PushoverMediaCritic

The cold open starts with the Gang lying back and looking at clouds.

Ducky sees a cloud that looks like Sweet Bubbles (remember, Sweet Bubbles are grapes). Spike gets excited, but those aren't edible. Ducky suggests he go find some Sweet Bubbles if he's hungry, and he and Petrie get up and leave.

Then Littlefoot spots another cloud that looks like Chomper, and it eats the Sweet Bubble cloud!

Chomper: "But I don't even like Sweet Bubbles!"

Everyone laughs at Chomper's remark, but then they hear a scream from Petrie!

Petrie: "OH NO, SPIKE! WHAT YOU DO?! OH NO! NOOOOOOO!!!"

Everyone goes running and that's the cliffhanger for the intro.

Not much to comment on, here. Obviously, Chomper doesn't like Sweet Bubbles, he's a carnivore. And even if he weren't, the writers have made it clear that Chomper likes spicy flavors, not so much sweets.

The Gang rounds the corner and they find Spike lying on the ground, Petrie standing over him in despair holding a red leaf.

Ducky: "Spike? Spike?! What is wrong?!"

Petrie: "Oh, it too horrible to say, me not believe it!"

Everyone walks up and Ducky cautiously approaches her little brother, tenderly touching his shoulder and asking if he's sick. He rolls over, lifts up his head, and burps. Then licks his lips. Oh, he just ate red Tree Stars.

Petrie: "He ate Tickly Red Tree Stars!"

Littlefoot and Chomper glance at each other, unsure of what the problem is.

Petrie: "Everyone know you don't eat Tickly Tree Stars! Tickly Tree Stars bad luck! Everyone know that!"

Cera: "No-one knows that!"

Between this episode and 4, they're really making Petrie superstitious, aren't they? Makes me think back to movie 6, where "bad luck" was a whole thing, and Petrie didn't particularly believe in it any more or less than anyone else in the group.

Ruby's seen these leaves before, they're rare and sweet, but not unlucky. Again, weird continuity. We saw in episode 1 that Ruby can't stomach eating leaves, when Ducky gave her one and she reluctantly ate it just to be polite while gagging. Why would she know these are sweet?

Spike bites the leaf and Petrie tries to pull it out of his mouth, but only pulls the stem out as Spike chews and swallows. Petrie freaks out again.

Littlefoot: "Look, Petrie. If Spike doesn't eat any more Tickly Tree Stars-"

Spike: "URGH?!"

Littlefoot: "-will you stop talking about bad luck?"

Petrie: "No, it not okay! Me Uncle Pterano know Leaf-Eater who know Leaf-Eater who eat it and get bad luck!"

Cera: "Ha! Uncle Pterano?! That guy's full of crazy stories!"

Petrie: "Me know! And me not stop thinking about them."

Wow, a mention of my favorite TLBT villain, Pterano! It... kinda tracks with movie 7. Petrie said at the end of 7 that he's realized Uncle Pterano wasn't so smart after all, but here he acknowledges that he knows Pterano's stories are crazy, but he can't help but be influenced by them to this day.

I also like how offended Spike is at Littlefoot's suggestion.

Ruby suggests he think about something else, and Ducky suggests Ruby tell a story to get his mind off it. Ruby agrees, beginning a flashback.

This seems to take place shortly after the flashback of them leaving Ruby's family in episode 3, about a year ago.

Ruby and Chomper are on their way to the Great Valley, but then they encounter Red Claw! They run and hide behind a tree to lose him!

While hiding, Chomper smells something terrible, but Ruby doesn't smell anything. While Red Claw's back is turned, they run off through a field of small geysers (I'm assuming this is the titular "Meadow of Jumping Waters").

Red Claw sniffs the air and turns to look at them! He chases them through the geyser-field!

A big geyser erupts right behind Ruby and Chomper, blasting Red Claw in the face and neck, and letting them get away!

They hide in a bush, and he loses track of them and moves on.

In the present-day, Cera interrupts the story with some skepticism.

Cera: "Wait a minute! You're telling me that water just jumped out of the ground?! Heh, you've got some imagination, Ruby!"

Chomper: "But I saw it, too!"

Cera: "Yeah, right!"

Is this gonna be like episode 4, where the characters acted like they'd never seen lava, and I countered with a ton of examples where they obviously had?

Uh, no, actually. We've never seen geysers before in this franchise. I know, I'm shocked, too. I even went back to check, and unless I'm forgetting something, the closest thing we've ever seen to a geyser is the makeshift steam elevator in movie 7. But that was steam, not liquid water. I can't believe it, either, but this skepticism is actually canon-compliant.

Ruby: "Well, maybe it's something you have to see yourself to know you saw it."

Cera: "Huh?! You want us to go to the Mysterious Beyond, just to see waters jump?"

Ruby (condescendingly): "No, Cera." *thinking on it* "...though, it's really not that far into the Mysterious Beyond."

Chomper: "Yeah! It's just beyond the Sheltering Grass!"

That actually tracks. Well, kinda. The first mention of the "Sheltering Grass" was in movie 2 as a potential location for them to play in, inside the Great Valley. That doesn't track.

But the more recent mention of the "Sheltering Grass" was in episode 3, as a location just barely outside the Great Valley. That's where they found the grapes for Ruby's birthday. And that tracks with the flashback in episode 3, since it ended with Ruby and Chomper reaching Saurus Rock, which is also pretty close to the Great Valley. I guess the Meadow of Jumping Waters and the Sheltering Grass are in-between the Great Wall and Saurus Rock. Must be a different path than the canyon and forest of giant trees we saw in movie 6.

Ducky, Spike, and Littlefoot want to go see it, but Cera can't believe they're serious. This heads into song 1 of the episode: Adventuring. Skip to 6:32.

This being the third instance of this song, it's getting played-out. I guess they really knew they had a winner when it debuted in movie 10.

That said, I think this version works better than the version in episode 1, at least as far as the song and context goes. In episode 1, the adventure had already started, so them asking to come with felt awkward. Here, it serves a different purpose and actually advances the story in convincing Cera and Petrie to join them on the adventure, despite their reservations.

Also, Spike being so prominent definitely makes it more fun and subversive, him (I guess beat-boxing?) a bunch of lyrics almost feels like poking fun at the overuse of this song. Like, "y'all know the lyrics by now, we don't need to actually sing them". However, Cera doesn't really play up the unbelievability of "jumping water" very much. They keep repeating that phrase awkwardly, like they're trying to make it stick, and there's no entertaining hyperbole they play with.

The animation is really boring and also janky, especially on Spike near the end, it just looks deranged with his snake-neck. In movie 10 and episode 1, Adventuring came with some fun imagination sequences and cool scenic imagery, and there's none of that here, it's played straight. Even just an imagination sequence of what the "jumping water" could look like would do a lot to improve it. Overall, I'd say this version is on-par with the Adventuring reprise in episode 1. It's used a lot better, but the visuals are a lot worse.

And now they're off, for what is expected to be a small adventure just to see some geysers, with the potential spectre of "bad luck" hanging over them. Speaking of that, I wonder if we'll actually see Uncle Pterano in this episode? I hope so. They mentioned him earlier, and now they're going into the Mysterious Beyond, they could run into him out there!

They walk a bit, and then Ruby starts hemming and hawing at a tree, turning and looking around. Littlefoot asks what's wrong and she comments that that tree doesn't look at familiar as she remembers.

To be fair, it was over a year ago.

However, Petrie starts freaking out and blaming Spike for getting them lost with his "bad luck"! Spike just rolls his eyes.

Ruby remembers which way to go, and Littlefoot reassures Petrie that nothing bad is going to happen.

Just then, lightning strikes the tree!

And lights it on fire!

Uh, hopefully this fire won't blaze as far out-of-control as the fire in movie 3 did, since the Great Valley isn't nearly as dry this time.

It doesn't. They run back over a small river, and the fire makes the tree break and fall over into the river, splashing water up and dousing the fire before it can spread.

They discuss potentially turning back, Petrie wants to because this is proof of bad luck, but Littlefoot points out that sky-fire happens all the time.

Cera: "But if any of you scaredy-eggs want to go back, that's okay with us!"

Petrie: "Me do!"

Chomper: "Well, I'm not a scaredy-egg!"

Petrie: "Petrie big scaredy-egg!

He sees them start to walk off without him.

Petrie: "Oh, too big a scaredy-egg to go back alone, that for sure. Hey, wait for me!"

This exchange reminds me of movie 7, where Petrie teased Cera for being a "scaredy-egg" and not wanting to cross the vines. Generally, Petrie's bravado doesn't allow for him to admit when he's scared, and he definitely doesn't take pride in admitting it.

They continue walking until Littlefoot yelps in pain! Petrie and Ruby hear and Petrie flies back to check on Littlefoot, but he insists he's okay and continues on, limping at the back of the group. Later, Ducky notices his limping and questions him about it. He tells her not to worry, and Ruby turns back to ask him about it, too.

Littlefoot pulls up his foot to reveal he stepped on a "ground prickly".

Littlefoot tells them that it's not that bad, and not to make a big deal out of it because then Petrie will freak out.

This is the third worst thing to happen to a foot in this franchise, after Cera twisting hers in episode 5 and Pat badly burning his in movie 10.

Reminds me of a time I accidentally walked through a whole bush of thorny burrs. Thankfully, I was wearing pants, but I still felt them through my socks, and I was picking them out of my socks, pants, and shoes with tweezers for the next couple hours.

Speaking of, why doesn't he just ask Ducky or Ruby to pull the spike out with their hands? They have nails at the end of their fingers, they could grab it without getting stabbed. But he doesn't, he just tells them to keep quiet about it.

Over at the front of the group, Spike is getting hungry. Cera tells Petrie that it's his fault Spike isn't eating, because of his yelling about "bad luck". Petrie flies around and sees a fallen log filled with "no bad luck Tree Stars", then points Spike toward it.

Spike starts eating the leaves, then eats more further in, then gets his head stuck in the log! Ducky asks what's going on and Petrie blames this on bad luck, before sheepishly admitting this was also his fault. Spike stands up and starts swinging it around in confusion, everyone else having to dodge being hit by it!

Eventually, Cera has enough of this and smashes the log!

Petrie again blames this on Spike eating the bad luck tree stars.

Littlefoot: "No, Petrie. Your saying that he has bad luck is the problem!"

It starts raining.

Petrie: "This all Spike's fault!"

Littlefoot: "Surprise Sky-Water happens all the time!"

Ruby: "And the Sky-Puffies we saw usually means Sky-Water later!"

Petrie: "But, still!"

Chomper: "Uh, could we talk about this somewhere drier?!"

They camp out under a tree to wait out the rain.

Cera looks down at a puddle.

Cera (sarcastic): "Look, the water's jumping!"

Ducky still believes Ruby's story, and she still wants to go see the jumping water. Then the rain stops, and they continue on the journey. Later, while walking down a hill, the wet ground turns into a mudslide!

I do get what's happening here. Each thing leads to a logical consequence. It's not a "random events plot", the lightning means rain which leads to mudslide. But it still kinda feels like one, y'know?

The Gang all get caught up in the mudslide and slide down the hill until they reach the bottom.

Petrie (to Cera): "You still no believe in bad luck?"

Cera: "Of course not! But, nothing else better happen."

Everyone starts shaking off mud.

Littlefoot: "The Sky-Water caused the running mud, that's all!"

Chomper: "But what caused the Sky-Water?"

Petrie: "Mm-hmm, and Sky-Fire, Sky-Fire bad luck!"

Ducky: "And you got a ground prickly in your foot!" *Littlefoot gasps*

Petrie: "Ground prickly?! Ooh, that very bad luck!"

Littlefoot (pointedly): "Thanks. Ducky."

The delivery on that last line is great.

Ruby points out that they've reached the end of the Sheltering Grass.

That was it? I think the "Sheltering Grass" is a misnomer, we didn't see any tall grass at all the whole trip!

Littlefoot asks if everyone's ready to keep going.

Chomper, Ducky, Cera, and Spike: "I think so" "Yup" "Yes" "Uh-huh"

Petrie: "No."

Cera: "...let's get this over with."

Littlefoot reassures Petrie that everything will be fine and they continue walking. Petrie flies overhead while repeating to himself "everything fine" over and over.

Unfortunately, that's basically a curse in screenwriting. Just a little ways away, Red Claw raises his head and sniffs the air!

Hey, Red Claw! We haven't seen you in the present-day since episode 1! For being the main villain of the tv show, you've sure been absent a lot!

The Gang are almost there, Chomper can tell because of the awful smell in the air. They just need to get through the "stinky pools" to get to the jumping water. Littlefoot and Ducky also comment on how bad it smells, so it's not just a Chomper thing. Cera complaints about not seeing any jumping water when a small geyser blasts right in front of her!

Everyone is impressed, but Ruby tells them to wait until they see what they haven't seen yet!

They continue on and crest a hill to see the full meadow of jumping waters! This leads into song 2 of the episode... a reprise of Good Times, Good Friends. Joy. Skip to 17:00.

I mean. I guess this is a bit better than the last time they played this song in episode 4. Still bad, but at least they rhymed a little bit here. And again, I like when the songs include Spike, this episode's done that twice now, and it's kind of a neat through-line in the songs. The bar is really low here, this song got a 2/10 last time. I think here it gets a 3/10.

After the song, Spike looks too close at a geyser when it goes off, knocking him back into some mud. When he gets out, everyone holds their nose.

Chomper: "Ohh!" *cough, cough, hack* "Oh, no!"

Ruby: "Uh-oh Spike, the stinky pools have made you stinky."

Cera: "Worse than usual."

Petrie: "See, bad luck! Oh, this day doomed from the start!"

Wow, rude, Cera!

Spike thinks it's funny though he does wash up with one of the jumping water geysers. It doesn't help with the smell, he smells so bad Littlefoot starts coughing (I can't pretend to be an expert on geysers, but from what I've heard, they do usually smell terrible due to the volcanic activity causing them).

The Gang start to head back, and even though Spike is walking far behind them, they can still smell him. Petrie says that from now on they should listen to Petrie all the time because he was right about the bad luck.

Cera is about to retort when Red Claw shows up! The Gang scream and run, but then his Fast Biters jump out of a bush behind them, trapping the kids between the Sharpteeth! Well, not including Spike, he was really far back.

Littlefoot leads the kids to safety! By running straight toward Red Claw, slipping right between his legs.

This reminds me of when he did the same thing in movie 13.

You know, the whole point of the "slip between the large opponent's legs to escape" gambit is that it's supposed to be crazy and insane and risky. Obviously, running TOWARD the threat is supposed to be surprising, take the threat off-guard. And you're supposed to set up for it beforehand, you either distract them by pointing at something above their head or make it look like you're running toward them to attack before suddenly ducking down. It's not supposed to be a reliable tactic for escape, it's supposed to be a risky last-ditch effort.

And if you overuse it, it completely kills the threat level of the thing chasing you. If they can't even catch you when you're actively running toward them and slipping between their legs, when all they would have to do is reach down, kick inward, or sit down, it just makes the chaser look completely incompetent if they fall for this more than once, or without any set-up beforehand.

Anyway, the group of kids escape the pincer maneuver with ease, then Red Claw roars to send his Fast Biters chasing after them! The Fast Biters and Red Claw chase The Gang!

For like 5 seconds. They almost immediately get cornered against a rock wall!

On the trail, Spike hears the screaming and comes running to find them!

Don't worry, kids, Red Claw's thigh gap is a reliable escape path, just use that again!

Ducky screams for help and Spike finds his courage and charges in! Petrie laments their bad luck one last time! Spike arrives, roaring and growling in intimidation!

Littlefoot yells "no!" when Red Claw and his Fast Biters... roar back in response.

Yeah, I'm sure it's important to intimidate the child.

Spike cowers while Red Claw leans down and... sniffs him.

Suddenly, Red Claw and his Fast Biters recoil with horror and revulsion at Spike's horrendous smell!

And then all three Sharpteeth run away from Spike because he smells so bad.

Seriously.

That's what happens.

Everyone else is just as stunned silent that that worked as I am.

Cera: "They're... gone. Why?"

Chomper (covers his nose): "I don't know."

Ruby: "I think you do, Chomper. Sharpteeth like you can smell things much better than we do."

Littlefoot: "So if we don't like the smell, Red Claw must hate it!"

Ducky runs forward to hug her little brother, thanking him. Everyone else thanks him, too, and Petrie lands on his back.

Petrie: "Oh, Spike, it good luck you fell in mud and smell so bad!"

Cera: "Wait! First it was bad luck, now it's good luck?!"

Littlefoot: "It wasn't good luck, it was good thinking, right Spike?"

Spike: "Eh-huh!"

Cera: "First time for everything."

No, it was definitely luck. Spike didn't get covered on mud on purpose. That was a total accident. Also, rude, Cera!! You can't just imply that Spike is stupid!

