Doc

[FlipperBoidSkua]

Discuss the old Longneck with the fancy tail tricks here!  

[Allicloud]

Well, since nobody else is gonna get the ball rolling, I'll give my 2 cents on him:


Short answer, he's an awesome character.

Long answer: There are just so many little interesting parts to him. He's probably the first LBT character obviously based on a real life person, in this case, any cowboy character played by John Wayne. That was a pretty interesting move, and something I kind of wish the series had done more, making characters influenced or inspired by real-world people or characters (although this can easily be overdone). I think it adds another layer to him, giving the parents and older viewers something to grin at, even if the joke is over the intended audience's head.

Another factors is his ambiguity. Even by the end of the film, we still known nothing about him. We never find out where he's from, who he is, where he went, and I think best of all, we never find out whether or not he really is the Lone Dinosaur. That is left up to the viewers to decide for themselves.

He's another pretty cool character. It's just a shame that his film is largely overlooked, especially since it is after The Mysterious Island (which many fans love for the return of Chomper) and completely overshadowed by the Stone of Cold Fire, with it's advance in animation and the sheer coolness of Pterano.

[Bruton the Iguanodon]

It's Littlefoot's line to his Grandpa at the end, "Grandpa...thanks for being my hero"

I know, you're thinking "what the hell is this guy's problem" so I'll tell you. Is he just gonna forget about Doc, just cause Doc says he already has a hero, meaning his Grandpa? I'm not saying Littlefoot shouldn't look up to his Grandpa for saving him, but can't he still admire Doc as well? Isn't it ok to 2 heroes? Or three, if you count his mom? And what about those who save him later on, like Sue, and his Grandma? I know the viewer is supposed to feel pissed at Littlefoot when he says "Doc's the best longneck there ever was and the only hero I've ever met!" and the grandparents look sad. If you think about it, though all he was trying to do was be defensive of Doc, which is a noble thing to do for anyone. He wasn't thinking straight in his anger towards Mr. Threehorn and not realizing he was in a way disowing his grandfather, his grandmother, and his dead mom. Sometimes when we're really agry about something we're just not thinking clearly.

But really, Doc was just nearby when everyone was blaming him, and he seemed just fine, going on cleaning up the valley,   , so if it had really bothered him he would have said something or shown some look of being offended. But he didn't, so there was really no need for Littlefoot to go doing what he did. On the other had the grandparents looks rather offended.

But anyways I'm getting off topic.

My point is, the line shoud have been, "Grandpa, thanks for being a hero to me", so he shows that he admires his Grandpa while still highly regarding Doc.  

As for if he is the lone dinosaur or not, it's very frustrating that they never explain this. They didn't even try to explain it in the tv series, when they were given another chance.

Also, the story at the end of 6 Littlefoot and Cera make up...what did he call Grandpa again? "The Brave Diosaur" or "The Great Dinosaur" or something? Realy, it hardly would have made any difference if he had said "Lone dinosaur". Seriously, I know he was trying to honor his Grandpa, but he can be a little more creative then that.  

I really like Doc and think that just cause we learn to regard Grandpa as a hero in 6 does't mean we should think any less of him.

[jansenov]

I think the whole point of "The Secret of Saurus Rock" was that you don't need to look for heroes from myths and legends, because there are heroes living right near you, helping out every day, and often remain unrecognised, because their humble, but countless good deeds are harder to see than a single grand deed, eventhough the humble deeds combined outweigh the grand one.

[Bruton the Iguanodon]

Was that a response to what I wrote? Were you saying everything I said was wrong? No offense, but I thought I made some good points.  :huh:

[Bruton the Iguanodon]

Hello...I'm still here...

[jansenov]

I agree with you that it would be good for Littlefoot to have said to Doc that he is his hero. But I don't think it's all that important. Littlefoot thinks Doc is the Lone Dinosaur. The Lone Dinosaur is a hero by definition. So, Littlefoot already holds him in high esteem. And, telling both of the longnecks they're his heroes or using the line you suggested might have taken some focus of grandpa, and of the moral I stated in my previous posts. That is, the moral that there are heroes all around us. Now, I'm not saying your suggestion would make the movie worse. Far from it.

