Land Before Time Retrospective #34
Episode 10: The Hidden Canyon
I gotta say, that pinecone soccer game looks like fun.
When they first enter the hidden canyon, I couldn’t help but think of Berry Valley, hehe.
Quote from Noname: As for the theme of the episode, we can see that gluttony and keeping secrets are bad things, and in general, stories with fruit in them tend to be moral lessons (Adam and Eve, Gilgamesh, The Golden Apples of Discord from Greek Mythology, etc), and the fruit tends to be bad (a forbidden object and/or and object of material desire.)
Oh, interesting. It’s neat to look at it that way and apply it to the episode.
I was a bit let down by the lack of follow-up from “Escape from the Mysterious Beyond” with Thud’s development. Even though I figured at the time it would just be a one-off thing, I still think it’s something they could have gone further with.
I liked the initial idea of the hidden canyon and the kids having their own secret hideout, and how it turned out to be a surprise entrance for the sharpteeth. There was a good plot setup there. But alas, it kinda fell apart at the end with a climax and resolution that was just too ridiculous. It certainly does not make the villains out to be very threatening or competent. I get that for a light-hearted series, there’s only so much the writers could do. But… really? All you need to do to scare off Red Claw and his goons is to just toss some fruits at them?
Then again, I guess it wasn’t really any less ridiculous than the other episode where they run off because Spike was covered in mud and smelled bad, but that only further emphasizes the point. Chomper refers to Red Claw as “the biggest and meanest sharptooth of them all,” but… eh… I’m just not buying it.
Oh well. Despite that, the episode was entertaining enough that I’ll give it 5 out of 8 tree stars.
Quote from Bruton the Iguanodon: Everything’s better with juicyfruit! It makes the episode all gorgeous and juicy and sweet and beautiful and tasty!
lol
Episode 11: The Legend of the Story Speakers
Yeah, I have to agree with [the previous posters] somerandomfangirl, Sleeping-force’s-inside, rhombus, Kor, and Ducky123. Saro’s reaction was too exaggerated and abrupt. It actually surprised me when I was watching the episode how he suddenly got all huffy and indignant like that.
But overall, this was a pretty good episode. Cool concept too. Kinda makes me wish they’d done more episodes dedicated to legendary stories like the one about Tall Stepper. It was also fun to have Littlefoot and Chomper go out on their own nighttime adventure. I give the episode 6 out of 8 tree stars.
Episode 12: The Bright Circle Celebration
Already we get off to a great start with the opening teaser, unfolding upon a pleasant scene, until Petrie suddenly starts screaming and we don’t see what it is, before it cuts to the title sequence. Sure gets your interest and attention going right away. Even if I had a feeling that the payoff would end up being nothing noteworthy, but it was still a great way to start the episode.
I enjoyed “My Reality”. One of the better songs so far. Nice and catchy. Even if it does use the exact same melody as “Fix Your Tooth” and “Do Anything”.
Interesting how Cera references Tria’s mud pool, which was back in “The Mysterious Tooth Crisis”. Is this the first explicit bit of continuity we’ve had between episodes? It was a nice touch either way.
I noticed while watching that this was a lower-key episode, but it actually worked. I was genuinely interested in what was going on. Although it sure surprised me when the fire rocks suddenly came down two-thirds into the episode, completely changing the tone!
When Cera first shows up to help put out the fires, she should’ve shouted “I’M COMING!!!!” That would’ve been a great callback to the first movie.
Quote from RainbowFaceProtege: At about 3:30, the former profile pic of ‘ImpracticalDino’ suddenly jumps out at me.
Oh, haha, I forgot about that.
Quote from Gentle Sharptooth: Cera is Ceranezer Scrooge.
Lol!
It was awfully convenient timing the way the snow suddenly came down to help with the rest of the fire. Although I did love the ending with the characters in the snowy landscape at night. There was something cute and magical about it.
I give the episode 6 out of 8 tree stars.
Episode 12: The Bright Circle Celebration (re-review)
[This was posted very shortly after the above review, but on a different thread, which was why I ended up talking about the same episode twice in short succession.]
I notice that even though Red Claw is the main antagonist of the series, we’ve had several episodes now where he doesn’t show up at all. While I do like the idea of a recurring antagonist, at the same time I like that they haven’t been using him as a crutch to drive the conflict of every single episode, that they’ve been coming up with other plotlines as well.
Quote from pokeplayer984: The fire scene is what mainly interested me. It seems that the gang we know and love have gotten quite some knowledge on how to put out a fire since LBT 3. Which was good seeing and all. Though the “miracle” of snow falling at just the right time seemed to ruin the suspence of the whole scene that such an element can provide.
When I watched the episode, my first thought was that the timing of the snowfall to put out the rest of the fire seemed too convenient. But then I thought about it some more, and I wondered if perhaps it was supposed to be some sort of higher-up entity rewarding them for their faith, or something like that. The episode doesn’t explicitly confirm it, if that was indeed the case, but it’s an intriguing idea.
