The only memory I never forget is one I never took part in because I had a class that night (the April Fool’s day where the admins got into an “argument” and started banning each other) so I really can’t share much about it.
What I’ve decided to share instead is a bit of how thankful I am of individuals that helped get the GOF off the ground, even before its official founding date. Some of here on the forum have known each for longer than some members have been alive. Malte and Jason (Littlefoot1616) have been good friends of mine for 17 years now. We got to know each other through Network54’s Land Before Time board. Eventually, I was able to convince Malte to help me run and set up what was going to be the largest (and accurate) Land Before Time site online (in 2002 mind you). Out of those talks came treestars.net and for its day, it was a good site. You have to remember the web was very different then and there was no reliable Land Before Time information site out there. Malte also was very kind to provide the first fan art for the site, and Jason offered some as well. We also put reviews and screen pictures (from VHS tapes, remember those) up on the site, which was unheard of at the time and not very common.
The forum’s creation was simply a feedback forum for those who wanted to comment on the art we posted. It was not intended to be a discussion forum. I already had another dinosaur themed message board online and didn’t feel I needed to have a second one. Nick22 came along and joined us on this feedback board and eventually Nick and myself decided to run a separate site called “Welcome to the Great Valley” with a really bright neon green and salmon coloring for text. I don’t know what we were thinking.
This message board, perhaps is about as close to the Gang of Five’s predecessor as they come. I cannot remember the founding date, save that it was 2002. As time went on, us four really kept these sites all updated and working. Eventually though it made no sense for me to run three message boards essentially overlapping thematically. The question became what to do, and Malte, Jason and I decided to keep putting our energy into the feedback board, which had grown by now to include discussion areas to keep people around. We also gave it a new name, The Gang of Five on October 12, 2003. Nick agreed to keep WTTGV online alongside it for historical purposes, and keep it going as long as it had activity. Eventually we moved off our original host onto invisionfree, and that is where the majority of our time has been spent of the 15 years we have been around.
If I didn’t have these three with me—Malte, Jason and Nick—there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have kept at it and decided to hang around to see the Gang of Five succeed. Together we managed to keep people interested and coming, offering them reviews and discussions of the LBT movies as they still were coming out at this time. Together we were able to build the concrete foundations of the board you all know and love today. While it is true that three of us have moved on to other things and are no longer active administrators of the forum, our friendship shows what great things can happen when we work together for the larger community.
Thank you Malte!
Thank you Jason!
Thank you Nick!
-Adam (Petrie/Chipper Blu-wolf)
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For a while there, I wasn't even sure if we would get that. Just waiting for a soundtrack re-release in better quality. An American Tail just got one, Balto has had one, so maybe LBT is next.
