Last week, I sent an email to the original film’s screenwriter, Stu Krieger (who Sovereign had contacted a couple of years ago). I asked him some questions about the oasis scene. We know it was going to be in the film, but we do not know when it was cut. So, I asked him if he knew about it, and if so, when it was cut. I wanted to know if it ended up being animated.
Hi ——,
It's always nice to hear from an LBT fan. As with any film, there were numerous iterations in the editing stages so there were a number of scenes that made it as far as the pencil-test animated version that didn' ultimately wind up in the film that was released. Some were cut for pacing, some were cut because they weren't adding new information to the overall plot and some were cut simply because (given the target audience) we wanted to keep the film tight and as engaging as possible. Even the addition of Rooter as the narrator came fairly late in the process. Viewing early cuts, we decided it would be helpful to have a "guide" filling in some of the backstory that we didn't want the young characters to articulate.
In terms of the oasis scene, we always strived to have the "all species should be able to coexist" message of the film remain subtext more than something that was repeatedly hammered home. In all of the story conferences we had along the way, involving Spielberg, Lucas, Bluth, the producers and me, we never spoke directly about specific scenes in terms of their sociological context but instead focused on the storytelling and structure that best supported the notion of creating an entertaining film. In all honesty, given that we worked on the film from 1984-1988 (more than 32 years ago) I remember that oasis sequence but am not sure if it made it to the animation stage or not. As I said, A LOT of things came and went as the script and cuts of the movie evolved.
Sorry I can't be more definitive but I hope this did shed some light on the process.
Best,
Stu Krieger
Professor
Department of Theatre, Film & Digital Production
University of California, Riverside
INTS 2122
As you can see, he wasn’t sure when it was cut, but it was probably a silly question by me as it was over 30 years ago. He did imply that the oasis scene was cut to tone down the racism aspect, as we know, so it wasn’t shoved in the face of viewers. It was nice to hear from him about how the story was produced. And, I myself did not know that Pat Hingle ended up voicing the narrator that late.
I have since followed up with a reply, asking him about a couple other scenes, so I will post his next response here if I get one!
Growing up I was a big LBT fan and had seen all movies and TV series episodes. On the forum, I was formerly known as Hypnobrai until Nov 11, 2017.
In recent years, I have gained an interest in the production of The Land Before Time, particularly the deleted scenes of the original film. New discoveries have been made in the last few years and continue to be made, so I feel that it is a good time to contribute.
I have always loved sharpteeth more than any other creatures in the franchise, especially the fourteenth film's Carnotaurus, the fifth film's Sharptooth, and especially the original Sharptooth.
I am a former administrator of the LBT wiki, having been active from 2017 to 2019.
![](https://i.imgur.com/W7cL8JT.png)
![](https://image.ibb.co/bEDmh5/Appreciated01_1.jpg)
![](https://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?PHPSESSID=nih42hdacmjashapf28ib1vgf2&action=dlattach;ts=1600676714;topic=16968.0;attach=1942;image)
(I'm a runner-up for the Appreciated Member 2017 award.)