Land Before Time Retrospective #22
Released: 2007-2008; 26 episodes
Even after I’d seen all 14 Land Before Time movies, many of them for the first time ever, I was still somewhat reluctant to check out the TV series and I didn’t get around to it right away. For one thing, I’d seen quite a few lukewarm comments about it, even from the LBT community. Which, as I’ve stated before, I’m normally a firm believer in the idea that people should just make up their own minds about something, since it’s all subjective anyway. But at the same time, seeing that even some of the more avid LBT fans didn’t really care for the TV series, and it thus didn’t drum up a lot of enthusiasm in me to see it for myself.
The other thing was, while I enjoyed most of the early sequels, I had a harder time with the sequels after the tenth film. #11-14 I wasn’t all that crazy about, even if there were a few bright spots here and there. And perhaps related to that, I felt burnt out after I finished my initial run of the movies, so I needed a bit of a break from LBT anyway.
All the same, in spite of all that, I began to feel that I should still see the TV series eventually. And in the end, I’m happy I did.
Unlike the films, I didn’t own any media releases of the TV episodes, but they were conveniently available on the official Land Before Time YouTube channel.
Also a note of clarification that, with this first batch of episode reviews, they were originally posted on different days. For the sake of convenience, however, I’ve merged them all into one post here.
Episode 1: The Cave of Many Voices
I finally started watching the TV show today. 😀
…
I wasn’t too pleased with this first episode. 🙁
I’ll admit that my expectations for the show weren’t very high, but I was curious too. And I’m a completionist, so I knew I’d have to check it out eventually. I can say that it was entertaining, albeit pretty cheesy too. And the songs… ugh (although the background music was good, and I liked the main title theme). Maybe the series will start to grow on me as I get further in? Or else maybe some episodes are better than others. I guess I’ll find out.
I already knew from the community that there wasn’t any real reason given as to why Chomper is no longer with his parents, and now lives in the Great Valley under the care of Ruby. Still, since it is the first episode, I guess they felt they had to offer some sort of explanation, even if it’s a throwaway line. But I really wish they’d given us more than just Ruby saying, “I promised your mom and dad I’d keep us safe from Red Claw.”
Speaking of Red Claw, for such a light-hearted series, he has a pretty freaky design! Beyond that, though, I wasn’t very impressed with him. He seems like just another generic Sharptooth antagonist, at least so far.
And speaking of Ruby, being the first episode, this makes it her debut to the franchise. Kinda awkward that she just appears out of nowhere and everyone already knows who she is.
I do like that we got to see Tria and Tricia again, even if briefly.
Well those are my thoughts for now. I’ll report in again as I see the other episodes.
Quote from LettuceBacon&Tomato: I remember the first time I watched this episode. It was at my parent’s house on vacation, and the window was open. When Ducky screamed, she set all the dogs in the neighborhood barking for like ten minutes. It was like that scene from 101 Dalmatians, and really funny.
XD
Episode 20: The Big Longneck Test / Shorty Showcase
Watching the TV series a bit out of order here, but today I saw “The Big Longneck Test”. One of my nitpicks with Journey of the Brave was Shorty’s absence from it, which made me anxious to see this episode, as I wanted to see how his and Littlefoot’s relationship would have progressed since the last time they saw each other, and to see more of Shorty in general.
Much like Cera after the first film, we see that Shorty has mellowed out and become more amiable, while still not completely losing his rough edge. And I was pleased that he has a decent role within the episode too; it wasn’t just like a cameo appearance. I enjoyed his dynamic not just with Littlefoot, but with Cera too. I’m also pleased to say that I enjoyed this episode more than the pilot. 😀
While we got another lame version of “Adventuring”, I did enjoy the “Big Longneck Test” song, even if it was just a variation of “Big Water”. Actually, that’s probably why I enjoyed it.
