Land Before Time Retrospective #24
Ozzy & Strut Showcase:
Quote from rhombus:
1) How did your opinion of these two characters change over the course of the second film, if at all?
2) #TeamGreenFood or #TeamEgg? We know where Ozzy and Strut stand on the issue, so how about you?
As OwlsCantRead pointed out in the Sharptooth Showcase (see here), the original Sharptooth is probably the most personal villain of the franchise, with the villains afterward instead being comic relief, or else simply lacking that same dread and tension. That was certainly one of the things that made Ozzy & Strut so jarring for me during my original LBT film viewings last year. A few days ago, however, I decided to give The Great Valley Adventure a second watch, in part so I could give this egg-napping duo another shake.
I will admit, however, that I’m still not the biggest fan of them. Although whereas the first time around I found them obnoxious, now I’m more neutral about them. I don’t really like or dislike them either way. I can at least appreciate them for being unique compared to some of the other villains in the series.
Other assorted thoughts:
When Strut says he’s “eggs-hausted,” Ozzy smacks him, but then Ozzy goes on to make an egg pun of his own during the “Eggs” song.
When Ozzy & Strut jump off the cliff after seeing Chomper’s shadow and mistaking it for an adult, I had the thought that it would’ve been darkly comical if they’d actually killed themselves deliberately rather than face a Sharptooth.
Quote from Goldenwind: However I felt then and still feel that these two would be perfect reoccurring minor antagonists in the franchise especially in a possible second TV series of Land Before Time. I can just imagine them going on misadventures in parallel to the main gang.
Agreed. In fact, I think the TV series would’ve been a better place for them. One of my critiques with LBT 2 is, as others have expressed, Ozzy & Strut just feel kinda irrelevant compared to the issue of Chomper and his family.
Hmmm… #TeamGreenFood or #TeamEgg? At first I was gonna vote the former, for the sake of the Gang and their families, whom I certainly root for. But the truth is, I prefer eggs to green food. Uh oh. Does that mean I’m destined to follow in Ozzy & Strut’s villainous footsteps?
General film review:
One of the problems I had during my initial watch of the film was that I found the tone shift between the first and second film to be jarring. Although some time has passed now since I last saw the second film, which is why I thought it would be a good time to take another look at it. In part because it’s the Ozzy & Strut Showcase right now, but I also wanted to better appreciate the second film on its own merits, rather than what I wanted it to be and/or comparing it too much to the first film. When I initially watched the second film over the summer, even at the time I thought that it was one of the films that would most benefit from an eventual rewatch and a re-review. It’s really the second film that defines the tone and style of the LBT series as a whole; the original film is the odd one out.
So… have my thoughts on The Great Valley Adventure changed at all? Yes and no.
Reading over my original review again, I find that most of the things I said the first time around I still agree with. Kinda funny that this was one of the films I thought would most benefit from a re-review, and yet my overall opinion of it changed less than most of the other sequels I re-reviewed.
I still feel a sense of disapproval with this film for introducing the musical format, even if there were some songs in the later sequels I did enjoy. And it’s not that I feel the songs needed to be removed from the series completely. But the “three songs per film” format turned them into too much of a crutch. Less would have been more.
However, with all that said, the criticisms I had with the film before were less jarring for me this time around, while the positive aspects stood out to me more. Even the songs in this film; I disliked them initially, but now I don’t mind them. In fact, “You’re One of Us Now” is kinda catchy. Ironic that I used to find it the most cringeworthy of the songs here, but now it’s become my favourite of the three. It also dawned on me just now that the song does a nice job at foreshadowing (albeit unintentionally) that Chomper will become a regular part of the Gang much later in the series.
Other assorted thoughts:
I love the atmosphere during the nighttime mountain chase. This is where the film starts to pick up for me, albeit gradually.
Although Cera is much nicer now than in the first film, I like how they retain the aspect of her character that she puts on a lot of bravado, yet deep down she really does get scared despite trying to hide it. There’s even a callback to her birth scene where she gets scared by a lightning flash.
Speaking of which, the volcano part in this film also reminds me of the trek through the volcanic area in the first film.
Something I didn’t notice the first time I watched this. There’s foreshadowing that the two adult Sharpteeth are Chomper’s parents, as their first appearance comes immediately after a shot of Chomper himself.
The grown-ups often don’t get to contribute much if at all to most of the kids’ adventures. This film manages to avoid that and gives us an exciting climax where the parents all fight off the Sharpteeth together. This is one of the things I was able to better appreciate upon a second viewing. Related to that, despite Littlefoot being just a kid, I do like that he rushes over to help his grandfather anyway. He was probably afraid of losing another family member to a Sharptooth.
Also, Chomper helps Littlefoot use the vines to trip his own mother. XD
