So Mr. Threehorn. Topsy, Daddy Topps. One of the moments that spell him out is the “Standing Tough” song in the third movie. The song lays out that because life’s tough, one has to be tougher to survive. That means making hard, fast decisions and sticking with them even if they are ruthless. In the context of the third movie, if that means some who need water more than others have to suffer in the regulated drinking regime, so be it. Somewhere along the line, his observance about the cold hard facts of survival melded with stereotypes about other species. He seems to think he’s only being a “straight talker” when he expresses such prejudice. I don’t know if this mindset helped him before but when it doesn’t work in the valley, he gradually tones it down.
He doesn’t seem to be as much of a “straight talker” when it comes to the more feelsy part of things. As can be seen with his first reunion with Tria and his attempt to talk to Cera about the relationship in the 11th movie, he trips over his own words when talking about softer matters. This can be seen earlier in the 5th and 6th movie where, confronted by his claim Littlefoot was to blame for leading Cera away and that Doc might be the source of bad luck, he clumsily backtracks. I don’t know if he was taught such soft emotion is weakness or found some of those emotions difficult to deal with, but he isn’t always graceful with them. With the latter, maybe he represses what happened to Mrs. Threehorn and Cera’s sisters because it’s too traumatic to wrestle with. Even if he doesn’t think about it, it probably motivates his protectiveness of Cera.
Not that he’s a complete stranger to expressing softer emotions, as seen in the TV episodes “The Great Log Running Game” and “The Bright Circle Celebrations.” Even when he’s Being Wrongô, he’s quite a sweet dad to Cera and I can see why Cera can be so defensive of him. How he interacts with Tria and Tricia at times is quite cute too. He really treasures them and wants to do his best to make them safe and happy.
It’s interesting to observe how he gradually expands his circle of protection from Cera to the rest of her friends. Though he isn’t always fond of him, he’s quick to defend all of them during danger. This even includes Ruby and Chomper. Whatever his reservations about the latter, it doesn’t seem to occur to him to not protect the sharptooth youth along with the others. From his comment in movie 14th about his doubt about having Chomper help track down Littlefoot’s gang, he still has some distrust of Chomper. Though there, I think Mr. Threehorn is expressing distrust of Chomper’s sharptooth nature, though he might have some fondness for Chomper himself. That kind of doublethink wouldn’t surprise me for someone like him. I can’t help but be amused by the image of him interacting with Chomper’s parents. I think there might be some snark-to-snark combat there, especially with Daddy Sharptooth.
From how he talks about how old he is, I surmise he’s in the threehorn equivalent of his forties. Change for him seems to go slow but I do have the feeling he won’t be as hardheaded or prejudiced as he got older. He could still use his whiplike voice and snap decision making but hopefully far more wisely. He might not always be accepting of the weirdness Littlefoot and the others get into but he’ll be more able to roll with it (“You’re helping an alien from planet what?...sure, whatever, as long as they don’t eat anyone.”).
Those are all my thoughts on Mr. Threehorn. I’m not as sure about my grasp of his character, so hopefully I’m not too far off.
