Ali showcase - November 2019

[rhombus]

Alright, Ali! It is now officially your month!



Uh...

Um...

Okay, that's a good picture! Here we go...

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In this topic please feel free to discuss Ali as a character, to share your own creations (fanfics or fanart), or to mention some of your favorite fanworks of others involving this character.  For a full set of rules please see the Monthly Character Showcase topic but keep in mind that this is meant to be fun as opposed to any sort of contest.

I will go ahead and get the discussion started with the following questions:

1) What do you think that Ali brings to series?  Do you wish that she had more appearances in the series besides her run in the fourth film and in the Brave Longneck Scheme?

2) And here is a silly question... Who do you prefer: the Ali of the fourth film or the true pairing of Ali and Rhett in the Brave Longneck Scheme? 

[UnionRags123]

2) And here is a silly question... Who do you prefer: the Ali of the first film or the true pairing of Ali and Rhett in the Brave Longneck Scheme? 

Neither.
I prefer the Ali of the fourth film   

[rhombus]

2) And here is a silly question... Who do you prefer: the Ali of the first film or the true pairing of Ali and Rhett in the Brave Longneck Scheme? 

Neither.
I prefer the Ali of the fourth film   

Ah, bugger! I will correct that typo now.

[Sneak]

Jesus Murtaugh Christ...

Forum icons are osom!

[Dalekdino]

  love that Ali scene

[StardustSoldier]

1) What do you think that Ali brings to series?  Do you wish that she had more appearances in the series besides her run in the fourth film and in the Brave Longneck Scheme?

2) And here is a silly question... Who do you prefer: the Ali of the fourth film or the true pairing of Ali and Rhett in the Brave Longneck Scheme? 

Being one of my favourite guest characters of the series, if not my favourite, it's no surprise that I'd have to stop by and share my thoughts. In fact, I rewatched Journey Through the Mists earlier today just for the occasion, which also inspired my new avatar.

(Edit: This was my avatar at the time.)

I just love the idea of Littlefoot meeting a female longneck around his age. It was an interesting dynamic because all of Littlefoot's friends so far are different species, yet here he finally has a playmate who's a longneck just like him. And I liked her personality too; she had a shy yet more openly playful side to her. She also contrasted nicely from Cera.

Expanding on from that, it also struck me during my rewatch that she's the one who initially doesn't want Littlefoot's friends along for the journey when she and Littlefoot go to retrieve the Night Flowers. Yet then she's the one who is forced to go back and rely on Littlefoot's friends for help after he gets trapped in the cave-in, which ultimately turns out to be a good thing as it paves the way for her learning to overcome her prejudices. I found that interesting.

Ali mentions that, because she was part of a migrating herd, that was why she never got the chance to meet other species of dinosaurs, which made me wish to learn more of her backstory. I feel like there was potential for a storyline there.

The migrating herd also harkens back to the dinosaur segregation seen in the first movie, but I like how Ali's prejudice was shown to manifest in a different way than for characters like Cera. Whereas Cera and her father were aggressive with other dinosaurs, Ali is merely timid and afraid of them, but not outright mean. Another way in which Ali and Cera are foils. And yet it also makes Ali a foil to Littlefoot, as while they were both raised to be affiliated with only their own kind, Littlefoot didn't end up prejudiced.

I've lamented before that I really wanted for Ali to appear in more films, especially since the ending of #4 pretty much outright states that she'd return. Although I can see now why maybe she wasn't made a regular part of the Gang, in the sense that it would've been two longnecks (or "two Littlefoots," as Ducky says ), whereas the rest of the Gang consists of only one member per species. But I still think Ali could have (and should have) been a recurring/supporting character at the very least.

I haven't seen "The Brave Longneck Scheme" yet, but that'll be coming soon, before the end of the month. I'm sure I'll have some things to say about it.

[StrutEggStealer]

Journey Through the Mists was one of those LBT movies that my siblings always wanted to watch (the other being Secret of Saurus Rock). And thought it was an engaging story, it had many rather "grownup" topics that I didn't recognize as a child - such as the possibility of death (Grandma's "Circle of Life" song ), and Ali's initial aversion to the rest of the Gang of Five.

