Would the series be better if the gang...

[Coyote_A]

Here's a thought I had the other day, while rewatching some of the episodes of the LBT TV series: a lot of the times something exciting happens, the main characters have to venture beyond the protective walls of the lush paradise they call home... Do you think the Land Before Time franchise as a whole would've benefitted if the characters never reached their destination in the original movie? Like, if - for instance - they discovered that the mysterious "Great Valley" was not a place, but rather an allegory for a peaceful community of different species of flat-toothed dinosaurs living together. The kids would have to lead a very different kind of life, but at the same time they would come to depend on each other even more, deepening their bonds of friendship and also get more chances to travel all across the prehistoric world. To be honest that kind of sounds more interesting than Littlefoot and his buddies spending most of their lives in the Jurassic variant of a 1st world country's most secure county. :unsure:

[Littlefoot fan 1990]

Sounds like a very intriguing idea for a story or a series; I have also wondered how the series could have gone if the gang never reached the Great Valley.

[Sneak]

Very interesting...

[Ducky123]

Now that almost gives me another fanfic idea... almost

[ADFan185]

If it does looking forward to reading it

[Sovereign]

There really is some serious potential in that kind of alternate scenario. That would be a way to widen the world while more easily keeping some of Bluth's original tone present unless the director just decided to forget the fact that the world was "dying". However, at this point it's difficult to say whether the series were "better". Had Universal gone the other path with the series, there might be a chance that LBT would have ended far earlier. Of course, quality is more important than quantity but still it's hard to predict this kind of change's impact into the series.

Like, if - for instance - they discovered that the mysterious "Great Valley" was not a place, but rather an allegory for a peaceful community of different species of flat-toothed dinosaurs living together.

I'd say it's safe to say this wouldn't happen. If the main characters found their families without finding the Valley, it's probable that the Gang would be forced to join their own separate herds as was implied in the fifth film. I don't think it's possible that all of the herds would be able to live together for long in the Mysterious Beyond.

Of course, if the Gang never finds their families, things are far different. In that case things become complicated and I'd say there's some very nice possibilities here. In that case, Universal would have to come up with some very nice plots in order to avoid repetition but it could work. I'm not saying I'd like to see the Great Valley and the films being written off but there's a clear possibility that the franchise would have turned for the better in this scenario.

[WeirdRaptor]

You seem to be forgetting that LBT was never intended to be a series.

[Coyote_A]

You seem to be forgetting that LBT was never intended to be a series.

Not really. Actually that point is kind of irrelevant to the whole "what if" thing I'm doing with this topic. The original movie could've had a completely different ending, but if it still attracted enough attention and made Universal Pictures a bit richer, the sequels would follow.

[Dr. Rex]

That's a pretty interesting idea. Could've justified the existence of the sequels a bit more.

[Coyote_A]

That's a pretty interesting idea. Could've justified the existence of the sequels a bit more.

Aye. Survival in the changing world was a huge part of the original movie's theme and they kind of threw that out with the sequels, only to remember that idea every once in a while, like with Ali's herd backstory in the 4th movie.

[Gentle Sharptooth]

The Great Valley being a haven and hub from which the Gang of Five goes forth on adventures works well. But your idea is intriguing, in a way it would be like Bron's migrating herd, and if Little Foot had joined either Ali's herd or Bron's herd the series or films would have probably become not to dissimilar to what you've proposed as a possibility.