Ah, there are a few alterations I'd prefer, but this is the one that screams "Change me!" the most as far as I can tell. Of course this: my opinion. This is not: a fact I know that not everyone feels the same one. So please, if everyone else likes these parts, great! I think no less of anyone for a simple matter of the differeing of one's opinions, so please respond thus, and please don't feel that I'm "bashing" a scene you may like. I just think that they could use improvement. Ahem:
Movie: The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water.
Scenes: The times Mo saves the whole gang twice and just Littlefoot once.
Explanation of first time: The "bad swimmer" swam up to the surface, ready to gobble one or more of the gang, but Mo saved them by tying a vine to his tail so he couldn't quite get to them.
My reason for disliking it: Nobody ever found out Mo saved them there. In fact, Cera got angry at Mo because she thought his warning was just him laughing.
He thinks this whole thing is funny.
So because of Mo, we have the rest of IX, along with X-XIII and the episodes, but he gets no special positive attention for it, only the opposite. It is very clear that Mo does not want praise, nor does he do things for that, because if so, he would have asked for it.
Mo is one of those guys that does things because they are right, not to get thank-yous in return. But those types should be thanked all the more, and the fact that the movie ends with the gang still oblivious to the first save Mo made for them, well, I feel bad for him and I'm angered as well. I don't use this word often, so you'll understand my emphasis. I "hate" every time one character saves another or multiple ones, and the savees never find out.
Yeah, the viewers know, so we can appreciate them. But viewers can't thank someone in a screen. It is disheartening seeing such deeds go without notice, for I feel for things like saving others' lives is never something that should be hidden from other characters in the show, and especially the ones who are breathing because of it. I just can't stand that.
How I would change it: Perhaps this one simple, extra, innocent comment from Mo after the gang is safe. "Mud brothers all okay? That really close. Mo hoped to stop that "bad swimmer" before it get you."
That would take of the "problem" right there. Then others would know why they're alive right then, and would surely have plenty of kind things to say to him about that. My way would show that Mo didn't ask for a thank-you, he only wanted to make sure his mud brothers were okay and that he did what he could to ensure that.
Another thing confused me.
Explanation of second time: I know the gang saw Mo save them the second time, you know, when they're all in that log and they see the "bad swimmer" nearly upon them. Mo slams his mouth shut at the last moment With the kids looking out, I doubt they missed that save at least.
How I would change it: Would a repeat of Ducky's simple
Thank you for saving me.
that she offered Spike for merely pulling her out of a small hole really be too much to ask here too? Onlt this time that statement can be used literally.
On my last word of the "saving/grattitude factor."
Explanation of third time: After Mo saves Littlefoot from drowning, Mo says how beautiful Littlefoot's world is. Littlefoot says,
I know. Thanks Mo.
I can't tell if he is thanking Mo for the compliment of his world, or how Mo just saved his life.
How I would change it: A little grammar change will clear that right up. "I know it's beautiful. Thanks Mo. And I wouldn't be able enjoy it anymore if not for you just now." That takes all confusion out quite nicely, I think.
I'm sorry for this extreme passion of mine, but the element in shows and stories that bother me the most are when characters do something really nice for others, like saving their lives, and not only don't get thanked, but no one is ever made aware that it happened. Yes, heroes and heroines are usually defined by doing what is right for that reason alone, but with all the creative authors in the world, there must be some way for the others to find out what happened.
This is what I'd change more than anything. Most people here know that I must thank people when they do things for me because you all deserve nothing less for taking your time to do that. Making sure gratitude is given where and when it's due is something that is apart of me. When I see someone going to all kinds of trouble for others and getting no gratitude, it grieves me. In real life, I can whisper, "Yeah, she appreciated you doing that, she just didn't know how to say it." In a cartoon though, no such interaction is a possiblity.
Do you realize how badly I just wanted to pull Mo aside and say, "Mo, they all thank you from the bottoms of their hearts, knowing they still beat on account of you. They are just children though, so appreciation can be neglected in expression, but they do think the world of you for what you did, and how much you risked to do it."
Whenever I see any forgotten gratefullness, be it movie, show, or story, where it is due of the highest respect, like here, just know beforehand that I will be saddened greatly by it. Such things should not be. How can I not speak against them?
I would also bring up my distaste for Littlefoot getting Cera that green food but saying nothing so Cera thought that she got it, because I have much to say on that as well. I'll have to discuss that elsewhere though since this thread specifically asks for sequals, and this happens in movie I. Later.
