the Sharptooth's search.

WeirdRaptor · **on:** August 21, 2006, 10:09:06 PM

As you know, the Sharptooth was stalking Littlefoot for accidentally damaging his eye. Thus, he was being led towards the Great Valley as he followed their scent, or tracks, or whatever. But how successful do you really think he would have been, had they gone straight to the Great Valley, without stopping to make a premeditated assault on him?

I don't know, personally, but I suppose its possible. I'm actually asking because I was thinking about it while rewatching the original and decided to see what you guys think on the matter.

DarkHououmon · **Reply #1 on:** August 21, 2006, 10:17:58 PM

I never thought about the sharptooth stalking Littlefoot for damaging his eye. That is an interesting idea.

As for getting into the Great Valley, I think the sharptooth would have had problems getting through the tunnelway Littlefoot and his friends used to get into the valley. But I do agree with you that it may have been possible for him to get into the valley had he found an alternate path to get in. It's not impossible. Sharpteeth have done it before.

action9000 · **Reply #2 on:** August 21, 2006, 11:59:15 PM

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But I do agree with you that it may have been possible for him to get into the valley had he found an alternate path to get in. It's not impossible. Sharpteeth have done it before.

I agree as well.

I think that the idea behind "Sharpteeth Can't get into the valley" is more figurative than literal. Sharpteeth can, indeed physically get into the valley. The point is, why would one want to? The dinosaurs in the Valley are highly defensive, and work together very well. There is such an abundance of plant-eaters that even a small herd of sharpteeth would have difficulty taking on a group in the Valley. There is probably safer prey elsewhere.

Malte279 · **Reply #3 on:** August 22, 2006, 03:08:07 AM

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I never thought about the sharptooth stalking Littlefoot for damaging his eye. That is an interesting idea.

There is one land before time book which suggests this. According to that book sharptooth lost one eye when he followed chased Littlefoot through the thorny thicket.
There is a scene in the movie which really looks like something happened to the eye and in many of the later scenes it looks like the eye is closed (while in some other scenes both eyes seem to be intact). It is not unlikely that Don Bluth had such an idea in mind, as he had a problem seeing sharptooth following his instincts and nature's law as a true villain. Maybe Mr. Bluth did think of revengefulness as an evil trait to be ascribed to the sharptooth. Also we know that many sharptooth scenes which were considered too scary were cut from the movie. Perhaps (this is only a guess) there might be something more explicit about his eye in it.
As for the sharptooth being a thread to the Great Valley, it is the sequels which suggest that he wouldn't be a thread. In the sequels we have the Valley dinosaurs of all kinds team up against even two sharpteeth invading the Great Valley (LBT 2) and defeating them unscratched.
The end of the original movie does not suggest such a "team work" between the different kinds in the Great Valley. They stand apart from each other in the final scenes. In general the original movie's sharptooth seemed to be more of a thread than most of the sequel sharpteeth. On the other hand we saw the havoc one sharptooth of old was about to cause in LBT 6 before the lone dinosaur turned up. We also saw the stampede and panic which the mere rumor of a sharptooth's presence caused in LBT 7 (when Ducky was abducted).
So in spite of what most sequels show I think that the sharptooth, while unable to ruin the Valley for the dinosaurs, could still make it a much less habitable place for them. I mean would you enjoy living in a place where you might be killed and eaten whenever you are hanging around with some great, strong, big, scary guys too keep of the even scarier guy

The very same book which suggests the story about sharptooth's eye also suggests that he really was a potential thread to the Great Valley. I don't have the book at hand right now, but once I do I can check for the lines concering this (though they might not be too illuminating as of course they are not about the situation in the Valley itself).

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #4 on:** August 23, 2006, 07:18:25 PM

Of course, revenge can make even a leafeater dangerous. A part of me still believes part of the motive Littlefoot had for killing Sharptooth was revenge.

(Note that I said "PART of the motive". I'm sure there's more than one reason Littlefoot had for killing him.

) He and his friends have been proven to be dangerous to those sharpteeth, despite their much smaller size. :^.^:

WeirdRaptor · **Reply #5 on:** August 27, 2006, 02:56:53 PM

All good points, everyone. Thanks.

trexmaster · **Reply #6 on:** August 29, 2006, 08:55:48 AM

Although a thorny liana hitting my eye would certainly damage it in reality, it doesn't appear to me that the sharptooth's eye received any injury. Several times, later in the movie, we see the eye that got hit open and in intact condition.

