List of The Land Before Time characters
This is a list of characters in The Land Before Time, a series of animated feature films and a television series. The main characters include Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, and in the spin-off television series and the fourteenth film, Chomper and Ruby. Other characters include the families of the main characters, the residents of their home, the Great Valley, and outsiders to the Great Valley.
Creation and development
The idea for The Land Before Time came during production of An American Tail. Steven Spielberg's studio Amblin Entertainment was interested in doing a film about dinosaurs, which were popular at the time, leading Spielberg, director Don Bluth, and producer George Lucas to develop the prehistoric setting and its cast. Inspired by the dinosaur-themed "Rite of Spring" sequence from Disney's Fantasia, Spielberg had originally intended for the movie to have no speech, with music cues and body language telling the story, effectively rendering all the characters mute. However, it was decided that the film could not carry a story without dialogue, and each character was given a speaking language accordingly. The film's artists used the Fantasia sequence and characters as guides when creating their first concept art.Bluth had to learn most of his information about specific dinosaur species before work began, stating "I had to do lots and lots of research because I never was a fanatic about dinosaurs as a kid. But in many ways it became a fictional fantasy because it's about these young children who are taught to hate each other; anyone who is different from him. When they are separated from their parents, these five little children have to learn to get along with each other for survival. So there is a bit of a moral in it, too". The films creators decided to have a Tyrannosaurus as the main villain.
While Bluth had originally wanted to portray a more "forceful, dramatic" representation of prehistoric times, the idea was sometimes at odds with studio executives who wanted a more child-friendly "get-along gang" approach, which called for the main characters becoming cuter, but still distinctly detailed, as a compromise. After the release of the first film, neither Bluth, Spielberg, nor Lucas had further creative input in the series, with character development and design tweaks now guided by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and associated studios.
Main characters
Littlefoot
Littlefoot, voiced by Gabriel Damon, Scott McAfee, Brandon LaCroix, Thomas Dekker, Alec Medlock, Aaron Spann, Nick Price, Cody Arens, Logan Arens, Anthony Skillman and Felix Avitia, is a brown male Apatosaurus, or "Long Neck". He was born in the beginning of the very first film. When his mother dies protecting him from a sharptooth, he is forced to travel through the harsh wilderness alone to find his surviving grandparents. After meeting several young dinosaurs along the way who would become his best friends, they arrive in the verdant Great Valley where the series primarily takes place. In Journey Through the Mists, Littlefoot is introduced to his female cousin Ali, a member of another Longneck herd. He eventually meets his father, Bron, in the film The Great Longneck Migration. Bron adopts an orphan named Shorty, who becomes his foster brother.Littlefoot has been called a Brontosaurus, a Brachiosaurus, and also an Apatosaurus.
He was originally named "Thunderfoot" by the creators of the first film, until it was discovered that a Triceratops character from a children's book had the same name. The original name was kept very late into production, up until just before the film's release. Littlefoot has been compared to characters such as Disney's Bambi, and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, on how he goes on a strange journey and meets many new friends along the way.
Cera
Cera, voiced by Candace Hutson, and Anndi McAfee is an orange female Triceratops or "Three Horn". Like Littlefoot, she hatches in the first film, and is later separated from her parents and sisters during an earthquake. She accompanies Littlefoot to the Great Valley where she is eventually reunited with her father. She is stubborn, boastful, sometimes reckless, and occasionally belligerent, but is often made to look foolish when she is proven wrong. The initial film, and a few sequels, attributed an ego to her species, especially to herself and her father, but this is diminished in later appearances. In the Invasion of the Tinysauruses, her dad begins a new relationship with a Threehorn named Tria, who Cera initially dislikes, but eventually comes to accept. By the following film, Tria and Cera's father have become mates, and have a child named Tricia, Cera's half-sister.The character was originally conceived as a male Triceratops named "Bambo", but was changed to a female named "Cera" at the suggestion of producer George Lucas midway through animation of the first film. Hal Hinson of The Washington Post called Cera "a fiercely cute and rambunctious little dynamo" in his review of the 1988 original, with critic Mark R. Leeper likewise calling her "cute and pugnacious". She was the main character of the 2001 children's book The Land Before Time: Cera's Big Day Out by Molly Goode, Judy Freudeberg, and Tony Geiss, as well as the 2007 book Cera's Shiny Stone based on the TV series episode "The Canyon of Shiny Stones".
