The Gang of Five

The Land Before Time => Land Before Time TV Series (2007) => Topic started by: oogaboo on August 20, 2010, 02:31:14 PM

Title: "sandbox love"
Post by: oogaboo on August 20, 2010, 02:31:14 PM
Age: First of all, I love the word "sandbox love". And it fits for a kids show like this. Many fans come up with pairings involving Littlefoot, Ali, Cera, Ducky, and even petrie. If any "pairing" makes sense it would have to be the first obvious choices that I mentioned.
Nobody in that studio even shown how old they are in the first place. Okay maybe Spike is obvious, and the rest are kids, but Why am I constantly wondering how old they are? Because this is for an audience that simply won't care. Anybody that does care and have watched the first movie are pretty much dinosaurs themselves. I on the other hand, am not going to continue wasting my time figuring out their TRUE age unless the guys that created the characters tell me.

Ali and Littlefoot: Now this involves common sense if you are creating "sandbox love". First, give a good character development about the individual. What do they do together in their spare time, and how they handle certain situations outside of their friendship. I'm sure we got plenty of that in the fourth movie. (Which I found to be lackluster at best) But here are two things that many kids shows and movies in general don't have...CONTINUITY and EMOTION! Their relationship could have continued into the tenth movie but instead we get a wussy T-Rex, and a stranger that claims to be Littlefoots father. Would Don Bluth even tell you that littlefoot even has a father that truly cares? It's not uncommon for a father to leave while a mother won't mention anything about him.

Ali would've appeared more often in the tv series but again we are left in the dark. Here is another thing about her personality. In the fourth movie, she is shy, playful, and quite intelligent. (and very good with faces) But if she is so smart how come she thought Rhett, who is simply a worthless character used for a gimmick I call "testerone fight for a girl", is a hero? So the writers are telling me she is smart and guillible? It feels like her demeanor changed quietly in a matter of a few movies and tv shows. Not to mention that her voice sounds absolutely TERRIBLE! This is what I call "loose continuity". This happens very often in games, anime, movies, books, and especially certain kids shows. It’s simply too useful in a medium where stories have to be planned around serial releases and definite production budgets.

If any writers want to make a good kids film that makes sense for kids AND adults go back and watch movies like Toystory 3, Wall-E, UP, and How to train your dragon. You know what these movies have that The land before time sequels don't have?
Its called maturity! And That's all folks!
Title: "sandbox love"
Post by: Animeboye on August 21, 2010, 12:07:49 AM
Quote
  Age: First of all, I love the word "sandbox love". And it fits for a kids show like this. Many fans come up with pairings involving Littlefoot, Ali, Cera, Ducky, and even petrie. If any "pairing" makes sense it would have to be the first obvious choices that I mentioned.
Nobody in that studio even shown how old they are in the first place. Okay maybe Spike is obvious, and the rest are kids, but Why am I constantly wondering how old they are? Because this is for an audience that simply won't care. Anybody that does care and have watched the first movie are pretty much dinosaurs themselves. I on the other hand, am not going to continue wasting my time figuring out their TRUE age unless the guys that created the characters tell me.

I always saw Littlefoot and the gang as being around grade school age. So my guess is: Littlefoot, Ali, Cera, and Ducky are probably about eight. Petrie's behavior and poor grammar seem to suggest that he may be younger than the aforementioned four. However it's really difficult to say because we never see him hatch. Therefore he could be the oldest, or he could be the youngest after Spike. Anyway, my guess is that he's around seven. Spike is of course, the youngest, so I assume that he's either six or five.

Quote
It's not uncommon for a father to leave while a mother won't mention anything about him.

Well in a lot of kids movies(most notably Disney movies), the main character is usually always missing one parental figure. Aladdin didn't have any parents. Ariel didn't have a mother, neither did Jasmine. Bambi didn't have a father. And I don't remember if Simba had a mother or not. It's been so long since I've seen Lion King. Also, Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon didn't have a mother.





Quote
Ali would've appeared more often in the tv series but again we are left in the dark. Here is another thing about her personality. In the fourth movie, she is shy, playful, and quite intelligent. (and very good with faces) But if she is so smart how come she thought Rhett, who is simply a worthless character used for a gimmick I call "testerone fight for a girl", is a hero? So the writers are telling me she is smart and guillible? It feels like her demeanor changed quietly in a matter of a few movies and tv shows. Not to mention that her voice sounds absolutely TERRIBLE! This is what I call "loose continuity". This happens very often in games, anime, movies, books, and especially certain kids shows. It’s simply too useful in a medium where stories have to be planned around serial releases and definite production budgets.

It's not exactly about continuity. The characters were changed drastically in the TV series. Ali's character was smart, brave, and very strong. But in the TV series she was changed into a female stereotype. For example, she rejects her friends for "the bad boy", believes everything said bad boy tells her, and pretty much worships the ground he walks on. Nothing like the original Ali.

