As I've discovered lately, I am a total sucker for morals that provide value to real life kids and adults, as well as cheesy, but meaningful emotional beats. Now, I'd have suggested Time of Great Giving as being underrated for reasons of Topps' small, but impactful arc there, but people on this forum, ie long-time fans, seem to actually quite like that one, so I'll set it aside.

Hard agree on Saurus Rock being underrated. Yes, there are western elements, but honestly, I find them not overbearing outside of the one song. In a dinosaur culture where you have no writing, I have to imagine that storytelling and oral tradition is a major factor, thus what we'd recognize as creation myths as well as western-style tales of heroic loner dinosaurs. It's not really focused on, but there being mythos of sorts it's a neat aspect that I enjoy seeing. Littlefoot's grandpa getting spotlight alongside Doc is really touching, particularly the ending. I quite like Doc too, but that's more of a matter of taste (even if I've wished he was a therizinosaur rather than a diplodocus for a long time now). It's also nice seeing Cera in an older sibling role long before Tricia came into the picture. We see her grappling with being annoyed by Dinah and Danah and genuinely loving and caring for him, though, it's not as interesting here as it's not given so much focus.

On that note, tentatively agreeing on Tinysauruses and Great Day of the Flyers. I really, really wish we'd seen more change within the characters' lives like we did with Cera through dealing with a step-parent and a new sibling. I certainly can't think of any bigger permanent change to the status quo of a particular character. We meet lots of new characters, but the majority are in one movie before disappearing forever and having no effect. Tria, however, becomes a pretty consistent presence, at least after her introduction and into the TV show. I know it's not possible to incorporate every new character consistently, but it would have been nice to see some of them more often before we stopped getting new content consistently.

THERE WERE DVD GAMES? I didn't I'm afraid, but now I'm very interested. I love the DVD games and other special features of the 2000s, your Harry Potters and Grinches and Disney movie DVDs with all kinds of fun, weird goodies.

Yes. Easiest answer I've ever given. But not if they're going to include the dumb edits made to movies IV and VII. Seems very likely to me that that would be the case now, with those being the most recent versions of those films.

Topps is a character who I have a lot of thoughts on that I have trouble organizing coherently. I've seen him land on a lot of top most hated characters list, citing him as a jerk and a closed-minded bigot, and yes, those things definitely apply. Despite that, I can't help but find myself liking the guy, and I think I've got at least some idea of why exactly that is. Principally, that Topps is deeply flawed, and yet what makes for a flaw in the Great Valley probably helped his family survive for generations outside of the Valley.

It's a weird thing to talk about because of the major contrast in tone between the first movie and the sequels. You get the impression in the sequels that the Mysterious Beyond, eh, it's not so bad, these children are constantly running out into it and coming back entirely unscathed. Despite that, it's made pretty clear in the first film that the world is harsh and difficult and if you make a wrong move, you're liable to starve or be eaten or worse. In that context, Topps' attitude of rejecting anything strange starts to make sense. You probably don't want other herbivores hanging around and eating what you'd consider your food or your children's food when there's barely enough to go around as it is. He certainly expresses that in a bigoted way, but I'd say it comes back to a very strong survival instinct. It doesn't make it right to antagonize Littlefoot for playing with Cera, but it does make for a good character motivation. Also, just being a cranky, pushy, stubborn jerk would have been a good way to get other competing dinosaurs out of his way when he needed food or water. We all remember the longnecks who ran past the gang and ate a small grove of green trees without a thought. Maybe it wasn't right, but that seems like the kind of thing these animals did to survive and propagate their families, Topps being an extension of that.

Now we put Topps in a peaceful, plentiful environment like the Great Valley in the sequels. It's an adjustment, to say the least, and it definitely brings out Topps' threehorn bias into sharper focus. Movie 3 is definitely what sticks out most in my mind for Topps character development. We really see Topps attitude of "Do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means being harsh" and his general stubbornness come into play. He's not necessarily wrong about "standing tough" and rationing water so that no one goes thirsty, but the way he enforces it is clearly exacerbating an already bad situation where everyone is on edge. It's also interesting to me that Topps (and the other adults for that matter) goes straight to rationing without any attempt to find out why the water stopped, but I imagine that's not so much meant as a character thing so much as an excuse for the kids to go looking on their own. Anyway, through the whole drought, Topps is clearly thinking first about the welfare of Cera, but he's, not to put too fine a point on it, completely godawful at communicating that. Given the line in his song about his father teaching him to be tough, I have to infer that he's grown up with the idea that when you're hard on your kids or yell at them in anger, it's a sign of caring. Topps yells because he's concerned, but, until he sees Hyp's father doing the same to Hyp, it's lost on him that that's not the right way to be. I really do think that that, along with Grandpa Longneck saving him and Cera, is the quasi-turning point for Topps' sorta kinda character arc. Topps is still Topps and he can be a real jerk, but it's clear by movie 3 that he's at least trying to be more reasonable.