Hmm, so red tree stars are actually a thing in LBT. I always thought that was just a joke someone in the community made up. 😛
The episode had two concurrent plotlines here; Littlefoot taking the test, and Shorty lying to the Gang and trying to prove himself to them (and failing miserably). I feel that each of these ideas could’ve been expanded and fleshed out into their own episode, instead of trying to squeeze both of them into a 23-minute time slot. Oh well. I liked the solution to the third part of the test; that was clever writing.
Episode 2: The Mysterious Tooth Crisis / Chomper Showcase
Watched “The Mysterious Tooth Crisis” today, my third episode of the series. It’s been a bit strange for me to see Chomper (and Ruby) as part of the main Gang now. I got so used to just the original five members when I watched through the films. Chomper was introduced quite early, sure, but he still had ‘guest star’ status back then and so his dynamic with the group was different. Even in LBT 14, he didn’t really get to come along on the main adventure.
Anyway, this was a pretty cute episode. On paper it’s a rather mundane premise (a baby tooth falling out), but it ended up being surprisingly entertaining. In fact, I wish they’d taken out the mud bath subplot and just focused on Chomper’s tooth getting the Gang into various misadventures. 😛
Episode 3: The Star Day Celebration / Ruby Showcase
Quote from rhombus:
1) What special abilities do you think Ruby brings to the gang that did not previously exist in the gang as qualities?
2) What are your unique thoughts about Ruby’s unique speaking style? 😛
Initially I refrained from posting in here due to not having seen Ruby in action. But today I watched “The Star Day Celebration”, my fourth episode now. And, being a Ruby-centric episode, it seemed like a good time to comment. I’ll admit I’m not as attached to Ruby and Chomper as I am to the original members of the Gang (although maybe it’s because they haven’t had as much time to grow on me). But for a TV series, and a long-running franchise in general, I do think bringing in some new blood was a good idea.
Not sure yet how I feel about her unique speaking style. It seems a bit overused, but then again, I feel the same way about Ducky and Petrie. Nonetheless, after Ruby’s somewhat awkward introduction in the pilot, I am pleased that this episode gave her some backstory, even if it just led to me wanting to know more about her family and why exactly they sent her away.
Episode 4: The Canyon of Shiny Stones
I was really hoping Cera would be able to bring back that stone from the canyon, but right from the beginning, I just knew somehow that she’d end up losing that one too. Oops-Eeps indeed.
This episode had some great dialogue:
Petrie: “Hey! How about we bring Tria all the tree stars we can carry?”
Cera: “Spike will just eat them all before we can get to my sleeping place.”
Chomper: “I know. We could take her some fuzzy crawlers or some buzzy flyers.”
Ruby: “Then you’d eat them all.”
Ducky: “What is so bad about smoking mountain?”
Petrie: “It have big, black smoke that make sky all dark and spookly. And sometime it get all shaky.” *suddenly smiles* “Like Cera when she mad.”
[…]
Ducky: “Just because it shakes like Cera does not mean it is scary as Cera.”
Mama Flyer: “It’s just been so quiet lately. I hope the kids aren’t getting bored.”
Petrie: “MOOOMMMYYY!!!!”
And, as Ratiasu pointed out, when the lava is almost upon Ruby and all she can say is, “Oh dear…”
Quote from pokeplayer984: The songs indeed just seemed to be there. It made it lose their shine. Though I guess we can cut the song writers a little slack. I mean, they’re creating 26 eps here. Most of which I’m expecting to have at least one song in. You try coming up with 20+ songs in one year.
True, although that’s kinda my problem right there. I’ve only seen a few episodes so far, but already it seems like they’re straining a little to reach the “two songs per episode” quota. I feel it would’ve been better if they just aimed for one song per episode. I had a similar issue with the sequel films; instead of three or four songs, I wish they’d just done two songs, and I think that would’ve improved the overall song quality.
Episode 5: The Great Log Running Game
Quote from Ratiasu: I thought it was a boring episode. It seemed like filler – nothing really happened. There wasn’t a lot of character development. No huge event that happened. Just the gang running on logs for 22 minutes. It’s nice to know that the gang can actually get injured. I kind of miss the days when there was actual violence, too (Doc vs. T. Rex, Chomper’s parents vs. the Giganotosaurus, Littlefoot’s mom vs. T. Rex)…and I didn’t really like how Cera’s ankle was instantly healed, either. I did notice that Cera’s dad was far less harsh than in the movies.