Quote
If any writers want to make a good kids film that makes sense for kids AND adults go back and watch movies like Toystory 3, Wall-E, UP, and How to train your dragon. You know what these movies have that The land before time sequels don't have?
Its called maturity! And That's all folks!

Oooooookay...
Title: "sandbox love"
Post by: Vek on August 21, 2010, 12:52:50 AM
Quote
Aladdin didn't have any parents

In the 3rd movie, his father is one of the main character. Kasim if i remember well.

Quote
And I don't remember if Simba had a mother or not.

Yes he have a mother: Sarabi
Title: "sandbox love"
Post by: Animeboye on August 21, 2010, 01:37:26 AM
Quote
In the 3rd movie, his father is one of the main character. Kasim if i remember well.

Aww yeah, that's right! I completely forgot about the sequels!

Quote
Yes he have a mother: Sarabi

Thanks for clearing that up. Like I said, I haven't seen Lion King or the Aladdin sequels since I was a kid.
Title: "sandbox love"
Post by: Pangaea on August 21, 2010, 02:03:39 AM
With all due respect, oogaboo, your dissertation here is sort of coming off as a rant (That's the way I see it, anyway). Most of us on the GOF agree that the LBT studios have made some major blunders in the movies and TV episodes (indeed in many cases it seems they just didn't care enough to rewatch the older movies to ensure continuity), and find many of them irritating, but the majority of us also feel that the series has enough good points that should not be denigrated as a whole for such mistakes. Your opinions are respected; if you don't like the sequels or the TV series, that's fine, but the way you are wording your views here just makes it sound like you are complaining about how the series was handled, and may be upsetting to some members, even if you did not intend any offense.

Quote from: oogaboo,Aug 20 2010 on  01:31 PM
Why am I constantly wondering how old they are? Because this is for an audience that simply won't care. Anybody that does care and have watched the first movie are pretty much dinosaurs themselves. I on the other hand, am not going to continue wasting my time figuring out their TRUE age unless the guys that created the characters tell me.
Forgive me, but what does this mean? I don't want to jump to conclusions, and know full well that I may be misinterpreting you, but this sounds a little insulting to the LBT fans who are curious about what the gang's ages are, and spend time discussing the subject. (What do you mean by calling them "dinosaurs"? In the sense of being ancient, oblivious, outdated, and doomed?) Again, it's fine if you disagree, but please try not to offend those who may have different opinions.

I must emphasize that I do NOT want to cause a dispute, and I apologize if I have misunderstood you. But even if that is the case, please try to be a little more tactful in stating your opinions in the future. Thank you.

Quote from: Animeboye,Aug 20 2010 on  11:07 PM
I always saw Littlefoot and the gang as being around grade school age. So my guess is: Littlefoot, Ali, Cera, and Ducky are probably about eight. Petrie's behavior and poor grammar seem to suggest that he may be younger than the aforementioned three. However it's really difficult to say because we never see him hatch. Therefore he could be the oldest, or he could be the youngest after Spike. Anyway, my guess is that he's around seven. Spike is of course, the youngest, so I assume that he's either six or five.
Personally, I've always interpreted Ducky as being younger than Littlefoot and Cera (which would have meant that either the swimmer shown hatching at the beginning of the first LBT wasn't Ducky, or the hatchings of the three characters were shown out of sequence). As for Petrie, like you said, it could go either way. In the fifth movie and beyond, his squeakier voice makes him sound younger than the others, in my opinion, but in the earlier movies I kinda thought he sounded older.

Just an observation about your guesses of the gang's ages: if Spike were to be five years old at any point in the series, the other members of the gang would have had to have only been two or three at the time of the first movie. It's possible that the dinosaurs age differently from humans, so your guess could still be accurate. At least two years must have passed since the first LBT and the sixth (in order for the Great Valley to have recovered from the events of III and V), so we know that the gang has aged more than that during the series.

I think I may be dragging the discussion off topic here. :oops Here's (http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=784) the thread for discussing the gang's ages, if anyone's interested.
Title: "sandbox love"
Post by: oogaboo on August 21, 2010, 07:15:57 AM
:blink: uh oh...I have become "misunderstandable".
I hope nobody barges into my house with their pitchforks about my opinions...
Yes pangaea, it is a bit of a rant. But its not what you say its how you say it. I can't express that through my computer.

When I say "dinosaurs" I mean it like this: I watched the original when I was 6. Sequel after sequel it felt like I was getting older while the series was getting younger. I like TLBT, but not enough to embrace it because the age group is not for me. So therefore I'm considered a "dinosaur". And again...I'm not willing to research ages of these characters unless the artists themselves tell me.

I don't want anymore misunderstandings, okay holmes? ;)




Title: "sandbox love"
Post by: F-14 Ace on August 22, 2010, 01:31:45 AM
Quote
Bambi didn't have a father.

Yes he did.  His father was the Great Prince.  He just didn't get a lot of screentime.
Title: "sandbox love"
Post by: Salvatore Blackheart on February 16, 2011, 04:50:52 AM
that¥s right