I always imagined Spike grew so rapidly becuase he ate all the grass around him. It is a cartoon, so it didn't bother me too much
It didn't bother me as a kid either cause you aren't really bothered by that stuff as a kid. I'm a teenager now, and things are different. I'm greatly bothered by this.
As good as the original was, it had it's flaws.
From another topic:
One of the land before time books I have claims the time span between Littlefoot's hatching and the next scene in the land before time (when he asks his mother if there isn't anything more to eat) to be five years. I suppose this was just a guess of the author though.
Well, still, that's cool to know, seeing as I personally wondered how much time did pass.
It is very difficult to estimate the age of the characters. On the one hand we get glimpses at some characters (Dinah, Dana, Tricia, Tippy) which strongly suggest that they all went through a period of "hatchlinghood".
Which is why they aren't annoying as hell---well, Tricia isn't, but then again, she's Tricia.
We never saw this period for Spike though who didn't live through whatever time may have elapsed between Littlefoot's hatching and his first talking in the original movie.
Four words---
I. Thought. He. Did.Spike's size tripled (or more) in the first moments after he hatched.
Whoever wrote this claims to be sure this off-screen phenomenon; yet it isn't possible thaat he or she knows ay more about what went on in the grass then you I or do, is it?!
Perhaps his inability to talk was the only real indication for his being much younger than the others in the original movie
He/she's got that right. If I missed a mere miute of 1 I
never, I mean never would have guessed he was
that muchyounger then the others.
and perhaps that inability to talk was not originally meant to be an indication for anything but his younger age
Clearly that's not the case for the sequels. Chomper has grown from "hatchlinghood" into beig a kid and can talk, so by 5 at
least, Spike should be talking. I don't think him not talking has to do with him being younger. It's who he is.
From another post someone said:
Did you realize how Spike's size multiplied in the first few seconds after his birth?
The creepy thing is I don't think a lot of actually
do. I mean, before I came on I hadn't seen a lot of comments about it---the ones I'm taking are the few I did see.
I think that at the end of his hatching scene he ended up four or five times (possibly more) the size he must have had the moment of the hatching.
This creepy phenomenon sounds just
creepier when he puts it that way...because it
is.
It's like his hatching scene...took place over 5 years...
And then:
I noticed that. I guessed they did that since Spike may not have been able to keep up with the large Littlefoot and Cera, and was to big to ride on one of their backs like Ducky and Petrie could do, so they sorta did a poof he's their size.
One word:
lazy!Littlefoot was able to keep up with his mom, Spike could have easily kept up with Littlefoot and Cera. Hell, he was big enough to ride on their bikes. There was no valid reason at all that he shouldn't have stayed the same size as he did when he hatched. None.
But...
did he have to stay a baby after all, though? Cause there's another way the production team could have gotten around this
without being lazy. The solution?
Though they should have come up with a better solution. Maybe something like finding him sorta like Ducky found Littlefoot, and they found Petrie.
Yes! Someone esle wishes he was already born and the same age as the rest of the group in 1. I wish sooooooooooo much that was true. The idea is just so touching. The gang of five, all roughly the same age...it's what I thought was true but
isn't. 
The idea makes them seem more...equal with each other. Spike isn't a Dinah-Dana brat---he's as much a member of the gang as the rest of the group, even if he has little to say. There was no reason at all that he
shouldn't have been the same age as the rest of them. If that were the case, then Spike would be the "big guy" of the gang, and I would be so happy.
But it ain't.
It ain't! It ain't and that makes Spike the "big baby" of the gang and that makes me sad cause I used to think of them all pretty much the same age! Why couldn't Spike have lived through that period? The quote
" Spike's size tripled (or more) in the first moments after he hatched" makes that
blistering rage I have of
not knowing what happened in the grass even greater---
why did they have to shoot it from outside?
Why couldn't they have Spike born and their freaking age?
Why was movie 1 less then
perfect, and yet the first three sequels are better?
We have seen another case of rapid growth. Remember the first minutes in Spike's life?
oh yes, i do *chuckles*
First "minute" is more like it. And no offense...but I don't find it funny (I think I've made that clear)
