The Gang of Five
The Land Before Time => General Land Before Time => Topic started by: NewOrder on November 10, 2015, 07:05:24 AM
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Most of us have probably thought about this issue one time or another.
How much time do you think has passed between the first movie and XIII or XIV?
I'm not talking about production years, but about the real time in the Land Before Time Universe. Most sequels timelines are spread out over a few days, but others, like III or V clearly show the Great Valley regrow its plants over at least a few months.
We can't be trully scientific about this, since, if years have trully passed most of the gang would already be grown up or at least a teenager. So how much time, counting all the movies, has it passed since they first arrived in the Great Valley?
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It does make sense it would, but they may just ignore that like they have in previous sequels since the gang hasn't really aged any.
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Of course, I'm not expecting them to stick to the timeline in the next sequel. The Land Before Time, like many cartoons is a lot like the Simpsons, the characters never age and the passing of time is irrelevant.
However, it would be an interesting exercise to try and calculate how many years have passed throughout the movies, and even counting the TV series if you so wish.
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All we know is Cera was 5 years old in original movie.
Chomper was born not long after original movie, but in TV series he looks like he has the same age Gang except Spike had in original movie (~5 years). Me think
The Land Before Time, like many cartoons is a lot like the Simpsons, the characters never age and the passing of time is irrelevant.
I think that's a bit wrong. Compare Gang from original movie and early sequels with TV series.
They all definitely grew up.
:D
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When I was a kid, I've always thought a year would pass between each movie.
Right now, I will have to say that realistically, two, maybe three years have passed between the first movie and the thirteenth movie.
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That's probably the most accurate guess. I believe that between the first and third movie only a few days/weeks have passed. Between the third and the fourth it's clear that at least year passed for the Valley to be green again and with no traces of the fire, maybe longer if you take into account the natural growth rate of the trees in the Great Valley. Same goes for the gap between the 5th and the 6th movie.
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All we know is Cera was 5 years old in original movie.
Do we? As far as I know there is no such confirmation of the age of any LBT character...
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All we know is Cera was 5 years old in original movie.
Do we? As far as I know there is no such confirmation of the age of any LBT character...
(http://i67.tinypic.com/25khmkx.jpg)
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Alright, now I believe you. There was another member here also claimimg that Cera was 5 years old but never proving it which is why I was doubting your statement :)
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Yeah, but we never know if the people working on the sequels disregarded that sheet. They may have designed Cera with ten years in mind for all we know.
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if you compre the first couple movies and the last ones, yes, they definitely grew, Not much, but yeah I think something like 3-4 years passed overall
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Not a long time. I'd guess 2-4 years.
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I’m going to try and use somewhat of a scientific approach to this :p
From the original film to LBT II, one could assume little to no time has passed. We can base the time spent between the original film and the first sequel on the time that it takes for a dinosaur egg to hatch. I found this source Dino Eggs Hatching (https://www.quora.com/How-long-did-it-take-on-average-for-a-dinosaur-egg-to-hatch) that states that a dinosaur egg could’ve taken 45 to 80 days to hatch, depending on the species, let’s round it up in the middle, and give them about 60 days (two months), between The Great Valley Adventure and The land Before Time.
The events in The Time of the Great Giving, could’ve taken part right after LBT II, and may have taken about a month to take place, from the time the sky rocks fell to the fire. From LBT III to Journey Through the Mists, we need some time for the trees to regrow. In the real world this would take years, if not decades, but, for the sake of the plot, let’s say a year has passed. So, we’re up to 15 months. LBT V, could also have happened straight after LBT IV. If we give a two month interval for the events of LBT IV to take place, and for Ali’s herd to leave, that takes us up to 17 months, plus an additional 6 months for the leaves to grow and for the actions of The Mysterious Island to take place.
It’s LBT VI’s turn and 23 months have passed. The actions in VI and VII are very contained and don’t show many great disasters, we can give two months for each of them, taking us to 27 months and lending us in the heart of Winter. The Big Freeze needs about three months for the snow to melt, so an additional five is added, making it 32 months (2 years and 8 months) by the time Journey to the Big Water comes around.
The next sequels can also be sequential since they don’t have any major time jump. So, giving two months per sequel takes us to 3 years, before LBT XI. Because the tree sweets tree grows back its flowers, one can argue at least a year has passed, taking us about 4 years between the original film and The Wisdom of Friends.
