LBT IV plot rip off of Dink TLD episode

NewOrder · **on:** February 27, 2009, 05:30:29 PM

I was just watching Dink, The Little Dinosaur, episode entitled "Surprise!" and I couldn't help but notice that some of the scenes were strangely familiar.
Here are the similarities between this episode and LBT IV:

1) Dink wonders alone into the outskirts of the valley (like Littlefoot with Ali)
2) Dink does so to go to the Waterfall Valley (like Valley of the mists)
3) Looking for a special stone as a gift to Amber (it's her birthday)
4) She's mad at Dink because she thinks he forgot (like Cera is mad at Littlefoot because he hangs out with Ali)
5) Dink is helped and helps out a small mouse (like Tickles)
6) Dink is chased down a river by a crocodile (pretty much like what happened with Cera)
7) Dink enters a cave where he finds the stone, the cave is behind a waterfall
8) There's always an old turtle, he's part of the cast, but he's the one that shows Dink the way (pretty much like Archie in LBT IV)

Granted no one's sick, and although there's a sticky flower in the episode, it does not resemble the night flowers, and there's no Ali, and the crocodile is only on screen for about 10 seconds, however, you got be suspicous about the originality of the sequel...

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #1 on:** February 27, 2009, 07:16:23 PM

So sue them.

Malte279 · **Reply #2 on:** February 27, 2009, 07:18:38 PM

Do you have the English version of the episode? Surprise is an episode which I don't have yet and which I haven't seen before either. It may well be that LBT sequels were inspired by Dink episodes.

Kor · **Reply #3 on:** February 27, 2009, 09:26:10 PM

With the characters being very similar and they were inspired by LBT it makes since they would have some very similar plots.

Chiletrek · **Reply #4 on:** February 27, 2009, 10:36:37 PM

Hello:
I agree with Kor, since both series are so similar by having a similar setting and with similar characters, then I think similarities will happen. To make stories, you must go for the less travelled road

.
But this is interesting, because there are many more similarities, between many of the LBT stories and details with things we have seen in Dink

.

NeoGenesis005 · **Reply #5 on:** February 28, 2009, 12:17:34 AM

I'll have to see that for myself I rely again later.

NewOrder · **Reply #6 on:** February 28, 2009, 11:20:22 AM

I have the episode in english Malte, do you want me to send it to you?

Malte279 · **Reply #7 on:** February 28, 2009, 04:38:11 PM

That would be awesome

NewOrder · **Reply #8 on:** March 01, 2009, 12:17:25 PM

Kay, I'll upload it to a 4shared account and then send it to your messenger e-mail, as soon as I get around to do it =P

Chiletrek · **Reply #9 on:** March 01, 2009, 07:41:04 PM

Hello:
There are some episodes in youtube, I suggest you to see "The Gentle Hunter"

.

Kor · **Reply #10 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:05:51 PM

That is a great episode. I forgot the thread name but I did try to keep a list updated on each page of the ones available.

Another thing to consider as to why certain plots appear on both are not just as I said above, but also if some folks worked on both, and they may have seen the other before or during the time they were working on the other, seen Dink while they were working on LBT or vice versa.

Malte279 · **Reply #11 on:** March 02, 2009, 04:34:18 AM

Thanks a lot for the episode New Order.
I agree that there are some similarities, but whether or not to discard LBT IV as a rip off (if discarding it is) depends on how far we define that term.

Quote

1) Dink wonders alone into the outskirts of the valley (like Littlefoot with Ali)

So Littlefoot does not wander off quite alone after all.

Quote

2) Dink does so to go to the Waterfall Valley (like Valley of the mists)

I think movie- and literature history has seen very few waterfalls without a cave behind them (excepting those waterfalls where nobody bothered to look

)
Most of the other similarities you named are also somewhat superficial (e.g. the different motivations for finding different objects with different characters getting mad for different reasons etc.)
I do not question for a second the fact that LBT sequels have been inspired by Dink episodes (similar to how the very concept of Dink was inspired by the original movie), but if we use the term "rip-off" in a negative manner as in ("they just stole somebody else's story") I think the similarities would have to be closer.
Also we ought not to forget how difficult it is to write pure LBT stories without any repetitions or familiar elements. There are but very, very few LBT fanfictions which are no crossing overs or which don't include elements from totally different genres. I take it that the difficulty to write a pure and new land before time story is one of the reasons for this.