Ducky
Ducky, voiced by Judith Barsi, Heather Hogan and Aria Noelle Curzon, is a green female Saurolophus, known colloquially as a "Big Mouth", "Duck Bill" or "Swimmer". She was one of the young dinosaurs who accompanied Littlefoot to the Great Valley when she was separated from her family. After arriving in her new home, her mother adopted the orphaned Spike, who became her foster younger brother. She has numerous biological siblings, with many being born in the original film and Journey of the Brave. Characterized as having an energetic, cheerful and child-like personality, she speaks enthusiastically, often replying to things in triplicate and usually avoiding the use of contractions.The series' official website referred to her as a Parasaurolophus, while other sources have referred to her as an Anatosaurus.
Petrie
Petrie, voiced by Will Ryan and Jeff Bennett, is a brown male Pteranodon, or "Flyer". He is characterized as panicky and anxious, and traveled with Littlefoot to find his mother and siblings in the Great Valley while learning the basics of flight along the way. He is talkative, but speaks in broken English, usually omitting such linking verbs as "is", "are", and "am", using "me" in place of "I", and referring to himself in third person. He was originally meant to have a larger role in his debut, but much of his screen time was given to Ducky due to how impressed the producers were with Judith Barsi's performance. He was a central character in the twelfth film The Great Day of the Flyers.The producers of the original film had difficulty deciding on a voice for the character until it was suggested by Steven Spielberg's son, Max, that he sound similar to Digit from the previous Don Bluth film, An American Tail. Digit's voice actor Will Ryan was then asked to fill the role. Petrie is the only one of the original five principal characters that is not a dinosaur.
The series' official website referred to him as a Pterodactyl.
Spike
Spike, possibly effects by Frank Welker, then voiced by Rob Paulsen and Jeff Bennett, is a green male Stegosaurus or "Spiketail". Despite being the largest, he is actually the youngest of the original main characters; his hatching being witnessed by Ducky whose parents later adopted him. He is characterized as gluttonous, laid-back and rarely speaks, communicating mostly in grunts or scat singing. During the fourth film, Journey Through the Mists, he speaks for the first time, calling Ducky's name, and again in the eighth film The Big Freeze, where he calls out to his mother. In the same film, it is mentioned that his birth parents were probably lost in the earthquake of the first film, and becomes close friends with another Stegosaurus named Tippy. The TV series episode "Through the Eyes of a Spiketail", is told largely from Spike's point of view, where he speaks, internally, with a low voice, and can "hear" the song of plants that guide him to them.Spike's design was based on Bluth's pet Chow Chow, Cubby, with the director commenting that he had a personal fondness for the character, calling him "a pure soul, simple, accommodating, and eager to please". He has been described by journalists as the "fat kid" of the group, "quiet and shy", and a "tagalong".
Chomper
Chomper, voiced by Rob Paulsen, Cannon Young, Max Burkholder, and Issac Ryan Brown is a purple male Tyrannosaurus or "Sharptooth". He first appeared in the second film, The Great Valley Adventure, as a newborn hatchling whom Littlefoot and the others attempt to raise before returning him to his parents. He re-appeared as a supporting character in the fifth film The Mysterious Island, in which he is now able to speak the language of both Sharpteeth and leaf-eaters, but must convince his parents and Cera that both groups can get along. He became a main character in the TV series, having migrated to the Great Valley under the care of Ruby, and attempts to discover how its residents can live in harmony so he can pass this knowledge to his own kind. He is also known for having an amazing sense of smell, which comes in handy on occasion. Chomper also appears in the fourteenth film Journey of the Brave, when he attempts to greet Wild Arms, who passes out.In his debut in The Great Valley Adventure, Steve Rhodes of Rotten Tomatoes UK commended the character's design, calling him "a real scene stealer". Chomper is the star of the children's book The Lonely Dinosaur, based on the TV series episode "The Lonely Journey".