Petrie says that he doesn't care about good or back luck anymore, as long as they're safe, and thanks Spike.

As they walk home, Spike makes some inquisitive noises to everyone, and Ducky translates and reassures him that his smell is not so bad.

Everyone laughs and the episode ends.

This is the most half-assed, filler-ass episode of this show so far.

After a couple hiccups at the beginning, the continuity is good, between the flashback, the fact they've never seen geysers before, and the Pterano mention.

The core message of "there are no accidents, everything happens for a reason" is... kinda neat, I guess? Kung Fu Panda did it better. Granted, that film came out a year after this episode, but still, it's a moral almost as old as the time period this show is set in.

Overall, though, this episode was SO BORING. I GET that the ENTIRE point of the episode was that it's NOT a "random events plot", but it REALLY, REALLY FEELS like a random events plot. Things just happen. And usually, those things happening aren't even important to the story!

The lightning strike and tree fire don't impede their progress, losing that roadmarker doesn't make them get lost or anything.

The burr in Littlefoot's foot disappears during the mudslide and then his foot is fine the rest of the episode.

The log getting stuck on Spike's head doesn't amount to anything.

The rain lasts like 1 minute and doesn't amount to anything.

The mudslide just takes them down the hill unceremoniously.

None of the "bad luck" events in the story mean anything! Positive or negative! They're not even really obstacles, they don't require the main characters to work together or do anything to overcome them (I guess Cera breaks the log, that's one thing), they just happen! And I get that's kinda the point of the episode, that luck isn't actually against them, sometimes shit just happens and it leads to other shit happening, but c'mon! It makes the episode so boring when the entire road trip is basically the characters walking down a path, seeing shit happen, Petrie calls it "bad luck" and then Littlefoot says there's no bad luck, then they move on. This episode is more of a debate than an adventure.

And then Spike falling in the mud is chalked up to "good thinking", when it actually WAS just luck causing it! The geyser just happened to go off right when he was over it, the same thing that happened to Red Claw when he was chasing Chomper and Ruby! Maybe that's good writing?! I can't even tell! This episode is simultaneously really basic and really confusing. It feels like they had a central Theme and then just... forgot to write anything more than that. This isn't really a story, it's just a Theme with some characters stapled to it and the most half-assed excuse for an adventure I've ever seen. I guess Petrie has a "character arc", but it sucks!

This episode would have been drastically improved if Pterano was actually in it, instead of just being mentioned. They were in the Mysterious Beyond, he could have made a physical appearance! Maybe he was nesting in the tree that gets struck by lightning, and then he escorts the kids on their adventure. That would have DRASTICALLY helped punch-up the character writing in the script, having the kids deal with Pterano's subtle machinations again as he poisons his nephew's mind again with his smooth-talking.

It would have made the theme work with the story if they were actually debating with an philosophical antagonist instead of just trying to convince Petrie. Pterano believing in fate makes sense with his movie 7 characterization of thinking he was destined to lead from birth. It would have been kind of an interesting debate of science vs superstition, which would fit in the themes of movie 7.

On an unrelated note, Spike doing something that makes him smell so bad a Sharptooth doesn't want to eat him is A BIT THEY'VE DONE BEFORE!!! In movie 5, he ate some of the stinky tulips and then Chomper's dad noted the kids would taste bad based on how bad Spike smelled! You just took a throwaway gag from movie 5 and turned it into the climax of an episode, don't THINK I didn't notice that, show!!

Finally, for being the second real appearance of Red Claw and his Fast Biters, this sucked. They're on-screen for just a few minutes, are barely menacing at all, and run away from a juvenile stegosaurus just because he smells bad! Chomper could handle walking near Spike, why did those three decide they couldn't take it and run away?! This is the second time Red Claw has been defeated by one of The Gang overwhelming one of his senses so much he just runs away (the first time was Ducky screaming at him). I hope that doesn't become a recurring thing! Red Claw is really failing to build up a villain cred.

Pros: Good thematic writing. Proper use of foreshadowing with Sharptooth smell. Good continuity. Decent flashback.

Cons: Bad set-up. Bad songs. Bland dialogue. No overcoming of obstacles. OOC character writing with Petrie. BORING. Red Claw sucked. Re-used joke for the climax.

Rating: 3/10. It's better than episode 4 just because it has much better continuity and a decent theme, but it's still painfully boring in the same way that episode was.

10/10:

9/10: The Star Day Celebration (S1E3)

8/10:

7/10: The Great Log Running Game (S1E5)

6/10:

5/10: The Brave Longneck Scheme (S1E6)

4/10: The Cave of Many Voices (S1E1)

3/10: The Mysterious Tooth Crisis (S1E2), The Meadow of Jumping Waters (S1E7)

2/10: The Canyon of Shiny Stones (S1E4)

The cold open begins with Cera and Littlefoot climbing a hill, following Cera's "shortcut". At the top of the hill, she tells him to push through a bush, and when he gets stuck, she headbutts him through, but then they both start sliding down the other side of the hill! They crash through another bush at the bottom, and land ungracefully in a heap!

Cera being bad at directions is something that goes all the way back to movie 1, where she constantly led everyone else the wrong way. I'm glad to see it make a return, after the brief allusion we got at the start of episode 3.

They shake the leaves off, then see a herd of Longnecks walking in the distance. Cera recognizes the herd, and Littlefoot recognizes Ali in it!

Um, Ali. You uh. Look a little different. In case your memory of 4 isn't the best, this is what Ali looked like there.

More of a reddish-pink than Littlefoot's brownish-pink. But not. Light purple.

If I had a nickel for every time a Land Before Time sequel brought back a female Longneck from a previous movie and then drastically changed her skin color, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice!

The other time was when 10 changed Littlefoot's mom's color from dark brownish-pink to blue.

Anyway, Littlefoot and Cera run toward the herd, and that's where the intro starts.

So, this is the first of several "Continuity Follow-Up" episodes. We've hit a milestone! Ooh, I wonder if they'll bring back Ali's racism? She learned "diversity is good" last time, but that was in regards to the other herbivores in The Gang, now that we have Chomper and Ruby, Ali might have to re-learn that lesson.

Littlefoot and Cera enter the herd and run around until they find Ali.

Ali has a new voice actress, too, she's been recast from Juliana Hansen to Nika Futterman, the same VA as Tricia. It's... not a very good vocal match. Ali in 4 had kind of a squeaky voice. This performance is high-pitched, but it's also fairly raspy.

Still, they're happy to see each other. As a reminder, Littlefoot was the closest one to Ali in 4 (since Littlefoot was the only other Longneck and Ali didn't trust others not of her kind). Cera was the most combative with Ali, but then she became one of her closer friends when Ali saved her life and they buried the hatchet.

Littlefoot: "Ali, I'm so glad you're back! I've missed you so much!"

Cera: "I've missed you, too, Ali."

Ali: "It's been a while!"

Littlefoot: "It has! So, how've you been? You wanna play tag?! Swimmer and Splasher?! The pointy seed game?!"

Cera: "You name it, we'll play it, right Littlefoot?"

Littlefoot: "Right, come on!"

They start to walk away, when an unknown male voice calls Ali's name.

Littlefoot: "... hey, Ali, aren't you coming?"

???: "Hey, Ali!"

Ali: "Um... actually. I have a new friend I play with."

Littlefoot: "That's okay, he can come, too!"

Ali: "...uh, I don't think Rhett'll want to."

Littlefoot and Cera are confused, and Cera asks who Rhett is.

I wonder if Rhett'll be like Ali's thing in movie 4, where she didn't want to socialize with other species. Just because she's seen the value of diversity doesn't mean everyone in her herd has.

Rhett then jumps in front of Ali to introduce himself!

Very dramatically. Cera is not impressed and she introduces herself and Littlefoot, pointedly, as Ali's old friends. Rhett doesn't even address them, he just barks at Ali to explain it.

Ali: "Um, Rhett is very brave, but he won't play with kids he doesn't know."

Littlefoot: "...that doesn't sound very brave."

Rhett: "Oh yeah, Littleneck?!"

Littlefoot: "...my name is Littlefoot!"

Rhett: "Well, I'm Rhett the Brave, Hero of the Herd, Scarer of the Sharpteeth!"

Littlefoot and Cera are skeptical of these titles. Well, Littlefoot is skeptical, Cera is snickering. Littlefoot points out the Sharpteeth they've seen aren't scared of flying rocks, earthshakes, or smoking mountains. Cera adds on they're definitely not scared of little Longnecks.

Hmm, let's see... looking back, I think the only times we've seen Sharpteeth actually scared were in 10 (from the solar eclipse), 11 (from a huge stampede), and S1E1 (from the threat of a huge stampede). Chomper's parents have been worried for Chomper, but not really scared. Chomper's been scared frequently, but he's a kid. So I guess that checks out.

Rhett insists they're scared of HIM and Ali prompts him to tell them about his adventures.

Rhett: "Well, while you kids have been living here safe all the time, I've been living in the Mysterious Beyond, protecting my herd!"

He launches into a flashback. The herd was in a canyon, being approached by two Sharpteeth, when Rhett jumped out next to a pile of rocks!

Rhett used his mighty tail to thwap those rocks at the Sharpteeth, hitting them in the face with a barrage and making them retreat!

Rhett: "They were afraid of those flying rocks!"

Another story, the herd was being chased by the same two Sharpteeth through a forest, and Rhett stayed behind to fend them off! He used his mighty tail to fell four huge trees, creating a massive barricade to block the Sharpteeth!

Cera (sarcastic): "Hm. That's some tale!"

Rhett (proud): "I know. And then there was the time I used my tail to build a mountain of rocks that the Sharpteeth couldn't climb!"

I think the joke with Cera's earlier line is that she's skeptical of Rhett's stories, but he thinks she's complementing his powerful tail.

Rhett: "...and you haven't heard anything, yet!"

Cera: "I think we're heard enough."

Littlefoot (annoyed): "We've heard plenty."

Cera: "So Ali, were you with Rhett when any of this stuff happened?"

Ali: "Uh, no. That happened before our herds joined up."

Littlefoot: "...and you really believe that he built a mountain of rocks with his tail?"

Cera: "While being chased by Sharpteeth?"

Rhett starts stuttering as Ali looks at him inquisitively. He admits that the mountain of rocks was mostly built already, but he did finish the top!

Ali: "See, he finished the top!"

Littlefoot: "Of a mountain?! ...that's pretty hard to believe."

Ali: "You're just mad because you can't knock down trees with your tail!"

Rhett basks in the glow of his obvious lies being bought. Littlefoot starts to leave and tells Cera to go, and Cera gives Ali a parting "hmph" before leaving with him. Rhett wants to play Rescue, and Ali reluctantly agrees, feeling bad.

So, Rhett is obviously full of shit. But it would be really funny if he wasn't, if he actually was inexplicably super-strong. I was kinda hoping Ali knew he was lying and was just playing along, but it seems like she genuinely buys his nonsense.

As Littlefoot and Cera walk away mad, they sing song 1 of the episode, We Need A Plan. Skip to 7:10.

Huh, reusing the tune from "I Feel Mad". Well, unlike the "Talking Big" Caribbean party tune being used for "teaching" segments, at least this music fits the song. This one is also about being mad, after all.

It seems like there are two types of original songs to this show. Songs where the lyrics are generic enough they can just reuse the song wholesale in another episode which a few changed verses (like I Feel So Happy), and songs where the the tune is reused with completely different lyrics (like Talking Big). I think I like the latter more, and this tune in particular works.

Putting the re-used tune aside, this song isn't as good as I Feel Mad, the writing isn't as deep and the voice acting isn't as strong. But it's still decent, better than a lot of the other songs we've heard so far. I like the characters being united in anger, that's fun. And this shared face at the end is great, some real duplicitous energy going on here.

Oh, I get the title now. It's not The Brave "Longneck Scheme", it's The "Brave Longneck" Scheme. Not a brave scheme involving Longnecks, but a scheme targeting a self-proclaimed "Brave Longneck". That's kinda clever, actually.

I feel like this is the first time in the tv show we've gotten that "professional troublemaker" energy from The Gang we had so much in the movies.

I am a little annoyed that Ali's big return episode shifts the focus from her to this new Shorty-wannabe character.

And Littlefoot and Cera have gathered the whole Gang together to hatch this scheme.

Cera relates Rhett's wild stories. And of course, Petrie believes them completely, because he's gullible like that. Littlefoot has to inform him that Rhett's lying. Cera mentions she's mad at how he's lying to their friend!

Littlefoot: "I'm angry TOO!!!" (he kicks a rock)

Cera being mad is normal, but Littlefoot being this mad is a bit shocking to the rest of The Gang.

Well yeah, Rhett is stealing his girlfriend away. Remember, the writers want you to ship Littlefoot and Ali, they made that very clear with the flashback montage of her at the end of 4 when he said goodbye.

Ruby, injecting some "wisdom", points out the longer you're angry, the less you're happy. Petrie asks what they're to do, and they don't have a plan yet, but Littlefoot is determined that Ali needs to know Rhett's a liar.

Unfortunately, just telling Ali he's lying again probably won't work. Showing is better than telling, and Cera wants to show Ali he's not so brave.

Chomper: "Yeah! I'd like to see what Rhett would do if a real Sharptooth came around!"

Cera: "Hmm. Wait! What if we really did have him face a real Sharptooth?!"

Littlefoot: "You want to bring a real Sharptooth into the Great Valley?!"

Ruby: "Uh, I don't know if that plan's such a good plan."

Cera: "My plan is to use a Sharptooth that's already here!"

Petrie: "Eh?! There Sharptooth in Great Valley?!"

Cera: "Yup, and he's right here!"

She looks directly at Chomper.

Chomper: "...you mean me?"

Ducky: "But Chomper is nice, he is, he is!"

Ruby: "We know Chomper's nice, but you don't know that until you know him!"

Littlefoot: "And Ali and Rhett have never met Chomper!"

Cera outlines the plan in an imagination sequence.

Chomper will chase The Gang past Ali and Rhett. Littlefoot will ask Rhett for help, but when Rhett sees Chomper, he's gonna turn tail and run away, and that will make Ali realize he was a fraud.

Unfortunately, because the "Unspoken Plan Guarantee" trope is universal, the fact the audience knows what the plan is inevitably means it's doomed to failure. If they had just cut here, the audience wouldn't know the plan and it would go off without a hitch.

Frankly, I see a pretty big flaw in the plan already. Rhett may not be a superhero, but he's still like twice Chomper's size. I'm not sure that he's really gonna be intimidated. What if Rhett finds his courage and decides to just beat the shit out of Chomper?

Ducky and Petrie are confident in their ability to act scared of Chomper (probably because we've seen Ducky actually be scared of Chomper several times in this show before), but Littlefoot's not sure about this. Cera drops the line that seals the deal on her plan going catastrophically awry: "what could possibly go wrong?" Chomper's down for it, as long as no-one gets hurt. He's just gonna pretend to have friends for dinner. Yup, song 2 is a reprise of Friends for Dinner. Skip to 11:32.

This kinda sucks. It doesn't really add anything to the original song, just changing a couple words. And it removes all of the fun imagery and juxtaposition of the original song, where Chomper was gathering food ignorant of the others working themselves up that he'd eat them. And obviously there's no scene of Chomper's parents.

I guess it's not terrible, the root song is still good, but this version cuts down and cuts out basically all the best parts of the original without adding much of anything to replace it.

One thing I've noticed in this show is that in the movies, the songs were frequently integrated into the plot and used to progress the story or character arcs. While in the tv show, the songs are treated mostly as an afterthought, the plot just kinda stops so that they can do a song, then it continues. Granted, that's not every song. Just, like, half of them. But this is a particularly egregious example. It doesn't progress the story at all. They already decided on the plan, this song does nothing to further it.

The original Friends For Dinner advanced the story. It served a dual-purpose of having Chomper gather food and getting Ducky, Petrie, and Spike on-board with Cera's racist paranoia. This reprise just kinda happens and doesn't mean anything.

Also, I'm disappointed we got a reprise of an older song in Ali's return episode, but it's a song from 5, not 4. Friends For Dinner should have been It Takes All Sorts. I feel like this episode has been about anything but Ali.

After the song, Littlefoot hesitantly agrees to the plan and they start practicing. Chomper chases them out of some tall grass, but his growls are weak and the others are laughing too much to give off any impression of being in danger.

See? This is a great example of what I was talking about. They could have combined the song with this practicing scene. Make it into a training montage. Reframe Friends For Dinner as a faux Chomper villain song he's singing as the big scary Sharptooth coming to eat them. Change the lyric from "don't wanna be Threehorn soup and Littlefoot stew" to "you're gonna be Threehorn soup and Littlefoot stew". That would have been an interesting twist and progressed the story, instead of grinding the episode to a halt to have the characters celebrate the plan they just came up with.

