movie

[Sneak]

well, since they DID scare to show it in theaters...
I still doubt.

It's called uncut version, Midnight. I think everybody above 6 years old would like to see full version in videotapes.
No hurt at all.
What the hell, even I in 8 and yonger wasn't think about "it's too scary" or "it's too heavy." I just watched films, and thought only about LENGTH. It means, I wanted as more as possible. So 12 additional of 80 minutes would have been best gift.


@Adfan: heh, just wondering: do you DISAGREE with anything or anybody? Do you have your own constant opinion point? Or you randomly join opposite camps each time after someone posts post? I don't understand.  

[Midnight]

Yeah, I know what uncut version is...

Still, the pacing on the first film was a bit too wild for my liking.

[ADFan185]

I thought it was fine for me it didn't bug me at all

[StardustSoldier]

I would like to see those scenes for sure, but am I the only one who thinks having them re-added (if that's ever going to happen) would hurt the film instead?

I'm somewhere in the middle. There are some things that were cut which I think would've made the film better, like the full version of the Sharptooth chase near the beginning. But then there's certain things I prefer in the final version, such as with the discovery of the Great Valley and Littlefoot seeing his mother in the clouds. To me it just feels more complete and emotionally-satisfying to have that part at the very end.

That, and if Littlefoot had discovered the Great Valley earlier on just after his fight with Cera, then it doesn't make sense to me that, after the trip through the volcano area, that he would let Cera wander off on her own after the tar prank and ultimately leave the group. Like, if Littlefoot already knew where the Great Valley was, then he knows that Cera won't find it after she storms off. Obviously she was mad and needed time to herself, but I think eventually he would've gone after her to try and convince her to come with them. But in both the script and the film proper, it seems like she'd left the group seemingly for good, and they just let her go, which I don't think would've happened unless they hadn't found the Great Valley yet.

Regardless, I would still be immensely grateful if the deleted scenes ever turn up someday, and I'm sad to think that the footage may be lost forever. But I am happy that we have the script, at least, which is the next best thing.

[Chomper123]

@Malte279 Its quite possible, there may be new finds for Lost Artwork for TLBT so it would be interesting if there was and if there isnt, then that is very sad