Ali as a character was so enjoyable. She was funny, brave, and took the initiative. I always liked her dynamic with Littlefoot (Future OTP, I will shamelessly plug XD) as well as with the Gang. She grew a lot in the fourth film and found a special place in my heart - and in the hearts of others, I see.

I like to think Journey gave me my appreciation of angsty themes. I remember feeling fear for Littlefoot and the possibility of losing his grandfather, at Ichy and Dil and the many times they came close to picking off the Gang. Journey stands out because it explored those deeper themes of family and friendship.

Also, good to back! I missed talking dinos with you guys!

[StardustSoldier]

Welcome back!

[ImpracticalDino]

Nice profile personalization StrutEggStealer. Welcome Back! Not much has changed in this little humble community, other than a couple of new active members.

Will it be a Christmas miracle if, for some reason all old members come back online at least once before 2020?

Anyway, back towards the main topic. While I do know that I like Ali for certain, I would need to watch the movie again to gauge an accurate opinion of her. I also know that I enjoyed her character development.

[Anagnos]

I already bid my welcome to you in another thread, but why not do it again? Welcome back to the forum, and I must say I love your profile picture. Strut is such an innocent and funny character.

[ImpracticalDino]

I agree, Anagnos. I always felt bad for him in the second movie, since his brother always pressured him to eat eggs despite his actual moralities conflicting with such a motive. And in turn, that causes Ozzie (and Strut) to get into unprecedented trouble with the Gang (and the two Sharpteeth parents in the end). I honestly think Strut didn’t want to do any bad deeds, but due to the dominant presence of his brother, he has to give in to his demands. Otherwise, punishment and abandonment could be a possibility. Strut could leave anytime he wants and declare freedom, but...Ozzie is his brother, and he may not possibly survive in the Mysterious Beyond without his guidance, so I don’t know really.

Petition for a monthly character showcase with Strut in 2020?

[OwlsCantRead]

I rewatched LBT4 earlier today, so I feel a bit more confident about consolidating my thoughts for Ali in this thread.

1) Personally, Ali—at least in Journey Through the Mists—and her initial apprehensive closed-mindedness was a foil to what Littlefoot and the Gang of Five stands for. Her unwillingness to play with non-longnecks and unintentionally causing a divide between Littlefoot and his other friends (especially Cera) harkens back to Littlefoot's mother saying that longnecks never play with any other species all the back in the first film, and the entire premise of Cera's jealousy over Littlefoot's new friend in fact repeated in a lesser way for Mo in Journey to Big Water (another film w/ Journey in the title, ha).

I will say that I did not remember her being so spunky and headstrong towards Littlefoot, though. She bites down on Littlefoot's tail and impishly hides in her first appearance. She comes off as cheeky, firm, and rambunctious to Littlefoot (I can see why people like this pairing from her moments), though meek to everyone else as she cowers beneath Littlefoot in stark contrast to her opening scene. Her opening up to the Gang is one of the highlights of the film as a whole, especially as it's kinda a non-issue by the TV series (a separate can of worms). She would definitely have benefited from a reappearance in he longneck related films, say X for instance.

2) This is a joke, right? Journey Through the Mists, of course, unless you mean the Ali from the start and end of the film. I'll say, a long-term narrative of her turning from distrustful Ali to open-minded Ali, instead of the Archie cave sequence forcing her to trust the rest of the gang in such a contrived way within like maybe 10 mins of film time, might make for a compelling arc, ala a TV series arc.

But overall, that's my thoughts on Ali. Definitely a hard character to nail. As I said, her character seems all over the place because it slowly changed throughout LBT4 and then shifts completely again in The Brave Longneck Scheme, and this is exacerbated by fanfics (especially romantic ones) usually selling her spunky side short, but she definitely is a great if underutilized character. I can see why so many wanted her to join the Gang, that's for sure!

[Flathead770]

Rhett and Ali, the inevitable pairing 

I remember as a kid I wasn't the biggest fan of Ali, more then likely due to here physical appearance just being a clone of Littlefoot. Felt almost lazy after someone like Chomper. Nowadays that's not much as a problem for me (especially relative to Dil & Ichy which in my opinion drag the movie down with their ineptitude) and she brings a good reminder of the way of life and thinking from outside the valley that was introduced in the first film.