I think it would made the movie even slightly better, but it would also slightly change the message of that departing scene. It would make Doc look more like Granda Longneck, rather than Grandpa Longneck look more like Doc. The difference is subtle, but it can't be ignored. Your suggestion would give somewhat greater weight to the claim of Doc being just an ordinary longneck. Which I would like, because I think Doc is indeed an ordinary longneck Littlefoot mistook for the Lone Dinosaur. But it would also take away from the Lone Dinosaur myth, because if Littlefoot sees Doc as an ordinary longneck, maybe he sees the Lone Dinosaur as a purely made up character.

In that case, he would not imagine his grandpa as the Lone Dinosaur. He would dismiss the story altogether. I don't have a problem with that.  The moral of everyday heroism would still stand, even if the myth of the Lone Dinosaur were dead.

But, the way it is shown in the movie adds some poetic beauty to the moral. Doc is shown as a mysterious character, and the Lone Dinosaur still continues to tickle the imagination of Littlefoot and other children, giving them something to believe in, something to dream about, and to try to see this ideal in the people and world around them.

So, while your proposal makes the movie slightly more ethical, the canon version is slightly more aesthetic. It's all phiolosophical nuances really. Both solutions work, either can be prefered, and I apologise if my harsh tone gave an impression of complete disagreement with you. Really, I have more agreements than disagreements here.

[Bruton the Iguanodon]

Alright, but this still bothers me

Also, the story at the end of 6 Littlefoot and Cera make up...what did he call Grandpa again? "The Brave Diosaur" or "The Great Dinosaur" or something? Realy, it hardly would have made any difference if he had said "Lone dinosaur". Seriously, I know he was trying to honor his Grandpa, but he can be a little more creative then that.

[jansenov]

^Littlefoot called his grandpa "the Lone Dinosaur".

[Bruton the Iguanodon]

Oh...I thought it was something else but ok!  

[Bruton the Iguanodon]

I think the whole point of "The Secret of Saurus Rock" was that you don't need to look for heroes from myths and legends, because there are heroes living right near you, helping out every day, and often remain unrecognised, because their humble, but countless good deeds are harder to see than a single grand deed, eventhough the humble deeds combined outweigh the grand one.

Or maybe it was, "don't worry about a rumored curse of bad luck". I dunno. Some movies have multiple points.

[DaveTheAnalyzer]

Doc is someone who cares about helping people while not being that much of a people person himself. Once he does his heroic deed, he dryly comments on how ordinary and unremarkable it was (“Just passing through” “Eh, lucky break”), and attempts to extricate himself from attention as quickly as possible. While not rude, if someone engages him in conversation, his replies are simple and short. A lot of his actions seem to send the message, “I’m a boring Good Samaritan, please go away.” But since he often does this in such an effortlessly smooth and cool manner that it has the opposite effect. He doesn’t mind people, but he prefers to be to his own company.

Still, Doc seemed charmed by Littlefoot and does his best to help the boy. He gave advice on how to deal with Littlefoot’s bad luck problem drawing from his own experience. I think part of the reason he pushed Littlefoot to see his grandfather as a hero was to value what he had and make the boy happy…and to get attention off him. Doc can only take so much cute hero worship.

Nevertheless, Doc appeared to remember Littlefoot. Being a kid who get caught up in dangerous adventures with his friends does lend to making him more memorable. Since Littlefoot has a tendency to help people like he does and he has no kin of his own, it isn’t too much of a far shot that Doc would return to introduce his mate Dara to Littlefoot and his grandparents. I think his fondness for Littlefoot only strengthened when the boy called him out for judging the gang’s friendship with Chomper. He doesn’t much like the hero worship he can sometimes get and he appreciates that someone can straight talk to him when he’s being wrong about something.  

As for why Doc suddenly has a mate – well, even introverts like some romance. From what we hear, Dara doesn’t mind traveling with few companions either even if she seems the more sociable one of the two, so that must make having a relationship easier for Doc. For all we know, she might have the same restless spirit as he does in exploring the world.

