[Acknowledgements to unknown contributer and many thanks to the contributer who makes learning fun for people in need]
As the film opens, the narrator (Pat Hingle) explains that a drought is occurring. To escape it the dinosaurs are migrating in search of the "Great Valley," a lush, Utopian paradise. A "Longneck" (Apatosaurus) herd gives birth to a single baby, named Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon). As he grows older, his mother (Helen Shaver) tells him of the Great Valley, and informs him of the prejudice between the different dinosaur species when he tries to play with a "Threehorn" (Triceratops) girl named Cera (Candace Hutson), but her father (Burke Byrnes) stops him. That night, Cera and Littlefoot meet again, and play together for a while until a "Sharptooth" (Tyrannosaurus) attacks. Littlefoot's mother intervenes, battling with the Sharptooth and suffering severe injuries, but managing to defeat him by pushing him into a deep chasm. At the same time, an "earthshake" (earthquake) occurs, opening a deep ravine in the ground, which swallows up the Sharptooth and a great deal of other dinosaurs, and separates many herds, including Littlefoot's and Cera's. Littlefoot finds his mother when the earthquake ends, but she is mortally wounded, and dies.
Feeling depressed and confused, Littlefoot accidentally slides down a ravine, where he meets an old armored dinosaur named Rooter (Pat Hingle), who consoles him upon learning of his mother's death. After mourning for some time, Littlefoot hears his mother speak to him through his heart, and reminds him how to reach the Great Valley and soon finds Cera and asks her to join him, but she refuses. He later meets a cheerful "Bigmouth" (Parasaurolophus) named Ducky (Judith Barsi), who asks to join him. As they travel, and try to find food along the way, they encounter an aerophobic "Flyer" (Pteranodon) named Petrie (Will Ryan), who joins them on their quest. Meanwhile, Cera encounters a comatose Sharptooth, whom she believes to be dead, and charges at mischievously, though this accidentally awakens him. As she flees, she meets up with the others and warns them about the Sharptooth; Littlefoot does not believe her, being convinced that Sharptooth is dead. As Cera describes the encounter (exaggerating her bravery), she accidentally flings Ducky near a patch of grass, which has a hatching egg containing a baby "Spiketail" (Stegosaurus). Ducky names him Spike and brings him into their band.
Seeking the Great Valley, they find a river leading to a cluster of trees, which is rapidly depleted by a herd of starving sauropods. Searching for remaining growth, they discover a single leaf-bearing tree, and obtain food by piling atop each other to reach it and pull it down. Cera remains aloof and arrogant, boasting that she is independent, but at nightfall, she, along with the others, gravitates to Littlefoot's sleeping nest for warmth and companionship. The Sharptooth attacks them in the morning, but they escape through a cave-tunnel too small to admit him, and discover a Longneck-shaped monolith mentioned by Littlefoot's mother. Although they pass other landmarks she mentioned, such as a string of volcanoes, Cera grows impatient as the search begins to yield no results and quarrels with Littlefoot, causing a schism in the little herd. Littlefoot continues in the direction he was told, while the others follow Cera, who goes another way. As Ducky, Spike and Petrie fall into danger involving a lava barrier and a tar pit, Littlefoot comes and rescues them. They then save Cera from an aggressive herd of Pachycephalosaurus while disguised as a giant tar-monster, which frightens Cera. Angry, humiliated and heartbroken, Cera tearfully leaves the group.
The next day, the others are frolicking in a pond when the Sharptooth appears nearby. Determined to defeat him, Littlefoot formulates a plan to lure him to the deep end of the pond, drop a large rock from the edge of a nearby cliff onto his head, and thus drown him. As Ducky lures him to the water, Littlefoot and Spike have trouble moving the rock. During the proceeding struggle, a hot draft from Sharptooth's nostrils enables Petrie to master his powers of flight. Sharptooth jumps onto the rock Littlefoot and Spike are pushing, taking Ducky and Petrie with him to where they are. At that moment, Cera shows up and helps the plan to be completed; defeating Sharptooth for good. But Sharptooth grabs Petrie in his jaws as he falls towards the water and they both fall in. After a few tense moments, Petrie emerges from the water alive. Sharptooth however is not seen or found and is presumed dead. Littlefoot then follows a cloud that looks like his mother. The cloud leads him to the Great Valley, where the children's surviving relatives are already settled. Petrie and Ducky rejoin their families, and Ducky's family adopts Spike. Cera reunites with her father, and Littlefoot joins his grandparents. The film concludes with an indication of the protagonists' companionship.
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