Cera scolds them for laughing and demands they try again. They reset positions and Petrie and Ducky come out of the grass doing the classic "bad, flat acting" delivery on their lines.

Petrie: "Ahh. He hungry. Me scared."

Ducky: "And I am even more scarededed."

Ruby and Spike come out next.

Ruby (flat): "We need help to be saved."

Spike: "Uh-huh."

Chomper: *jumping out of the grass* "RAWR, GRAR RAH ROAR RAH!!!"

Okay, so one of the kids can act. Though Ducky did some decent acting in S1E1, so I'm not sure why she's all flat now. Cera thinks this is perfect, though, then she cues up Littlefoot to run in. While running, he trips over a rock and Cera jumps out of the way before Littlefoot crashes into everyone!

Got all the pins except 1, this'll be an easy Spare to pick up.

Cera demands they go again, and the next practice round goes flawlessly, Ruby even acts better this time around (though Ducky and Petrie are still flat). Littlefoot runs in and asks "Rhett" for help with no issue. Now that the plan is all ironed out and practiced, nothing could possibly go wrong!

Over with Ali and Rhett, the Brave Longneck boy demands they play Rescue.

Ali: "Again?! Could we play Tag instead? Or the pointy seed game? Or Swim or Splasher?"

Rhett: "Rescue it is! Start yelling 'help'!"

Ali looks so dejected and bored here. Rhett's a jerk.

But right when she's about to start yelling, they hear a piercing scream in the distance (from Petrie).

Rhett: "You sound different!"

Ali: "That wasn't me! That was someone who really needs help! Rescue them, Rhett!"

Everyone runs out of a bush one-by-one, doing their lines as rehearsed. Cera, then Petrie, Ducky, Ruby, and finally Spike. They hide behind Rhett.

Ali: "Who's chasing you?"

Rhett: "Who, uh- who's hungry?"

Cera: "He is!"

Chomper leaps out of the bush, snarling and growling and roaring as hard as he can.

Good to see Chomper's new tooth has grown in. A shame I was right and that plot point was never revisited, even though it should be an ongoing thing.

Ali: "A Sharptooth!! What are you waiting for, Rhett?! Save us!!!"

Littlefoot (running in): "Rhett, you've gotta save everyone!"

You know, in hindsight, this scheme might be a little too effective. Rhett is shivering in fear and Ali sounds genuinely terrified. This prank might be a little too mean to play on your friends. Especially Ali, since she is a known scaredy-cat.

Shockingly, the plan works, despite the audience being told about it beforehand.

Rhett: "Uh-uh-uh, uhh, s-save 'em yourself, I-I'm gettin' out of here! AAAAAAAAA!!!!!" *he runs away*

Props for averting Unspoken Plan Guarantee, that's a hard trope to not follow.

Everyone laughs, and Ali is very confused. She asks what's going on and Cera explains her plan.

Ali: "...but, that Sharptooth. Where did he come from?"

Littlefoot: "Oh, sorry, Ali. Meet Chomper!"

Chomper: "Hi Ali! Sorry if I scared you."

Ali (flabbergasted): "...you're friends with a Sharptooth???"

Ducky: "Oh, yes yes yes! Chomper and Ruby live in the Secret Caverns!"

Chomper: "It's kind of a long story."

TELL US IT! We saw a small piece of the story in Ruby's flashback in episode 3, but there's still SO MUCH we don't know!

By the way, Ali has been slack-jawed since Chomper introduced himself.

I think she's in shock.

What's funny is that Littlefoot was friends with Chomper before Ali. He was already friends with a Sharptooth when they met, she just never thought to ask.

Cera concludes that they're not afraid of Chomper, and Littlefoot asks Ali if she wants to play now. She's up for it, and notes that Rhett wasn't all that. Cera wonders where he went.

Then the ground starts shaking and it turns out that Rhett went to go get the entire herd! Oh dear. And they're led by Old One from 4.

If you forgot, Old One in 4 looked like this:

They changed her from dark gold to dark green.

...if I had a nickel for every time a Land Before Time sequel brought back a female Longneck from a previous movie and then drastically changed her skin color, I'd have THREE nickels! Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened thrice!!

Rhett, hiding behind one of the adult's legs, peeks out.

Rhett: "Th-th-there he is!"

Old One: "WE MUST DRIVE THAT VICIOUS SHARPTOOTH OUT OF THE GREAT VALLEY!"

Remember how I said a potential problem with this plan would be if Rhett wasn't scared and just beat the shit out of Chomper? Yeah, this is MUCH worse! Rhett brought back a lynch mob! Chomper is understandably terrified, and he runs for his life!

Old One: "GET HIM!"

The entire herd of Longnecks chases after him, completely ignoring all the other kids. Littlefoot decides they have to try and stop that herd and save Chomper, and he sends Petrie into the air to scout!

Chomper runs into the forest and the herd splits up into groups to cut him off! He manages to lose three behind him by running under a huge fallen log!

Longneck: "He's getting away!"

Chomper runs into another group of three in front of him!

Longneck: "We've got him now!"

Chomper manages to lose those three by sliding down a hill!

At the bottom of the hill, he runs into four more!

Longneck: "GET HIIIM!!"

Chomper: "AAAAHHH!!!"

Chomper runs away again into the forest, running between the trees, but then he's trapped on both sides by two Longnecks in a pincer maneuver!

One of the Longnecks charges at Chomper, and the Sharptooth boy manages to escape by dodging the charge, causing the first Longneck to slam the second one into a tree!

Petrie spots Chomper from the air and reports back, he's near a Great Stone Wall (reports are iffy on whether this is the Great Wall or something else).

Chomper keeps running for his life until he hits a dead end in a canyon, and can't run any more!

Old One growls and lowers her head down menacingly toward him. Chomper cowers and pleads for mercy.

Chomper: "Please. Don't hurt me."

Old One: "Huh?!"

Old One: "A talking Sharptooth?! I've never heard of such a thing!"

Longneck Herd: *murmuring*

Longneck: "He's a Sharptooth! Who cares if he talks, let's get rid of him!"

Chomper: *gasp*

Old One: "...I suppose we must."

Ali: "Old One! Wait!"

The Gang run forward to stand in front of Chomper!

Littlefoot and Cera defend Chomper, asserting that he's their friend and wouldn't hurt them! Rhett creeps out from behind a leg and points out that he was chasing them, and they were yelling for help! Ali comes forward.

Ali: "They wanted to show me that all of Rhett's stories were made up!"

Old One: "Stories? What stories?"

Ali: "Um. He kept telling me that he saved his herd from many Sharpteeth before we met them!"

Old One: "RHETT! Come forward!"

Rhett meekly creeps forward, his head low to the ground.

Old One: "Did you make up stories to fool these children?"

Rhett: "Um. Oh, um..."

Ali: "It's okay, Rhett."

Rhett: "Yes. I did. I'm sorry."

Old One silently shakes her head in disapproval at Rhett, then moves her neck forward to address The Gang.

Old One: "Little ones, this is very serious. Did you see what happened when you tried to fool each other?"

Littlefoot: "Yes."

Cera: "I guess so."

Old One: "You may have wanted it to be a joke, but a Sharptooth attack is no laughing matter!"

Littlefoot: "We're all really sorry, Old One!"

She moves her neck even further forward to address Chomper, specifically.

Old One: "And as for you..."

Chomper (scared): "Uh, yes?"

Old One: "I don't know how you became friends with so many here in the Great Valley. But I think it's good."

She then leaves, telling the other Longnecks to follow her, and Rhett slowly plods after. The Gang laughs together in relief, and suggests they can play tag now! Petrie calls not being "it", and Chomper is too exhausted to be "it". Littlefoot looks over and calls after Rhett, offering to play tag.

Rhett: "But, I made up all my adventures."

Littlefoot: "Doesn't mean we can't all have new adventures."

They encourage Rhett to join them, and he's convinced, calling them "the best". Littlefoot decides Spike is "it" and the kids all run off to play tag, Spike chasing them.

As a standalone episode, this is decent, maybe even good. As Ali's return episode, it's disappointing. The entire plot focuses on the new character Rhett, who is just a diet version of Shorty. It doesn't reference the events of 4 at all, and the song reprisal is from 5. Old One's appearance near the end helped a bit to connect it to 4, but there was still no reference to Archie, Tickles, the Land of Mist, Grandpa's illness (hell, Littlefoot's Grandparents didn't even APPEAR), the golden Night Flowers, Ichy, or Dil. And the entire thing took place inside the Great Valley and all the drama came from lying and miscommunications.

Somehow, when the Narrator at the end of 4 promised that they would see Ali again, I don't think this is what the writers had in mind. I'm sure what they had in mind was more romantic than this episode, considering the flashback montage Ali got, but they did hint at that ship here with Littlefoot being especially mad at Rhett. Still, Ali gets less focus in her big return episode than Littlefoot, Cera, Chomper, and freakin' Rhett do!

Rhett is such a bore. He hogs basically the whole first third of the episode with his tall tales and then he doesn't amount to much. He's a Shorty-wannabe, and that's all he really is. He comes clean so close to the end that it's hard to get an idea of who he really is behind all the lies. The best "liar" characters drop enough grains of truth in their lies to help the audience figure out who they really are. Rhett doesn't. He's a demanding jerk when it comes to games, but even that was just playing into the facade. All we really get from his real self is that he's a coward, a tattle-tale, and seemed pretty broken up when he got scolded. And then he was grateful they still wanted to play with him.

Back to 4, the most major reference to it is Ali's shock at The Gang being friends with a Sharptooth, as well as Old One's tiny line where she approved of Chomper, which kinda nodded toward the pro-diversity message of 4. Kinda. Barely. It's really weird that none of them bat an eye at Ruby, even though she also eats meat. I think they should have made Friends For Dinner be used for the training montage, then had them reprise It Takes All Sorts as part of their defense of Chomper. Yeah, that's three songs in one episode, but fuck it, why does there have to be a 2-song limit?

The message of this episode, I guess, is "don't lie". Rhett causes trouble from his lying, and then The Gang lying causes more trouble. Except this kind of thing was already addressed, at the start of 13 of all places. When Littlefoot scolded Cera and the others for playing a game where they pretend to be in danger, that's similar to the lesson here not to pretend to be in danger. Which was also the game Rhett and Ali were playing! Although I guess 13 came out after this episode, chronologically.

At least, that's the message to the kids. There also seems to be a lesson to adults in "don't react with violence and form hate mobs attacking children just because they're different". That one's more implicit. The whole sequence of Chomper running from the Longnecks is very well-directed, has good backing music, and is genuinely terrifying, the Longnecks are actually scary in how big and relentless they are and how threatening they are to the kid.

However, the pussyfooting around the word "kill" hurt the climax a little. Ali's herd were all like "we must drive him out of the Great Valley" and "get him" and "get rid of him", when it really seemed more like they were going to stomp Chomper to death. Which is odd, this franchise has never shied away from talking about death before.

I think this is the first time they've acknowledged that Chomper being able to speak the Flat-Tooth language is unusual. Like, obviously it is, but they never actually mentioned it until now. In 5, Chomper just showed up talking and they didn't say anything about it.

Ever since 2, this franchise has had to carefully balance the racism metaphor with the realities of predation, with mixed results (5=good, 6=bad). I think this episode handled it decently, between the acknowledgement that a Sharptooth attack is a serious potential threat (not just racist fearmongering), but also the mention that friendship between Flat-Teeth and Sharpteeth is good.

Pros: We Need A Plan is a decent song with fun conspiratorial vibes. Some genuine tension in the climax. Good dialogue writing. Good background music. Decent messages and themes. The practicing was fun. Subverted expectations with the plan succeeding.

Cons: Weird race-lifting of female Longnecks. Ali gets very little focus in her return episode. 4 gets barely any callbacks. Friends For Dinner is poorly-done and from the wrong movie. Rhett hogs a lot of screentime and sucks. Avoiding "kill" killed some of the tension.

Rating: Frankly, most of my complaints are about the lack of connection to 4. If this episode was a standalone, it might get a 6/10 or even 7/10. But being a weak follow-up to Journey Through The Mists drags it down to a 5/10, average.

10/10:

9/10: The Star Day Celebration (S1E3)

8/10:

7/10: The Great Log Running Game (S1E5)

6/10:

5/10: The Brave Longneck Scheme (S1E6)

4/10: The Cave of Many Voices (S1E1)

3/10: The Mysterious Tooth Crisis (S1E2)

2/10: The Canyon of Shiny Stones (S1E4)

1/10:

The cold open begins with Cera and her family walking through the Great Valley. Tria looks up at a tree with fruit on it, and she comments on how good the Tree Sweets look. She can't wait for them to fall!

Topsy, acting completely out-of-character, decides to headbutt the tree and knock a bunch down for her!

I've been thinking this ever since movie 11 when Tria was introduced but I haven't really mentioned it, I like that Tria is taller than Topsy. It's not by a lot, and Topsy is longer, but I like that they didn't do the classic thing of "gender roles mean 'female = smaller'" when designing this new character for the franchise. It's nice that they're roughly the same size overall, just with differing body types.

Anyway, she thinks knocking down the fruit is sweet, but like, c'mon. This is very similar to the stupid flower tree in 11, except there (and every other time), Topsy was an unbending hardass when it came to food preservation and waiting until the right time to eat. It's one of his most consistent character traits. He would not do this.

Cera goes "yuck" at their nuzzling, and then Topsy shakes off the fruit juice.

Topsy: "Y'see Cera? Threehorns can do anything they set their minds to, and be the best at it!"

See, this feels more in-line with his character, the whole Threehorn racial supremacy thing. This is his other most consistent character trait. This demonstration was kinda lame though. Like, was his goal to knock down a ton of fruit and only get one to eat? There's like 8 on the ground over there!

And that's where the cold open ends and the intro starts, no cliffhanger this time.

After the intro, we see Ducky. She's in a pool, trying to reach another one of those yellow fruit just barely too high for her, even jumping. She pushes over a nearby log to stand on, but then it starts to spin under her and she falls off. She climbs back on and it starts to spin again, but she runs on it.

Eventually, Ducky gets the hang on running on the log without falling and has fun doing it, completely forgetting about the fruit.

So, this is like how Ducky invented snowball fights in 8, now she's invented log running. I guess the writers figure her bipedal posture and curious nature make her the ideal character for discovering modern human activities.

Over with Cera and her family, she and Topsy are kicking a rock back and forth.

Cera: "Dad, do you seriously think Threehorns can do anything they set their minds to?"

Topsy: "Of course I do, Cera!"

Tria: "Now Topsy..."

Oh, I don't doubt that he thinks that at all. He's been very clear about thinking that Threehorns are better than everyone else. I don't think he's right, but I'm sure he thinks so.

Tricia runs over and nuzzles her father while making baby-talk, and Topsy takes that as an endorsement. Cera's a bit skeptical, but Topsy decides to convince her with song 1 of the episode: Do Anything. Skip to 3:18.

Another reskin of Talking Big/Fix Your Tooth. I think this one is a little better than the other two. Topsy is still out-of-character in terms of wasting food by knocking a bunch of fruit down and kicking a fruit tree out of the earth, but he's in-character by being super prideful and a racial supremacist throughout, so it kinda balances out.

The animation is odd. Not super off-model like we've seen in other episodes, it's actually fairly on-model (though Topsy's eyes are squinty), but it's very stiff. The characters are permanently at a 3/4ths angle, even when turning. But there are also bits of good animation in-between the bad.

Comparing it to Topsy's other songs, it's much better than Creepy Crawlers, but not as good as Standing Tough, which I only thought was okay anyway. Do Anything gets a 4/10, but hey, that's better than the 3/10 that Talking Big/Fix Your Tooth got.

I think the main problem with reusing this backing track is that, genre-wise, it's terrible as an "all-purpose tune". It's a boppy Caribbean tune with an irregular tempo, it would only really work as a chill dance party song and so far, they haven't used it for that. If they were going to make an "all-purpose tune", they should have made it more of a generic pop song, not this. Like, Standing Tough was dad rock, that fits Topsy's character and aesthetic. This doesn't. At all.

Getting back to the episode, Tria and Tricia are entertained, and Cera's convinced.

Over with Ducky, she's setting up more logs in the river, and the rest of The Gang (barring Cera) approach. Ducky shows them the new game she's invented called "Log Running".

They think it looks fun and she's eager to teach them how.

Ruby: "Hey, I'll give it a try, Ducky! So what if I get a little wet!?"

Chomper: "Move over, I'm gonna try, too!"

Um. Writers. Why would Ruby feel the need to brush aside concerns about getting wet? At all? You've shown her in the water about as much as Ducky has been in this show. Y'all need to get it straight whether Ruby is semi-aquatic or not.

Ruby and Chomper push out the two logs into the river, and Chomper tells Petrie to join.

Petrie: "...Petrie not sure. Littlefoot try?"