Yeah, I agree. On one hand, I think it’s good for a series to have lower-key episodes sometimes. And the log running game was an interesting concept, at least, but the episode itself was a little dull.
Quote from Littlefoot Fan: And of course one of the gang is in danger right towards the end. I thought it was weird the way Topsy couldn’t even budge the big boulder on his own, but when Littlefoot and Spike helped him, the thing easily tipped. I mean come on 😛
Agreed here too. And for that matter, why didn’t Topsy back up and take a running charge at it? Surely that would’ve helped.
Quote from Littlefoot Fan: And I agree with your last post Ratiasu. It would be better if there was a large journey that extended over the course of about 4 episodes or so.
Once again, I agree. Having a story arc unfold across multiple episodes would be nice to see.
Quote from Littlefoot Fan: Yea that would make for an interesting twist if one of the gang was injured severely.
Agreed x4.
I felt bad for Cera. The episode had a good moral message, but still, I kinda wanted to see her figure out a way to participate in the game. Likewise, it annoyed me that Topsy was the one who got Cera going in the first place by giving her that egocentric speech and song about how threehorns can do everything and anything. Although at the end, he seemed to realize that he was somewhat accountable.
More great dialogue:
Ducky: “First, you get on the log. This is the hard part. Then, you stand up. This is the harderer part. Do not fall off. The harderest part is next. Now, you start running on top of the log. The fasterer the betterer. Now I am going faster and fastester.”
Tria: “Remember Topsy; you were young once too.”
Topsy: “I was? … Huh.”
Episode 6: The Brave Longneck Scheme / Ali Showcase
[Follow-up to this post.]
A bit belated, but I finally watched the infamous Rhett episode today. And indeed I do have some things to say about it.
Alright, well, it kinda surprises me to say this, but… I actually enjoyed this episode. The ‘Littlefoot x Ali’ side of me wasn’t entirely thrilled with Ali suddenly showing up with this new male friend of hers. But overall, the episode had a good plot hook, and I was legitimately compelled to see how things would play out. I likewise enjoyed that Cera was the one who engineered the scheme to expose Rhett. It seemed fitting somehow.
More than anything, I think the problem is that everything feels kinda rushed. This should’ve been at least a 2-parter. They could’ve come up with a better, more fleshed-out explanation for why Ali had fallen for Rhett’s painfully obvious lies and/or why she was so loyal to him, without making her seem out of character. And for that matter, Ali could’ve had a bigger role in general, as she really didn’t have much to do here.
Despite getting exposed and subsequently called out by the Old One, I can’t help but feel that Rhett got off a little too easy at the end, with Littlefoot immediately inviting him to come play with his friends, and even Ali didn’t really seem upset that Rhett had lied to her. But on the other hand, it shows how kind-hearted and forgiving Littlefoot and Ali are.
Overall, while it was a fun episode, yeah, I do wish Ali had been given another, better appearance.
Episode 7: The Meadow of Jumping Waters
The initial setup – the Gang taking a walk to go see some shooting water – was kinda mundane. Although I do like that they revisited the theme of bad luck, a concept previously explored in The Secret of Saurus Rock. Combined with a comical ending, it helped elevate this into a pretty entertaining episode. I had a good laugh at Red Claw and the Fast Biters’ reaction to stinky Spike. Nice that Spike also got to contribute to the conflict’s resolution. 😀
Interesting that, even though Pterano doesn’t appear in the TV series, he is mentioned in this episode. Perhaps he was intended to appear in a possible second season?
Great exchange:
Cera: “Heh, uncle Pterano? That guy’s full of crazy stories!”
Petrie: “Me know, and me not stop thinking about them!”
Ruby: “So try to think about something you’re not thinking about.”
Petrie: “Like… what?”
Well, those are all the thoughts I have for now. Have a fantastic 2020 everyone!