And speaking of exploring the world, Doc seems to have seen enough of it to know some locations aren’t as unique as some might think. Doc mentions “This [Great] Valley’s nice, but there are others just as nice out there somewhere.” Knowing there are places equal to or greater than the valley, he can’t stay in one place for long and is always on a journey to find some place better. If he stays in one place too long, the wanderlust he built up all of his life starts to itch at him. He admitted this is somewhat out of habit but I think he does like exploring, seeing new places, and maybe a few times meeting new people. Though I also think he wanders because “Crud, being around these same people for too many days is making me stuffy, got to get away, byyyye!” (Now I have the amusing mental image of a storm pinning Doc in a community for days and weeks on end, which makes him all but crawl the walls by the time it ends and barreling out of the community before anyone can bid him farewell).

A revealing comment Doc made while giving Littlefoot advice on the bad luck issue is “Change what you can, accept what you can’t.” I’m under the impression Doc does his best to help and change others in unobstructive ways. If others are too stubborn about not changing, though, he isn’t going to attempt moving what he believes is a mountain and moves on. He’s not one to really cause waves unless it’s of supreme importance and he doesn’t feel it’s his place to change who people are. Experience has probably taught him being nosy and trying to change others only makes things worse, so he makes do with what he can accomplish. He seems to have a realistic, pragmatic view of how the world works. It isn’t negative but you have to pick and choose your battles, for not all of them are winnable or worth fighting.

I wonder how much of that might be influenced by that experience and how much of it by his solitary, wandering lifestyle. If he was a bit more social and established deep roots in a community, would he retain the same attitude or work harder to solve the seemingly insurmountable problems since he has a personal stake? I can picture Doc and Littlefoot musing this as they compare notes with how they deal with problems. It’d be interesting to see how Doc might react to such a conversation.

[Sovereign]

I don't think Doc has become too much open for new ideas since the TV series. He was wrong about Chomper but still, he's had a rather long and apparently eventful life and he doesn't seem uncomfortable with it. He respects Littlefoot but still, he is a wanderer who has always survived on his own. He chose this life most likely because of his strength and and because of his inward-looking personality. Even if he could live in one place, I' don't think he'd like that kind of life.

I think it was a bad move to bring Dara to the picture. I think it undermines his character and she wasn't too interesting in the series. Sure, they were somewhat similar in their interests but it didn't seem too in-character for me. The way Doc was portrayed in the film made it look like he wished to be free of all social bonds, possibly even a possible mate to pursue his own way. Of course, Dara might gradually make him settle down but I don't think that a good development.

Your analysis on Doc's motives is quite correct even if isn't actually pointed out that he was as helpful in other places as he was in the Valley. It's unclear how much of his deeds can be attributed to his relationship with Littlefoot and which ones to his personality. Most likely he has a lot of other admirers around the land but there's a chance that his deeds in the Valley are most significant.

[DaveTheAnalyzer]

Yeah, I think Dara should have been given a bit more development, at least in quick brushstrokes, other than “Southern niceness.” Though there’s no way of knowing if Dara would want them to settle down. For all we know, she wants to walk the earth as well and they’re content with using the last years of their life doing that.

I think another reason Doc keeps a low profile besides not liking attention is that he sees fame and admiration as steps onto a bad path. Those can influence both him and others in ways that are less than healthy. He doesn’t want to become a Pterano (Who would make an interesting foil for Doc if they ever bumped into each other), and he doesn’t want to be swayed by the herd mentality that can lead to all sorts of screw-ups and tragedies. He wants to keep a cool, grounded mindset, unreservedly knowing his strengths but realistic about their limits and what can and can’t be done out in the world. He’s the sort who doesn’t tries not to be swayed or blinkered by emotion. Of course, even he isn’t immune to emotions and common opinion, as seen with Chomper (Even if the execution wasn’t up to snuff, I like the concept of the episode where Doc ends up being wrong about something and Littlefoot is right).

[Gentle Sharptooth]

Doc or The Lone Dinosaur *wink* is one of my favorite supporting characters. It was intriguing to see a mythos in Longneck culture. I alao shamefully love the Lone Dinosaur song. 

I only got to see Doc’s return briefly in the Series. I recall he saw Chomper as a threat, but Chomper helps Doc’s mate, and wins him over.