Littlefoot: "Oh no, not me, Petrie!"

Spike: "Uh?"

Littlefoot: "Four-footers like us can't get our feet that close together when we run. But it sure is fun to watch!"

You know, that is an entirely valid point. So Cera's gonna try it anyway and fail. That's where this is going.

Ruby climbs up on a log, runs backward on it a bit, and then falls off!

Everyone laughs and she takes it in stride, commenting that it was fun. Chomper is the next to try and he runs a bit before falling off forward, and everyone laughs again.

Chomper tries again to convince Petrie, but he's still unsure.

Petrie: "Petrie not sure 'bout this. Me not good runner like Chomper, me Flyer!"

Littlefoot: "Well then, if you start to fall, you can always fly off the log, Petrie!"

Petrie: "... oh yeah. Me can fly. Uh, okay, me try..."

He flies over, lands on a log, and runs in panic for a bit before flying off.

Petrie (landing on the ground): "Me give up!"

Chomper: "Guess it's not so easy after all!"

Ruby: "We just need to practice until practice isn't practice anymore!"

Chomper: "Yeah, we could get as good as Ducky, or even better!"

Ducky: "Chomper, you are not better than me at Log Running, oh no no no!"

Littlefoot: "Hey, why don't you practice, then when we're all ready, we can have a game to see who can Log Run the longest?"

Big words coming from a guy who's not even gonna try it.

It's always funny to me when the writers want to incorporate something from modern-day, so they have to jump through a bunch of hoops to justify the characters "inventing" this thing on the spot.

Later, we see Ruby, Chomper, and even Petrie practicing Log Running while Ducky supervises.

The animators messed up on coloring Chomper's snout.

Also Petrie's kinda cheating by flapping his wings constantly. He's moreso kicking the log to spin it than he is running on it.

But the spirit of competition is in full swing!

Chomper: "This is going to be a fun game, especially when I win!"

Ruby: "Don't count your hatchlings before they hatch, Chomper!"

Petrie: "Me agree, because me going to win!"

Ducky: "Oh no no no, I will win!...once I can get back on my log."

I guess she could only find three. This is when Cera walks up. She asks what this is and Littlefoot explains Log Running, and that it's a game for two-footers. Then Chomper falls off! Petrie and Ruby laugh at him, but that breaks their concentration and they fall off, too!

Cera: "This 'log running' doesn't look so hard to me!"

Littlefoot and Spike: "Huh?"

Cera: "Threehorns can do anything better than anyone, two-footer or four! That's a fact! Just watch!"

She does a flying leap into the water and grabs one of the logs.

Cera: "Step aside two-footers, let me show you how a real champion does it!"

She tries to climb up but it spins under her. After a lot of effort, she climbs onto the log. Everyone just silently watches.

It then turns and she falls off! No-one laughs (probably because they don't want to make her mad). She gets up and climbs back on, gasping in joy at being able to get up so quickly, but then she falls off on the other side! No-one laughs. She climbs up on it again, and falls off again! This is getting sad.

She sees the rock over on the left and pushes the log over to prop against it. Then she climbs onto the rock and steps halfway onto the log.

Cera: "Hah, see! Whoa- whoa!"

She slips on the rock and log and...

Breaks her ankle!

Or twists it. Something bad. That sound effect they use is kinda gnarly. It's not big and cartoony, it's very understated, which makes it more realistic. It actually sounds like bones grinding suddenly. And the motion is so fast, there's no 'tweening frames from her foot in one position and her foot snapping to the other position.

I was expecting her to fail, I wasn't expecting her to actually get injured! This is the second worst thing that's happened to a foot in this franchise. Y'know, just behind this:

Cera: "Rrrrr, OW, my ankle!"

Everyone asks her if she's alright, and she just moans in pain.

Tria and Tricia are rolling a rock back and forth, when they hear a groan. Cera walks over, Spike next to her, supporting her with his tail so she doesn't have to walk on her injured foot.

Cera sits down. Tria asks Cera what happened and Cera brushes it off as nothing, then she thanks Spike and he leaves. Tria asks again and Cera again downplays it, saying she just slipped off a log, no big deal. Tria points out her ankle is swollen (which is not reflected in the animation) and she goes to pick some leaves to ease the pain. She then sends Tricia to get some soothing mud for the injury, but Cera protests.

Cera: "Don't bother with the mud, I've gotta get back to practice Log Running!"

Tria: "I don't think so! You'll be okay, but you need to say off that ankle for a while, Cera."

Tricia walks back proudly with a glob of mud on her horn, but then she trips and shakes her head when she gets up, spraying the mud all over Cera. Cute.

Over with The Gang, Spike's back and Chomper, Ruby, and Ducky are practicing Log Running. Petrie's sitting on the side and complaining, demanding they fall so he can have a turn. Littlefoot realizes they need another log and decides to take Spike and do something about that. Good thing there are a bunch of dead trees in the area.

Littlefoot picks one out and Spike pushes on it until it breaks, then they roll it back together. It goes into the water and Petrie thanks them as he starts running on it.

Chomper: "You and Spike should give it a try, Littlefoot! It's really fun!"

Littlefoot: "Oh no, not us! You saw what happened to Cera."

Over with Cera, the mud and leaves have hardened into a makeshift cast, which Cera promptly flexes to break off.

She tells Tria that her ankle is fine now, and she runs around with Tricia to prove it. Tria's skeptical, but Cera insists.

Cera: "Time to go win that Log Running game, it'll be so easy!"

Tria: "If it's so easy, how did you hurt your ankle?"

Cera: "... accidents happen, but I can handle it, I'm a Threehorn!"

Tria: "That's what I'm afraid of..." *sigh*

Topsy (walking in): "What are you afraid of?"

Tria: "Oh! N-nothing Topsy! I-it's just, Cera twisted her ankle at the watering place, but she says it's okay now."

Topsy: "Of course it's okay! Takes more than a bad ankle to keep a good Threehorn down."

Cera agrees that she's feeling fine, and wants to go back to the log and win that game. Topsy asks what that's about, and Cera explains the game while standing on a log, which tips a bit.

Topsy: "Why would you want to do something silly like that?"

Cera: "To prove that Threehorns can do anything they set their mind to, and be the best at it, remember? Just like you said, dad."

Topsy: "Well- uh- uh, of course Threehorns can do anything they set their mind to..." *Tria gives him a Look* "uh, uh- we- they, they just don't set their mind to things like Log Running."

Cera: "But dad, you didn't say anything about that! You said Threehorns could do anything!"

Topsy: "... yeees, just not that!" *he starts to walk away* "You can forget about playing that game, Cera. Some things just aren't meant to be!"

Tria and Tricia leave with him while Cera fumes, angry. She stomps her back-right leg in anger, then recoils in pain, revealing that her leg isn't fully better. This leads into song 2 of the episode: I Feel Mad. Skip to 14:35.

This song is great. It's short, but that's par for the course with the tv show songs. But it's pretty economical with its time with two distinct halves and it's just solid. As far as writing goes, this is what The Mad Song should have been. Cera's mad and she's breaking shit, but that doesn't fix her anger.

The line "now I feel hurt on the inside, and the outside as well, oh well" is a really great one-two punch of a zeugma and an antanaclasis that shows more care put into the writing than is typical for this franchise, especially for the tv show. And Cera's voice actress really sells the latter lyrics, especially that little growl at the end of "something I can't hide".

I'm glad we see her breaking a rock by jumping at it, we haven't seen Cera be superpowerfully violent in a while, I've kinda missed it. Also I like that show of the trail of destruction in her wake, though the large logs behind her don't really match up to the saplings she destroys at the start of the song. The animation is solid overall, a lot better here than it was in Do Anything, especially the character animation.

It's kinda missing an all-out belting section, but I guess that would also conflict with the melancholic and open-ended ending. And I like how the melancholy of the ending coincides with the water of the river. Cera's reflection in the water shows her self-reflection in the song, and jumping in is a nice way to symbolize her wanting to move on, which then leads out of the song into the plot with the Log Running.

Cera decides that she has to prove that she can win that Log Running competition.

Over with The Gang, everyone is in their places standing on the logs ready for the game to begin. Littlefoot serves as announcer.

Littlefoot: "Okay everybody, let's start The Great Log Running Game! On your mark! Get set! Go!"

Petrie stumbles and flubs the start, falling off immediately! But Ducky, Ruby, and Chomper are still in it!

Littlefoot notes with how good they've gotten, they might be in for the long haul, and he and Spike sit down. But then:

Cera (off-screen): "HOLD IT, STOP THE GAME!!!"

This interruption distracts Chomper and Ruby who fall off! But Ducky manages to stay on, making her the winner! Right?

Littlefoot: "Yes, Ducky, you-"

Cera (walking in): "Not so fast! You guys started without me, but the game doesn't count unless I'm playing too!"

Littlefoot: "But Cera, what about your ankle? You shouldn't- "

Cera: "My ankle is fine! Where's my log?!"

Littlefoot: "Uh..."

Cera: "Never mind, I'll get my own!" *she walks off*

Petrie: "...Ducky not win?"

Ruby: "Well, sort of. But not really."

Ducky's okay with this win not counting since it's just a game. Cera overhears this and it makes her even angrier! She headbutts a tree down and then flips it into the river while muttering to herself.

Cera: "Just a game?! I'll show 'em!" *she jumps onto the log* "Threehorns can do-" *she falls off into the water, then climbs back up* "-anything they set-" *she falls off again then climbs back up again* "-their minds to! So why can't I get on top of this dumb log?!"

Cera's thrashing and splashing moves her log further into the river, and it starts getting caught in the current. She does run on the log a little bit, though.

Littlefoot: "Watch out, Cera! You're getting too close to the fast water!"

Cera: "I can handle it, I'm a Threehorn!!!" *she futilely paddles with her feet, then tail*

But it's not enough, the current sucks her away down the river! Littlefoot alerts everyone that she's heading toward Roaring Falls, and he tells Ducky, Ruby, and Chomper to follow her on their logs. They start paddling to follow her, but he gives them a parting warning.

Littlefoot: "Be careful! We don't wanna have to save you, too!"

Littlefoot, Spike, and Petrie follow them on shore. Petrie tells Littlefoot that he'd like to help, too, and Littlefoot orders him to fly ahead and keep an eye on Cera from the above. Petrie is one of the most reliable when it comes to following Littlefoot's orders and scouting ahead.

Over with Cera's family, Topsy's wondering where Cera went, and Tria hasn't seen her.

Topsy: "Hmm. Well, I'm going to go look for her! If she's gone to the watering place to play that silly game after I told her not to, why I'll-"

Tria: "I know, I know, you're going to be very upset. Remember Topsy, you were young once, too."

Topsy: "I was? Huh..."

I like Tria's reminder here, that kids always make dumb mistakes, and they should be allowed to. Topsy's delivery on that last line is really funny, though, he sounds genuinely surprised, like he actually didn't know that and she's informing him of this information for the first time.

Over with Cera, she's still aimlessly floating down the river as it gets more and more turbulent! Ducky, Chomper, and Ruby catch up, but it's going too fast with too many rocks for them to paddle! Cera asks them to go faster, but Chomper counters with a suggestion that Cera slow down.

Cera grumbles that she's been trying as they enter a narrow portion and the water speeds up even more!

Topsy reaches the river and sees Cera float past, then Littlefoot and Spike catch up to him and Littlefoot tells him where she's going. Topsy takes a shortcut straight toward Roaring Falls, smashing down any trees in his path!

They reach Roaring Falls before the log floaters.

Topsy decides to push that humongous rock over, to block part of the falls and give Cera somewhere safe to land.

Littlefoot: "But Mr. Threehorn, it's so big! No-one can move it!"

Topsy: "A Threehorn can, if he sets his mind to it!! Now watch me!"

He headbutts the rock and pushes with all his might, while Cera rounds the bend and screams for help! But nothing happens. The rock doesn't budge an inch.

While he's pushing, there's a really hilarious shot where the animators fucked up and drew Cera instead of Spike.

Wow, that's amazing! Cera saved herself without even needing the rock! You can stop pushing now.

Topsy backs off and Littlefoot demands he let them help.

Topsy: "Okay boys, all together now!"

With help from Littlefoot and Spike, the rock starts moving and tilting!

In the rapids, Cera hits a rock and tumbles off her log, while the more practiced log runners weave around it!

But the guys finally push the rock over!

And Ruby and Chomper grab Cera's forelegs and guide her into the little alcove created by it.

Um. Switching sides twice, for some reason.

They climb up on shore, and then the waterfall pushes the huge rock and all three logs over!

Cera: "That was too close! I- thanks guys. I'm sorry I disobeyed you, dad."

Topsy: "You better be!... I'm so glad that you're alright!"

Later, everyone (including Topsy supervising) is gathered on the shore again with two logs, ready. Ducky asks Cera is she still wants to play.

Cera: "No thank you!" *she glances over at Topsy, who chuckles*

Littlefoot: "I think Cera's learned her lesson!"

Cera: "Lesson? Huh! I don't have anything to prove! After all, I stayed on my log all the way down the fast water!"

She starts to walk away but accidentally steps onto the other log, running on it for a little bit before falling off. Everyone laughs, she covers with an "I meant to do that", and then everyone laughs again, including her.

And that's the end of the episode.

Hmm. I might have to ruminate on this one a bit. I really liked it up until the ending. That's not to say the ending is bad, just... a bit confusing. Not in terms of action, but in terms of themes. The episode seems to have several potential morals, but doesn't really commit to any of them by the end. Cera's rebuke of the very idea that she learned a lesson feels like the writers backing down from their own writing.

I guess the lesson is "don't attempt dangerous things that you're not built for"? It's not just "know your limits" because Cera doesn't just fail, she also injures herself and disobeys her parents to go back to attempting this dangerous thing, which proves to be even more dangerous the second time. And they made sure to highlight Cera apologizing for disobeying, so clearly that was important to the theme. I thought the "Cera getting sucked into the rapids" portion of the episode seemed a bit unnecessary, but if the intent was to portray Log Running as too dangerous for a four-legged dinosaur, it does make sense as a point of escalation.

I guess the closest comparison would be human kids attempting extreme sports and getting injured, but that metaphor breaks down because Cera's drastically different body type made it flat-out impossible for her to Log Run, no matter how much practice she put in. They made that very clear with the 8 times she fell off a log in this episode. Then again, I guess all metaphors break down eventually, that's what makes them metaphors, they're not the same thing.

I also wish there had been more of an admission from Topsy that Threehorns can't do anything. I mean, there kind of was when he told Cera not to Log Run, and also when he couldn't push the rock over by himself and needed Littlefoot and Spike's help, but those are more implicit, I feel like the episode needed something a bit more explicit.

Still, this episode was overall good. See, Canyon of Shiny Stones? This is how you do a Cera episode! I'm a little annoyed they did two Cera-focused episodes in a row, but this one is much better than the last (and this one is much more Cera-focused, while last episode was like half-Cera, half-Petrie). I really loved the injured ankle element, though I was disappointed it didn't come back into play at the end. I guess there wasn't really an opportunity to, since she was just floating down a river on a log, but they could have figured something out, maybe she tries to kick off a rock and it hurts.

The art is generally on-model, but the animation is kinda janky and stiff in the first half. There's a noticeable step up in the second half, which is much smoother and more fluid.

You can tell when I think the dialogue writing is better by how much more of it I quote, and there was a lot of quoting this episode. The dialogue writing was pretty good here, fairly naturalistic. Tria's writing in this episode was especially good, passively manipulating Topsy and Cera in little loving ways without them really noticing. Like, she's the one who influenced Topsy to tell Cera not to play the game with that Look. I also really liked Littlefoot in this episode, comfortable with sitting in the background but still naturally slotting into the "leader" role, both as the game announcer and when giving orders for the rescue.

I did think it was interesting that Littlefoot and Spike were the ones helping Topsy with pushing the rock over, so it was all guys doing the physical work. But considering the whole episode centered on the divide between the four-legged and two-legged kids, and Cera's the only four-legged girl, it really couldn't have broken down any other way. And Chomper and Petrie were part of the log runners, so it wasn't all the boys still on shore. Though obviously Petrie was flying because he was never very good at Log Running anyway, and he's much more useful in the air.

Overall, the whole supporting cast was utilized pretty well in this episode, even with the heavy Cera-focus. Even Tricia got to do something, with bringing Cera mud for her ankle.

Pros: One great song, good animation in the second half, great character writing and usage throughout, I liked the ankle injury as an element, overall fun story.

Cons: One below-average song, stiff animation in the first half, confusing thematic writing at the end, the ankle injury didn't come back.

Rating: I'm giving this episode a 7/10. It had great elements, but the whole was a bit messy, dragging it down a point to "good". Still better than most of the episodes so far.