To recap:
LBT – LBT II: 2 months
LBT II – LBT III – 1 month
LBT III – LBT IV – 12 months
LBT IV – LBT V – 2 months
LBT V – LBT VI – 6 months
LBT VI – LBT VII – 2 months
LBT VII – LBT VIII – 2 months
LBT VII – LBT IX – 5 months
LBT IX – LBT X – 2 months
LBT X – LBT XI – 2 months
LBT XI – LBT XII – 12 months
LBT XII – LBT XIII – 2 months
LBT XIII - LBT XIV - ?
Total: 4 years and 2 months
What do you guys think?
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NewOrder great analysis! I only don't agree that it would take at least 3 months for snow to melt. There are many regions or Earth where Snow falls for a few weeks and quickly melts away, we have no idea how long it lasted. I think it was a few weeks. Other than that I agree, it should be AT LEAST 4 years, and judging by the age of the characters it doesn't seem that so much time had passed
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awesome research here
:D
yeah, some disasters makes earth to take years to be recovered, but sequels plot doesn't give a time for that.
at this question, I continue to consider only Chomper's age. So, I keep saying ~5 years have passed since events of original movie
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That's a very good analysis on this vague subject. Even with quite ambiguous hints, I'd say NewOrder's post goes quite a long way in trying to come up with some way to determine the Gang's current age. The Gang we've seen in recent films are by no means five years old (if they ever were, I've got hard time to believe that Cera's five in the original, but if Don says so, I have believe ;) ) However, I don't really see a clear, consistent growth in the Gang since the second film, their behavior ranges from quite mature (like in fifth film) to another extreme (eleventh film).
In any case, I'm quite sure Universal never gave this a thought. It wouldn't be the first time: Redwall and Naruto, for example, are very vague about their timelines and it's pretty much left up to viewer to decide how much time has passed between the events. The biggest jump in the Gang's apparent age was between the first and the second film for clear reasons. Of course, the Gang's experiences and their internal bond has deepened ever since then but I haven't noticed any obvious change in their age. If I would have to guess, I would put them into the age bracket of 8-9 so they would be 3-4 years older than in the original. I don't even want to think about Chomper in this regard: he has aged at least five years while the rest of the Gang has aged close to none. :blink:
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From the original film to LBT II, one could assume little to no time has passed.
I'm not sure I agree with this statement. In LBT II the gang definitely spent enough time in the Valley for them to start quarreling with their parents ("those grownups, never let us do what we want", etc.) and I just don't see that happening right away after what Littlefoot and his friends had to go through in the original movie. That's just too casual a behavior for kids who only recently returned from a lifethreatening adventure full of mortal dangers. Sure, maybe in our time it would make sense, but in the films' universe where family ties are sacred and sapient dinosaurs have to stick to their own or live in constant fear of being devoured... It seems unlikely. :unsure:
Plus, according to your timescale Chomper has to be less than 2 years old in the fifth movie. Sure, prehistoric animals probably aged faster than modern humans do, but still. The friendly sharptooth acts only a little bit less mature than 5 years old Cera did in LBT1.
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At this point, I’ve kind of gone “Screw it” and accepted that The Land Before Time operates on comic book time. Past events are acknowledged but the most of the gang remains mostly the same age while Chomper grows to be voiced by a nine year old child actor in the TV series (I can’t get the age of his other child actors). And then he and Ruby too seem to stop aging. Meanwhile, Bron’s visits to the valley in the TV series and movie 14 are anticipated in the manner of being a frequent, now normal occurrence. Trying to make sense of it in my head now only tempts me to post the Math Lady/Confused Lady meme image (Which there should totally be a LBT version of at this point).
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Meanwhile, Bron’s visits to the valley in the TV series and movie 14 are anticipated in the manner of being a frequent, now normal occurrence.
Oh yeah, everything I know about animal migration patterns suggests that Bron would only lead his herd through the Great Valley once or twice a year. Yet even though his father already visited him during the TV series, Littlefoot doesn't look any older in the 14th movie. :blink:
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So, today, when I was in subway, I decided to build LBT chronology.
Considering some facts I remember(hatchlings times, cold times, Chommper's age, disasters, etc.) I build that:
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(year starts from "spring")
YEAR 0 SPRING: Beginnig of LBT1. Littlefoot, Cera and Ducky are born.
