The most heart-wrenching moment of any '80s animated movie can be found in a 3-minute-long scene in Don Bluth's The Land Before Time. Almost every decade, an animated children's classic comes along that is driven by an incredibly heartbreaking moment cleverly set in place for the animation's protagonist(s) to persevere through. These instances serve as compelling components of the most iconic stories and are there to encourage animation lovers to forge on even through the toughest of times, but they also never fail to traumatize audience of every generation. 331ri

Ducky has been one of the most popular characters in The Land Before Time since the very first movie, but there's been some uncertainty regarding what dinosaur species she is over the years. Debuting in 1988's The Land Before Time, Ducky ed her friends Spike and Littlefoot on their many adventures and was known for her unstoppable plucky attitude and her unwavering loyalty. Though she was the smallest of the group, she had one of the biggest personalities and wasn't afraid to show it off. She returned in all the numerous sequels and spinoff TV series and was best ed for her signature "yep, yep, yep!" catchphrase.

The saddest dinosaur movie, and arguably one of the saddest children’s movies ever, The Land Before Time is now streaming. While most dinosaur movies are thrilling in their depictions of prehistoric life, The Land Before Time conveyed overwhelming empathy for the dinosaurs themselves. The extinct reptiles have long captivated imaginations, and Hollywood has attempted to showcase their spectacle in films ranging from the original King Kong to the Jurassic Park franchise. Yet one movie focused less on the wonder of dinosaurs and more on the frightening and dangerous world that these dinosaurs inhabited. Oddly, these dangers were animated and marketed as a children’s film.

Though the hit series Stranger Things draws on many aspects of 1980s popular culture, one of its most recognizable referents is The Goonies, which also focuses on a group of kids and their adventures. In fact, this is a recurring trope in much of popular culture from both the 1980s and 1990s, particularly in the realm of animation.

With Jurassic World Dominion out for the summer, dinosaurs are back on the big screen - although this may be the last epic Jurassic adventure for a while, based on comments from Colin Trevorrow about the future of the franchise. However, it's unlikely that even if this particular iteration of the franchise is over, that cinema will be done with these incredible creatures. From live-action epics like the Jurassic Park franchise to the sweet childhood stories of The Land Before Time, dinosaurs will always hold a place in movie-goers' hearts.

The release of Pixar's highly anticipated Lightyear is imminent, and as critics were shown the first 30 minutes of the animated movie, they've detailed how emotional it really is. Fans of the studio shouldn't be surprised, as it has a habit of making viewers cry in its movies' opening moments, but what entails in the first 30 minutes of Lightyear is anyone's guess.

The Land Before Time struck a chord with the children of the 90s. However, the movies aren’t just for children, but for adults too. There are a lot of adult fans that reverently gaze at the movies through nostalgia goggles, and rightly so, as the original movie is often seen as the best dinosaur movie that isn’t Jurassic Park.

The best films are the ones that fill the audience with emotion; happiness, laughter, anger, and, of course, sadness. Sadness is equally as important and happiness which is why some of the best films ever made are the ones that make people cry. Even in a giant comic book movie like Avengers: Endgame, crying at certain events made the film more impactful.

Author Michael Crichton, no stranger to cinema, worked on the screenplay for Jurassic Park after writing the source material. Fortunately, his work was brought to life by a perfect storm of artists including Steven Spielberg, Stan Winston and ILM. And dinosaur depictions on screen were transformed forever, making it difficult to accept anything “B.C.”—before Crichton.

Any kid who grew up in the 1980s is familiar with the films of Don Bluth. Often dark and moody and more than a little traumatic, these films managed to somehow look like Disney films but conveyed significantly more emotional maturity. While Bluth continued to release films well into the 1990s, the quality began to suffer, and few of them attained the heights of success that his films in the 1980s did. Still, Don Bluth deserves a lot of credit for his ability to push animation to explore more mature themes and issues than many of his competitors.