10/10:

9/10: The Star Day Celebration (S1E3)

8/10:

7/10: The Great Log Running Game (S1E5)

6/10:

5/10:

4/10: The Cave of Many Voices (S1E1)

3/10: The Mysterious Tooth Crisis (S1E2)

2/10: The Canyon of Shiny Stones (S1E4)

The cold open starts with Tria putting a big gem on top of a huge pile of interesting rocks and gems, and looks satisfied.

Cera and Tricia run into the scene, playing. Tria tickles Tricia's tummy while Cera asks about the new gem.

Cera: "Where'd you get the new rock? From the Canyon of the Shiny Stones?"

Tria: "Nope, from right around here! Pretty, isn't it?"

Tricia makes some urgent noises, and Cera tells Tria they found a great Tree Star tree, but the leaves are too high for Cera to reach. Tria and Tricia leave to get some leaves.

Alone, Cera wants to get a better look at the new gem, but that's also too high, so she starts trying to climb the pile and it topples over! The new gem rolls off! Cera chases it but it rolls down a slope into a river, and Cera watches in horror as it sinks.

That's when the cold open ends.

Okay, I feel like I know where this episode is going to go already.

While Tria's gone, Cera will secretly gather The Gang to go to the Canyon of Shiny Stones to find a replacement, and that'll be a whole adventure. They'll come back with a replacement, but Tria can tell it's not the same, and Cera will shamefully admit she lost the new gem. But then Tria will reveal it's not a big deal and she's not even mad, the place nearby she found this gem has tons just like it.

That's just a guess, based on cliche tv show writing tropes, but let's see how it pans out after the intro.

Right off the bat, I'm wrong!

Tria returns immediately and just asks Cera what happened to her shiny stone. Cera feels guilty, but channels those negative feelings into lashing out.

Cera: "That's all you care about, your pretty stone! I just scraped my chin trying to save it, but do you care?! No!"

Yeah, this reaction feels more in-character for Cera than my prediction. Confronting the situation and getting angry over it instead of trying to hide it. Cera marches off, angry.

Over with The Gang, they're playing Hide And Seek, and Ruby is "it". As she counts down, Littlefoot hides behind a rock, Petrie hides on a fruit in a tree, Ducky and Spike hide together behind a bush, and when Chomper can't find a place to hide, Littlefoot pulls him in behind the rock with him. Then Ruby starts searching.

They really didn't go far to hide.

Ducky falls out of the bush when Spike eats some of it, but Ducky lying on the ground is so small (and she blends in with the grass) that Ruby doesn't even see her. As Ruby turns to look, Ducky runs around behind her to the other side of the bush.

Then Cera walks up and Ruby announces that she's it, she found her! Cera argues she didn't "find her", but the others come out and Chomper, Petrie, and Ducky agree with Ruby that she found Cera.

Cera: "How can I be 'it' when I wasn't even playing the game?!"

We've had a scene like this before, at the start of movie 10 when they were playing tag. There, Ducky respected Cera and Spike not playing the game.

Littlefoot: "Cera, are you okay?"

Cera: "No!" *sigh* "...I yelled at Tria. I told her she cared more about her pretty stones than about me."

Chomper: "Why'd you do that?"

Cera: "Well- I didn't really mean it but, I was just so mad!"

Littlefoot: "What made you mad?"

Cera: "Well, see, I sort of, by accident, let her favorite pretty rock fall in the fast water."

Everyone else: "Ohhh."

See, this is the kind of Sesame Street-ass "let's talk about our feelings" dialogue that leads to accusations of the franchise becoming more kiddified. Cera wouldn't calmly explain the situation, she would continue ranting about it!

Also, the animation is really inconsistent this episode. Compare the above screencap where Cera is fairly on-model to this one when she's explaining what happened.

She looks like she got stung by a bunch of bees. This isn't just an isolated weird frame, either, the whole shot has puffy-face off-model Cera!

Ducky suggests she just say "Oops eeps" and apologize for the mistake. This leads into song 1 of the episode... (sigh) Oops Eeps. Skip to 5:11:

What did I just say about the franchise becoming more kiddified? Yeah, this song literally wouldn't feel out-of-place in Sesame Street.

However, when I say "Sesame Street", I don't mean it as an insult. Just in regards to targeted age demographic. Sesame Street has done some great things, and looking at this song from an objective standpoint... it's not bad.

The background music is decent, kinda bluesy, and the singing, especially from Cera, is actually good. The lyrics are childish but Cera's VA sells them pretty well. Oops Eeps is okay. Not good, but decent. Better than I would expect from the juvenile premise and shallow lyrics.

After the song, Cera thinks that apologizing isn't enough to make up for it. Petrie suggests they bring her a bunch of Tree Stars, but Cera retorts that Spike'll eat all of them before they can get back, and Spike chuckles in agreement. Chomper suggests bringing her some bugs, and Ruby points out that he'd eat them all. Then Cera suggests they go to the Canyon of Shiny Stones to bring Tria back another one!

So yeah, basically what I thought the premise was going to be, except instead of hiding it and pretending to replace it without her noticing, they're just going to get a replacement as an apology.

The others seem down for this plan, but Petrie doesn't want to go! The Canyon of Shiny Stones is near Smoking Mountain! The others don't see the problem. Petrie doesn't want go there because of the black smoke and sometimes the ground shakes! Like Cera when she's mad.

Ducky: "Just because it shakes like Cera, does not mean it is scary as Cera, no no no!" *gasp*

Ducky: "Uh, you know what I mean."

More weird art. Cera looks okay in this shot, but Ducky looks off.

Cera grumbles and rolls her eyes. Then she asks Petrie if he's ever seen Smoking Mountain, and Petrie sheepishly admits that he's only seen it from really far away.

Wait...WHAT?! The Gang have been on or near a volcano or lava no less than SEVEN times!

In 1, with the Mountains that Burn that Cera's path took them on.

In 2, with the Smoking Mountain inside the Great Valley where they faced off with Ozzy and Strut to save Chomper.

In 6, with the glowing, smoking fissure Grandpa told stories around.

In 7, with the Threehorn volcano (one of the Smoking Mountains) where the Stone of Cold Fire landed. Which erupted. While they were on it.

In 9, with the volcano Petrie flew over while scouting ahead for the Big Water and the Smoking Mountains they passed as a landmark on the way home.

In 10, with the lava field Pat burned his foot on.

And that's not even including the wildfire in 3 or the hot spring in 8! Lava and volcanoes is such a common trope in this franchise that it's in the INTRO of THIS SHOW, of THIS EPISODE!! We saw a volcano erupting SIX MINUTES AGO!!! What do you MEAN Petrie has never been near a volcano?! What do you MEEEEEEAAAAAAN?!?! This is SHOCKINGLY bad continuity!!!

...

So bad that it killed this review for a few weeks. There were other factors involved, I explained them in an Ask, but also I just couldn't move past this. 8 had terrible continuity, but it felt like it was in service to the story they wanted to tell, which was grounded in the characters. But this. This is the first time I've felt like the writers truly didn't care about this franchise. They've phoned it in before, definitely (9 is a great example of the writers phoning it in and the rest of the team trying to pick up the slack), but I still got the vibe they were at least trying a little. This feels like the writers didn't care AT ALL.

And this isn't, like, a one-off weird thing that you can just ignore and forget about. This is a SUBPLOT. Cera tells Petrie that it might not be bad once he's up close, and he argues that the smoke would make him lose his way and fly into something. He demonstrates by accidentally flying into a tree branch and being loopy for the rest of the scene.

Littlefoot: "Petrie, look, nobody wants you to do anything that makes you scared."

Petrie: "O-okay, thanks!"

And on that note, they just. Leave him. Walk away. Petrie starts to walk off until he realizes they think he's scared, then he sputters and flies after them!

Like. Okay. Petrie's tendency to be both a coward and brave has been an interesting element of his characterization. He never wants to go to scary places, but he always wants his friends to think that he's brave and tough. And on top of that he does seem to genuinely enjoy adventuring, and when scary situations do happen, he's always one of the first ones to jump into the fray and fight or try to save people. His "fight or flight" instinct defaults to "fight"! He never hesitates when the going gets tough, he just fears the idea of scary places or scary things.

In that respect, this scene is in-line with his established characterization. But they didn't need to contrive the idea that he's never been near a volcano to do it. Just have him say something like "I don't like flying in smoke or being near lava", and that's it. It doesn't need to be an unfamiliar experience for him to be scared of it. You don't need to "explain" this characterization quirk as coming from a place of ignorance when that's never been the case before.

Whatever, the adventure has begun, and right off the bat we get some amazing janky walking animation from CGI versions of The Gang. Skip to 9:08:

Beautiful.

Cera: "There it is, Smoking Mountain!"

Ruby: "Woooow! Smoking Mountain sure is a smoking mountain!"

Ducky: "I have also heard it is called the 'Booming Mountain', because sometimes it booms!"

Petrie: "Tu-ugh-ooh! It b- it booms?!"

Is this episode a prank? This has gotta be a prank. There's no way this is legit.

Apparently the Canyon of Shiny Stones is past the mountain. As they get closer, Petrie covers his eyes, too scared to look. They walk over the... mountain?

This is more of a hill. A volcanic hill. Littlefoot and Ruby are the tallest of The Gang and they're like 3 feet tall, max. This is a very small volcano. Also, more liberal usage of the CGI Gang. They introduced those assets this episode, and they're getting their money's worth.

The kids walk up to the edge of the volcano and look inside, oohing and ahhing at the beautiful lava.

Like they've never seen lava before. Like. Literally like they've never seen lava before.

Ruby: "Say, Smoking Mountain is really pretty... pretty!"

Cera: "Yeah! It doesn't look bad at all, does it Petrie?"

Petrie: "N-no..."

Hang on, let me just...

There we go! I don't even fucking care that I just used up 4/30 of the image budget for this review. This is absurd.

Looking at lava and saying it doesn't look bad when they've seen it so many times in the past and seen the damage it can do, of all the preposterous...

I'm not even mad at Ruby, her not seeing lava before is totally plausible. But there's no excuse for the rest of the Gang. Even Chomper's seen lava before!

Getting back to the episode, Littlefoot explains the Canyon of Shiny Stones is on the other side, they just need to walk along the rim and then walk down the opposite side. Cera tells Petrie there was nothing to be scared of, and that sets Petrie off!

Petrie: "Me not scared of Smokey Mountain! In fact, me could fly over Smokey Mountain if me wanted to!"

Littlefoot tells him that he doesn't have to do that, but Petrie insists that he has to to prove he isn't scared! So he does.

He gets about halfway before it starts erupting, because of course things always happen right when The Gang happen to be present.

Everyone else screams and runs along the edge, but Petrie keeps flying while panicking!

Petrie: "Me never should have tried it, me made the mountain mad!"

Unscientific, but maybe? That's the best explanation I can think of. After coming back from commercial, the characters seem a lot calmer. Mostly because Petrie is drawn weirdly calm and the rest of The Gang are using the same CGI models with a very flat running animation before.

Littlefoot yells for Petrie to come back, but he's busy dodging molten rocks and flying through smoke! They encourage him to fly and he dives toward them, crashing into Ducky and Chomper! And of course, at that exact moment, the volcano calms down.

Petrie freaks out, yelling that this was his doing, Smokey Mountain hates Flyers! The others question his logic, but when he points out the exact correlation his flying had to the eruption, they find it hard to argue. Cera suggests that all he has to do is not fly over it, then, and Petrie agrees, he's not even gonna fly near it!

Then they notice the sun going down and they continue on toward the canyon.

And because they're using the CGI models, Petrie is shown flying, directly contradicting his earlier vow. Wait, he was riding on Cera in the other CGI animation. Why make a whole new animation of Petrie flying just to introduce a plot-hole?

But then finally, they make it to the Canyon of Shiny Stones, and it does indeed have a lot of shiny stones, as Ruby helpfully points out.

Cera's having trouble deciding which one to take, and this leads into song 2 of the episode: Good Times, Good Friends. Skip to 14:18.

I'm getting really sick of these songs which are clearly written as generically as possible so they can re-use them in future episodes. I Feel So Happy had the same problem. Remembering, too, but that song gets away with it by tugging at the heartstrings.

Like, Oops Eeps was childish, but at least it seemed to be written about this episode in particular. But this song makes it too obvious that it was made to be a template. The lyric "found the place we're looking for" is hardly a feat of good writing. Heck, even the lyrics unique to this plot suck. They deliberately avoided rhyming with Ducky's bit.

The only saving grace is that the animation and storyboard (once you get past the terrible CGI circling at the beginning) is pretty good, with the gemstones and mirroring in the choreography. But overall, this song is just really bad. I think it's the worst song so far in the tv show. It gets a 2/10.

After the song, Cera decides on a shiny rock for Tria, and the animators don't even try to make it unique, it looks like all the others in the wall. She pulls it out with her horn and it goes flying, but before Chomper can pick it up, the ground starts shaking and all the gems on the ground start bouncing and rolling. Smoking Mountain is erupting again! Petrie laments this is his fault, Smoking Mountain must still be mad at him!

Everyone starts to run, but Cera runs back to flick the rock up onto her head using her horn; for some reason, instead of just picking it up in her mouth.

She catches up to the group and they run down the Canyon, hoping to escape before lava fills it up! Unfortunately, they're too late.

Also, the animators forgot to draw the gem on Cera's face in this wide shot.

As the lava flows in, they run back the other way, Spike gathering up Ducky and Petrie on his back because he can run faster (and I guess Petrie isn't flying because he doesn't want to make the volcano even madder?)

But Cera drops the gem! Obviously, this is why I said it would make more sense to carry it in her mouth. It rolls toward the lava! She runs back and... "sigh", flicks it back onto her head before turning and running again.

Like. You're just gonna drop it again. Just carry it in your mouth.

She catches up and they keep running! But they reach a dead end, and the lava is approaching from behind!

Littlefoot looks around and sees a ledge above them! He then looks to the side and sees a log leading up the the ledge, so they start climbing! But the log is mossy and slippery (and at a pretty steep angle), making it hard to climb as the lava reaches the base of it!

Petrie's here, too, flying over the ledge already. Because obviously he didn't need to climb this.

Chomper climbs on Spike and then Ruby places Ducky on her little brother so she can climb up, too. But then the lava breaks the log (with some really terrible animation, they literally just take the log PNG and cut it in half) and Ducky falls off Spike! She falls past Ruby onto the part of the log nearest to the lava! Petrie dives down to grab her and pull her up!

But he completely fails, losing his grip. Ducky falls, but Ruby reaches down to grab her, holding onto Spike's tail with her other arm!

They start reaching the top, but the log starts burning and falling into the lava entirely, leaving Ruby dangling from Spike's tail, who is in turn dangling from Littlefoot's tail!

No, no-one help him or anything, Littlefoot's got this. I mean, he does. Littlefoot does manage to pull both of them up, with some help from Spike climbing the ledge, but still.

Ducky: "Oh, no more shiny stones, no no no."

Littlefoot: "Petrie, you've gotta go for help!"

Yeah, turns out this ledge doesn't lead anywhere. It's just an isolated ledge. There's no-where to go from here.

Petrie: "Me no fly here! Only make mountain even madder!"

Smoking Mountain erupts even harder!

Cera: "How much madder can it get?!"

Littlefoot: "Petrie, you didn't make the mountain mad, but even if you did, you still have to fly! We're counting on you!"

Petrie: "O-kay, me go!" *he takes off*

Chomper: "Atta boy, Petrie!"

Ruby: "You can do it!"

Petrie: "Uh-oogh, me wish me as sure of that as she is!"

Petrie bravely flies past Smoking Mountain... with his eyes closed. While chanting to himself that he didn't make the mountain mad.

Closing your eyes while flying next to this much lava and flying rocks seems like a bad idea, but that's just, like, my opinion man.

After passing by, he realizes it didn't get mad, meaning it's just a mountain after all! ... this whole thing is really fucking stupid, and that was an insanely weak payoff. Like, it didn't get mad? It was ACTIVELY ERUPTING! Like Cera said, how much madder were you expecting it to get?!

The rest of The Gang resign themselves to waiting. Ruby posits that waiting should be easy, since it's the only thing they can do, and Spike, nodding his head in agreement, accidentally bumps Cera, almost knocking the gem off her head. Almost, she recovers, but then glares at him.

Back at the Great Valley, Petrie's mom is at her nest, talking to Littlefoot's grandma about how quiet everything is, and that she hopes the kids aren't bored.

Just then, Petrie comes flying in like a bat out of hell, crashing into the nest! He desperately tells them that his friends need help!

Over with The Gang, Ruby notes it's getting hot, and Cera agrees, as the lava level slowly rises.

Chomper: "I hate to say it, but I'm hungry."

Ducky: "I wish you would not look at me when you say that, yes I do I really do!" *she grabs her tail protectively*

Chomper, not the time. But he doesn't deny the accusation.

