While watching the first LBT a few nights ago (for fun, not for purposes of research
), I noticed that the pointy rocks in the lower left-hand corner of
this shot (a location I will refer to by its central landmark, "The Pond",) are quite similar to the peaks of “
Spire Valley”. This would mean that the rock precipice from which Littlefoot sees the cloud/ghost of his mother is at the top of the stony “ramp” he used to climb out of “Spire Valley”. (This is probably a reflection of how the movie was originally supposed to run, with Littlefoot finding the Great Valley almost immediately after parting with the others.) However, this implies that, in order to get the rest of the gang back on track, Littlefoot would have had to lead Ducky, Spike, and Petrie back the way they came with Cera, which, considering their near-fatal experiences with the tar pit and lava river, I’m guessing they would all be reluctant to do. In light of this, I have come up with a new theory: the caves in which Cera encounters the domeheads run northeast-southwest, connecting the area immediately beyond the tar pits with the vicinity of "The Pond". Perhaps by accident, the gang found an exit from the caves that led them straight back onto their original westbound route, with the additional bonus of a handy source of water for washing off any tar that was still stuck to them.
I also came to the realization that whenever the sun is visible in the first movie, it always seems to be in the process of setting. I base that observation on the fact that the characters are usually in the process of traveling to the Great Valley in these scenes, and are “walking away” from their shadows (which, under a setting sun, are cast eastward). As I said previously, I think the first film is the only one in which the sun’s position (if not the timing of its position) can be trusted as accurate more or less all of the time, because it is established early on as a compass to the Great Valley. Not that the movie is completely free of solar inconsistencies. For instance, when Littlefoot in his family are searching for food, their shadows are directly beneath them. Then, when they are shown walking towards the sun, it is low in the sky and elongating their shows. Then, when Littlefoot asks his mother if she has ever seen the Great Valley, their shadows are beneath them again. (However, such incongruities can probably be blamed on the way the scenes are sequenced, as much or more than carelessness on the part of the animators.)
A few other minor observations I made on the first LBT:
ï The Great Divide (at least the section of it visible in the film) runs north to south.
ï The “head” of the Rock That Looks Like A Longneck points south. (The RTLLAL, by the way, is visible in the shot when the gang is climbing the rocks, and Littlefoot suggests that the Great Valley may be at the top.)
ï The Mountains That Burn consist of at least a dozen volcanic peaks of varying shape and height (but whose sizes relative to the dinosaurs are uncertain) positioned close together, plus one extremely large standalone volcano that Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike are shown passing. Another (non-erupting) volcano is visible in the background as Cera approaches the tar pits, which may represent a fourteenth peak, or one of the first twelve seen.
ï Not actually an observation, but a hypothesis: perhaps the waterfall Cera stops to cry in front of is connected with the reservoir that feeds the Thundering Falls.
