Souls in the wind must learn how to bend

I’ve never been one to pick absolute “favorites”, I try to be reasonable and fair…and if you asked me to choose on favorite movie of all time, I probably couldn’t do it. Like anyone, my tastes have evolved over the years. If you asked me what my first favorite movie was, though, that’d be much easier—it was The Land Before Time, by Lucasfilm. It didn’t follow the typical cartoon formula of that time, it was no Disney film. The Land Before Time was tragic and frightening, as heartbreaking as it was encouraging. It made me cry as a child, and I bet it would make me cry as an adult too. The devastating sadness of Little Foot chasing down his shadow-- calling for his fallen mother—is more than I think even the most stoic of hearts could bear. Each of the main characters has strong traits we can identify with, from Peetree’s simultaneous trepidation and willingness to overcome, to stubborn, overbearing Sarah’s struggle to swallow her pride, and admit when she’s wrong. To a child like me it sent strong messages of accepting others as they are, and that family is about more than blood.
The song that plays during the end credits, Diana Ross’s “If we hold on”, touches me deeply to this day. My siblings and I had much to overcome as children, and when I hear this song I can’t help but think of all we’ve been through, and how lost we might be without each other…and how just a little bit of fantasy can get you through even the hardest of times.