But before Chomper can resort to eating his friends in the minute or so they have left on Earth, Petrie announces his return! He brought his mom with him, as well as both of Littlefoot's grandparents!

Grandpa picks up Littlefoot and Spike, Grandma picks up Cera and Ruby (seems weirdly... gendered), and Petrie's mom picks up Chomper and Ducky by their tails.... it's still weird to me that everyone's just okay with Chomper and Ruby living here. Like, Petrie's mom has no compunctions about saving him, doesn't even mention it.

Oh, and Ducky's mom and Tria are there, too. Cera tells Tria about the new shiny stone they found, they went all this way for it! And then she trips walking down Grandma's neck! She drops the gem and it rolls to the ledge! Cera runs over just as it falls off into the lava, burning up on contact. See, Cera, this wouldn't have happened if you were carrying it in your mouth! Tria walks over.

Cera: "... oops eeps. I'm really sorry Tria, about everything."

Tria: "I'm just glad you're safe, Cera. You're much more important to me than any shiny stone! ...well, time to head home, everybody!"

Grandpa laments they'll have to take the long way around Smoking Mountain, and Petrie proudly announces he and his mom won't, since they're Flyers and Smokey Mountain is just a mountain! They take off and the others start walking back.

This episode has a decent start and end, but one of the worst middles I've ever seen. The repeated insistence that The Gang have never encountered lava or been near a volcano before is downright baffling and offensive to canon.

I was kinda down for Cera's arc, even if the writing was childish, but Petrie's subplot feels so asinine. They've been on/near volcanoes before, most notably in 7 when they were on the triceratops Smoking Mountain when it erupted. And despite that movie being all about the Flyers, nobody freaked out that the mountain was "angry" or anything like that.

And the fact that the episode has Petrie's arc being that he needs to "face his fears" by basically doing the equivalent of jumping over Springfield Gorge is so goddamn dumb. So dumb. Like, this plot was cliche and trite years before this episode.

And they didn't explain why the volcano decided to erupt now of all times. They didn't explain the Earthshakes last episode, either, but they didn't act like they needed an explanation then. They did here.

There's no tension until after they get the gem and the volcano starts erupting for real. Until then, the adventure is pretty uneventful, and the first time the volcano erupts, the only reason Petrie's in danger is because of his own stupid ass trying to prove himself, and none of the others are really in danger. Fully 2/3rds of the episode was boring, and then they sing a song like they just finished a big adventure. A terrible song that was completely unearned.

What really bothers me about Petrie's arc is that it's totally unnecessary. Petrie's never had a problem with actually going to places he's scared of, never really had a problem with pretending to be brave. He does it, but it's not a problem he needs to overcome. And they didn't need to have the weirdness with not recognizing lava to do this plot. At all. The episode could have gone the exact same without that claim. There was no reason to do that. But they did! And there was no reason Cera had to lose the new gem, she could have just CARRIED IT IN HER MOUTH! So much of this episode was unnecessary.

Also, I find it really weird that Tria specifically mentioned her shiny stone can from somewhere near Cera's nest, but then that never came up again. I was 100% expecting the episode to end with "besides, there's a bunch more where I found the first one", but nope. That little detail was never brought up again. Also, Cera being too short to reach things was dropped, too.

Pros: Cera lashing out at Tria was an okay start. The lava drama was decent. The animation was okay, when not involving CGI. The first song was decent.

Cons: Shockingly bad continuity with Petrie. Petrie's subplot sucked. Good Times, Good Friends is terrible, I don't look forward to hearing it again. Juvenile and basic writing throughout. Cera not carrying the gem in her mouth was stupid. The new CGI models were TERRIBLE, the compositing was really bad and the animations were super stiff and janky. No tension for the first 2/3rds of the episode. Dropped plot threads.

Rating: 2/10. I was really hoping this episode would at least be average, but no, it's terrible. The start and end were average, but the middle was absolutely atrocious.

10/10:

9/10: The Star Day Celebration (S1E3)

8/10:

7/10:

6/10:

5/10:

4/10: The Cave of Many Voices (S1E1)

3/10: The Mysterious Tooth Crisis (S1E2)

2/10: The Canyon of Shiny Stones (S1E4)

The episode opens at night. The Gang are doing shadow puppet charades by moonlight, and Littlefoot's up.

He does biting motions, and Ruby correctly guesses that he's a Bellydragger (shout-out to Dil, I hope she's doing bad).

Spike is up next. He makes croaking noises and then rears up on his hind legs to eat some leaves using his tongue.

Ducky can tell that he's a Hopper.

Littlefoot: "You make a shadow, Petrie!"

Petrie (shuddering): "Oh-wuh-wuh-wuh-whoa!"

Chomper (whispering to Littlefoot): "What's that supposed to be?"

Littlefoot (whispering): "Uh... I think it's Petrie, being nervous."

Ducky: "Do not be afraid of the shadows we are making, Petrie!"

Petrie: "Mmmme not afraid of Ducky's shadow, me afraid of that!" *he points*

The Gang turns around to see a growling, snarling silhouette emerge from a bush, thrashing all around. Everyone backs up in fear.

It's obviously just Cera with a branch stuck to her horn.

They hide behind the rock and Petrie thinks it got Cera (okay, so he at least recognizes that as Cera's voice).

They scream as it approaches!

Then the intro starts. Really? This is the cliff-hanger we're ending the cold open with?

Also, something I've noticed more often in this show is the characters following the "three-quarters rule" of acting, where you always face the audience a little bit, even when you're supposed to be looking sideways or away from the audience. It's weird to see it in a tv show, and I don't think they did this nearly as much in the movies.

After the intro, surprise surprise, I was right, it's Cera with a branch stuck on her horn.

The rest are genuinely surprised to see it's her. I don't know why, but whatever. She took a shortcut and it went bad.

She's also annoyed they're just standing around gawking instead of helping her get this branch off her face, so they all grab it and pull.

But as you can see above, Ruby falls, landing hard on her back. She sits up, woozy.

Ducky: "Ruby, are you okay?!"

Ruby: "Oh my, my star!"

Petrie: "Me sometimes see stars when me fall!"

Ruby: "No, my Star Day star! Look, it's the one right there!" *she points at a star in the sky* "It's special because it can only be seen three nights between cold times! Once the star is a foot away from the Night Circle, it will be my Star Day!" *she pulls her foot up to demonstrate*

Good "foot" pun.

Cera: "A Star Day? What's that?"

Ruby: "A Star Day is the day you hatched! My mom said that same star appeared in the same place on the same day I hatched!"

Ohhh, it's a birthday, I was wondering where she was going with this. Interesting that this is a concept Ruby and her family have but Cera hasn't even heard of. A little insight into Sharptooth culture here. Or at least Fast Runner culture.

So the anniversary of Ruby's hatching is either tomorrow or the next day. Neat.

Chomper: "Oh yeah, it was your Star Day the day we left the Mysterious Beyond!"

Wait, that was a full year ago? Usually the series doesn't commit to concrete frames of time like this. Like in 11, the Tree Sweet Tree only blooms once in "a long time", not giving a specific frame of reference for how much time passed between the three times it bloomed in the film.

This actually leads into a flashback showing the Star Day in question. Ruby, her parents, and her two younger siblings are washing up in a pond, with Chomper sitting off to the side on the shore.

Ruby's dad (purple): "Happy Star Day, Ruby!"

Ruby's mom (pink): "I'm glad we could spend this Star Day together."

Ruby: "Me too mom, just saying 'I love you' doesn't say how much I love you! Oh!" *they hug*

Ruby's mom: "And we love you too, Ruby."

Ruby (choking up): "I already miss you, and I haven't even left!"

Ruby's dad: "Well, you must learn how Chomper's friends in the Great Valley work together!"

Ruby's mom: "Yes Ruby, that knowledge could one day save us all fro-"

Chomper: "Red Claw!!"

Red Claw and his Fast Biters approach from around a corner! Ruby's dad and mom lead their younger kids down one path, while Chomper leads Ruby down another path!

Red Claw pauses at the pond, then roars instructions to his Fast Biters. They roar back and all three chase after Chomper and Ruby! The two kids hide in a crack in the wall, as the large Sharpteeth pass by outside.

Having lost track of them, Red Claw orders the Fast Biters to move on. The kids emerge from the crack and Chomper spots something notable about the rockface. He tells her to follow him, and they climb it.

Once at the top, Chomper recognizes Saurus Rock in the distance and tells her the Great Valley is this way. Ruby looks back toward her family.

She hears Red Claw roaring in the distance, then steels herself with determination.

Ruby: "Let's go!"

That's where the flashback ends.

Man, that was good. The voice acting on Ruby getting choked up got me all choked up. I really wish this flashback, as well as the events before and after it, had been a full prologue movie/episode for the tv show, instead of just starting in medias res with The Cave of Many Voices.

Interesting that Ruby's not just here to keep Chomper safe, but also she's got a mission: to learn cooperation and someday defeat Red Claw with that knowledge.

The Gang are impressed with the story, going "wow" in sync.

Ruby: "That Star Day was the last day I saw my family... sorry... Star Days with my family were always so happy." *choking up* "But, thinking about it, makes me sad."

Chomper: "I didn't mean to make you sad, Ruby. C'mon, let's play some more shadow games!"

He walks up on the rock and grrrs while raising his arms.

Ruby: "Thanks, Chomper, but I don't feel like playing anymore."

She walks away. Petrie doesn't get it, she's not alone, she has friends! Littlefoot and Ducky say that it's just not the same, and she misses her family a lot. Chomper announces that he's gonna go cheer her up! He starts running toward her, but Cera dashes in front of him.

Cera: "Let's not make it worse."

Ruby walks away and comes to a stream. She looks down and sees her reflection, then sheds a tear into the water and flashes back to previous Star Days.

Ruby's mom: "It's your Star Day today, Ruby-"

Ruby's mom: "-and it's important for you to be clean for your special celebration-"

Ruby's mom: "-after all, a Star Day is a very happy occasion!"

The flashback ends and we cut back to the present.

Ruby: *sigh* "Why does thinking about happy Star Days make me feel so sad?"

Goddamn, I'm gonna start crying. Geez. Wow. I didn't know the writers and animators still had it in them to illicit genuine emotion. I haven't felt like this since movie 10. And having the stream remind her of the washing up her mom always had her do before her Star Day celebration is a really nice way to tie it together and add a personal touch to make it more relatable.

So, I guess that means Ruby is 5 years old? The three Star Days in this flashback, plus the one with Chomper, plus the one now makes 5. I don't think she's meant to be the human equivalent of 5, I read her more as 10-12, but chronologically, she's 5 years old.

Over with The Gang, Chomper's feeling bad about making Ruby feel sad.

Littlefoot has an idea: a Giving Ceremony! And Cera adds on that it can be a surprise! Everyone really likes the idea and starts getting really into it!

Chomper: "Wait, everybody, WAIT!!! Um... what's a Giving Ceremony?"

Cera: "A Giving Ceremony is when you give someone their favorite food, duh!"

Spike: "Uh-huh, mm-hmm!"

Ducky: "A Giving Ceremony is a time for celebrating 'giving', 'friendship', and also 'sharing'."

So they're gonna throw Ruby a surprise birthday party. Makes sense. What's interesting is that this is, conceptually, VERY similar to The Time of the Great Giving, the Thanksgiving-esque ending of 3 where all the dinosaurs in the Great Valley had to share food for a time because most of it was destroyed by the drought and fire. The narrator even said they would pass down the story of this time and call it "The Time of the Great Giving", that's an in-universe name. I wonder if this "Giving Ceremony" is actually inspired by that event.

Littlefoot asks Chomper what Ruby's favorite food is, and he says it's Sweet Bubbles! That sounds more like a fruit than meat... looking it up, Oviraptors were most likely omnivorous. Huh. TIL. They agree to surprise Ruby with Sweet Bubbles tomorrow.

The next day, Ruby is washing up in a pool, and The Gang are watching her from behind a log, discussing their plan to surprise her. Sweet Bubbles are a fruit, they grow on vines in the Sheltering Grass.

Oh, that's convenient, they were going to play in the Sheltering Grass in 2, it's just past the Sinking Sand. Petrie's scared about going there, though, so I'm pretty sure the writers just re-used the name without checking to see what the context around it is. They agree to go, for the sake of making Ruby happy. Ruby ducks underwater and they take that as their cue to sneak past her.

I love all the character put into these sneaking bits, how Cera is sneaking with determination and Spike isn't even trying, with Petrie hanging onto his tail and flailing.

The camera focuses on Ruby, she swims underwater and surfaces to see Ducky's mom playing with her sisters. This triggers song 1 of the episode: Remembering. Skip to 9:56 for the song.

This episode is out for emotional blood, and it's taking no prisoners. This song is short even by the standards of this show, less than a minute. For that, I do have to dock it a point or two. And the scene of her leaving with Chomper doesn't match the earlier flashback.

But those are fucking nitpicks, this song is beautiful and the flashbacks accompanying it are adorable and heartbreaking. Seeing her siblings hatch, swimming together, and then the family sleeping under the night sky. It's enough to make a grown man cry.

As an aside to distract me from my broken heart, does this show think that Oviraptors swam a lot? Is that why we keep seeing Ruby in the water? That was actually a prominent theory, that Oviraptors were semi-aquatic and used their beaks to crush and eat mollusks... in 1977. By 1980, there was a strong case against their arms being suited for swimming and for eating leaves, and by 1995, there was digestive evidence for them being carnivorous, eating lizards. Nowadays, it's accepted they were omnivorous, eating small animals as well as nuts and seeds.

The semi-aquatic theory hasn't been mainstream since before the first Land Before Time movie, so it's odd that it seems to the primary source used for Ruby in the show, especially if you recall her eating a clam whole in the first episode.

Getting back to The Gang, they're walking along the edge of a gorge with a tree nearby, Petrie nervous with how near they are to the Mysterious Beyond.

Suddenly, an Earthshake happens, and part of the ledge gives way! Everyone but Littlefoot (and Petrie, obviously) falls into the gorge! And because of the Earthshake, water starts rushing into the gorge, too!

But Littlefoot has an idea, he tells Petrie to loop a vine around the tree branch, then dangle the other end in! Littlefoot grabs the high end with his teeth and tells Ducky and Chomper to go first, since they're the smallest!

Littlefoot manages to pull them up, then Petrie flies the vine back down to Cera, who bites on and Littlefoot, Chomper, and Ducky pull her up!

Petrie flies the vine back down and then it's Spike's turn, and they all try to pull him up but then the vine snaps! Spike falls into the water, and it's reaching high enough he can barely keep his head above water!

Cera thinks fast and runs to impale her horn on a long nearby tree branch, then she dangles that down and they pull on that to pull Spike up!

This was a pretty solid rescue scene. The Earthshake was random, but the solution made good use of Littlefoot's ingenuity, Petrie's agility, and Cera's strength. And it happened so fast the tension was high the whole time.

After, Chomper sniffs the air and alerts the rest. It smells like Sweet Bubbles! They run and find a bunch (Sweet Bubbles are grapes). They try to pluck some, but they're weighed down by a rock. A rock with eyes! The kids duck and cover as the rock stands up aaaaaand it's Mr. Clubtail.

Or, well, it doesn't sound like him, so maybe it's a different Clubtail? Or they just recast him. This guy seems a bit more ornery than Mr. Clubtail usually is. He says these are his Sweet Bubbles and no-one else can have any.

Cera tries talking tough and demanding them, but he burps in her face.

Chomper tries roaring to scare him off, but he laughs in his face.

Finally, Ducky tries just telling him why they want them.

Ducky: "Excuse me, we would like to have some Sweet Bubbles for our friend's Star Day!"

Clubtail: *gasp*

Ducky: "They are her favoritest food."

Clubtail: "Star Day?! Did you say 'Star Day'?! Why, I've loved my Star Day ever since I was a hatchling! Take as many as you like!!"

See? He may be a gluttonous, greedy slob, but you can appeal to his better nature. Interesting that Clubtails also have a Star Day tradition. The kids celebrate by eating some Sweet Bubbles.

Over with Ruby, she sniffs a flower and flashes back to her little siblings wishing her a happy Star Day.

Okay, so maybe she's 6? Or this is later in the day of one of the Star Days we already saw.

In the present, she muses to herself.

Ruby: "Hmm. Maybe I can't be with my family, but I can be with my friends. And if I'm not alone, I won't feel alone. But first, I have to find everybody!"

The Gang are back, with this very picturesque little bunch of grapes. Chomper wants to set up a Giving Circle, but Cera tells him to let someone who actually knows what a Giving Ceremony is handle the preparations.

They hear Ruby calling out for them, and Littlefoot, Ducky, and Chomper go to distract her, while Cera sets up.

Ruby: "Oh, hello my friends, my friends hello!"

Littlefoot, Ducky, and Chomper: "Oh-" "Oh, hi-" "hi" "-Ruby!" "-Ruby!"