Malte279 · **Reply #7 on:** August 30, 2006, 10:46:14 AM

I think the movie is kind of inconsistent on this. You are correct in saying that there are scenes in which both eyes seem to be intact. There are some however in which one eye seems to be closed. Unfortunately I don't have a screenshot of such a scene at hand, but they are there.
I have the land before time book at hand know, in which the loss of sharptooth's eye is described. This is what it says:

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Sharptooth was at their heels, and they could feel the ground tremble. Littlefoot and Cera cowered in the center of the brambles, thinking they were safe, but Sharptooth chewed and ripped through the twisted boughs. Littlefoot could fel the monster's hot breath on his tail. Leaping up to get away he got caught in some thorny black branches. Sharptooth bore down on him with evil glee.
At the very last moment Littlefoot freed himself. One of the hard thorny branches snapped back and hit sharptooth right in the eye. The monster bellowed in pain and reared back from the brambles. Then, with a terrible fury, he plunged back into the thicket, searching for the puny creature that had dared to injure him.

Just a bit later it reads:

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Closer and closer the monster came. Although one of his eyes was swollen shut, he was growling softly, enjoying his moment of revenge.

The scene in which sharptooth chases Littlefoot and the others out of the sharptooth footprint includes the following line:

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With another terrible cry, the big beast thundered toward them, his enormous mouth wide open and his one good eye glinting with hatred.

Finally there is yet another mention during the final fight with the sharptooth:

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Petrie saw what was happening and he whistled in fury as he once more zoomed at Sharptooth, landing on his head. He put one wing over Sharptooth's good eye and held on for dear life. [...] Petrie was getting tired holding on to Sharptooth's face, and his wing fell away from the monster's eye. Now that he could see what he was doing, Sharptooth roared in rage and charged at the rock wall - and Petrie.

There are several illustrations (not screenshots) in the book showing sharptooth's eye swollen shut. Some movie scenes show the same swollen eye, while in some others it looks just fine.

DarkHououmon · **Reply #8 on:** August 30, 2006, 03:46:14 PM

Screenshots I took where the sharptooth has only one eye open.

WeirdRaptor · **Reply #9 on:** August 30, 2006, 05:31:02 PM

Yeah, we see the hurt eye intact, because you can only get away with so much in a G rated film. They kept his eye shut enough to show us that Littlefoot hurt it, but whenever it opened, they probably weren't allowed to show a scratched up eye.

Malte279 · **Reply #10 on:** August 31, 2006, 03:05:45 AM

Great DarkHououmon! These are perfect examples for the scenes I was talking about. Thanks a lot for taking these shots and sharing them with us here

You are probably right about the G rated film WR. There are other scenes in which the right eye of the sharptooth looks fine (best example when Cera almost runs into that eye at the bottom of the divide). We can only speculate about the scenes which were cut out as they were considered too scary for kids. It is as likely as not that there was some further "information" on Sharptooth's eye.

NewOrder · **Reply #11 on:** September 02, 2006, 03:57:26 PM

Back to the topic, I think there's something we're forgeting, most of the leafeaters who live in the great valley are very big, some many times larger in size when in comparison with a T-Rex. If they found a way in, why shouldn't the sharpteeth find their way into the great valley? Sharpteeth are smarter than leafeaters, they could track them down and find an entrance into the great valley without any difficulty...
Besides, having a constant and growing population of leafeaters could only do worse for the great valley, it would become over populated and ultimatly there wouldn't be enough food for everyone. I know this type of thinking is too analytical and scientific, but when discussing if the sharptooth from the original movie could get in, my answer is why couldn't he? (Being dead might be a bit of a problem

) I'm surprised more sharpteeth haven't reached the great valley, expecially does raptors from lbt 3, they could very well snick in the night and have a little midnight snack. Anyway, this is a kids movie :^.^:

Malte279 · **Reply #12 on:** September 02, 2006, 05:45:32 PM

I suppose the sharpteeth don't really have a good reason to enter the Great Valley. Why would they want to get into this place where all those big leafeaters team up against them? So long the Mysterious Beyond provides enough easy prey for them (which seems to be the case looking at the sceleton landscapes in LBT 2 and 3 as well as the fact that there seem to be quite a few migrating herds) there is no real point for any sharptooth to try to get into the Valley (which they most definitely enter if a big longneck can). I suppose the known entrances of the Great Valley are kind of monitored (or blocked as in LBT 2) so any intruder would soon have to face a whole lot of dinosaurs defending that place where they mean to stay. It seems much easier to go after stragglers from herds or scavenge on those who didn't stand the hardships of the Mysterious Beyond. The parents of Chomper could have easily tried to stay in the Valley (not like they were chased right out of it), but they DECIDED to leave. I suppose the few big sharpteeth which made it into the Valley with the intention to stay must have been kind of speacial in being either extremely dumb, or else extremely, strong or self-confident. It is indicated that the legendary sharptooth from LBT 6 (the one defeated by the lone dinosaur) was quite unique. Apart from that one we only ever have Chomper's parents (looking for their son), and the LBT 11 sharpteeth (who used a newly discovered entrance of which they possibly didn't even know where it would lead them) enter the actual Great Valley. There are the other sharpteeth from LBT 6 of course, but I never had the impression that they were really IN the Valley, but rather in a kind of frontier of the Valley which doesn't seem to be populated by large dinosaurs (so why would sharpteeth want to stay there for a longer time?).
I think sharpteeth don't get into the Valley because they don't want to take that unnecessary risk. Looking at the many sceletons in the immediate surroundings of the Great Valley I wonder if perhaps dinosaurs who realize that their end is very close decide to go into the Mysterious Beyond voluntarily if they still can. That way the ecosystem would be kept healthier than if they were, well, decomposing in the Valley and sharpteeth would have no point to try to get in while there is still this source of food.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #13 on:** September 03, 2006, 09:07:56 AM

I think the sharpteeth are indeed too smart to not enter the valley. Without proper backup, your bond to get your butt kicked, or in the case of the LBT6 sharpteeth, killed.

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Looking at the many sceletons in the immediate surroundings of the Great Valley I wonder if perhaps dinosaurs who realize that their end is very close decide to go into the Mysterious Beyond voluntarily if they still can. That way the ecosystem would be kept healthier than if they were, well, decomposing in the Valley and sharpteeth would have no point to try to get in while there is still this source of food.

Hmm, I wonder if Grandpa Longneck was planning on leaving the valley in LBT4. I mean, it did seem like his time was near.

EDIT: Hey Malte, now that I look at those readings from the book, it definately makes Sharptooth seem like a real villian. Even if he wasn't a sharptooth, I wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley.

Also, do you know where I can get a copy of that book? I've been meaning to ask. :^.^:

Malte279 · **Reply #14 on:** September 03, 2006, 09:31:53 AM

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Hmm, I wonder if Grandpa Longneck was planning on leaving the valley in LBT4. I mean, it did seem like his time was near.

True, and as he didn't make any such effort it could be interpreted as contradicting my theory. However, Littlefoot's grandpa wasn't able to go anywhere anymore. He was struck quite suddenly with an illness and couldn't move anymore.

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EDIT: Hey Malte, now that I look at those readings from the book, it definately makes Sharptooth seem like a real villian.

The book adds revengefulness as an evil aspect to the sharptooth. Many however would not even consider this revengefulness as evil. "Eye for an Eye, a tooth for a tooth" (I dislike that part of the bible). Anyway, revengefulness is at least a vicious traid which cannot be justified through the circle of life.

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Also, do you know where I can get a copy of that book? I've been meaning to ask.

While I don't think the book is printed anymore, it is offered at Ebay relatively frequently. It is sure worth some bucks. Apart from a nicely told version of the originial movie (including scenes that were cut or altered in the movie) it has many gorgeous illustrations as well.
One auction which includes the book is running out in 20 minutes from now. At the moment there is no other offer for that book, but generally it is quite often to be found at ebay.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #15 on:** September 03, 2006, 03:38:24 PM

I doubt it's printed anymore. Since it's been nearly 20 years since the movie was made, there may be little point in printing any more copies.

I guess I'm going to have to get the next offer. After my last post, I couldn't get back on for 5 hours.

*waits patiently for next offer.*

WeirdRaptor · **Reply #16 on:** September 03, 2006, 06:49:40 PM

I will be paying eBay a visit quite often as well. I hope I don't end up bidding against you.

Malte279 · **Reply #17 on:** September 04, 2006, 02:04:10 AM

Don't you worry. I've been checking LBT ebay auctions for years now. There is one auction including the book more often than not. Exchange ebay names, come to an "agreement" and I'm sure before long you'll both end up with your copy of the book.

There are two different cover versions by the way (while I don't suppose there is any difference about the content).
In one case it is a brown cover with an imprint of Littlefoot in one corner. His outlines are red (that's the version I have). The other one has an illustration in the same style as the illustrations you will find in the book.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #18 on:** September 04, 2006, 10:04:13 AM

I hope they'll let me pay in cash or check. I don't have any other way of paying someone.

I'll be going to eBay daily and as often as possible. Just so you know WR, I'm willing to pay $1,000 for it.

You up to challenging me? :^.^:

action9000 · **Reply #19 on:** September 04, 2006, 01:56:08 PM

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Just so you know WR, I'm willing to pay $1,000 for it.

Whew, Pokeplayer! :blink: The highest I would got is *maybe* $100, so you don't need to worry about me!

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