NewOrder · **Reply #12 on:** March 02, 2009, 08:09:42 AM

By rip off I was just trying to clarefy the point. Of course the episode has little to do with LBT IV, it's also quite hard to put a 70 min plot into 10 mins, however, there are quite a few similarities that are beyond the realm of coincidence. LBT IV indeed has its own merits, otherwise it wouldn't be my favorite sequel, as I believe some of the other members feel the same way. Hanna Barbera just fought of some of the plot wholes later filled by the LBT crew, 5 years earlier.

crazedwriter · **Reply #13 on:** March 02, 2009, 07:39:08 PM

I had to look up Dink and compare it to LBT IV. Yes, some situations are very similar, but then again, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery -- in this case I'd prefer compliment. So much great literature -- and movies -- have been imitated over and over. If some enterprising playwright hadn't bothered, then Romeo and Juliet would've inspired West Side Story. Or My Fair Lady by Pygmalion. Or The Odyssey to O Brother Where Art Thou. The list goes on and on.

BTW LBT IV ranks as one of my all-time favorite sequels.

NewOrder · **Reply #14 on:** March 03, 2009, 02:45:12 PM

Mine too crazedwriter, and if your nickname is true to your personality, then we have another thing in common

However, I'm not sure you made yourself clear. Do you think Dink copied LBT? Maybe by basing itself on the theatrical release, however, Dink predates every LBT sequel, many believe that some LBT sequel's ideas were taken from Dink, I have to agree that there are far too many similarities to just be a coincidence but in its core, LBT sequels have their own merits and their own original plot.

crazedwriter · **Reply #15 on:** March 03, 2009, 07:15:57 PM

Quote from: NewOrder,Mar 3 2009 on 01:45 PM

Mine too crazedwriter, and if your nickname is true to your personality, then we have another thing in common

However, I'm not sure you made yourself clear. Do you think Dink copied LBT? Maybe by basing itself on the theatrical release, however, Dink predates every LBT sequel, many believe that some LBT sequel's ideas were taken from Dink, I have to agree that there are far too many similarities to just be a coincidence but in its core, LBT sequels have their own merits and their own original plot.

Thanks for pointing that out. It's been a long day.

Anyway what I meant was "inspired by" not copied or ripped off. Heck even I never claim my fan fiction is copied, rather inspired by the characters and/or situations.

BTW, and this really should go under the 'original '88 movie, there are some similarities between the original LBT and Disney's Dinosaur, but I disagreed with critics who accused Disney of ripping off LBT. This wasn't a mirrored stories, but some Dinosaur events do suggest coincidence with LBT. Even the deleted storylines (like Aladar traveling with his grandparents -- Sound familiar?) have a little LBT thrown in. I don't dwell on it too much, but it's fun to pick up on scenes that make me ask, "Where did I see this before?"

Chiletrek · **Reply #16 on:** March 05, 2009, 12:06:53 AM

Hello:
As I said before, it is just too hard to be original in a story, so the only resource is to go for the less travelled road. So, we will see things in movies or series that we saw in LBT and we'll see things in LBT we have seen elsewhere too.
Speaking of that... Dink's serie also have a friendly Meat-eater

.

Malte279 · **Reply #17 on:** March 05, 2009, 01:18:07 PM

Quote

This wasn't a mirrored stories, but some Dinosaur events do suggest coincidence with LBT. Even the deleted storylines (like Aladar traveling with his grandparents -- Sound familiar?) have a little LBT thrown in.

A bit off topic, but do you happen to know a bit more about the deleted storylines of Disney's Dinosaur crazedwriter?
There are quite a few additional / alternate scenes on the DvD, especially the special extended edition. Many of these scenes suggest that had been several totally different story plots (involving Aladar's grandparents respectively his brothers etc.). However, I never found out any details about these alternate plotlines. Do you happen to know any more about it crazedwriter?

crazedwriter · **Reply #18 on:** March 05, 2009, 07:07:31 PM

I have the Dinosaur 2-disc collector's edition. On the bonus DVD there are several deleted scenes, but one does stand out. Obviously this was one of several storylines jettisoned. Anyway, this had Aladar traveling with his grandparents and they come to a river infested with Mesozoic crocodilians. Someone gets hurt...I really need to rewatch that scene. I have the general idea down, but the details are a bit fuzzy.

Then again, there are some, not blatant, coincidences between the two films.
What a minute, and Dinosaur was released years before LBT X, but this sounds much like LBT X with Littlefoot and grandparents crossing the "icky place" and huge crocodile waiting for an unwary Littlefoot. OK, maybe it's not all ripoff after all, so I stand by the "inspired by" angle.

Malte279 · **Reply #19 on:** March 06, 2009, 04:58:38 AM

Aye, I have that two disc set too, but I could never find out anything more detailed about the alternative plotlines which, by the looks of it, must have been far developed. It would be rather interesting to know more about it.