The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire

The Land Before Time VII:
The Stone of Cold Fire
Directed by Charles Grosvenor
Produced by Charles Grosvenor
Written by Len Uhley
Starring Thomas Dekker
Anndi McAfee
Aria Noelle Curzon
Jeff Bennett
Rob Paulsen
Michael York
Jim Cummings
John Ingle
Miriam Flynn
Kenneth Mars
Charles Kimbrough
Patti Deutsch
Tress MacNeille
Music by Michael Tavera
James Horner (music from The Land Before Time)
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Studios Home Video
Release date
 December 5, 2000
Running time
 74 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire is a 2000 direct-to-video animated adventure musical drama and the seventh film in The Land Before Time series, produced and directed by Charles Grosvenor. It stars the voices of Thomas Dekker, Anndi McAfee, Aria Curzon, Jeff Bennett and Rob Paulsen, and introduces Charles Kimbrough, Patti Deutsch, British actor Michael York and Jim Cummings. This was the only Land Before Time film to be written by Len Uhley.

Plot

One evening, Petrie begins telling a tale of the best creatures of the world, the Flyers, but it is met with disapproval from Cera. Meanwhile, a herd of dinosaurs visits the Great Valley. Later that night, Littlefoot sees a strange blue-colored meteor falling from the sky and crashing into Threehorn Peak, a volcano in the Smoking Mountain range. When Littlefoot describes it the next morning, the adults in the Great Valley do not believe him except for two newcomers, the mysterious "Rainbow Faces", who speak about possibilities of wonders beyond what they know. The Rainbow Faces suggest the rock may be a "Stone of Cold Fire", which is capable of possessing magical properties.

Pterano, the outcast uncle of Littlefoot's friend Petrie, overhears the conversation and conspires to use the rock to take control of the Valley. Pterano asks Petrie, who idolizes him, for the location of the rock and learns its location. Littlefoot's friend Ducky overhears Pterano's plan, but before she can warn the others, Pterano and his cronies, Sierra and Rinkus, abduct her and set out to find the Stone. Upon discovering Ducky's kidnapping, the adults tell the young ones how Pterano led some of their herd during their search for the Valley, but had accidentally led his followers to a pack of Sharpteeth. Pterano was able to fly away, but the event left him emotionally scarred. He was expelled from the herd as punishment for leading his followers into danger.

Because the adults are slow to reach a decision, Littlefoot, Petrie, Cera, and Spike take off by themselves in search of Ducky. Meanwhile, Ducky escapes and falls into a cave while fleeing. After the children find her, Ducky comforts Petrie, who is distraught about his uncle's actions, by stating that Pterano is the least wicked of the three Flyers, and that he still has a potential of doing good. Meanwhile, Sierra displays mutinous feelings towards Pterano, and Rinkus convinces him to betray Pterano once they find the Stone.

The children pursue the Flyers, hoping to reach the Stone before them. Aided by the Rainbow Faces, who suddenly appear and offer their knowledge of volcanoes, they manage to arrive at Threehorn Peak before the Flyers. However, both groups discover that the Stone is just an ordinary meteorite. Lamenting over this realization, Pterano explains that he had meant to create a paradise with the power of the stone, not realizing that this paradise already exists in the form of the Great Valley. Unwilling to believe the Stone is not magical, Sierra and Rinkus betray Pterano. However, as they attempt to get the Stone to give them power, the volcano begins to erupt, and Pterano saves Ducky when she falls off the mountain.

Petrie's mother arrives with a friend (who is one big flyer) to evacuate the children, leaving Sierra and Rinkus to be caught in the Stone's explosion. Pterano is thanked for saving Ducky. Meanwhile, the grown ups have a meeting and decide about Pterano's fate. Soon, as punishment for his plan (spoken by Littlefoot's grandfather), he is exiled from the Valley for five years, which he accepts. But Petrie tries to plead against the punishment. However, Pterano tells Petrie that sometimes everyone has to take responsibility for their actions. Petrie says that he is going to miss him and Pterano responds back ("I should miss you too, Petrie"). Then, Cera's father scares Pterano away; begging him to move on.

That night, Littlefoot finds the Rainbow Faces and asks them if the meteorite he saw really was a Stone of Cold Fire. They admit that while it wasn't, his effort to search for it was what really mattered, and reiterate that there are many unknowns to be discovered "beyond the Mysterious Beyond". Littlefoot is then momentarily distracted, and when he turns around, he finds that the Rainbow Faces have disappeared in a pillar of light. As his friends find him, an inspired Littlefoot reflects that there are many unknowns and that such unknowns make life wonderful.

Voice cast

Songs

The songs are written by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom.

Soundtrack

"If We Hold on Together" (instrumental)

Production

Production of the film had concluded by June 2000.[1] This is the first film in the series to use Digital ink and paint rather than traditional cel animation that was used in the first 6 films.

Home video release history

  • December 5, 2000 (VHS and DVD)
  • December 4, 2001 (VHS and DVD)
  • December 2, 2003 (VHS and DVD - 4 Movie Dino Pack (Volume 2) and 9 Movie Dino Pack)
  • November 29, 2005 (DVD - 2 Mysteries Beyond the Great Valley)

Reception

Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" and wrote that it "beats the heck out of Barney's infantile dinosaur tales," with its "velociraptor-fast pace and a minimum of treacle".[2] In August 2014, the New York Post ranked each of the 13 Land Before Time films released up to that point and placed The Stone of Cold Fire at number 10, writing, "Though not quite as annoying as 'Tinysauruses,' the name 'Rainbow Faces' comes pretty close."[3]

References

  1. ↑ Hettrick, Scott (23 June 2000). "Video bows mint coin". Variety. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  2. ↑ Fretts, Bruce (December 1, 2000). "The Land Before Time VII". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  3. ↑ Miller, Gregory E. (August 13, 2014). "A rundown of the best and worst 'The Land Before Time' movies". New York Post. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
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