YEAR 1 SPRING: Petrie is born.
YEAR 5 SPRING: Ending of LBT1. Spike is born.
YEAR 6 SPRING: Events of LBT2. Chomper is born.
YEAR 6 SUMMER: Events of LBT3.
YEAR 7 SUMMER: Events of LBT4.
YEAR 8 AUTUMN: Events of LBT5.
YEAR 9 SPRING: Ending scene of LBT5.
YEAR 9 SUMMER: Events of LBT6.
YEAR 9 AUTUMN: Events of LBT7.
YEAR 9 WINTER: Events of LBT8.
YEAR 10 SPRING: Events of LBT9. Chomper and Ruby meet each other.
YEAR 10 SUMMER: Events of LBT10.
YEAR 10 AUTUMN: Events of LBT11. Ruby celebrates her starday with family and Chomper.
YEAR 11 SPRING: Events of LBT12. Bron's first visit.
YEAR 11 SUMMER: Events of LBT13.
YEAR 11 AUTUMN: Beginning of LBT Series. Chomper and Ruby leave Mysterious Beyond in Ruby's starday and come to Valley.
YEAR 11 WINTER: Events of "The Bright Circle Celebration".
YEAR 12 SPRING: Events of "Forbidden Friendship" episode. Bron's second visit and meeting with Chomper.
YEAR 12 SUMMER: Great Giving Celebration and events of "The Lonely Journey" episode.
YEAR 12 AUTUMN: Ruby's starday and events of "The Star Day Celebration" episode. Bron's third visit and events of "The Big Longneck Test" episode.
YEAR 12 WINTER: Events of "Through Eyes of Spiketail" episode.
YEAR 13 SPRING: Events of LBT14. Bron's fourth visit.
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What do you think?
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Edit:
So, our gang members has next ages:
Littlefoot: 13 years
Cera: 13 years
Ducky: 13 years
Petrie: 12 years
Spike: 8 years
Chomper: 7 years
Ruby: ... Hmm. Actually, I don't know. At first I considered her as the same age as Littlefoot. But later I started to think she is much younger than Littlefoot&Co and elder than Chomper.
Hmm... What do you think?
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You have way to much time on your hands. And yeah that sounds accurate I guess.
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I would very like if somebody else make discussion here. :D
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also, one more question about age: What do you think, how much is Petrie younger than Littlefoot, Cera and Ducky?
Why I think he's younger? Well, I considered two facts:
- He hadn't birth scene at the beginnig of LBT1. that could mean authors forgot about it, or this also could mean Petrie didn't hatch at that year.
- I always wonder how he couldn't fly in his age! Even if it was made for plot and pun or something... Srsl, if you has the same age as others (5 years), and still you are not flyer but faller... Hah, even that bunch of flyers with that berry could fly, but Petrie couldn't? Maybe he was very sick and weak in his early childhood or something, but five years...
So, I think he was 4 or 3 years old at the time of first movie.
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I wouldn't bet on the possibility that Petrie is younger than the others. His inability to fly would be another thing to analyze in more detail as it likely had a profound effect on the Migration of the flier herd. Thinking more about it, how did his family move around at all if one of them couldn't fly? :blink: As for the lack of his birth scene, the explanation could probably be as sad as that Bluth found him a rather generic comical relief character and thought that there was no reason to deepen his character. :(petrie
As for the timeline, there have been some before and your analysis about the subject is as good as any. For example, there's no reason to believe there was one-year gap between the first and second movie. There might be but unless Universal decides to introduce a solid time frame, these analyses have to rely on guesses sometimes.
13 years is probably a bit much for the Gang's age. NewOrder's claim of about nine years seems a bit more probable even if you may may also be right. Also, I never thought Ruby was younger than Littlefoot, Cera and Ducky. What made you think so?
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Bluth didn't include Petrie's scene because he was comic character? O_o orly? XD
Yeah, I think I should explain my point and analysis that were created in subway. :D
I think dinosaurs lay eggs in the same season, right after cold times (something like every-year "Mating time"). So, I consider events of LBT1 (Spike's birth),LBT2 (Chomper's birth),LBT12 (Tricia's birth), LBT14 (Ducky's new siblings' birth) happen in the same season.