All that being said, I think I might just like Topps because he feels very real to me. He's a guy who's seriously stuck in ways of thinking that have allowed him to survive in the past that no longer necessarily work, and I know that I've known people like that, as a kid and an adult. Topps reminds me very much of some of my childhood friends' parents who did get angry and yell, even if they were otherwise very caring. Kids shouldn't have to deal with that, but the fact is that they do, and I think it's valuable to have a character who loves and cares for his daughter yet still suffers from those character flaws. Topps' talk in 3 about yelling at Cera too much and that not being the right way to raise a child really stuck with me as a kid and even now. I can imagine parents watching the movie with their kids and maybe even going, "Oh, crap, maybe this triceratops has a point." even if they might not have the exact same character flaws.  Topps is never depicted as a full-on villain (except for maybe the tooth episode of the TV show, but that was kind of a weird one), and having a terribly flawed, yet not full-on bad character can be a very powerful thing.

I ramble and I haven't even answered either of the prompt questions, but Topps is a character who fascinates me, despite him rarely having much focus at all. I'd call him surprisingly complex, given the low-budget, direct-to-video nature of the sequels. I used to really not like Time of Great Giving, but now it's among my favorites and Topps is a major factor in that. I also really like how the later sequels and TV show make his relationship with Cera more directly affectionate. Maybe it's intentional, maybe it's not, but I like to think that it's character growth. For all his threehorn boasting and bigotry towards other species, I don't think I'd ever want those qualities entirely stamped out. Certainly he's pretty mellow by the TV series, but you still see his gruff, closed-minded self when he sings about reality even as he's immediately proven wrong. So yeah, I like this jackwad threehorn dad, spiky, overgrown warts and all.

I would love to Strut get a redemption arc. 

I'll add to this Ozzy and Strut train. I'd have wanted them to get in an episode, but instead of Chomper, I'd be interested in seeing Ruby in a lead role talking to them.  Actually, the idea I'm about to pose would make a great add-on to an earlier concept I had where Topps is suspicious of Ruby because her kind is stereotyped as egg thieves. Also, all of this assuming that the two brothers aren't straight up dead at the end of LBT II, mauled, maimed, and disemboweled by Chomper's parents. This is preschool hours, the 8-9 AM slot when the show was still running, we can't have too much death.

Suppose Ozzy and Strut get separated in a cave-in or other earthshake related mishap, as the gang are so prone to. Strut is left with Ruby, maybe Ozzy's left with Chomper, but I'm focusing on the former. This would be a scenario a la Escape From the Mysterious Beyond. So the brothers are separated, but Strut and Ruby are still stuck in this cave, trying to find their way out. There's not much food, and Ruby's doing okay, she ate earlier, but Strut, thanks to pressure against eating greenfood from his brother, is hungry and struggling. They come across a small skylight with a pond where a bit of greenfood and maybe even some shellfish are thriving, and Ruby suggests Strut have some. He's reluctant and surprised at Ruby's suggestion.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you things like us're supposed t'eat eggs?" he'd ask.

"No," Ruby would reply. "They told me that some fast runners do and some don't. Fast runners just like you even, all greens and greens all the time. You must have come from very far through the mysterious beyond."

Strut is a little taken a back and in-denial after hearing this, but the ferns around the pond do look pretty appetizing and one bite couldn't hurt, right? Of course, he takes one bite and is gorging himself because finally Ozzy isn't around to bully him out of it.

Ruby, feeling a bit sorry for the hungry guy, grabs a clam out of the water and places it down next to where he's eating.

"Try it," she insists. "It's got a hard shell, just like an egg. You can crunch right through it if you like crunching as much as I do."