Quote from aabicus (LettuceBaconTomato): This has to be one of the oddest episodes I’d seen yet. Never mind the religious undertones (something I didn’t think LBT would ever delve into, due to its controversial nature).
It was an unusual topic for LBT, certainly, but I enjoyed it. The idea of a mystical, faith-based celebration in their community was an interesting thing to see.
Quote from aabicus (LettuceBaconTomato): The only other thing I’m going to comment on was the lack of a real moral resolution: Cera never actually addressed her problem of (essentially) not believing in the sun god. I personally wish that the writers had bumped Petrie off his high-perch a little to, to show being a fanatic disciple isn’t always the best move either.
Good point, although it didn’t bother me personally. Both herself and Topps eventually decided on their own terms that the Bright Circle Celebration wasn’t such a bad thing after all, which was a nice bit of character development. As for Petrie, it did lead to this epic grin of his here.
Worth it for that alone.
Episode 13: The Lonely Journey
Before I even started watching, before I knew anything about the plot, already the episode title had me intrigued. And the episode itself does explore some interesting concepts. The issue of a potentially dangerous sharptooth living amongst the leaf-eaters in the Great Valley. Even though Chomper’s friends, along with us as the audience, already know that he isn’t actually dangerous, it’s still an intriguing moral dilemma. This leads to a disheartened Chomper leaving the Great Valley in an effort to try and make things better for sharpteeth and leaf-eaters alike. Of course, he soon gets himself into trouble, and his friends demonstrate their camaraderie and loyalty once more by going after him.
The premise sounds great on paper, and we get some nice character development for Chomper here. And yet, I didn’t really care for this one at all. I honestly can’t put my finger on why. It just didn’t click for me. I also wonder how many more times I’m going to hear “I Feel So Happy” before I’m done watching all the episodes.
From my “The Bright Circle Celebration” review: I enjoyed “My Reality”. One of the better songs so far. Nice and catchy. Even if it does use the exact same melody as “Fix Your Tooth” and “Do Anything”.
And now they use it again for “Sniff Him Out”. 😛
I did enjoy the action scene of the characters sliding down the mountain to escape the earthshake. Definitely the best part of the episode. It was also nice that Spike again got to help out with the episode’s resolution by eating a path through the ice down to where Chomper was. After feeling that Spike was an underdeveloped character in the films, I like some of the creative ways in which the TV series has been using him.
I give the episode 3 & 1/2 out of 8 tree stars.
Episode 13: The Lonely Journey (re-review)
[Again, this was posted very shortly after the above review, but on a different thread.]
Assorted thoughts:
At 2:47 into the episode, Ducky says “Yes, yes, yes!” instead of “Yep, yep, yep!”
The “Time of Great Giving” is mentioned again in this episode. First time it’s been brought up since LBT 3. Yay continuity!
When Chomper encounters the fast biters, one of them has similar colouring to Screech, and one of them has similar colouring to Thud. It made me wonder who the third, reddish fast biter was supposed to be…
…then I realized that they were completely different fast biters altogether. Still, it gave me the idea that it would’ve been interesting if Red Claw had had a third fast biter companion with him in the series. Possible fanfic inspiration?
Speaking of which, I notice this is the first episode where Red Claw shows up by himself, without Screech and Thud.
Lastly, here’s a random image of Ducky and Spike.
Episode 14: The Missing Fast-Water Adventure
Well this was a fun episode.
I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this one, considering I was much more “eh” about LBT 9. This is easily one of my favourite episodes so far.
Even though I’m still determining my overall verdict of the TV series, I am digging the idea of bringing back earlier sequel characters for guest roles in certain episodes. That at least is a solid idea. It also helps solidify the continuity.
I don’t have much else to say about this one. But there wasn’t anything about it that annoyed me either, so I’ll count that as a victory.
I give the episode 6 out of 8 tree stars. (Edit: Bumping it up a little to 6 & 1/3 out of 8 tree stars)
Episode 15: The Spooky Nighttime Adventure
I have twelve episodes left to cover now (including this one). I’m going to try and watch/review four episodes per week. If all goes according to plan, I should have the entire TV series finished by Sunday, October 18th at the latest.
Well anyway, this was a fun title for an episode!
I notice that Pterano is mentioned again. It’s touching that Petrie still idolizes his uncle even after everything about him came to light.
“Threehorns don’t have sleep stories.” But Cera, you had one back during the great longneck migration. How could you forget this adorable sight?
I like that they’ve given Mr. Thicknose a recurring role in the TV series. They’ve incorporated him well so far.
Petrie: (to Ruby) “You tell us Hidden Runner not real.”
Ducky: “But then why were you so scared-ed?”
Petrie: “Because me me! Thing no have to be real to scare me.”
Haha, Petrie just admits it outright. xD
Another great exchange:
Mr. Thicknose: “Seeing Hidden Runner is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Petrie: “What if Hidden Runner eat us?”
Mr. Thicknose: “Then it’ll definitely be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
It’s also cute how when Petrie gets scared, he immediately rushes over to Littlefoot and clings to his neck. And then later once it’s nighttime and Petrie is still resting on Littlefoot’s neck.
