The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water (2002)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The ninth installment in the Land Before Time series, Journey To Big Water, is a nice addition but this is where I think the series started to show its age. Basically, heavy rains create a pool of "new water" that Littlefoot and company set out to explore. There they meet an ichthyosaur named Mo, who I must say is very amusing and I genuinely grew to care for him. Mo informs everyone that he came from the big water and they agree to help him back. The songs are a mix bag. The imaginary friends song is a major big-lipped alligator moment and somewhat sappy. Boring is a bit, well, boring but it does a good job of conveying the feeling of something being boring. No One Has To Be Alone is the best song in the movie, nice and melodic even if it felt a bit shoehorned in. As mentioned earlier, I like Mo. He's funny and you feel his plight of being trapped. Finally, the Liopleurodon is a legitimate threat, a silent hunter who takes cues from the original sharptooth. Overall, not quite as good as previous installments but has some very good moments.

Generally, 'The Land Before Time' sequels are not so bad, though none of them come close to the near-perfection of the charming and poignant original film. Of the sequels, from personal opinion 'Wisdom of Friends' was the only bad one, the rest range from slightly mediocre to pretty decent.'Journey to Big Water' has problems, but generally it's one of the better later sequels (made around a point where the franchise was starting to feel over-milked after the eighth instalment or so). In fact, perhaps one of the better entries in the series.On the most part, with the exception of some rushed-looking character designs, awkward movements and plastic-looking trees (for example), the animation is decent. There are some lovely vibrant colours, the backgrounds and sceneries are detailed, the underwater scenes are very beautifully animated and the storm and nature effects are some of the most vivid of the series. The music score fits nicely, with its share of whimsical parts, sinister parts and energetic parts, all lush in instrumentation and clever in orchestration.The story may be predictable and episodic, but it's paced breezily, has real cuteness and charm without laying it too thick with the sentimentality and sugar, the conflict does have some genuine tension and the messaging and values (important ones that anybody can identify with) don't feel forced or heavy-handed. The characters are a mixed bag, Mo is adorable (almost as much as Chomper) and the sharptooth swimmer is suitably antagonistic. Ducky and Spike never fail to bring a smile to my face, both are cute and amusing.However, the adult dinosaur characters are underwritten and have little in their material of worth. Petrie is a little annoying at times, Littlefoot is sometimes likable but bland in other parts while Cera is an annoying (sometimes to the point of being insufferable) brat. The voice work is also mixed, John Ingle's distinguished narrator and Kenneth Mars' distinguished Grandpa stand out in the adults, while the best voice work overall comes from Aria Noelle Curzon and Rob Paulson as Ducky and Mo. Thomas Dekker varies in confidence as the voice of Littlefoot, sometimes sincere but he struggles being natural in the weaker material, while Jeff Bennett and Anndi McAfee over-compensate, especially McAfee.'Journey to Big Water's' biggest weaknesses are the dialogue and the songs, criticisms that are true for most of the sequels actually. The dialogue too often doesn't sound very natural, with the humorous parts coming over as corny and the emotional parts mawkish too often, though both have their moments. The songs are not just forgettable and unnecessary (not to mention very badly sung), but the lyrics are likely to have even the most tolerant of children squirming in their chairs in embarrassment, "Imaginary Friend" is particularly hard to sit through.Overall, not great but decent. One of the better sequels. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I'm a fan of the series, I've seen most of the movies by now. But "Journey to Big Water" has to be one of my favorites. Mo is a great new character and gives a fresh new personality to the series. *SPOILER* Our friends find that flooding brings a new face to the Great Valley, Mo the Icthyosaurus. Forced to find a new way from the floods to the main valley, they divert and follow the river leading back to the ocean (aka Big Water). A few new discoveries on the way, of course, but an excellent tale of friendship. A new breed of Sharptooth is introduced, a Kronosaurus. Though only in a couple of scenes, they are quite memorable. What impressed me was the view Littlefoot has of the watery world Mo lives in, giving a new view that we normally would never see in the series.*END SPOILER*For those of you disappointed with so many sequels (I must admit, some are quite disappointing), I would highly recommend giving this movie at least one look.From a technical standpoint, the colors and the animations are impressive and run smoothly. Mo has to be the most colorful character of all time, both in physical appearance and in attitude.

Mo is such a colorful(figuratively and literally) character. He portrays real dolphin mischief and brains. (SPOILER) The major event is a rainstorm creates a large lake leading into the big water of part 5. Littlefoot is angry when his friends can't play, so he embarks into the new water. He meets Mo and he soon makes friends with the rest of the gang. They see a swimming sharptooth(Liopleurodon or Kronosaurus). Then, an earthquake splits the land and separates the gang from their parents. They go with Mo to the big water but are constantly tailed by their aquatic antagonist. Mo baits the monster away from them but ends up stuck in a log, which he shakes free from. He and the dinos meet again and Mo shows Littlefoot around the sea. Mo's water kin helps them find a way home(SPOILERS END). The two great songs are Part 5's Big Water and Donny Osmond's No One Has To Be Alone. The most fearsome villain yet!