In movie number three, there was a problem in the Great Valley- a lack of water. The adults handled this by arguing for an extended period of time, which accomplished nothing. The kids also had a problem- their peers, or, the bullies, were heading into danger. Littlefoot did not hesitate, left the valley, then saved the mean teenagers. So, in retrospection, the adults couldn’t handle their problem while the kids jumped right into theirs and solved it. Isn’t that teaching kids that careful planning is a waste of time and rushing into danger is the solution? Furthermore, it might make kids not worry about being reckless, as their parents will just fix everything. I mean, I once made a thread in this section comparing The Lion King to The Land Before Time. Well, here’s a difference, making The Lion King’s example of this more appropriate for developing minds.

In The Lion King, Simba recklessly charges into the unknown, and because of that, he was nearly killed. The gang of five was also nearly killed for wandering off. So what was the difference, you ask? Simba got a royal scolding from his father. Mufasa gave a huge lecture that taught kids what can happen if you head into danger. The adults in The Land Before Time? Hm. “This is no time to go exploring.” Really? Is that all? Just like the adults failed to respond to a problem, they failed to chide their children and reveal just how wrong it was for them to leave like that. Hyp got reprimanded the worst, but the only complaint his father made about him leaving was that his departure was a distraction to solving the water problem. “Duh, dad?” “Yeah?” “I’m going to enter a near death situation.” “Nah, don’t do that! It might distract me!” The full concept of the danger was never passed down from parent to child. The parents simply took care of the sharpteeth, and all was fine. So, kids were glorified as being the ideal characters and the authority and wisdom of adults was thrashed in this film by making it seem like not planning is the way to get things done, and doing dangerous things will simply cause your parents to bail you out. Did the head writer have parent issues…?

The kids were like John Smith from Disney’s Pocahontas, the tinysauruses were the Indians, and the adults were the other white men. Both groups could not accept the other on equal terms and wanted to be as far away from each other as possible. The white men (the LBT grownups) wanted to drive away the Indians (the tinysauruses) while John Smith (the kids) found peace with both sides at once. Whoa, hold the phone. This isn’t LIKE the Pocahontas movie. It IS the Pocahontas movie. The savages song from Pocahontas is just like the creepy crawlies song from the LBT movie. I can just see the director, trying to think of a plot for movie eleven, then his little daughter tugs on his pants and asks him to watch a movie with her. He refuses for days, then finally accepts, having found no ideas. As he watches Pocahontas, his eyes lights up, and he calls the writer team up. Sadly, the father never finishes the movie with his daughter. I mean, seriously, the plot theme was just like that Disney movie

Quote from: GreyLizard226 on April 26, 2023, 03:08:47 AM

But you called him a “cowardly flightless nobody” in the original and basically said that he was unlikeable before LBT 7. So being a smaller sidekick character meant nothing in 1-6?

Just to clarify that, he wasn't a "cowardly flightless nobody" in MY eyes, but rather in the eyes of most other characters except the Gang, particularly in Flyer society.  My unfinished Petrie prequel story goes all in on this, stating that Petrie's inability to fly would surely have been considered a shameful disgrace in the eyes of other Flyers prior to the events of the first movie.

They ended up bringing bad luck to the Great Valley as they were the ones who broke Saurus Rock,

Okay, everyone.  After thoroughly analyzing the movie frame-by-frame multiple times and having to re-watch infamous, cringe-worthy scenes (some of them no less than five times), I have the results for each character's screen time for the original Land Before Time!

Fair warning: I ended up discovering a startling surprise that may make us all never look at this movie the same way again ...






No, your eyes are not deceiving you.  Even I thought for a moment that Vegas Pro had left me cross-eyed, but the editing system speaks nothing but the truth ...

Ducky has more screen time than Cera!  MORE THAN TWO MINUTES no less! 

Even though Ducky was formally introduced to the audience much later than Cera, the Threehorn's absence from most of the final battle coupled with Ducky being the bait for Sharptooth essentially allowed the Swimmer to overtake the Threehorn for second place in screen time.

Rooter was on screen for only 73 seconds, but that was all he needed to deliver his powerful message about the great Circle of Life.

I was honestly expecting slightly bigger numbers for Sharptooth, but given that a big chunk of scenes ended up being cut from the movie, I guess it's no wonder his screen time was cut down to just over 4 minutes.

As for the siblings, those are credited as a combination of the siblings from each of the Gang's families.  The only reason I counted them was because they are related to the main characters, even though Cera's siblings will never be seen again (their shared combination of 14 seconds ALL during Cera's hatching scene, shockingly).  Ducky's siblings never really become supporting characters, either, but we know very well that Petrie's siblings eventually will. 

Littlefoot's grandparents were just utterly confusing throughout the time I studied their scenes.  This is actually the only film in the series where they have the scientifically correct coloring (based on gender), as these were mysteriously swapped out from the second movie onward.  Their numbers were simply based on assumption after I decided to go with my gut.

Of course, though, Littlefoot is unsurprisingly far ahead of everyone, his screen time almost doubling that of the runner-up.  It should be noted, though, that most of the movie was essentially being seen through his perspective, so it should come as no surprise that Littlefoot the fearless Longneck leader of the Gang starts off the series seated on the throne as Screen Time King.  The question is, though, will he stay up there throughout the entire series given just how many sequels there are?

That's all for now, though.  I'll see you later with my next post, where we dissect the characters' screen time in The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure! 

First of all, nice pic @DiddyKF1!

Alright, it's Petrie! Everyone's favorite third-person speaker and quivering flyer. Like Ducky, he has a goofy speech impediment which lends him much, much endearment.

I've mentioned this before and even chatted with Sovereign about this once on Discord, but I'll say it again: I personally prefer Jeff Bennett over Will Ryan as Petrie, so much so that the very depiction of Petrie that many of the more enthusiastic fans tend to remember is Bennett and the sequels' take on him — compare "My name Petrie!" in the first film compared to "Me Petrie!" in pretty much all the sequels. There's just something about his more broken English and more childish (and pouty at times) voice in the later sequels just makes him more endearing, and it's usually this more-broken squeaky speech that we remember fondly about him.

Perhaps part of the reason that is so is because the pacing of the first LBT after its script was cut all over the place does not lend itself well to Petrie. Significantly, he lacks a hatch scene when everyone else has one, which means he first appears almost halfway in the film's runtime as a result, and he tends to share scenes with Ducky, who usually steals his thunder as a result. He does get a spectacular end scene with Sharptooth where he learns how to fly at last, but that is probably his singular standout magnum opus scene in the whole film. He's not bad per se, he just doesn't stick out as much.

Petrie in general gets a whole lot more development and the chance to shine in the numerous sequel films, especially in Stone of Cold Fire and Great Day of the Flyers where they delve into his history and relationship with his family. In fact, in the sequels in general, they focus on the entire gang as a whole, which coupled with his newfound kinda-overpowered flight as well as his family finally gives him quite the spotlight. Him being the sole one able to fly usually grants him special scenes where the others rely on his aerial abilities. And like countless others have said before me, they also take his trait of being brave when the situation demands for it from the first film and use it in spades. For being such a lovable coward, he really faces up to his fears quite a lot! Seeing those scenes where his face and voice turns determined is always a spectacle to behold.

So yeah, my perspective of Petrie has improved significantly over the years, to the point where he's now my favorite of the whole bunch. In fact, I relate to him a lot — I'm dead terrified of ghosts, heights, and lightning too. So, uh, may the winds be with you forevermore, Petrie!