VIDEO . . . WHAT’S NEW : ‘Land Before Time’ Targets the Gift Market : THIS WEEK’S MOVIES

The video Christmas season opens this weekend with the release of “The Land Before Time” (MCA, $24.95, G), the first of several blockbuster films aimed at the gift market.

Since they’re both being released on video this fall, the similarities between “The Land Before Time” and “Bambi” (coming Sept. 28) may become even more apparent. Like “Bambi,” “The Land Before Time” is an animated film concerning a young animal who’s forced to cope with separation from parents and a cataclysmic event. In “Land,” it’s a dinosaur instead of a deer and an earthquake instead of a forest fire.

Directed by Don Bluth (“An American Tail”), “The Land Before Time” earned mixed but generally approving reviews, and the 1988 release--produced by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg--made nearly $50 million at the box office. The tape has a pizza-company ad.

Other upcoming videocassettes that will compete with “Land” and “Bambi” for the video fan’s rental/purchase dollars: “Lean on Me” (Sept. 27), “Working Girl,” “Major League,” “The Dream Team” (all three Oct. 5), “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Pet Sematary” (Oct. 12), “Lawrence of Arabia” (Oct. 19), “Scrooged” (Nov. 9), “Batman” (Nov. 15) and “Ghostbusters II” (Nov. 22).

Other movies out this week on video:

“Fletch Lives” (MCA, $89.95, PG), the sequel to “Fletch,” again starring Chevy Chase as the wise-cracking reporter.

“Cousins” (Paramount, no list price, PG-13), the Ted Danson-starring remake of “Cousin, Cousine.”

“Baby, It’s You” (Paramount, no list price, R), a 1983 John Sayles film about the romance between an upper-class college student (Rosanna Arquette) and a working-class guy (Vincent Spano).

“Who Done It?,” “The Time of Their Lives,” and “The Naughty Nineties,” three Abbott & Costello comedies made between 1942 and 1946 (MCA, $19.95 each).

“Her Alibi” (Warner, $89.95, PG), a mystery-comedy about a novelist (Tom Selleck) who tries to prove the innocence of an accused murderer (Paulina Porizkova).

“Rooftops” (IVE, $89.95, R), a Robert Wise-directed flop from earlier this year, about tenement teens.

Price reductions: “Amadeus,” “The Terminator,” “No Way Out,” “The Big Easy,” “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Three Amigos!” are now $19.99. “Red Heat” and “Howling IV” are $19.95. “Back to School,” “The Squeeze,” “Let’s Get Harry” and “Desperately Seeking Susan” are $14.95.

OTHER NEW VIDEOS

“Klassix-13” (MPI, $24.95 each) is the name of a new series of one-hour documentaries on the great composers and their works. The first four releases are on Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms.