I wouldn't say a visiting alien species wouldn't give a crud about the gang but you're right this is open to interpretation. Even if they are angels, it isn't out of the realm of possibility that they're science-y.

Though I'm kinda of the opinion that just because the two primary Rainbow Faces of the series were aliens/angels/etc, it doesn't all Rainbow Faces are like that. I'm of the opinion those two donned some holographic/morphic disguise. That does lead to the amusing mental image of one of these Foreign Visitors scrolling through species disguises while (singular they) their compatriots keep telling them its the wrong one, climaxing with:

"How does this look?"

"Dang it, that's a fast biter, the leaf eaters will run from you screaming if you approach them like that!"

I wonder how much continuity lockout might have played a role. If kid viewers just happened to be exposed to the Land Before Time through the TV series first, I wonder how lost they might be. There are callbacks to the movie series that the new audience mightn’t. Though Ruby and Chomper at times acted as the audience surrogates to explain these callbacks (which I think is a good idea), I’m not sure how effective the execution was.

I wouldn’t mind if the series had tacked to the tone and theme of The Sarah Jane Adventure. The Doctor Who spinoff was aimed at a young audience, but had genuine threat, great drama, and heartfelt character moments that sustained it among viewers until the lead actress’ death. I hearted that show and wouldn’t mind if other children’s television took a page out of their book.

Here, I’m throwing out some (okay, a lot of) ideas for adoptions. Most I have no interest in writing but there are a few I plan to use at some point. Which is which? I’m not telling.

Some of these are mere notions that I thought up while others I detailed more thoroughly in my mind. Buckle in folks, here the ideas are in no particular order.

- The gang somehow fall into an Alternate Universe where among Mama Longneck’s eggs, Littlefoot’s egg didn’t survive and a sister’s egg did and hatches. Some people live (like Mama Longneck), some die (like Cera), and this AU gang’s adventures either had a different outcome or never happened at all (Like the yellow bellies were never escorted to Berry Valley – though I do have the amusing mental image of the gang finding out they got there just fine anyway). The gang has to struggle with questions of fate and the fact some of their counterparts might have different paths – like Spike and Chomper, who might have different names and never become members of the gang. The gang comes to accept the experiences and lives in this AU are just as valid and in a reversal of these usual stories, no one in the AU dies during the gang’s visit.

I can see keeping track of the original gang and the AU gang might be a name nightmare (with the exception of Littlefoot-replacement, Spike, and Chomper), so that’ll be an issue if you try to take on the idea.

- Bron finds another love…and it’s a guy. Stunned, Littlefoot and the others struggle to accept this.

Bisexual/pansexual Bron, y/y? The sexuality element is added because queer representation and adding it to the stepparent plotline makes sure it isn’t a “Tria Redux.”  

- The gang encounters some dinosaurs who ignored/harassed/attempted to kill them on their journey to the valley. I’ve seen this plotline in one fanfic before but I thought it would be interesting if the offending party isn’t completely bad. Reconciliation between them and the gang might be possible. The gang might also struggle with whether to tell the rest of the valley about what they did or let bygones be bygones.
 
- The story of how the gang killed the first sharptooth get more explicitly broadcast to the wider valley, which leads to awkward, very much unwanted attention. Many are creeped out that children plotted to kill someone, even if it was in self-defense. Others are fascinated in a snuff film-like way and so harass the gang for more details or want them to do it again.

- Kind of related to the above, Littlefoot accidentally severely injures or kills someone in self-defense. The fact he first suggested and plotted killing the first sharptooth means people become afraid of him instead of Chomper.

- Good news: Chomper meets some people who won’t hurt or kill him on sight because he’s a sharptooth. Bad news: Because he’s a sharptooth, said people want to kidnap and train him to be a pet that can be shown off or a weapon to be used in inter- or intragroup conflicts. #BeingChomperIsSuffering

- The gang and several other named youths get kidnapped to either be child soldiers or slave workers. They manage to escape and/or tear down the whole operation.

- Maybe related to above, but the gang go missing and their parents are sick with worry. When they get back to the valley a month or so later, they have no memories of who their parents are. The gang bond with their parents, try to solve the mystery of what happened, and might or mightn’t get their memories back.

- Someone attempts to injure or kill the gang – and that ticks everyone off. The offender keeps bumping into people the gang know. As soon as the offender lets slip his attempted crime, he or she get treated coolly, shunned, or even get driven out of a herd or location. It becomes so ridiculous that he or she sardonically asks a bunch of rodents if they know the gang - and they do because Tickles is among their number and the offender has to keep silent in fear of getting murdered by enraged rats. The offender might or mightn’t have to crawl back to the gang and the valley for an apology, who might or mightn’t forgive him.

This is to humorously show that though the gang might exasperate many, their help has been valued and treasured.

- The gang somehow foresee the extinction event meteor centuries/millennia/millions of years from now and they must struggle with the concept of mortality and what to do about their descendants. They come to accept this by seeing intra-species youths of future eras also being adventurers, offering hope that life goes on.

- Might be connected to above, but a crossover with Doctor Who where the Doctor and his companions accidentally wind up in their universe. In their world, the Land Before Time exists as a movie and TV series, so there might be some joking groaning of landing in the sequel universe which bemuses the gang. I imagine Eleven in this role, since he does have that dynamic with kids. I can picture him and his companions attempting to try spontaneously singing like many people do in that universe, with the inevitable comic results.

I also have the amusing scene of the Doctor forbidding the gang from coming with him on an adventure, walking out, and walking back having changed his mind. He’s seen enough of the movies to know the gang’s going to follow him anyway, so they might as well have an adventure while under his adult(?) supervision.

- On the way to visiting Chomper’s parents, the gang get attacked by a few fast biters and their leaf eater ally. The fast biters and leaf eaters are sort of foils to the gang. The fast biters became friends with the leaf eater while young. The fast biters kept defending their leaf eater friend from being eaten, which led to them being kicked out of their community. Though personable and a bit goofy if they consider you a friend, they are a bit troubled by that experience. The leaf eater helps the fast biters hunt and doesn’t consider other leaf eaters his or her friend. The fast biters and leaf eater’s friendship is genuine. There won’t be any last minute betrayals and they’ll remain loyal to each other.

Only a third party threat causes the fast biters and the leaf eater to team up with the gang. The gang help fight that threat off, which causes the fast biters and the leaf eater to spare them and allow them to go, though warning if they come around again, they’ll be enemies. That experience shows what might happen if the gang’s friendship with Chomper and Ruby continues but there might also be some hope they can forge a different path.

- Not very substantive, but the family of one member of the gang decide they might go on a trip outside the valley because of a vision, ritual or whatever – and remembering how Cera and the others wandered off after Littlefoot during the 10th movie, they have the foresight to invite the whole gang along. Road trip shenanigans that might or mightn’t be dramatic ensue.

- The gang get tangled up in the Rainbow Face pair’s spaceship. Space travel might ensue.

- AU where the gang and other characters are gods who try to smooth over conflicts in the mortal and/or godly realm (Chomper would be the nicest death god ever and Spike would make a nice deity for plants).

I wouldn’t know about Papa Swimmer, but if Mama Swimmer heard about that early in the movie series, I can picture her being very concerned about the dynamics of the gang that cause Ducky and Spike to go along with these adventures.

I’ve the sense Cera might’ve made some sort of apology off screen, either through her words or actions. Since she came at the right moment in taking down the sharptooth, they probably forgave her and toned down the details about her shenanigans when relating the story to their parents.

If the gang doesn’t want to publicize their interpersonal drama to their parents and the greater valley, then they might really not want to relate how gung ho Littlefoot was about killing sharptooth.

Well, sort of in that longneck herd’s defense, I don’t they think they noticed the kids were there. The gang might find it a bit easier to forgive them than the domehead trio or the dinosaurs at the oasis in the deleted scene who were discriminatory toward the kids.

Many fanfictions (and I am guilty of this as well) simply assume that the children told their parents about the killing of sharptooth and the other details of their journey

I think gang told full story to their parents and possibly other dinosaurs.

Yeah, I’m kind of under the impression the gang did at least tell their parent most of the details of how they took down the sharptooth and the parents were understanding of what the kids had to do. Still, I’ve been thinking that the gang hasn’t been publicizing about that accomplishment. Talking about how they as kids plotted to kill the sharptooth would either creep others out or attract creepy attention by those who have a snuff film-like fascination with such stories.

I have the feeling the gang was rather vague with their parents about the conflicts and less than nice things they did with each other. Ducky probably didn’t mention “I was pressured into being sharptooth bait” and Littlefoot likely didn’t say anything about Cera insulting his mother and how that led him to very nearly abandon the group. The gang doesn’t want to start any possible conflicts with their parents by bringing those things up in detail.

These two antagonists are interesting, because they seem to be the only overtly villainous green eaters in the series. Or at least they can be interpreted that way – I can’t recall if they ate anything on screen but I assumed any speaking flyer characters were whacked with the “eats green food” stick.

Anyway, they aren’t aligned against the gang because of the necessity of their diet, but out of selfishness and greed. I’ve become a bit of a fan of villains who’re among the protagonists’ own class/species/group. That makes them more threatening and relatable. Rinkus appearing weak and silly while being quite scheming and nasty is an example, as I can picture people like that existing in real life. Sierra can also be deceiving, since I recall encountering other characters like him who’re far more heroic, but then you’d realize how nasty he can go.

I do like the thought of them eventually forming a sort of friendship later on. Like Sierra saves Rinkus and dusts him off, saying losing him would make accomplishing goals more troublesome and Rinkus is uncomfortable but intrigued, knowing what is being implied. I’m fond of the thought of antagonists who’ll never think of joining the side of the protagonists but have genuine connections and loyalty to those among their group.

I kind of wonder how these two fell in with Pterano. Did Pterano persuade them to go with his ambitions? Did Sierra and Rinkus do the persuading? Were they the only ones Pterano could find that would agree to go along with his plans? However it happened, it would probably influence what might happen if the pair ever bump into Pterano again. Those two will probably know just what to say to get under his skin and the conflict can be delicious.

After watching the first movie a few times, I started to wonder how Cera’s thoughts about the gang and how she came to warm up to them. She doesn’t seem to think highly of them through much of the movie but she doesn’t protest too much when she and Littlefoot play with bubbles before Sharptooth comes along and at times she seems to stick with the gang for more reasons than mutual protection. When Littlefoot and the others, covered black goo, pick up Cera and reassure they aren’t monsters, there’s shot of a smile briefly coming across her face. She comes through for them in the end when they drop the boulder on the sharptooth.

I kind of got the sense that liking these strange collection of dinosaurs snuck up on her before she was aware of it, but what do you all think? What did Cera think of the gang and how did she warm up to them as the movie went on?

“But Hyp, when you’re all grownup, you won’t be very big at all.”

“Yeah, you’re kind never gets very big. When we grow up, we’ll be much bigger.”

Those comments from Littlefoot and Cera respectively to Hyp in LBT 3 made me curious about the height differential that will exist when these kids grow up. And boy were they right about Hyp not growing very large compared to the other characters. I mean:

Hyp: 5.9 ft in length

Littlefoot: 69 – 75 ft.
Cera: 25.9 – 29.9 ft
Ducky: 31 or 32 ft (Parasaurolophus and Saurolophus length)
Petrie: 18 – 20 ft wingspan
Spike: 29.5 ft
Chomper: 40 ft
Ruby: 7 ft

The closest of the seven who matches Hyp in size is Ruby and she’s a foot bigger than him. Out of curiosity, I also looked up the length of the Tinysaurusses/Mussaurus and even their actual adult size is bigger than Hyp’s (And might still be in LBT if a. you handwave Big Daddy as a case of dwarfism and b. assume all the other Tinysauruses are juveniles)! Poor Hyp.

Still, he use this to his advantage. He could walk up to some of his larger dinosaur friends, ask for a ride, and get on before they answer, being a charming little annoyance. I’m sure those he does this with would tolerate it stolidly or playfully throw him off. Hyp finds those reactions as part of the fun.

I can picture all sorts of fun with this information. Ruby and Chomper have practically more than reversed in size, so Chomper could adorably carry Ruby. If Littlefoot grows up to be especially big and he doesn’t change his name, I can imagine some friends like Cera saying “hello” to and holding conversations with his feet. Littlefoot bears with this with tolerant amusement before sometimes gently pushing their heads up with his tail.

What sorts of fun or heartwarming stuff do you think will happen when the youth of the cast grow up and have at times wildly divergent sizes?

Ah, Littlefoot’s father. He does share the same even-keel temperament that Littlefoot, his mother, and Grandpa and Grandma Longneck possess. I surmise alikes didn’t repel when it came to Littlefoot’s parents.

It’s of note that Bron seems to have a sense of responsibility where he decides to act himself. He decides to scout out for a more immediately safer place to raise Littlefoot other than the Great Valley. He takes Shorty and other orphaned children in while searching for Littlefoot. He eventually accepts the duty of herd leader even though he hadn’t looked for it. He looks after Shorty even when no one else would accept him into the family. He personally rescues Wild Arms despite the dangers. Whatever the issue, Bron doesn’t appear to mind getting his paws dirty as long as it improves conditions or see someone be safe.

As for how Bron is as a herd leader, I get the sense he does take the needs and words of his herd into consideration. He makes a proposal about where to go next and how to get there, and he listens to the feedback of the others. They make their case back and forth until there’s a majority or consensus opinion. I believe Bron prefers that kind of leadership. He does have some trust in his own judgement but he has made mistakes as he got used to his role and he would prefer to have a check in case he made some more errors in.

Of course, just because he cares about others doesn’t mean he can’t be insensitive. I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s a deadbeat father but are moments when he seems oblivious to the feelings of others. When he looked after Shorty, he seemed to think of this duty as simply that of a Good Samaritan looking after a troubled neighborhood kid. It didn’t seem to occur to Bron that Shorty might see him as something more until Littlefoot brings it up. Even when the adoption becomes official, he at times give more attention to Littlefoot than Shorty. I don’t think this is intentional. If Bron has this behavior pointed out to him, I’m sure he’d feel guilty and do his best to correct it. I’m not sure where this behavior originates but I find it makes him a more interesting character then if he was a deadbeat or saint.

It’s been commented on a few times but Bron can also be quite playful, as seen with the “It’s great to have a dad” sequence. He looks like he’s having as much fun as Littlefoot. I have a headcanon that when there is downtime, he likes to play with the herd’s kids. This serves a dual purpose. He wants to make sure the youth are happy and entertained but I also think he does this both to make up for not being able to play the role of father for so long and to have a release valve for all the work and stress being a measured herd leader is. I think he revel in being silly once in a while, much to embarrassment of Shorty and some of the kids. Some might roll their eyes at that but I believe others would be fond of it.

In concern with his relationship to Shorty, I have the sense if Bron knows the boy is having an issue, he will try to solve it. I suspect he still has some guilt for not always taking Shorty’s emotions and needs into consideration. Bron knows Shorty would both like and find it annoying but he can’t resist checking up on the boy. Though from how he behaves in his TV show appearance, I kind of got the sense that Bron wanted to either allow Shorty to figure things out on his own or wait until Shorty gets experienced enough to get the explanations. Bron was rather vague about why Shorty wouldn’t be taking the Longneck Test yet and I’m kind of curious if Bron didn’t elaborate on why or if Shorty didn’t understand his explanations.  

He probably plays with Shorty by indulging in some of the mischief the boy can get in. If Shorty, for example, throws a snowball at Bron, Bron would respond by throwing a snowball back. Bron likely enjoys that tit-for-tat bonding and putting a smile on Shorty’s face through these games.

That’s all I can think of for Bron. I had a lot of this pinned down while thinking about and watching his scenes but there are parts of him I’m still attempting to figure out (A writer’s exploration of a character is never done).

Thank you for the comment. I'm not sure if I know everything I'm doing but I've been doing plot outlines for stories for awhile, so that might be helping (Though because this is so short, I don't know if I did a plot outline for this or not).

Whether intentional or not, I do like how Chomper's tied in to Littlefoot's character arc. The member of the cast most hurt by sharpteeth is the one who ends up backing up Chomper the most. He doesn't want Chomper to experience the abandonment and agony of his own loss. Through that, he gains a more complex view of sharpteeth and the world around him (Though that still wouldn't stop him from defending himself and his loved ones).

I'm still editing and reviewing my next fic. As mentioned before, it's about Shorty and Bron's first visit to the valley. I'm still finding sections that need additions or clarification, so it might be a while. For example, I realized I should spell out that Littlefoot and Shorty are brothers now, since that possibility was only hinted at to Bron the last time they talked. I'm also clearing up character arc stuff for Littlefoot. I consider this a sort of test drive for many of the characters, since the gang and some of their parents get significant scenes that clearly display their personalities. Hopefully, I'll get it right.