Strut is skeptical, but tries at her behest and what do you know, it's not half bad. Strut likes the greenfood, but his brother might just really appreciate the clam. Ruby resolves to take one to Ozzy, just to see.

That's about where my specific ideas end. Yada yada, there's a plot A and plot B, one of which is Strut and Ruby, the other of which is probably keeping Ozzy away from a stolen egg. At the end, Strut gives his brother a piece of his mind and Ruby gives Ozzy the clam. What do you know, Ozzy thinks it's pretty darn good, maybe even better than an egg, but he's a stubborn struthi, so maybe not too.

Pretty rough ideas, but I thought this would be neat, seeing as Ruby and Ozzy + Strut aren't too far off in LBT terms. Both fast runners and traditionally stereotyped as egg stealers when it seems reasonable that they could have been omnivorous and chosen not to eat others' offspring, like Strut and maybe even Ozzy would ultimately here. Definitely want that Strut redemption arc either way. I like to imagine that Strut's a bit desperate and loopy towards the end of LBT II because his brother won't let him eat anything. We all learn a valuable lesson about judging people about how they look and how people can change and all that good, moral stuff.

Funny thing, I've never really liked Ali all that much. I mean, I don't hate her, but I've never had any strong opinions on her at all. She's there for a movie (a movie I'm also lukewarm on), then she's gone, now she's back. Aight. I'm not terribly annoyed by her believing Rhett's bullcrap. Having personally been a rather gullible child, I find it understandable enough. Rhett is annoying, but eh, again, not much for strong feelings.

Chomper in this episode, however, is precious and I really enjoy him. I mean look at him. Again, I keep being surprised by the amount of expression that the animators put in when they don't have to. In this gif in particular, you can see Chomper taking in his friends' reactions to Cera's nonsense and deciding that it's socially acceptable to laugh as well. I find the movement especially interesting because of how much it stretches the model, maybe a little too much.

https://imgur.com/uJMKLkq

Also, this is a show aimed at a preschool age demographic, and, effectively, the youngest, most vulnerable kid in the group is very nearly straight up killed by a group of what you would think would be trustworthy adults. Now, I know, in context, it's a predator-prey dynamic, but man, that could end up being taken as pretty dark. As a five year old, imagining that a group of adults who don't understand the full situation could turn on you. To think that they were going to kill Chomper despite his pleas until the other kids showed up to explain. Poor Chomper is just a kid, the youngest of his friends, and is pretty much a victim of circumstance here. I dunno, I'm probably reading too much into this, but most of the peril so far has been environmental, lava, predatory animals, falling rocks and earthquakes, rather than what is effectively a group of people who we would intrinsically trust in the context of this world.

In nature, prey species will kill the young of their predators if given the chance, so the whole situation isn't unexpected, but man, what does it say about leaf-eater herds if we assume that they're given to killing sharptooth offspring? I mean, at once, I don't blame them, and I could totally see it in the harsh world of the original film. The sequels however? Where there's a lot more of a society with at least some consideration of ethics and learning to treat others with compassion? Might make the whole idea even more messed up.

Like others have said, not terribly much to comment on here, but I do really like how, despite Topps' continued threehorn superiority complex and temperamental nature, his relationship with Cera is far, far more outwardly affectionate compared to say, LBT III. Don't know if it's necessarily intentional development from that point, but I enjoy it nonetheless.

Also interests me that Littlefoot just kind of intuitively knows that only bipeds can take part in log running. I would think that would take some trial and error before the physics became clear to our dino crew, and I can't think of any other instances where the gang had to run on a log or something similar. It wouldn't be so strange to me if Littlefoot wasn't so specific about why only two-footers can log run. If he'd just been vague like "I don't know if I'd feel safe doing what Ducky's doing", it might have been less puzzling.

So, here's another episode where I don't have much to say story-wise, but lots to talk about visually. Although, one thing I do appreciate is Cera screwing up, losing Tria's stone, and then reacting by yelling at her, very much like a kid (or teenager) with a stubborn, angry character like Cera would, especially at a step-parent. It works out in the end, encouraging healthy resolutions, which I also appreciate.

Also, also, I have to make a note of how this is by far the most mortal peril I've ever seen in a preschool age aimed show. It seems like every episode or every other episode, the kids just barely escape being maimed, mauled, and murdered in various fun ways. The adults don't take it seriously, but man, the scene with all the kids climbing up to avoid the lava is still really tense, given that, again, this is a show that seems to be aimed at the 3-6 age range.