Quote from pokeplayer984: You guys aren’t going to believe this, but go back to near the end of the scene where the gang sings “Hidden, Hidden Runner”. You won’t believe who actually gets a part in the song. Hint: The one you’d least expect to talk.
Quote from NewOrder: You’re right! Spike sings-a-long with the rest, bout time, he hardly talked since lbt 4
Oh wow, look at that! I didn’t even notice that when I first watched the episode, so I went back to rewatch that segment. How interesting.
I also like how it’s again touched upon that Cera puts up a lot of bravado, but she really does get scared deep down. And this time around she actually owns up to it at the end of the episode, leading to a poignant discussion about fear and bravery.
Lastly, I loved the design of the Hidden Runner. Cool concept for a new species in the series.
Quote from Amaranthine: I really liked how Ruby was explaining how that maybe the person that told the story didn’t understand that the Hidden Runner wasn’t exactly “invisible”, but camaflouged, so the dinosaur that told the story didn’t understand the whole on concept of it all.
Agreed. That was a nice touch.
I give the episode 6 & 1/3 out of 8 tree stars.
Episode 16: The Lone Dinosaur Returns
Well I have to say, for being apprehensive about seeing the TV series initially, so far I’ve been digging it more than I thought I would.
This was another episode title that got me intrigued right off the bat.
Quote from Ducky123: Lone Dinosaur Reprise: meh! Don’t like it!
I liked it quite a bit. More than I’ve enjoyed most of the other TV episode songs so far, although I was a fan of the original Lone Dinosaur song as well.
Speaking of good music, I like the western-style score at 8:09 when Doc shows up.
Doc having a “lady friend” seemed a bit strange at first, but I got a kick out of it all the same. It was unexpected for a character like Doc, but that might’ve been precisely why I enjoyed it.
I laughed when Ruby knocked one tiny pebble down the mountain and ended up causing an entire avalanche.
Awesome Littlefoot moment when he stays loyal to Chomper and stands up to Doc, even despite having consistently idolized Doc up to that point.
Quote from Ducky123: So Littlefoot doesn’t want to help his idol anymore? Like that as well!
But hey! Let’s help Dara instead of Doc. Chomper has a great idea there!
Lol, kind of a funny irony there.
Quote from Ducky123: Anyway Dora reacted the very other way than Doc when she met Chomper.
Interesting observation. I didn’t really think of that before, in how it was the opposite of Doc’s reaction.
The only part I didn’t like was at the end when we get another lame version of “I Feel So Happy”. Bah.
But all in all, this was an enjoyable episode. 5 & 2/3 out of 8 tree stars 6 out of 8 tree stars
Episode 17: Stranger from the Mysterious Above
I didn’t really care for the main premise of the episode, with Spike being trapped underground with those little gopher creatures who suddenly decide to worship him. But thankfully, Mr. Threehorn and Mr. Thicknose bickering was entertaining enough to help elevate the episode somewhat. I also liked “My Way”; finally, an original song! “Above the Mysterious Above” was pretty good too, even if that one was a remix of a previous song.
I also got a kick out of the tinysauruses being mentioned. Now all we need is a yellowbelly reference.
5 & 1/3 out of 8 tree stars
Episode 18: The Forbidden Friendship
As with “Stranger from the Mysterious Above”, this one had kind of a lame central premise, but was buoyed by some entertaining highlights.
Mr. Threehorn used to be one of my least favourite characters, but I’m surprised at how much he’s grown on me. As I’m watching through the TV series, I’m enjoying him more and more. The best part of the episode was when he got into the argument with the spiketail leader and then they started fighting. It was just so entertaining for some reason. And then Grandpa Longneck tells them to break it up and Topsy suddenly goes, “Ohhh. Okay.” And then he and the spiketail get stuck together, hehe.
That aside, however, I just couldn’t get behind the main conflict of the episode. Alright, so Mr. Threehorn and Mr. Spiketail get into a scuffle over sharing the green food. Fair enough. They’re both hot-headed and aggressive dinosaurs. But then they willingly break up the fight after they get their initial aggression out, and then Grandpa says that the spiketails are welcome to stay and share what little green food is still left, which everyone else seemingly agrees to. Okay, but then why does that mean all of a sudden their kids can’t play together? What difference would that make?
Even if they hadn’t found the extra green food at the end, surely Spike and Tippy playing together wouldn’t hurt anything, would it? It certainly wouldn’t make the food problem worse. I could see some of the more stubborn dinos like Mr. Threehorn still wanting to separate the herds anyway, but why do the rest of the Great Valley adults go along with it? It seemed especially out-of-character for Mama Swimmer to get huffy about it; she hardly seems the type who would care about something like that. Especially given how calm and mature she was in The Big Freeze at Spike potentially leaving her family for good, which was a far more serious issue than the petty “our kids can’t play together” spat that happens in this episode.
Oh well. Not a bad episode by any means. Just a silly one.
I liked the general winter atmosphere. Snow and Land Before Time goes good together for some reason. ❄
5 out of 8 tree stars