Good question: How much time has passed between LBT1 and LBT2? Several days or one year, since events happen in the same season, during hatchlings time? Well...
- Since Spike hatched during events of LBT1, I consider "hatchlings season" ended for year.
- Gang and their parents and their herds know main "showplaces" of valley very good.
- Herds... They hold on together. (heh) After first movie... They live, and they act together, protecting valley.
- If Spike was still newborn, I don't think adopted parents would let him walk far away from them.
- At the end of movie, we saw Spike and newborn spiketails. Just compare their sizes. (yes, I remember that strong confusion about newborn Spike's size in first movie. But still...)
These facts make me think there was 1-year gap between first and second movies.
Next: Chomper was born when The most of gang members were 6 years old. For me, in LBT5, he looks quite younger than 5-years old dinosaur, and in TV series and flashback episodes he looks like 5-years old and a bit older. That means: in LBT5, littlefoot was at least 8 years old, and at the beginning of TV series, Littlefoot was at least 11 years old.
Next: Considering events of some particular tv episodes and LBT14, at least two cold times have passed since Ruby and Chomper entered the valley. It means, Littlefoot is 13 years old minimum.
Also, Tricia is still small in TV episodes.
Considering all facts, I built some first boundaries:
PRE-LBT1: YEAR 0 SPRING
LBT1: YEAR 5 SPRING
LBT2: YEAR 6 SPRING
LBT5: YEAR 8
LBT12: YEAR 11 SPRING
BEGINNING OF LBT TV: YEAR 11
LBT14: YEAR 13 SPRING
And then I just had to place the rest of movies between LBT2, LBT5, LBT12. After analysis of the rest facts from all movies (fire in the valley, attack of insects, flood, tree sweets, Bron's visits, etc. and etc.), I placed the rest of years and its seasons.
About Ruby's age... Well, I considered episodes "Star day celebration" and "Returning to hanging rock". Remembering Ruby's flashbacks about parents and LITTLE siblings. Comparing her size...
After years, I decided for myself: I would think she is younger then some members of gang. Experience of life in Mysterious Beyond made her elder.
how did his family move around at all if one of them couldn't fly?
Me think Mama's back was so nice as Flathead's head!
If you know what I mean.
:lol
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First post in a while, so I'm missing out on stuff. But yeah, this is pretty good research. Not sure if I can agree with even AT LEAST one year passing, though; the characters' looks don't seem to reflect that.
Guess it comes with the quality of a cash-cow franchise.
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Littlefoot and his friends are acting waaaaaaaay too silly in LBT 14 to be 13 year old dinosaurs, at least if we assume that the process of growing-up happens in the same time-frame as it does for us humans :p
It's pretty hard to come up with a timeline since there are little to no things hinting at a timeline. The sizes of characters aren't consistant throughout the movies (especially in comparison to their parents) either :p
So I think your analysis could be as wrong as it could be right ^^spike
Personally, judging by their behavior, they are acting like primary school aged children throughout the series so that's where I place them age-wise... throughout the series :p
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I know. It is such cartoon type where age doesn't play major role. Characters are forever in their age. Almost... Because we have a little age difference between first and last movies. And we have such character as Chomper.
So...
eh
Actually, I made this almost pointless research for myself personally and my personal fanuniverse. ;)
Now I know when characters would grow up and move to next step. Now I see the year when Pterano can return to Valley. Now I know when Tricia can start to talk. Etc. Etc.
I am fine with that. :)
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oh lol...
Today, when I was going to shopping mall, I suddenly realized: I am idiot!!! :o
I told before that I suppose dinosaur families lay eggs only in single time period of year, right after cold times, but I put Ruby's starday in autumn!!! D:
Also, after watching Starday Celebration and Return to hanging rock episodes now, I rethought about Ruby's age again.
So, here's fixed data:
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YEAR 0 SPRING: Beginnig of LBT1. Littlefoot, Cera and Ducky are born.
YEAR 1 SPRING: Petrie is born.
YEAR 3 SPRING: Ruby is born.
YEAR 5 SPRING: Ending of LBT1. Spike is born.
YEAR 6 SPRING: Events of LBT2. Chomper is born.
YEAR 6 SUMMER: Events of LBT3.
YEAR 7 SUMMER: Events of LBT4.
YEAR 8 AUTUMN: Events of LBT5.
