This is a trigger warning as this article will respectfully tell the tragic story of a mother and child who suffered abuse.
Throughout Hollywood history, there are endless examples of movies for the whole family that made lots of money at the box office. The reason for that is parents are always looking for movies and TV shows that they can share with their kids that will entertain, challenge, and ideally teach their children valuable lessons.
Sadly, there are many examples of family films that had scenes that adults deem inappropriate. Of course, parents can discuss those sequences with their children and use the opportunity to teach them something. On the other hand, there are some family films with backstories that are so tragic that nothing good can come from them. For example, there are far too many former child stars with terrible childhoods including one of the kids who starred in the movie The Land Before Time.
Why Does The Land Before Time Have So Many Sequels?
Over the last several decades, there has been one company that virtually everyone associates with children’s entertainment, Disney. After all, there have been so many beloved Disney World rides that some of them have since been forgotten. On top of that, Disney has released a slew of movies that have been adored by generations of viewers of all ages.
Even though Disney has ruled supreme over the entertainment world for years, that doesn’t mean that it is the only company to release successful family films. For example, in 1988 Univeral Pictures released The Land Before Time. Reportedly produced for $12.3 million, the film made $84.5 million at the box office and that is to say nothing about the cash the film made on home media.
One of the main reasons why The Land Before Time was a huge hit is that the movie featured several lovable characters. For example, it could easily be argued that the movie’s most adorable character was named Ducky the “Bigmouth”. Of course, part of the reason that was the case is that Ducky looked adorable and the character’s storyline was extremely easy for kids to relate to. However, the most important reason why fans loved Ducky so much is the actor who voiced the character sounded so sweet.
As a result of how much money The Land Before Time made and how much fans loved the movie’s characters, a sequel was released in 1994. After that film also made a good amount of money, more and more sequels were produced. In fact, a Land Before Time movie was released every year between 1994 and 2007 aside from 1999 and 2004 and the franchise is now made up of fourteen films and a TV series.
What Happened To The Girl Who Played Ducky In Land Before Time
For people who grew up in the ‘90s and 2000s, The Land Before Time franchise is a major part of their childhood that is bound to bring smiles to their faces. Sadly, however, once those people grow up and look back at the franchise’s history, they are bound to learn the tragic story that relates to the first film in the series.
When kids all over the world watch the first Land Before Time film, they are bound to adore Judith Barsi’s performance voicing Ducky. Sadly, the talented young actor wasn’t able to return to the role for any of the sequels. The reason for that is Barsi met her untimely and tragic demise before the first Land Before Time movie even was released.
Throughout Judith Barsi’s far too short childhood, she lived with her abusive and violent father József Barsi and her mother and fellow victim Maria Barsi. According to what Judith told fa friend, József often was abusive and would do things like throw pots and pans at her, drawing blood in the process. On top of that, József had a lengthy history of threatening to put a violent end to his wife and daughter’s lives.
On several occasions, Judith Barsi’s mother tried to get help for herself and her daughter. For example, at one point Maria Barsi went to the police but after their investigation went nowhere, she opted against pressing charges. On top of that, Maria took Judith to a child psychologist and they reported the situation to child protective services. CPP’s investigation also went nowhere since it was dropped once Maria told them she planned to divorce József.
Sadly, a lot of battered women are forced to feel like they can't escape their situation and it seems like that was the case for Maria. Similarly, Judith obviously felt helpless so she adopted behaviors like pulling out her cat’s whiskers and her own eyebrows. In the end, József Barsi followed through with his longstanding threats in July 1988 when he took his wife and daughter’s lives and then his own.
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