Animation Source Forums

This came out as a surprise, but what seemed impossible only some months ago may becoming reality : it seems Universal is stopping its Land Before Time series!
I found this little bit of information, on a site that is usually very reliable (it's a site dedicated for the animators) :



Does this mean they stopped the LBT TV series only, or will they stop making sequels too? This would be a big change, just after releasing LBT 13 last month.
I don't know, but maybe this could mean that the TV series wasn't as successful as they expected, and so they decided to stop it totally.

Another thing that may confirm this, is that according to some guys who saw LBT 13, the final words are "The Land before time", and the narrator say them as a conclusion.

I'm not sure what this means for the future of Balto, but seeing that Universal is also turning to 3D (they signed with a 3D film company to make their first 3D film, due to be released at december 2008 - I don't remember the name, but I'll write it when I get over that info again), well I don't think this is good news.

It's good news and bad news. The good news - Don Bluth's classic need not suffer any longer. The bad news - they're probably just going to let it 'die' like they did with An American Tail and Balto. I just hope they listen to our petition.

Finally the torture stops!

Yeah. The torture stops. I'm glad they've decided to give it a rest, but it took them ten years to realize they did too much to it. At least LBT can finally rest in peace.

It doesn't seem as though they're not doing anything 2D animated though as it said they're continuing with Curious George. Oh, the horror, they'll trash that too.

In a few years we'll get news that they're stopping Curious George and starting on another new series. So the endless cycle of Universality continues...

Oh, come on...the television series wasn't THAT bad!! I watched it on occasion as well!! O_o ...I mean...err...never mind that...

Anyway, what would make me happy would be if they stopped the movies. Now, the movies, I can understand. The television series...Mmmm...lighten up, people. Some of you are too old to be watching that sort of thing anyway...

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O_o I'm such a hypocrite.

The 3D animated film that Universal is preparing is named "The Tale of Despereaux".
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00005237.html

I had contacted the person who posted that information, and here's what he answered :



I think it's official now...

Well, that doesn't necessarily mean Balto is shut down too, but it could. After all, looks like they've moved on to Curious George and Tale of Desperaux...

It's a shame, really. They ruined it for themselves. If they had put some effort into it... I mean, how much effort does it take to animate a monkey for children?

Looks like they've finished squeezing series for money though... there isn't much hope held for a Balto 4 now.

It's sad that we may never see a Balto IV, but I think that three Balto movies is enough. I felt that neither sequel (not even Wolf Quest) was that bad, even if they were unnecessary. Keep Balto as a good trilogy, that's what I say.

Personally, I'd like a Special Edition DVD, or even a video game.

Finally, the laughing stock of all animation has reached its end. They finally listened to everyone (basically in the world). Now I don't have to deal with changing the channel every time I see those annoying dinosaurs on the tube, they give me the creeps.

btw, three Balto movies is enough. We do not want to tarnish a piece of history. Just look at how they seriously screwed up LBT to the point of pure hatred.

They may not have masterpieces of course, but still, do you think it's fair from Universal of stopping everything without even making an announcement? Especially after releasing sequels during 13 years and making a TV series this year?
And, I don't think that all companies turning to 3D is a good thing. Especially for people like me who don't like the 3D films and think they have nothing in common with 2D ones (with an exception being called Ratatouille)

I tried to contact Aria (the voice of Ducky for Land before time) for getting confirmation of the end of LBT, but instead her representative answered me, and confirmed the same thing. I think everyone should read this, as this is very interesting :



Looks like the staff at Universal Cartoons Studios has changed pretty much - since the arrival of Glenn Ross, I suppose. And it seems they made everything possible to get rid of LBT...

Pretty much confirms their attitude and what we already knew. They won't release anything new Balto-related unless it gets them money.



That, however, is very interesting. Rings alarm bells, even. Could they have tried the same with Balto? Two intentionally crappy sequels?

I think this is the end of the line, definitely. No sequels unless they bring in the money ["...so they could say they were not selling as well..."]. 'Tis a sad time for the Balto community.

I've had worries about Universal buggering the Balto Series project, actually, but that just quashes it, they're not going to bother.
...unless the copyrights are obtainable, perhaps? If they're working under Glenn Ross they might ruin it again in the future just for the sake of totally killing the series.