On Dec. 11, 2023, online users shared a post from the YODA BBY ABY Facebook page that said Disney and Pixar had announced a remake of the animated classic film, "The Land Before Time." The post included a purported movie poster with three characters and the tagline, "Revisit these little feet again in 2025," a reference to Littlefoot, the central dinosaur character in the franchise.
We received reader mail about this rumor and looked into the matter.
The post in question read, "Get ready to embark on a prehistoric escapade like never before! Disney and Pixar join forces to bring you a dazzling remake of 'The Land Before Time,' where Littlefoot and friends journey through lush landscapes and encounter enchanting surprises. Brace yourself for a January 2025 release – a dino-mite adventure awaits!"
The idea that a big-screen remake might be in the works with both Disney and Pixar at the helm would potentially be quite newsworthy if it were true.
However, it was not true. The bio of the YODA BBY ABY Facebook page reads as follows:
I'm just here to eat frogs, lift rocks and be satirical. The page is 100% satire and fake news.
In other words, the page's posts did not report genuine news and were apparently simply just created in good fun.
Even so, as of this writing, tens of thousands of users had shared the post that said "The Land Before Time" was receiving a remake from Disney and Pixar. Many of those users who added their own commentary appeared to not understand that the rumor was false and instead expressed anger at the news, especially in regard to the way that some of the characters appeared in the fake movie poster.
As for the original film, "The Land Before Time" hit U.S. movie theaters in 1988. It was directed and produced by Don Bluth. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas also served as two of the notable executive producers, with Universal Pictures having the distribution rights, not Disney or Pixar.
Disney and Pixar had no prior involvement with the creation of the franchise's many direct-to-video sequels or the short-lived TV series. Also, a remake film wouldn't fit with Pixar's modus operandi. While the company had created numerous sequels in the past, those films were follow-ups to their own movies. Further, the fact that the Disney and Pixar film "The Good Dinosaur" was released in 2015 would perhaps make the choice of creating an unoriginal remake of another dinosaur-themed film quite the curious choice for the animation studio.
We previously reported about a rumor that also originated on the YODA BBY ABY Facebook page that said actor Macaulay Culkin would be returning for a new "Home Alone" film, titled, "Cabin Alone." That, too, could either be considered a satirical post or simply just a fake announcement.