Ruby: "Is there something wrong?"

Chomper: "Uh, no, we're just uh, uh-"

Littlefoot: "Coming back from a long walk and um-"

Ducky: "We are very tired, we are, we are!"

They all yawn unconvincingly. Ruby wanted to play, but they say they need a rest, so maybe later.

Ruby: "Oh. Okay. Maybe I'll just go to my Thinking Place to watch my Star Day star."

She leaves and then they awkwardly go back to setting up.

Later, she's sitting on this cliff at dusk.

Ruby: *sigh* "Well, I guess a lonely Star Day is better than no Star Day, 'cause if I didn't have a Star Day, than I wouldn't have hatched, and not hatching would be much lonelier than a lonely Star Day-"

Suddenly, another Earthshake happens! The ground underneath her gives way and she falls, clinging to the ledge! She yells for help!

The others are just about done setting up her Giving Circle when they feel the Earthshake, too!

They hear Ruby yelling for help in the distance! Chomper remembers what she said about her Thinking Place and he knows where that is, so he leads them to her!

With Ruby, she summons up the strength to climb the ledge!

Ruby: "I don't want this Star Day to be my last... day!"

Filled with resolve, she climbs the rock she was dangling from and manages to jump off of it just before it falls!

But the Earthshake is still going so she hides in that cave, and then a massive boulder seals the entrance! She tries to go through the cave, but more rocks seal the other end, trapping her inside!

Ruby (hyperventilating): "Huh, huh, hah, I wish I was with my f-friends!"

But then she hears Chomper calling her name from the other side of the boulder! She calls back that she's okay, but the big boulder will keep her in here instead of out there! Littlefoot reassures her that they can all push the boulder if they work together, and they all push!

It doesn't work at first, but then Ruby pushes with them from the other side, and it moves the boulder a bit, just enough for her to squeeze through the gap!

Ruby: "How did you know I was in there?"

Littlefoot: "We heard you yell! And Chomper knew just where you'd be!"

Ruby: "Oh, what more could I ask for than to ask for great friends like you?!"

Cera: "Well..."

Chomper: "... you could ask for a Star Day surprise!"

Ruby: "A Star Day surprise?! What a surprise!"

When they get back, Cera's Giving Circle is completely ruined.

The surprise was destroyed in the same rockslide that Ruby almost died from. It also destroyed most of the Sweet Bubbles, all that's left are three attached to the stem that Ducky manages to pull out. Ruby eats them while Chomper apologizes for her Star Day not being happy, but she insists she is happy. This leads into song 2 of the episode... a reprise of I Feel So Happy. Skip to 21:06 for the song.

Man, this episode almost stuck the landing. I even think this usage of the song is a bit better than the usage last episode, just because the episode around it is a lot better. But reusing the same song is just trite. Some lyrics are a bit different, but it really is just the same thing. It's not necessarily bad, just really underwhelming.

Later that night, The Gang are gazing at Ruby's Star Day star, next to the moon.

Ruby: "There it is, my Star Day star! You know, I may not be with my family, but I sure do feel at home!"

The others lean in toward her, and the episode ends on that happy note.

After last episode, I was starting to regret watching this show, but this episode turned that completely around. Even if the rest of the show sucks, it's all worth it for this episode.

"The Star Day Celebration" is overall fantastic. There are a couple missteps, though. I'm not a fan of the Not-So-Forgotten Birthday trope, but at least the usage of it here is relatively brief before the return of the Earthshake introduces some real drama. The Clubtail is gross, but his scene is pretty short, he's ultimately okay, and he references the Grapes of Luxury trope, which is a trope I do like. And reusing the same song as last episode is a fairly weak note to end on.

I was a little concerned about Ruby yelling for help, like she was gonna be a damsel in distress, but then she saved herself from falling AND she was the difference-maker when pushing the boulder, so no complaints there!

But the meat of the episode is Ruby's memories and the episode SELLS the hell out of those. Like, my gosh, the entire first half of this episode is just beautiful, wonderful heartache, executed marvelously. And major props go to Ruby's voice actress, Meghan Strange. I really bought those scenes where she was choking up from sadness and the hyperventilating line was scarily realistic. I'm genuinely stunned, and very impressed, that this show managed to get a powerful emotional reaction from me on par with movie 10.

You know, a positive, intentional one. 13 also got an extreme emotional reaction from me, but that one was negative and unintended.

Even though I maintain that The Cave of Many Voices was a poor way to introduce Chomper and Ruby to the group dynamic, I do really like how the first three episodes of the show focus so heavily on those two. The Cave of Many Voices focused on Chomper for the main plot and Ruby for the subplot, The Mysterious Tooth Crisis focused heavily on Chomper, and now The Star Day Celebration focused heavily on Ruby. While I really would have preferred to see them properly inducted into the Great Valley, this is a good way to flesh out these 2 characters and integrate them into The Gang early on.

And while The Mysterious Tooth Crisis kinda flopped in regards to connecting the audience to Chomper, we already knew him from 2 and 5. Ruby's a new character, so of the two episodes, The Star Day Celebration was the more important one to get right, and they got it RIGHT.

Pros: Ruby's flashbacks are fantastic and heartbreaking. The first song is fantastic and heartbreaking. The Earthshake drama was solid, both times.

Cons: Dumb cold open. I don't like the "Not-So-Forgotten Birthday" trope. The second song is weak, as an ending.

Rating: This episode was genuinely fantastic and I teared up multiple times. This episode gets a 9/10, and I mean that with all my heart.

10/10:

9/10: The Star Day Celebration (S1E3)

8/10:

7/10:

6/10:

5/10:

4/10: The Cave of Many Voices (S1E1)

3/10: The Mysterious Tooth Crisis (S1E2)

2/10:

The episode starts with another cold open. I guess that's standard for this show, which is a really weird contrast to how the movies always started with logos followed by a long intro and narrator explaining the very concept of dinosaurs before it slowly transitioned into focusing on the Great Valley dinosaurs.

The tv show is just like "y'all know what dinosaurs are, y'all know what this franchise is about, now what's up?"

This cold open sees the kids all running, Cera in the lead. Apparently, Tria has a surprise to show them, and Petrie suggests maybe she learned how to fly! This suggestion is so weird that it causes a pile-up.

It would be surprising. I guess.

They reach Tria and she explains the big surprise is that she's taking the kids to her favorite secret place in the Great Valley. The Gang are excited and ask what it is.

Tria: "It's my secret... mud-pool!"

The Gang: "Huh?????"

Cera (incredulous): "We're going to a mud-hole?!"

Then the intro starts.

My guess is that the secret mud-pool is like a spa. Like those mud-packs people get on their faces at spas. Or like pigs wallowing in mud to cool off and kill parasites.

When we come back, that does seem to be what this is. Cera is skeptical, but Tria explains.

Tria: "Oh, this mud is special. You'll understand when you sit in it."

Cera: "We're supposed to sit... in the mud??"

Tria: "Mmm, and just let yourself go..."

The Gang are split on the idea. Some are into it:

Ruby: "Oh, it might be nice to go and let myself go!"

Spike: "Hmmmmm!" *flops on the ground*

Some aren't. Petrie, Littlefoot, and Chomper work together to make up an excuse not to go, that being they were playing a game of "Stop the Seed" and they want to finish it.

Ducky thinks the mud might be nice, but Littlefoot and Chomper glare daggers at her to bend to peer pressure on this.

She bends and joins Littlefoot's group, while Ruby and Spike walk over to Tria.

Cera wants to join Littlefoot, but Topsy catches her trying to weasel her way out and he insists.

Topsy (whispering): "Tria put a lot of thought into this little trip, if you don't go, I'll never hear the end of it!"

Cera: "But daaaAAAAd!!!"

Topsy: "You're going!"

The others run off to have fun and Cera looks at them longingly. She reluctantly joins Ruby and Spike and Tria leads them off, walking through the Great Valley, past a swamp.

They arrive at a wall of reeds, and Tria uses her tail to pull back on them, revealing the secret mud-pool:

Looks kinda nice to me. Ruby thinks it looks nice too.

Spike walks in and is initially surprised by how it feels, but then relaxes.

Cera: "It's. Just. Mud."

Tria sighs and rolls her eyes.

With the other group, they're kicking and headbutting a pinecone around. Petrie and Littlefoot both go for it and collide, then Chomper does a diving bite at it and...

Loses a tooth on it. Ah, so that's what the title of the episode is referring to. Everyone gathers around and looks at the tooth on the ground, stunned. They comment that it looks like a tooth. Specifically Chomper's tooth, and Chomper freaks out and runs around.

Chomper: "My tooth, my tooth, MY TOOTH!"

Littlefoot: "Does it hurt?"

Chomper: "No. YOU THINK IT WILL?!?!"

Ducky: "I am sure it will all be okay."

Chomper: "Okay?! OKAY?! What's next?! An arm, a leg, my tail?! Not my tail! What's happening to meeee?!"

Petrie's never even heard of a tooth falling out, which does nothing to reassure Chomper. Topsy overhears all the yelling, and he has heard of this.

Topsy: "It starts with a tooth, and before you know it, a fella's turned into bones and falling to pieces!"

Chomper: "I don't wanna turn into bones!"

Topsy: "It isn't up to you! Mark my words, by nightfall you'll be nothin' but a pile of bones!"

He says this while walking away, but a smirk to the camera gives away that he's just bullshitting.

You racist old bastard! Tricking this poor Sharptooth child into thinking he will die of leprosy before the day's out! This is really mean, but I love how in-character it is.

Okay, so. Obviously the twist of this episode is gonna be that Sharpteeth kids shed their teeth naturally just like humans do, and apparently Flat-Teeth kids don't. That's why Ruby had to be separated, because she's the only one in the Great Valley who would know about it.

Now, I like dinosaurs, but I don't know enough about their dental anatomy to judge how biologically accurate this is. And I don't even know where I would begin to research whether some juvenile dinosaurs outgrew their teeth and others didn't, so I guess I'll just have to take the show at its word there. If anyone wants to provide corrections, please do so in the comments!

After Topsy leaves, Chomper's takeaway is that he needs to put the tooth back in his mouth.

Littlefoot: "We can ask Mr. Thicknose, he's heard of all sorts of things!"

Cut to them visiting Mr. Thicknose.

Mr. Thicknose: "You came to the right place, Chomper! I've heard of many ways to stick things together, no reason they wouldn't work on teeth."

I appreciate that they acknowledge the reveal in 8 by having them say Mr. Thicknose "has heard" about a lot of stuff. Not experienced them, just heard about them.

However, Mr. Thicknose's new VA is a terrible vocal match. Dorian Harewood sounds nothing like Robert Guillaume. What, was Robert not available to reprise his role? He's deceased now, but he was alive when this show was running. That's a real shame, Robert Guillaume's voice was one of the things giving Mr. Thicknose even an ounce of dignity, and it was a big part of what sold The Lesson as a song. I do have to give them props for not white-washing Mr. Thicknose. Dorian may not sound like Robert but he is at least a black man, they kept that intact.

Mr. Thicknose going into dentistry starts song 1 of the episode: Fix Your Tooth. There's no individual upload of the song, so just skip to 6:10 in the full episode:

Um. This is just Talking Big again. Not in lyrics, but the music is exactly the same. What do I do? Do I rate this as a standalone song, or rate it lower for the laziness of re-using the music?

Looking it up, apparently a lot of the songs in the tv show reuse music from other songs. That's disappointing. I guess since it's so common I'll overlook it for this one, but this does downgrade the entire show in my opinion. Makes the songs feel a lot more like an obligation than a deliberate element to enhance the story.

Seriously, comparing this song to The Lesson is like night and day. The Lesson was long and soulful and nuanced. It was actually trying to be a good song and tell a story with a good message. This is just... lame.

He tries to reattach Chomper's tooth with sap, then pollen (which sounds like a TERRIBLE idea), then mud (an EVEN WORSE idea). Thankfully Chomper doesn't even try the mud one, and then Thicknose just gives up. Just like that. I kinda like that it ends in failure, but it's too abrupt. I guess the rest of the kids singing along is kinda fun, but they don't add anything, they're just repeating what Thicknose says. And the animation is okay in places, but really bad in other places. And frankly, I thought the music was bad in Talking Big, and it's bad here, too!

After the song, Thicknose apologizes.

Mr. Thicknose: "I am sorry none of my sticky solutions worked. Until today, I've always tried to avoid direct experience with... Sharptooth teeth."

Yeah, we know. The only experience you've ever had with Sharpteeth in your life was in 8.

Thicknose leaves, having accomplished nothing. Chomper laments that there are no Sharpteeth in the Great Valley, because they might know what's going on. Littlefoot realizes Ruby is here, and Chomper points out that she doesn't even HAVE teeth (true, but neither should Cera, Ducky, or Petrie, and they grow teeth randomly all the time). Littlefoot says that since she grew up in the Mysterious Beyond, she might still know what's going on.

Honestly, I'm glad they brought this up this soon, I thought it would take a lot longer for them to think of asking Ruby about this.

Unfortunately, the Secret Mud-Pool is secret, so they don't know where Ruby is right now, and they have to find her before nightfall when Chomper falls apart! Petrie suggests Chomper track them by scent.

Over at the Secret Mud-Pool, everyone is relaxing in the mud, except Cera who refuses to participate.

With Littlefoot's party, they're following Chomper's nose, Littlefoot confident he has the scent. Chomper seems uncertain, and points them toward a dark and menacing cave. Petrie asks if he's sure Tria went in there and he insists, so they follow him in.

The kids walk through the cave, skeptical that someone would relax in here. Petrie gets stung by a bee (I guess he's either too small for it to get stuck or it's more of a wasp) and it chases him! Chomper excitedly bites down on it!

It flies around in his mouth and stings him!

Chomper: *spits it out* "YOW!" *licks lips* "Mmmm, spicy!"

Good continuity. Chomper liked the nest of spicy buzzing insects last episode, too.

The bee flies off, then comes back with a whole swarm, and the kids run for it!

Over with the Mud-Pool, Cera is bored playing with a rock, and she laments that she could be having fun with the others right now.

Right now, the others are running from a swarm of angry bees! They take a right to hide in a small side path, and for some reason the Stinging Buzzers just fly past. Chomper steps back and trips into a huge skeleton!

For some reason, the skeleton freaks the kids out enough to scream and run from it back into the main tunnel, which attracts the bees again and they run screaming out of the entrance, still followed by the bees!

The character art in this episode is REALLY janky. Like, a pretty big step down from even last episode, much less the movies.

They escape the bees by jumping down into some bushes, and the bees fly overhead (at least those bees are consistent in losing track of their target easily). Chomper mentions the skeleton, how all of its teeth were gone! Littlefoot tells him to keep up hope that they can find Ruby, and Chomper points out that his nose failed, leading them into the cave. Then he freaks out that that means the next thing to fall off will be his nose!

Then, Littlefoot gets an idea! Grandpa told him about the Looking Rock, where you can see the whole Great Valley from the peak, so they'll climb that!

This is a new location that has never been mentioned before. And I'm not sure the plan tracks. If they're high enough to see the whole Great Valley, they'd surely be too high to spot Ruby or Tria, right?

Later, they're climbing it, and Petrie flies up to inform them they're near the top!

Wait. Why didn't Petrie just fly up to look for them by himself? Why do the rest need to do anything? It's a big mud-pool out in the open, and Petrie flew all over the Great Valley in 12. Why can't he just fly up and look around? The whole plot just fell apart instantly.

Ducky slips and Chomper catches her before she falls! But then Chomper slips and barely catches himself on a root!

The little white dot on the edge is Chomper's tooth, he's been holding onto it the whole time (convinced that putting it back in his mouth will fix him) and lost his grip on it. Chomper tries to reach for his tooth and the others discourage him. The reaching breaks the root, and Littlefoot whips his tail down for Chomper to grab onto!

But some pebbles fall from the root and one hits the tooth, knocking it down! The tooth falls into a cloud, but Petrie dives down like a missile after it! Littlefoot helps Chomper up and then Petrie flies back, having caught the tooth!

The others praise Petrie, and Ducky points out he flew into Sky Puffies to catch it. Petrie didn't even realize, and is startled by himself.

They keep climbing, and reach the top of the Looking Rock. From there, Chomper spots the Mud-Pool, just past the Murky Swamp.

They're just... assuming that's the right one. It is, but they've never been there, they wouldn't know that. And again, Petrie could have just flown up and seen this, this whole mini-adventure was completely unnecessary.

And for some reason, there's an error when Chomper points it out, the camera zooms in on the waterfall to the left of the mud-pool instead of the mud-pool itself.

Over with the mud-pool, Cera's still pouting and bored. Tria tells her to just try dipping a toe in. Cera finally relents and is surprised to find that it's warm, which Ruby explains is what makes it relaxing. Cera's still not interested and walks back up, but then her mud-covered foot slips and she slides down the rock and off it like a ramp into the mud! She surfaces and they laugh at her.

