Land Before Time Retrospective #38
I do a lot of creative writing in my spare time. I also had a short stint where I wrote Land Before Time fanfiction. Among all my other story ideas, I thought of novelizing each Land Before Time film. Although I never got around to actually writing them, I did come up with an extensive outline for what they would’ve been like.
This happens to be my 3,000th post on the forum!!!!
In honour of this, I would like to share a little something I’d been meaning to share for quite a long time, although it mostly rested on the back burner until now. Over the summer of 2019, a few months after I joined the forum, I got the idea to do my own fanfic novelizations of every Land Before Time film. It was a short-lived ambition, since I realized that with all of my other writing projects, I probably wouldn’t have the time or commitment for all these novelizations. But I kept the notes on my computer, and I thought it might still be interesting to share what my ideas were.
My novelizations would’ve been fairly faithful overall, but would still have had some noteworthy changes. For the first film especially I came up with a lot of ideas.
In general:
• Most of the deleted/extended scenes from the movie’s script and the official children’s tie-in books would be put back into my novelization. However, my novelization would tend to favour dialogue from the finished film, as I feel it’s more polished. The script and tie-in books would largely only be used to help fill the missing gaps not in the film proper. (See here for my original script review)
• “The Illustrated Story” tie-in book goes into Sharptooth’s thoughts and establishes him as much more overtly evil. I considered adding this aspect to the novelization, but later felt it probably would’ve been better if left out. While it would have given Sharptooth more characterization, overall I prefer the film’s portrayal of him as a predator simply acting on instinct, with it being ambiguous as to how malevolent he truly is. That, and there’s a part of me that feels he’s a bit scarier when we don’t know exactly what he’s thinking.
• Some of the action scenes would be beefed up a little in the novelization, particularly to feature the full versions of the Sharptooth encounters, but also beefed up in cases even when it’s not explicitly noted in the movie’s script or other deleted material.
The beginning:
• For the scene of Littlefoot and the snake (only known via storyboards), he’d be aged up so he’s no longer a baby, instead being closer to his age throughout the rest of the film. This scene would be included partly so we can spend more time with Mama Longneck.
• At least one of the scenes with Mama Longneck would be expanded to give Grandpa and Grandma a bit of dialogue, to give them more presence as characters.
• While they would remain minor characters overall, Cera’s mother and siblings would be shown in more detail. Established that Cera not only has several siblings, but that she comes from the second of two clutches (to show she has older siblings too, one of whom will become Dinah and Dana’s parent in The Secret of Saurus Rock).
• After the Sharptooth battle, when Littlefoot is out wandering on his own and the treestar floats down to him, the scene would be described in such a way to give it a touch of ambiguity whether he truly is hearing his mother’s voice, or if it’s just in his head.
• ^Shortly after this when he encounters Cera, there’s an interesting moment in the script that would be re-included; after he says to her, “At least we wouldn’t be alone,” she briefly ponders it because she is lonely deep down.
The middle:
• In the original script, the scene order goes like this:
• The kids gathering food from the tree and falling asleep that night.
• The Sharptooth chase where Littlefoot loses his treestar.
• The travel montage (which is partly in the actual film, albeit shortened, leading right up to Littlefoot & Cera’s fight).
• The oasis scene.
• ^These would be changed around in the novelization, putting the more emotional moments to later points in the story:
• The first half of the ‘foraging for food’ part (before they’re shown going to sleep) would be split off and expanded into its own scene, as it still seems like a natural thing to happen after Spike hatches.
• The oasis scene, where we’ll start to see the transition in Cera’s character.
• The travel montage, based on the portions in the script that don’t appear in the film proper.
• A shorter reprise of the ‘foraging for food’ scene, this time including the dinos all snuggling together at night.
• The Sharptooth chase when they wake up the next morning.
• Another travel montage, this one based on what we do see in the film, leading up to Littlefoot and Cera’s fight.
• Other changes:
• Since Littlefoot has his treestar for longer in the novelization, it’ll be mentioned a few more times throughout the journey. A moment or two where he stares at it and again hopes to hear his mother’s voice, but doesn’t. Also a moment where Cera curiously observes Littlefoot with the treestar, as she can tell it’s significant to him but she doesn’t know why.
• In this version, since there’s a longer gap between Cera’s encounter with Sharptooth underground and when he chases the group later, there’ll be a new scene with Sharptooth added between the two encounters. Possibly just a brief scene showing that he’s actively hunting for the kids.
The Gang splits up:
• Just before Littlefoot and Cera’s fight, as outlined in the script, “Storyboard note: show old dried footprints of other dinosaurs going the easy way. This is an element of CERA’s argument.” Along with Cera’s line where she points out the foot trails moving away from the bright circle.
