The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists (1996)

Excellent, a Must See

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

A group of visitors arrive in the valley and with them is a she-longneck named Ali. Ali is first encountered by accident during a round of hide-and-seek (a game that I have always had and still have a fondness for). The migrating herd explain that they have come from a place that was once similar to the Great Valley but over time became the Land of Mists. When Grandpa Longneck gets sick, the others have to get Ali to lead them to the Night Flower, which only grows in the Land of Mists. As for the new characters, Ali is very sweet and has such a nice voice, Archie has some funny moments, and Tickles is nearly as cute as Chomper. I also have to disagree with some of the other reviews and say that Dill and Icky, while not the most menacing, are pretty funny. I personally found the songs to be an improvement over those from the previous two installments, with Eggs being the only real standout from those two. Grandma's Lullaby is rather sweet and calming, Who Needs You is pretty catchy and funny, and It Takes All Sorts is simply adorable and I love its message. Finally, the animation is simply gorgeous, especially on the flowers, which have such a beautiful golden glow that wonderfully contrasts with the foggy background. Trivia: This is the last film with Candace Hudson voicing Cera and Roy Allen Smith in the director's chair.

The pacing has improved a lot in this movie and the conflict is much larger than the other 2 sequels before this one. The animation in this movie is still pretty good except a little better. The animation on the night flowers is really flippin' good! I also really like the new characters. Ali is sweet and I kind of ship her with Littlefoot (even though I prefer him with Cera) and the villains are just downright hilarious. Not to mention that this movie introduces the adventure aspect of The Land Before Time that persisted throughout most of the later (and arguably better) sequels in the franchise. I'll admit that the parents were kind of stupid in this movie but really that's a problem with movies 2-7. I also really like the songs in this movie. The first song is a very soothing melody, the villain song is one of my ultimate guilty pleasure songs and the last song is kind of cute.

As a child, I loved this film! I didn't like any of the others besides the first one, and my opinion stands 10 years later. There was something magical about this one, and I still remember all of the exciting and fantastic elements that made this my second favorite. The first one had some scary moments(for a kid, that is) but this one was much more upbeat and friendly. It will always have a special place in my heart, and my children's hearts as well. I can't believe the people who've panned this film! You need to re-live your childhoods again, or lighten up! 10/10

My third favorite film in the series, JTTM is simply a masterpiece, fit to culminate R.A Smith's tenure in LBT. The film has just the right balance of sunshine,laughter,sadness and triumph blended into an hour and about a quarter of delight.(Possible Spoiler) The value this movie teaches is that diversity of friends and loved ones is a great thing to have, especially for vulnerable young 'uns. From the CUTTTTTE mouselike creature Tickles to the elderly archelon Archie, this movie sports a character cast of variety, fit for its powerful theme. The highlight was the extremely amusing song "Who Needs You" in which the birdlike Ichy and the deinosuchus Dil continually insult each other with some fine choice sentences. True to the Land Before Time legacy, this film has not in one bit disappointed me!