Now obviously the TV episode handled her less then ideal, with her being degraded down to a super gullible plot device and wasn't really even the focus of the episode as it was more geared towards planning and pulling off the scheme then her interactions and development. Quite the contrast to her debut for sure.

And lastly, I finally got around to finishing this drawing from whenever the heck I started it.



It's Ali in SDP 2.0 when she is thinking about what she wants to do in one the the early chapters (you know...when I was actually keeping up on it  ). Hope you enjoy it @Ducky123

[OwlsCantRead]

Wow, this picture is amazing! The bump map and contours in the water ripples really sell this! It looks like a scene right out of Journey Through the Mists, and Ali and her reflection also look really good! Splendid job!

[Anagnos]

This drawing is rather solid and I like the idea behind it (even though I haven’t yet read SDP). The ripples in the water really bring out the vividness instead of merely presenting the picture without one and the reflection of the moon likewise does the same job. I also quite like Ali’s expression in this. She must be invested in something crucial to have a facial expression like that, perhaps she is thinking of a certain longneck whom is undoubtedly the one for her? I must ask, what is that in the bottom right corner? My first impression—believe it or not—was that it was a pineapple. Talk about coincidences, huh?

[Sneak]

Good drawing, Flathead!

[StardustSoldier]

As usual, that is an excellent drawing. Great work, Flathead.

Anyway, a bit belated, but I finally watched the infamous Rhett episode today. And indeed I do have some things to say about it.

Alright, well, it kinda surprises me to say this, but... I actually enjoyed this episode. The 'Littlefoot x Ali' side of me wasn't entirely thrilled with Ali suddenly showing up with this new male friend of hers. But overall, the episode had a good plot hook, and I was legitimately compelled to see how things would play out. I likewise enjoyed that Cera was the one who engineered the scheme to expose Rhett. It seemed fitting somehow.

More than anything, I think the problem is that everything feels kinda rushed. This should've been at least a 2-parter. They could've come up with a better, more fleshed-out explanation for why Ali had fallen for Rhett's painfully obvious lies and/or why she was so loyal to him, without making her seem out of character. And for that matter, Ali could've had a bigger role in general, as she really didn't have much to do here.

Despite getting exposed and subsequently called out by the Old One, I can't help but feel that Rhett got off a little too easy at the end, with Littlefoot immediately inviting him to come play with his friends, and even Ali didn't really seem upset that Rhett had lied to her. But on the other hand, it shows how kind-hearted and forgiving Littlefoot and Ali are.

Overall, while it was a fun episode, yeah, I do wish Ali had been given another, better appearance.

[Flathead770]

Thanks guys!

I must ask, what is that in the bottom right corner? My first impression—believe it or not—was that it was a pineapple. Talk about coincidences, huh?

I actually don't know the name of them but there those long things that stick out of the water. I tried my best to draw it (and having a top down perspective made things more difficult as well). See the attached image below to see what it's supposed to be.

Despite getting exposed and subsequently called out by the Old One, I can't help but feel that Rhett got off a little too easy at the end, with Littlefoot immediately inviting him to come play with his friends, and even Ali didn't really seem upset that Rhett had lied to her. But on the other hand, it shows how kind-hearted and forgiving Littlefoot and Ali are.

Well I don't think it was ever their intention to punish Rhett as hard as possible but instead to show Ali that she's being dumb

[StardustSoldier]

I agree they weren't trying to punish Rhett as hard as possible. But I still felt that Littlefoot was a bit too quick to brush the whole thing off at the end. Likewise, why didn't it bother Ali that Rhett had lied to her? It annoyed me that she wasn't annoyed. Then again, "The Big Longneck Test" had a similar scenario where Shorty was blatantly lying to the group, but then at the end everyone was just like, "Eh, whatever."

[Flathead770]

I'm guessing that there's probably 2 reasons. First is that they might not want to encourage grudge like behaviour in the audience (though this might not be that strong as an argument as Cera and Mr. Threehorn basically do that all the time). More then likely though is that there's just not enough time in a 22ish minute episode to fit it in. They basically resolve their plot points with 30 seconds to spare to either make a quick joke (like in The Big Longneck Test with how everyone laughs at finding out Shorty hasn't taken the test) or to sing Feel so Happy