YEAR 9 SPRING: Ending scene of LBT5.
YEAR 9 SUMMER: Events of LBT6.
YEAR 9 AUTUMN: Events of LBT7.
YEAR 9 WINTER: Events of LBT8.
YEAR 10 SPRING: Events of LBT9. Chomper and Ruby meet each other.
YEAR 10 SUMMER: Events of LBT10.
YEAR 10 AUTUMN: Events of LBT11.
YEAR 11 SPRING: Events of LBT12. Bron's first visit. Ruby celebrates her starday with family and Chomper. Bron's first visit.
YEAR 11 AUTUMN: Events of LBT13.
YEAR 12 SPRING: Beginning of LBT Series. Chomper and Ruby leave Mysterious Beyond in Ruby's starday and come to Valley. Bron's second visit and meeting with Chomper.
YEAR 12 SUMMER: Great Giving Celebration and events of "The Lonely Journey" episode.
YEAR 12 AUTUMN: Ruby's starday and events of "The Star Day Celebration" episode.
YEAR 12 WINTER: Events of "The Bright Circle Celebration".
YEAR 13 SPRING: Events of "Forbidden Friendship" episode. Bron's third visit.
YEAR 13 AUTUMN: Bron's fourth visit and events of "The Big Longneck Test" episode.
YEAR 13 WINTER: Events of "Through Eyes of Spiketail" episode.
YEAR 14 SPRING: Events of LBT14. Bron's fifth visit.
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(It means Pterano can return this year, since 5 winters have passed. yay! ^^)
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Good news for all Pterano fans then. LBT 15 might be about him :lol
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oh lol...
Today, when I was going to shopping mall, I suddenly realized: I am idiot!!! :o
I told before that I suppose dinosaur families lay eggs only in single time period of year, right after cold times, but I put Ruby's starday in autumn!!! D:
Also, after watching Starday Celebration and Return to hanging rock episodes now, I rethought about Ruby's age again.
So, here's fixed data:
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YEAR 0 SPRING: Beginnig of LBT1. Littlefoot, Cera and Ducky are born.
YEAR 1 SPRING: Petrie is born.
YEAR 3 SPRING: Ruby is born.
YEAR 5 SPRING: Ending of LBT1. Spike is born.
YEAR 6 SPRING: Events of LBT2. Chomper is born.
YEAR 6 SUMMER: Events of LBT3.
YEAR 7 SUMMER: Events of LBT4.
YEAR 8 AUTUMN: Events of LBT5.
YEAR 9 SPRING: Ending scene of LBT5.
YEAR 9 SUMMER: Events of LBT6.
YEAR 9 AUTUMN: Events of LBT7.
YEAR 9 WINTER: Events of LBT8.
YEAR 10 SPRING: Events of LBT9. Chomper and Ruby meet each other.
YEAR 10 SUMMER: Events of LBT10.
YEAR 10 AUTUMN: Events of LBT11.
YEAR 11 SPRING: Events of LBT12. Bron's first visit. Ruby celebrates her starday with family and Chomper. Bron's first visit.
YEAR 11 AUTUMN: Events of LBT13.
YEAR 12 SPRING: Beginning of LBT Series. Chomper and Ruby leave Mysterious Beyond in Ruby's starday and come to Valley. Bron's second visit and meeting with Chomper.
YEAR 12 SUMMER: Great Giving Celebration and events of "The Lonely Journey" episode.
YEAR 12 AUTUMN: Ruby's starday and events of "The Star Day Celebration" episode.
YEAR 12 WINTER: Events of "The Bright Circle Celebration".
YEAR 13 SPRING: Events of "Forbidden Friendship" episode. Bron's third visit.
YEAR 13 AUTUMN: Bron's fourth visit and events of "The Big Longneck Test" episode.
YEAR 13 WINTER: Events of "Through Eyes of Spiketail" episode.
YEAR 14 SPRING: Events of LBT14. Bron's fifth visit.
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(It means Pterano can return this year, since 5 winters have passed. yay! ^^)
Sounds like pretty plausible data too.
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Good news for all Pterano fans then. LBT 15 might be about him :lol
Yeah. He was only sentenced for one year of exile... About darn time that flyer came back, especially since he's been mentioned so many times in the TV series (which technically serves as a prelude to LBT14, since it at the very least explains where Chomper and Ruby came from). :)