Okay, now the fun visual stuff! I'm very curious if different animation teams or even studios worked on different episodes because of how much disparity there is in animation quality and style between episodes or even scenes.


The very last shot of the episode seems oddly- stretched? Grandma and Grandpa Longneck's torsos seem a touch longer than they ought to be, and I found it a little distracting.



Also new in this episode: very obvious 3D models used for certain scenes, especially when the characters only need to do a walk cycle. Maybe it was less noticeable in the initial standard definition airings, but boy howdy, it is very, very noticeable on the 1080p Youtube uploads I've been watching. They don't even try to do the trick of only using the models at a distance, they're just up in your face at times, and it's like a cel-shaded PS2 game. Surprised no one seems to have mentioned as much.

I also made gifs! Because there's some pretty notable animation moments that stuck out to me, and really, describing or screenshotting them doesn't do justice. Not sure if or how to embed them, so I'll just be hyperlinking

Tricia rolling
One of the first things we see in the episode is Tricia doing- this. I mean, I understand what's happening and why, but man, Tricia's limbs go really rubbery and overly smooth at the end of the roll. It's like something out of Looney Tunes or My Little Pony, it's very strange to watch on loop.

Ruby spreading her arms
Again, this small bit of animation seems oddly smooth in a way I have a hard time describing. The animators did not have to have Ruby do this little gesture, they could have just had her hold her arms in an idle pose, but instead they did this. I have to wonder if the use of 3D models for certain scenes made time for little animation flair like this.

Cera and Ducky
Some very oddly expressive and smooth animation on Cera and Ducky here. Ducky's not entirely on model (she looks a lil' too much like Jiminy Cricket) but the expressions are absolutely on point. I love how Cera doesn't say a word, but her expressions say everything you need to know. Again, the animators did not have to put this much effort in, and usually you don't see this kind of detail in TV animation, even briefly. You don't even usually see this much detail in this show, which is why I have to wonder who animated all these little animation moments.

Echoing the sentiment that the episode would have benefited from a bit where Chomper explains Topps' cruel little prank and Tria says something along the lines of,  "I'm sure he was joking, but I will be having a word with him later."

She leaves him alone for two minutes and he's already off scaring kids off different species just because he can. What a guy.

Also, I find it very hard to believe that none of the leafeaters who have teeth ever lose them. When you're grinding down plant matter your whole life, that can be really, really hard on those teeth. Most mammals don't lose their teeth more than once, but toothed reptiles like crocodilians can fairly easy replace lost teeth. Now, crocodiles are predators, but they're also the closest relatives to our leaf-eating dinos, and having replaceable teeth strikes me as something that would be nothing but beneficial for herbivorous dinosaurs, just as they're beneficial in predatory ones.

Maybe everyone in the Great Valley was just in on the joke to make Chomper freak out for the day only to let him relax in the mud. Buncha jerks.

Hate is a strong word to use rather you should just use the term unhappy. If I were to say I was unhappy, it would have to go to Ozzy and Strut. At first, I wanted to close my eyes on stealing eating eggs, since it's nature laws. BUT. Since Strut wasn't mind to eat green food, I assume that they're some kind of omnivores: they WON'T die if they doesn't eat eggs (at least for days). But Ozzy wanted to eat something more tasteful. This made me very unhappy.
And for trying to kill childred just for fun... (and killing my favorite character!) I wish Chomper's parents killed you. No supise MYSELF killed one of you in my LBT fanuniverse. D:<
And I do NOT make excuses for Strut... He's idiotic, but still, he offered to do that thing to Littlefoot. :/

Your intuition is good, I'd say. In real life, struthiomimus was likely eating plants with maybe some omnivory, similar to a lot of modern herbivores. My headcanon is that Ozzy is just a weirdo struthi who's obsessed with eating eggs and drags his brother along too. Not to say Strut is entirely innocent, he sure does make threats of his own towards the end of the movie.

Another thought is that maybe Ozzy and Strut come from a "culture" of struthis who are egg-eaters, while other cultures tend towards plants. Kind of like different modern day killer whales pods having different diet preferences even when they live relatively close to one another. Either way, eating eggs when you clearly could eat plants is kinda messed up, yo. And I'd guess Ozzy and Strut probably are dead, considering we never see them again after they're chased by Chomper's parents.