What is the black stuff called?

[MrDrake]

Just wondering if the black stuff is called tar or not.  The stuff that gets stuck to Littlefoot, Ducy, Petrie and Spike and to scare those dinosaurs that were chasing Cera away.

It's just that to me, it looks like tar, but I'm not 100% sure on it either....but I know it's not quick sand, that's for sure.

[LBTFan13]

I'm pretty sure it is tar. Or some sort of quicksand material. Tar is probably the best bet.

[Noname]

In the first and third movies, it is tar. They even refer to it as a tar pit in the third movie, which makes it an overused plot device for three films. The first one without a tar pit or quicksand is the fourth film, and the quicksand in the second movie even (inaccurately) looks like tar with sand mixed in.

[MrDrake]

A Tar Pit sounds like the best name for it.  I had a feeling it was something like tar anyway, just wasn't too sure is all.

But actually calling it a tar pit sounds....weird for their terms, i would go with the Sticky Water myself

[Malte279]

Some of the books I have also mention "tar pits". Even though they did use the word in the third movie I agree that the dinosaurs probably would come with terms of their own. Something along the lines of "sticky mud", or "black mud" or whatever.

[WeirdRaptor]

Tar, without a doubt. Black, sucks it's victims to the bottom. No doubt.

[MrDrake]

Yeah, I thought as much.  Thanks for the help on that one clearing it all up, puts my mind at ease on that half anyway.

Although, I still don't like it how they called it tar while they call something like the sun a "bright circle".....seems odd to me

[Malte279]

There are some inconstant moments in LBT. After all the sun is also referred to as sun sometimes.

[Pangaea]

But actually calling it a tar pit sounds....weird for their terms, i would go with the Sticky Water myself

Yeah, that kinda bugged me, too. Maybe the filmmakers couldn't think of a good LBT-sounding term for “tar”, and since it wasn't quicksand, they didn't want to call it “sinking sand”. My suggestions would be “black goo”, “sinking goo”, or “black sinking goo”, but those might sound a little awkward when Little My suggestions would be “black goo”, “sinking goo”, or “black sinking goo” (or even just “goo”). However, most or all of those might be too long or too silly-sounding to insert in Littlefoot's line “You're stuck in a _____ pit!” While not a very LBT-sounding term, “tar pit” is short (you wouldn't want to have to use a long, hard-to-remember, and/or hard-to-say word to urgently warn someone of danger), and clearly tells the audience what the object is (for the benefit of those who hadn't figured it out already).

By the way, did you know that the “tar” in tar pits is actually liquid asphalt? (“Asphalt pit” doesn’t sound as cool, though. And it sounds even less like a LBT term.)

As for the “sinking sand” in the second film, I'm guessing the tar-like appearance (perhaps most obvious when Ducky dips her foot into it) was intended to make it look sticky (In real life, quicksand isn't sticky, nor does it “suck you down” the way it's portrayed as doing in movies). On the other hand, tar pits often accumulate a layer of water on the surface, causing them to look like innocuous waterholes (Hyp demonstrated how that can lead to animals being preserved in them ), so you could argue that the “sinking sand” is in fact a tar pit; perhaps one that has opened in a location where runoff from natural erosion tends to settle? :unsure: (I’m unsure of the geological conditions that would be required for tar to acquire a layer of water and sediment on top, if such a thing is possible.)