The Land Before Time and Avatar...

[Aquaplant]

Originally Posted by Crickett

Maybe I'm just being dumb, but I don't see the causational relationship there.

It's the lack of relationship what I'm talking about. You acknowledge the fact that the first one was the only proper movie, and the rest were just attemts to cash in on the success of the original, rather than attempts to at least try to develop and further the overall story. So instead of having a properly written story arch, they just make something up that doesn't deviate from the canon too much, usually, and then it's sequel time.