• After the fight, a new scene of Littlefoot by himself. Partly based off the cels of him in the waterfall, and also partly based off the section in the script where he is on his own after splitting up from his friends. In the novel, he would come to a waterfall (not the Great Valley waterfall) and start drinking from it, and then frolicking around and having fun in it. Although it’s a brief joyful moment as the scene quickly turns somber again, as despair and hopelessness overtakes him. He thinks of his friends. Although the thought of Cera fills him with rage, and how the others all left him and went with her as well, at the same time he wonders where they are now and what happened to them, and he is worried for their safety. He thinks of his mother and what she said to him before: “Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart.” It ties into how he was so convinced that this was the way to the Great Valley, how he knew it in his heart. But now he is not so sure. End scene.
• The waterfall scene was to be its own chapter, even if it were a shorter one. Then the next chapter would be the volcano trek.
• Although this is partially based off the original version where Littlefoot found the Great Valley before the others and then went back for them, he doesn’t actually find it yet in my novelization, ultimately making it closer to the ending in the finished film. Simply because I feel the finished film ending works a little better. As heroic as it is for Littlefoot to go back for his friends after discovering the Great Valley, I think it makes him even more heroic if he doesn’t find the valley and yet he still goes back for his friends in spite of that, and in spite of the fact that they all abandoned him. It just feels more rewarding if they all find it together, and some of the climatic feel might have been lost if Littlefoot had instead discovered it earlier on his own. That, and Littletfoot seeing his mother in the clouds one last time after Sharptooth is vanquished, and only then finding the Great Valley with his friends, feels more emotionally and narratively satisfying to me.
The volcano trek:
• The scene would be written from Ducky’s POV when she and Spike are surrounded by lava. Thus making it a more dramatic and emotional moment when she’s trapped and certain they’re about to die, but then she’s overjoyed when Littlefoot makes his triumphant return.
• The struggle in the tar pit would be extended a little.
• Switch to Cera’s POV. The foot trails she was insistent on following end up leading her to the pack of domeheads that attack her.
• After the “tar monster” saves Cera. While she is still happy and relieved for a brief moment, initially she thinks it’s just Ducky, Petrie, and Spike. She’s surprised when she notices Littlefoot too. Ducky cheerfully announces something like, “Spike and I were trapped by lava, we were. But Littlefoot came and saved us. And then we saved Petrie from the tar, but now we are all covered in it.” She giggles. This is so it’s made more explicitly clear that Cera realizes she went the wrong way, and also that it was Littlefoot who came to the rescue.
• Her POV again as she’s storming off, so we can see why she feels so ashamed. Not only that she endangered everyone, but she’s also embarrassed that they saw her so afraid. She feels the tears coming on but fights them back initially. “Cera?” Ducky calls out, but Cera keeps going. Then when Littlefoot calls out, “Cera, come back!”, that’s when she can’t hold it in any longer.
• Based off this translation from a German book: “Only in a safe distance Cera slowed down and sadly she let herself drop onto a stone. She heard Littlefoot’s calls and broke into tears. Never, she thought, would she be able to admit that she had gone the wrong way. She had insulted Littlefoot’s mother and scorned his friendship. How could she ever stand before his eyes again?” End chapter.
Climax & ending:
• The beginning of the chapter after the volcano trek would be extended a little, to better emphasize that it’s just the four of them now that Cera is no longer with them. This chapter would continue up until the end of the Sharptooth battle.
• If I had gone into Sharptooth’s thoughts, based on “The Illustrated Story” (noted above), it would have been shown that Sharptooth knew he was almost at the Great Valley and was about to go on a killing spree, before getting distracted by the kids. Even if I hadn’t gone into Sharptooth’s thoughts, I might have still somehow incorporated the detail that Sharptooth was on the verge of finding the Great Valley.
• Just before the battle, it’s made more evident that Littlefoot wants revenge for his mother.
• After the battle, there’d be one or maybe two more chapters, which would go from Littlefoot seeing his mother in the clouds to the ending.
• A bit of dialogue from Grandpa and Grandma when they reunite with Littlefoot.
• Along with Mr. Threehorn, Cera’s mother and siblings would be shown alive and well (as they would go on to appear again in my sequel novelizations).
• Just before the group hug at the very end, a part from the script would be re-included of Cera telling her father about Littlefoot, who is shocked to discover that Cera is now friends with a longneck; the very same longneck from before that she wasn’t supposed to play with, in fact!
• Possible closing line for the novel: Now they would always be together.
