I was thinking about this, and it could still work, if a few liberties are taken. Petrie claims to have had his snuggly stick since they came to the valley, and needs it to sleep. Yet we didn't see it in the first film. The explanation? His mother took it when they were separated. I imagine their nest was near the divide and collapsed. Petrie, being flightless, would have fallen while his family flew away, and been presumed dead. That explains why they didn't find him immediately afterwards. However, he would have landed on a ridge, possibly knocked unconcious. His grieving mother would have found his stick and presumed the worst. Thus, she takes the stick with her to the valley, and returns it to Petrie at the end of the movie.

As for the later films, I doubt Petrie ever planned to go anywhere that he wouldn't be able to return home from in a day. Hence, he would have never carried the stick with him, which is why it was never seen in the films.

(Alternatively he's a big liar and is just exaggerating)

Whoa, I don't think I've ever noticed that second shot of the falls! It seems like an odd angle, but yeah, I think it is still the Thundering Falls (There only ever seems to be the one waterfall in the films, except for the ones in the newer films).

This is a good thread, and I await your observations!

EDIT: I forgot to mention, in an earlier map I noted a place as being two boulder pass, but now I find I can't remember where that is, or what movie it's from. Anyone know?

ANOTHER EDIT: Something else is, I often disregard differences in locations between sequels (has the valley ever been depicted consistently? Mountain and river placement change constantly). As such, I placed the Land of mists in a place that meant it could be the land travelled through in 10. That, and I couldn't find anyother place to place that land in 10. I also assume that forest from the end of 13 is the forest from 6 for two reasons. One, we haven't seen any other trees like that before, except in that valley. Two, following my map/observances, they travelled north, also where I placed the Saurus Rock area. This would indeed make it a shortcut, like Littlefoot said. In fact, since their parents found them there, maybe that's the entrance that they used to get to the valley in the first place.

As for justifying my ignoring of sun placement in some scenes, sometimes it just doesn't fit with what we know to be true about the LBT world. Although, sometimes the sun appears to be in a different area depending on where you are. (At least, it seemed like that one time to me. I could be completely wrong here.)

This could simply be blamed on lazy/overworked/indifferent writers jumping on the easiest road to a completed episode, but let's give it a run for its money anyways.

Yep, that's the answer! But, yeah, lets give it a shot.

So, the conclusion that I prefer to draw from this is that Shorty is, in actuality, an inherently capable leader.
But how can we accept that without completely ignoring the events in the BLT? Well, when I say 'inherently capable,' I mean just that. Shorty's leadership in that situation was a quality awakened by necessity. I don't think he was consciously aware of it, or that he specifically considered himself a 'leader' at the time. I think that, in his mind, there is no connection between his journey with the younger longnecks and the simple, controlled, clear-cut concept of leadership promoted by the BLT.

I agree. I think Bron might also have started off something like this.

Also, it seems to me that Shorty might have survived alone long enough to develop his "tough guy" outside. He and the kids remind me of...like in a disaster movie, if an entire town was destroyed, they'd be the survivors of the school, and Shorty would be the leader of their group out of age, or outspokenness. I don't think he lorded over them, I think he cared for them.

When found by Bron, his tough kid attitude prevented most from adopting him. If you think about it, after a while he may have decided that he didn't want to live with any who snobbed him. So he would have hung around with Bron.

Now, I wonder how much Bron actually knows about Shorty. Shorty might have started hanging around him after his herd started growing. When abandoning the rest of the potential parents, he may have decided to hang out with Bron throughout the day. As for where he slept, this is confusing. If not adopted, he may sleep on his own. On the other hand, as long as he is still in a area full of sleeping longnecks, he'd be safe.

Bron evidently didn't consider Shorty a son, more like a kid he was caring for. However, Shorty treated Bron like a dad without Bron realising. Maybe Bron viewed Shorty as a problem kid who they would eventually sort out.

Actually, I think that a good explanation for things may be that Bron tried to get him to settle down and behave, but always with another family. Shorty, wanting to stay with Bron, resisted all of Bron's attempts, resulting in Bron having no idea how to care for him. At the end, Littlefoot points him in the right direction.

For some reason, the DVD I have of this doesn't have subtitles, resulting in some rather confusing scenes halfway through. I have absolutely no idea what Chomper's parents are saying! Can anyone post what the lines said in Sharptooth are in LBT 5?

Oh, and I thought I should say, there is evidence remaining in the film of the original ending.

1: When Littlefoot sees his mother's ghost, look below him. The lake that they bathed in is there, and above it is the plateau that they pushed the big rock off. Except, the rock is still there, waiting to be pushed off. Also, when he scrambles after her, the rocks on the hill resemble the ones on the hill he climbed after leaving Cera.

2: When bathing in the pond, they hear Sharptooth's roar. Look at where he is standing; the air to the right is green, as opposed to the brown everywhere else. Also, there are plants growing on the hills to the right.

Seeing this, I wonder if the cave that Sharptooth went into was the same one Littlefoot ran through, chasing his mother's spirit.

Hmm, I'm going to have to go over some of my notes again. Thanks for the notes though! And yes, it is confusing when each of the movies contradict eachother (4 being the worst, with that huge desert). I'm really bad at typing things, so I hope I don't sound grumpy or anything.

I forgot to say in my earlier post that there is another waterfall, it is the one that Guido and Tria almost fall off in 12. Is that what you meant by the west waterfall? That could easily drain the water of the valley.

As for the Thundering Falls, I assumed since only one waterfall is seen in the first film, and we know it is in the west that the water would be somewhere near there, maybe to the north, as the south had been explored. I think that there was only one waterfall initially, but over time, with the lands changing, more became part of the valley. There is that one lake seen in the credits of 1, and plenty of new waterfalls seen in 9, as a result of the flooding. We know Littlefoot's family lives near the falls, from films like 4 (bathing) and 9 (In the background). The morning sun is behind the falls in that shot, so presumably those are the falls he entered on.

Come to think of it, all their families may live near the falls, judging by how quickly they reunited.

I don’t think the location in the Mysterious Beyond seen in LBT II is a tar pit; probably just a stagnant pool of water situated over a volcanic vent (explaining the bubbles). I doubt the snake/lizard/aigialosaur-like creature briefly seen swimming through it could have so easily done so if it were tar.  The skeletons seen there could have belonged to dinosaurs that simply didn’t make it to the Great Valley as a result of starvation or being ambushed by sharpteeth, or even succumbed to an eruption of volcanic fumes (a creepy thought... :unsure). My point being, I don’t think this is near the tar pits from the first movie. It still could be near where the gang entered the valley, though (i.e., in the east): Ducky’s family’s nest is shown as being relatively close by (Ducky was the first member of the gang to reunite with her family), and it’s conceivable that the migrating herds entered the valley from the same direction, sealing the opening behind them so that sharpteeth couldn’t follow. (Admittedly, my reasoning here is largely conjectural.)

Ducky's family could have been located close to the waterfall in the first film, as she found them relatively quickly. And it looked pretty similar to the area from the first film (which was located to the south of the valley); I'm sure the filmmakers were trying to be similar. But yes, it isn't as vicious as the lava pits seen in the film.
My reasoning for that area being to the south (or southeast) comes from the first film, where Littlefoot continues ahead, while the others go to the left. If you watch the scene with his mothers ghost (Which originally went next, according to the deleted scenes), you can see that he is at formation on the top of the hill (same slopy and raggedy rocks) and below him is the plateau with the rock waiting to fall on Sharptooth. Presumably, this places the smoking area to the south.

I remember from one of my notes that when the GOF return through the gorge with chompers egg, the sun is behind them. Of course, the sun is all over the place in the LBT films, and should be considered conjectural at best (In 9, it starts over the falls, and then again over Mo in a matter of minutes.) Plus, that gorge took them near the tar-like dead zone, which could make that area an entrance to the Burning area.

The Smoking Mountain, seen in movie II and referenced in III, is presumably in the west, as Grandma Longneck states that the sun will touch it when it is the longnecks’ turn for water, and at the time it already appears to be too late in the day for the sun to have not touched it yet on its morning ascent into the sky.

If my assumption that the Thundering Falls is located at the west end of the valley is correct, then the parts of the Mysterious Beyond seen in LBT III must also be in that direction. My belief is that it is northwest (the ledge from which the gang first discovers that the water is blocked being in the north).

My main criticism with that is that the Thundering Falls appears to be the main water source, and I assume that's how Littlefoot entered the valley. If that was a lesser fall, even that would still be delivering water if the main was stopped.

I missed that line of Grandma's when mapping areas, thanks for posting that! Of  course, since the valley is in a mountain chain, volcanos could be all over the place. Littlefoot's mother called the area the "Mountains that Burn", I just assumed they were part of the Smoking Mts. Maybe the mts that burn is the nasty place from 1, and the smoking mts the other places?

I personally doubt that the swamp in LBT X is the Land of Mists; probably just a similar-looking region. Same goes for the rocky area.

Yeah, it was a bit of a long shot. I just used that because it made things fit better, and required the least changes to be made to one of the maps. It does have merit though, as where have we seen such lands before? Those ridiculously high rocks don't look like any of the mountains around the valley.

Actually, I want to know more about the (west?) end of the valley, as it has changed quite a bit. In 7, the way to Threehorn Peak is made by crossing a gorge, instead of mountains. And after fooling Rinkus and Sierra, you can see that the valley is not even protected on this side by mts, only by its height! And in 12, the waterfall must go to a lower area too. Maybe there's a lower area in the valley?

I really need to upload my notes, this would make describing things much easier! I have a lot of papers covered with notes, and several maps of varying quality. The only problem with each of them is that each has at least one mistake that I noticed too late, and so made another map, not noticing another mistake made...and so on.

This youtube video contains several moments not in the film, including the "Ducky Faces" scene.

Old Trailer

Plus this one with the final line of Littlefoot's; "Now We'll Always Be Together"

Pizza Hut Advert

What does she do in each movie? I mean, what is the extent of good/bad things that she has done? (You may need to refresh my memory, I haven't seen the films in a while)

In the first film, well, we all know what happened there. Although I imagine her heading off to cry may also have been guilt for insulting someone who came back for her. Actually, I think this is the worst thing Cera has ever done, and I doubt she would ever do anything like this again.

In 2, 3, and 4, she seems to be mostly nice, with occasional outbursts of pride. 5 & 6 she appears to be just grouchy. Come to think of it, in most of the movies her behavior has remained consistent, and despite her nasty demeanour in parts of the first film, I think she has completely reformed, and just retains some aspects of her angry side, mostly out of pride, which is still quite an improvement.

Oh, knowing me, I'd probably never finish it. I always start writing notes, and plan the story, but when it comes to writing it, I get writers block and give up.

If I can find my notes and ideas I had about this, I might post them. I know I had a vague idea of how to continue the story, and a few ideas for chapters...

I wonder if I should post a similar idea I had regarding dinotopia? It was a story about how I would get there. I've got a chapter list, and a planned out story, but I haven't actually written it.
EDIT: It's in the written word section.

No, you misunderstood me. By fight music I mean the scene where Littlefoot's Mother fought the Sharptooth-the missing scenes. Because they recycled the original soundtrack for the sequels you can occasionally hear the cut parts.