Thank you very much, Kacie and excalibur.
And thank you for sharing these pictures, Flathead. Looks like you scanned the whole book.
Having looked at the images, one thing that surprised me is that the story is distinctly set in the late Jurassic period, as all of the dinosaurs in it (brontosaurus,
Ceratosaurus,
Stegosaurus,
Pterodactylus, ultrasaurus, and
Archaeopteryx) are from that period. I had expected the “Mesozoic melting pot” scenario, with species from all different periods thrown together, as is the case in LBT.
On the whole, I the book didn't remind me a whole lot of LBT, though I did notice certain similarities. The following are the main parallels I noticed:
ï Main character is a juvenile sauropod separated from his family and traveling to find them. (The little blue brontosaurus = Littlefoot)
ï Large predatory dinosaur(s) stalking the main character throughout his adventure. (The ceratosaurs = Sharptooth)
ï An old armored dinosaur who helps the main character. (The
Stegosaurus = Rooter)
ï A quirky flying creature who drops out of a tree. (The
Archaeopteryx = Petrie)
ï A mother sauropod hits the aforementioned predatory dinosaur with her tail. (The mother ultrasaurus = Littlefoot's mother)
ï Young dinosaurs of different species sleeping together (Little Blue with the ultrasaurs = the gang in the footprint)
Additionally, some of the artwork vaguely resembles the designs seen in LBT:
ï Some of the small background animals (namely the turtles).
ï Certain features of the dinosaurs, such as the eyes of the characters, the ring-shaped wrinkles around the ceratosaurs' shoulder sockets, the
Archaeopteryx's neck ruff, and the folds of skin where the dinosaurs' legs meet their bodies.
ï Aspects of the background, such as the vegetation, and the colors of the sky (which is often red, yellow, green, or an odd shade of blue).
ï On page 34, the young ultrasaurs adopt a stance very similar to Cera's “indignant” posture.
Of course, it is impossible to know how muchóif anyóof this was direct inspiration for LBT, and how much is simply coincidental.
In any case, this was very interesting. Thanks again, Flathead!
