Land Before Time Retrospective #28
Rinkus & Sierra Showcase:
In preparation for this showcase, I decided the time would be right to give The Stone of Cold Fire another viewing.
I had intended to rewatch the film a while ago. I was going to join in for the live stream that Mumbling hosted back in June (or even the stream before that in May). But then I missed it because it was hosted in the morning and I ended up sleeping in. I’m not much of an early bird.
But anyway, I later watched the film by myself so I could compose some new thoughts here.
Quote from rhombus: 1) It has be postulated by many authors, including myself, that Sierra might be some kind of psychopath or sociopath (a person without emotional empathy for others) based upon his words and actions during the seventh film. Including his willingness to kidnap Ducky and then to discard her to what he assumes is her doom. What do you think?
I would say that, yes, he is most definitely something along those lines. He doesn’t seem full-on “crazy,” per say. More just cruel and sadistic. Either way, he might be the most evil antagonist in the series. With many of the Sharpteeth, it’s ambiguous if they’re truly malicious or merely hungry predators looking for food, whereas Sierra is a lot more overtly sinister. Sierra also doesn’t seem as comical as the other sentient villains such as Ozzy & Strut and Ichy & Dil.
Quote from rhombus: 2) What is your personal head-canon about how these two met up? It does seem that Rinkus knows how to recognize and handle Sierra’s more intense impulses to lash out to a much better degree than Pterano.
It struck me that Rinkus & Sierra are quite reminiscent of Ozzy & Strut, albeit Rinkus & Sierra seem to get along better. My personal head-canon is that the two of them met each other and became friends (or at least partners in crime) before either of them met Pterano. When they did meet Pterano, they were initially won over by his charm and his apparent leadership skills, hence he became the leader of the trio. Over time, however, Rinkus & Sierra began to see through Pterano’s façade and thus why they turned on him.
But as for how Rinkus & Sierra met each other, I actually envision it being something pretty mundane. Maybe they were out scavenging for tree stars and they just happened to bump into each other and they got into an argument over who should get the last tree star. But then they decided to work together for the time being.
Other assorted thoughts:
I like the very opening shot in space with the distinct music playing; mysterious at first, then epic. It’s fitting too given the Rainbow Faces and the general theme of a vast, cosmic universe. It’s also strangely fitting somehow that Petrie is the one doing the opening narration.
Cera (to Petrie): “My father once told me that the grown-ups kicked your uncle out of the herd.”
Littlefoot: “Wow! What did he do?”
Cera: “Uh, I forget that part. But I do remember it was pretty awful.”
…that’s one way to put it.
Early on, when the Far Walkers arrive, Littlefoot mentions that they came from the “Cold Lands.” This makes me wonder what the Cold Lands are really like. My first thought was that it was a distant land where winter had already hit. However, in the eighth film, the dinosaurs are all surprised when it starts snowing. What makes it even more interesting is that the dinosaurs were still living outside the Great Valley in the first film, and in all that time it appears that they never encountered snow. Hmm, so what are the Cold Lands like then? Is it a region that’s simply cold, but not outright snowing? Or is there in fact snow there, but the main characters weren’t there to see it and so they merely knew that it was a “cold” area? Would it depend on the season or time of year? As in, is it always a cold place?
When Littlefoot rolls onto the pinecone, I love seeing him scratch it off with his back leg like a dog or a cat. It just looks adorable.
When the Rainbow Faces tell everyone about the Stone of Cold Fire, there’s another distinct musical cue that plays. I never noticed it on my previous viewings, but I have OwlsCantRead to thank for pointing it out to me, so I knew to keep a close ear out for it this time around. It’s a great piece of music; I’ve actually gotten chills listening to it before. The second half of the track also plays again in the eighth film when the Gang builds a snowman of Spike, and it works really well in that scene too, completely changing the context from mystical to sad.
There’s a cute moment soon after the Rainbow Faces, when Pterano is telling Petrie and his siblings some story of his that was likely made up. Pterano is clearly a pompous windbag, but him telling the kids stories is endearing at the same time.
Another cute moment when Ducky feels bad for how she and the rest of the Gang upset Petrie, and then she leaves her nest to go cheer him up. A good one for the shippers. Even moreso later on when they reunite after Ducky’s abduction and hug each other, then Petrie breaks down crying in her arms and she comforts him. LBT 7 & 8 are good movies for Ducky and Petrie fans in general.
Pterano Showcase:
Quote from rhombus: 1) Pterano seems to be one of those characters in the fandom for which there is a lot of polarization. He has numerous fans, but also detractors. Why do you think he is so polarizing in terms of how fans see the character?
He’s polarizing? He always seemed like a pretty popular character to me. He’s definitely a strong fan favourite, at least. Although reading through the thread, I can see a couple of more mixed opinions about him, but most people I’ve talked to appear to like him a lot.
Quote from rhombus: 2) What is your own personal view on Pterano as a character?
Hmm… well as I’ve stated in the past, I appreciate his uniqueness as an LBT antagonist. There’s definitely more nuance to him than usual… and yet, I still feel he was a bit underdeveloped. Like, I appreciate the general direction they were going for with him… but at the same time it just made me want to know more about his backstory and his motivations. I do like his character overall, but at the same time I have a bit of conflicted feelings on how they handled him.
Other assorted thoughts:
The log-riding chase is a lot of fun. That, and when they meet up with the Rainbow Faces inside Threehorn Peak, are my favourite parts of the film.
When they’re running after the Rainbow Faces inside the cave, you can see from his shadow that one of the Rainbow Faces crashes into the wall and falls over. I never noticed that the first two times I saw the film.
It also dawned on me on this most recent viewing that the “Stone of Cold Fire” is probably just a standard meteor. Which seems pretty obvious now, but I honestly never thought of that before.
I still love that adorable moment after Cera saves Petrie from the falling rock.
“Cera, you save me!”
“Yeah, so? No big deal.”
*he hugs her and they both smile*
<3
I was at my mom’s place when I was watching the film. My mom, who knows I’m an LBT fan in my adulthood, pointed out that I wasn’t even into dinosaurs as a little boy. “Funny how that works out, isn’t it?” I responded. She also said Cera was cute, which I completely agree with.
As for the songs in the film, I didn’t care for the latter two, but “Beyond the Mysterious Beyond” is pretty good.
Lastly, I’ll close out with some random commentary highlights from the earlier community livestream. :3
Goldenwind:
Mario: “It’s a flying rock! It isn’t magic!”
Luigi: “It is, it has Cold Fire!
Mario: “What are you waiting for throw me a pass!” GETS CRUSHED!
Flathead770: Sucks to be an uncle, makes you automatically evil 😛
Goldenwind: Also I want more interaction with Mama Flyer and Pterano. XD
Goldenwind: Hyp: “Stinkbugs? Better write down that insult.”
Belmont: Where Petrie isn’t too good at lying, Ducky’s stealth abilities leave a bit to be desired.
OwlsCantRead: They actually stopped the chasm thing for a bit after this, didn’t they? 😛
Belmont: The log chase is what Great Valley Racing should have been.
Belmont: Yes, Topps, yes it is your fault.
Ducky123: Hunger Games: An unknown sponsor has provided GoF with: a bunch of treestars