Cera: "This is supposed to make me relax?!"

Tria: "Now that you're in, doesn't it feel good?"

Cera (dryly): "Well, it's better than usual mud..."

Spike: "Mm-hmm!"

They laugh again and Cera joins them.

The rest of The Gang walk through the Murky Swamp, complaining about how bad it smells.

Chomper then missteps into a pool of Sinking Sand! He starts sinking down! Petrie tries to pull him out but he's not strong enough, and when Littlefoot offers his tail, Chomper has to decide whether to let go of Petrie or his tooth!

Chomper chooses to let go of Petrie and grab Littlefoot's tail with that hand. Littlefoot tries to pull him up, but one weak little Sharptooth arm isn't enough, he needs to use both hands!

Littlefoot: "C'mon, c'mon!"

Chomper: "I can't, I'd lose my tooth!"

Ducky: "One tooth is not worth a whole you!"

Chomper: "But I can't be a Sharptooth without my sharp tooth!"

Petrie: "Oh, me not think of that!"

Petrie swoops down and grabs the stupid tooth out of Chomper's hand so Littlefoot can pull him to safety grabs onto Littlefoot's tail and helps pull.

But that's not enough! Chomper sinks down under the surface! Littlefoot dips his tail down and fishes around for him, and finally Chomper grabs with both hands and is pulled out!

Safely on shore, the others are happy he's okay, but Chomper has fallen into despair. He looks at the sinking sand and sulks.

Chomper: "I'm not okay. My tooth is gone forever. How can I be a Sharptooth without teeth?"

Ducky: "It does not matter to us if you have sharp teeth or no teeth."

Littlefoot: "That's right! You'll always be our friend Chomper, no matter what!"

Chomper: "But what if Mr. Threehorn's right and I turn into bones?!"

He sits down on the edge and just stares into the sinking sand.

Littlefoot suggests they should still find Ruby, but Ducky points out that Chomper doesn't want to leave his tooth. Petrie offers to stay with Chomper while the other two go retrieve Ruby.

Littlefoot and Ducky make it to the Mud-Pool, and Ducky approaches this absolute diva relaxing in the mud to ask her for directions.

Ducky: "Uh, excuse me? Have you seen a Fast Runner with a Spiketail and two Threehorns."

Cera (lazily): "Ohhhhh, hiiii guuuuuysssss! What are yoouu doing heeeere?"

Ducky: "... Cera?! It is you?!"

Cera being so relaxed she sounds high is a classic cartoon trope, but it's good here. It's funny to hear her acting so out-of-character. Also, apparently Ruby is a Fast Runner.

Littlefoot tells her they need to find Ruby, and she strolls out of the mud and tells them to follow her, tail swishing behind as she walks.

Cera (melodically): "Here we aaaaarree!"

Ruby's lounging on the shore while Spike is still wallowing and Tria is washing off under a waterfall.

Ducky: "We have been looking for you all day, yup yup yup!"

Ruby: "Ahh, I'm right here. Of course, I'm always 'here', since 'here' is wherever I am."

Littlefoot: "Chomper needs your help!"

That gets their attention! Littlefoot and Ducky run away and tell everyone to follow them!

Cera: "You guys reeeeeally need to relax."

They all follow anyway. Ruby asks Chomper what's wrong and he says his tooth is gone, forever!

Cera: "...WHAT?! You interrupted our relaxing day for a TOOTH?! A TOOTH?! ONE DAY I TRY TO RELAX, YOU GUYS COME OUT HERE AND SPOIL MY-"

Tria: "Now, now. We're just glad Chomper's not seriously hurt."

I'm on Cera's side here, but Chomper thinks Tria's under-reacting.

Chomper: "Not hurt?! I'm falling apart! Have you ever seen a Sharptooth with a missing tooth?!"

Ruby: "Oh yes. I've seen it more times than I care to see."

Chomper: *gasp* "Really???"

Ruby: "Why sure, Chomper! You're going to lose all your teeth!"

Chomper: "All of them?! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Ruby: "Normal Sharpteeth normally lose their teeth, so if you lost your tooth, you're a normal Sharptooth!

Chomper: "I'm... normal?"

Ruby: "Here, give me your claw."

Ruby: "Feel that? That's your new tooth."

Chomper: "New tooth?!"

Ruby: "Yes, new tooth. And this new tooth will be new until you're old!"

Chomper is overjoyed at this news, so much so that he jumps into song 2 of the episode: I Feel So Happy. This song actually does have an individual upload (not on the official channel, but it's got decent enough quality).

Maybe my standards have been lowered by the other songs I've seen in this show, but despite this song being really short I think it's okay. Decent. Not bad. It's cute and upbeat. Petrie being scared and Cera being weirded out at the start adds a nice dose of cynicism to keep the song from being too overly saccharine, and I like the Bright Circle (Great Circle? they keep going back and forth which term they use) symbolism. It's on-the-nose and simple, but fine overall.

After the song, everyone is back to relaxing in the Mud-Pool, and Littlefoot's group has joined them.

Chomper asks Ducky if she can see his new tooth, scaring her a little.

He then asks Spike, and Spike shakes his head 'no'.

Cera: "First they're excited by some mud, and then a tooth, now they're excited about the mud again..."

She gets hit in the face by a mudball, courtesy of Spike, who tail-whipped it at her! He chuckles, and she jumps into the mud, creating a huge splash that covers Spike. They laugh and play in the mud, and that's where the episode ends.

This episode... was not good.

The writing in this episode is atrocious. I'm not even complaining about the central conflict, it kinda makes sense Chomper would freak out about this thing he doesn't know about, and Topsy messing with him makes it make more sense. And that smirk lets the audience in on there being no real threat, creating dramatic irony. The premise of the episode is flimsy, but fine.

No, I'm complaining about the fact that almost the whole plot could have been skipped if the writers had used Petrie properly. The bee cave was completely pointless and the Looking Rock hike was completely pointless. Petrie could have just flown up and seen where the Mud-Pool was at any time. And then Chomper almost drowning, losing the stupid tooth, and falling into despair was completely pointless! Petrie could have just grabbed it and Chomper could have been pulled up at any time, then he would have kept the tooth and not been depressed.

Like, this episode would have worked better if they just had Petrie go to the spa and had Cera stay behind. But no, because Petrie was present for this adventure, the episode is just absolutely FULL of plotholes. Or alternatively, have them not think of Ruby after Mr. Thicknose, instead they leave the Great Valley to find some friendly Sharpteeth to help Chomper, then have to run from Red Claw. That would at least be more adventurous.

Also, the scene with Chomper in the Sinking Sand is just a blatant rip-off of the scene from 3 with Hyp in the Tar Pit, even down to him going under and then being pulled out from under the surface.

The mud spa day subplot was honestly fine. No complaints there. Tria having this secret place is a little odd since she only got to the Great Valley in 11, but maybe she found it since then. But her relaxing makes sense for the character. Spike relaxing makes a LOT of sense. Ruby relaxing is fine. She's a new character, we don't have a firm grasp on her personality yet. But as the mature and responsible one of... at least Chomper, if not the whole group, it makes sense she'd have some stress to release. And Cera not wanting to relax but getting super into it once she did was both a genuinely funny gag and a good angle for her character.

I was a bit disappointed that Ducky wanting to go to the mud-pool and being peer pressured out of it didn't come back. And they didn't explain why Chomper thought the bee cave smelled like Tria, that was weird.

The ending is also pretty decent. The dialogue writing in the last scene is solid, and the song is the best song so far in the whole series (still mediocre, but hey, grading on a curve, it's good).

The animation is a step down in this episode, even compared to the previous one. Especially on Littlefoot, his design has been smoothed out to a ridiculous degree, he barely even looks like himself.

Finally, how much you wanna bet Chomper losing teeth is never gonna come up again in this show? Too common in these episodic shows, something minor is established that should continue to be an element, but is completely forgotten about in future episodes. I'd be shocked if future episodes actually followed through on Chomper gradually losing all of his baby teeth and then growing his adult teeth.

Pros: Good subplot. Decent ending. Decent ending song. Topsy's racism as the trigger for the plot was funny.

Cons: Main plot was a meandering waste of time. Pointless Thicknose cameo with a bad song. General lack of tension for most of it.

Rating: 3/10. This episode had some good in it, but lower high notes than S1E1, and the plot was a lot flimsier.

10/10:

9/10:

8/10:

7/10:

6/10:

5/10:

4/10: The Cave of Many Voices (S1E1)

3/10: The Mysterious Tooth Crisis (S1E2)

2/10:

We open with no credits, no logos, not even a narrator to introduce the concept of dinosaurs. Just jumping straight into a cold open.

It's nighttime in the Great Valley, and it starts raining. We cut around to see all of The Gang reacting with their families.

Littlefoot: "Aw, Sky-Water! Oh, now I'll never get to sleep."

Grandma nuzzles him to make him feel better.

Tricia shivers and Cera reassures her that it's okay.

Petrie flies back to his nest carrying a large leaf as cover from the rain, but it's filled with water. He flies into a stalactite and dumps it as he falls, soaking his siblings and annoying them as the leaf floats down on top of them.

And apparently between movie 12 and now, Petrie has lost two siblings.

Ducky points out to Spike that the Sky-Water is making the Ground-Water dance.

And her sisters are absent, but that makes sense, they usually sleep separate from these two.

And in a hidden cave high up in the Great Wall, two other characters are also experiencing the Sky-Water.

Chomper: "Wow, Ruby, there sure is a lot of Sky-Water coming down!"

Ruby: "That's Sky-Water, Chomper, it just keeps coming down until it doesn't!" *shrug*

They head inside the cave.

Ruby: "Well, at least the Secret Caverns keep us safe from Red-Claw, which is good since I promised your mom and dad I'd keep us safe from Red-Claw."

Chomper: "Yeah, and tonight they're keeping us dry, too!"

Chomper then gets dripped on. The stalactites (called Stone Teeth) are leaking water on them. Chomper gets annoyed with it and he climbs up on a rock to plug the hole with his finger, which only makes the water flow down his body. The tip pops off the stalactite and water shoots down like a faucet onto him.

Ruby tells him to calm down, but Chomper flies into a rage, biting off the tip of that stalactite, drop kicking another one, and donkey kicking a third.

Which only makes more water flow through. He then slips and lands in a large puddle. The cave is now flooded an inch deep.

"Chomper: "Huh?! Oh nooo! Mmm... uhh... Now I'll never get to sleep."

Then the intro starts, but before that, let's talk about Ruby. Ruby is a new character introduced in this show, an Oviraptor kid. To contrast Chomper being young and immature, Ruby is older and a know-it-all. And her speech pattern is circular, her sentences usually end where they begin. I thought she was a pretty good addition, but that's based on my memory of watching a few episodes over a decade ago.

Ruby is voiced by Meghan Strange. Chomper is voiced by Max Burkholder, who does a decent impression of Cannon Young's Chomper from 5.

Now for the intro:

It's pretty decent, actually. I like how the intro basically speedruns a typical Land Before Time adventure in 30 seconds. Running and playing in the Great Valley, leaving to the Mysterious Beyond, running into a group of Sharpteeth, getting trapped on a rock floating on lava, then riding a log in a river before returning home and playing ball with a pinecone.

And the lyrics actually track with the visuals. I really like the audio synching with the roar and the lightning at the break in the lyrics, then the rock breaks up for the "ohhhh" bit, and then the "streams to follow all the way home" lyric transitions from a lava stream to a water stream to them back home in the Great Valley. It's a short intro, but it's very economical with its time.

Yeah, I was kinda meh on this intro at first, but the more I break it down, the more I like how efficient it is. I like how the lava is simultaneously saving them from the Sharpteeth and more dangerous than them, escalating the danger level before the lightning does a match cut to them floating on a log, deescalating the danger level to ease the audience back into the safety of the Great Valley. And then the pinecone scene shows off 4/7 of the main characters' specialties: Chomper kicking, Cera headbutting, Littlefoot tail-whipping, and Spike... eating.

This is a great intro. It think it would be better if it was like, a minute long and had more parent cameos at the start and more adventure cliches in the middle (like having a classic "crossing the chasm" scene), but overall, it's surprisingly solid.

The next day, The Gang are eating Tree Stars, complaining about the rain making everything drippy and soggy.

Two Pachycephalosaurus kids run past Ducky, stealing the tree stars she was about to eat! She chases them and yells, but they ignore her! Ruby, who is in a nearby pond eating a clam (whole! she just eats the whole clam, shell and all!) overhears. Ruby yells at them and they look terrified, dropping the tree stars before running away.

Ducky: "Thank you, Ruby! Your big voice scareded those Domeheads, it did!"

Ruby: "Thank you for the 'thank you', Ducky!"

Oh yeah, it was Ruby's voice that did it. I'm sure it had nothing to do with her being a terrifying Sharptooth.

Ducky offers her a Tree Star and Ruby politely eats it while gagging. They walk back to the group, and Ruby utters her catchphrase:

Ruby: "Hello my friends, my friends hello!"

Everyone says "hi" to Ruby and then Chomper walks out of a bush, very sleepy. Littlefoot asks him what's wrong and he says they need to find a new cave.

Hang on, THEY ALL KNOW?! Seriously, the very first episode of the tv show isn't even going to BOTHER setting up the entire premise?! I just assumed they were living in those caves in secret, but nope! It's just like "yeah, two Sharpteeth kids have moved into the Great Valley, everyone knows about it and is cool with them". Like, I feel like this entire thing on its own would have made a much better premise for the first episode!

Ducky: "There is always something wrong with Chomper's cave, yup yup yup!"

Chomper: "Not always! Ruby and me are really happy your families let us stay in the Secret Caverns!"

Ruby: "Mm-hmm, especially with Red Claw and his Fast Biters scaring everyone in the Mysterious Beyond!"

Cera: "Okay, so what's wrong with your cave this time?!"

Chomper: "It's leaky."

They leave to go see what's up with the cave.

Okay, so they do TRY and explain the backstory here. In two lines of dialogue. Again, I REALLY feel that this backstory would have been much better as a first episode by itself. Like, we didn't even get to see The Gang meeting Ruby for the first time, or see the circumstances where Ruby had to make that promise to Chomper's parents. Or any discourse between the adults regarding the two Sharpteeth kids!

In the cave, Chomper explains that it started leaking due to the rain last night. Ducky admits she wasn't able to sleep last night due to the dripping sound, too, and Ruby mentions it wasn't as bad before Chomper made those holes in the ceiling.

Chomper: "Uhh... yeah. So, I thought we could go exploring and look for a new cave!"

Petrie: "Explore? Th-th-th-the S-Secret Caverns?!"

Littlefoot is unsure, but Chomper suggests it could be an adventure, and that keyword triggers The Gang like The Manchurian Candidate to go along with him. Chomper also sings song 1 of the episode, a reprise of Adventuring from 10.

And yeah, I'm not gonna be able to find all of the songs uploaded individually. At least not with decent quality. Just skip to 5:28 in the full episode for the song.

Eh, it's quite a bit weaker than the original. Only a minute long, so it's already less substantial.

I appreciate they kept the imagination sequences but they're a lot more toned down. And instead of Cera egging them on, she just dismisses them, which isn't nearly as fun or mean. I guess the "funny rocks" (which look alarmingly like eggs) and waterfall are kinda nice as far as scenery goes, but obviously the animation is a huge step down from the movies.

And the last bit copied from the original doesn't work in the new context. In the original, they wanted to go on the adventure and it worked because the whole song was hypothetical. In this one, they've already gone through 4 rooms when they say they want to go. Like, the adventure has already started, you can't say you want to join the expedition 4 rooms deep!

After the song, they come across a split in the cave system. The left side has fresher air, but it's too dark to see, while the right side is bright enough to see. There's some debate over which way to go.

Ducky thinks they should go the way that's brighter, and then Spike spots that vine hanging down and starts munching on it, pulling some rocks out of the ceiling and shining a sunbeam down the left path. Everyone praises Spike, and then Ruby declares "going the way we can see will let us see the way we're going!" like it's some wise statement. They decide to go the left path, and Ducky pulls Ruby aside.

Ducky: "Ruby? You said what I said, but biggerer, and everyone listened! If I could talk big, everyone would listen to me, too! That would be good!"

Ruby: "Oh-ho, as long as the big isn't so big that you scare everyone!"

Ducky: "Like Red Claw?"

Ruby: "Yeah, like Red Claw."

Feels like a little bit of a retread of the "Mad Song" subplot from 8, except this is a bit better conceptually because that was full-on pretending that Ducky has never been angry in her life, while this is more just acknowledging that Ducky is soft-spoken. Which is true, though usually people do listen when she talks. And I'm not sure whether or not the show is pulling my leg in regards to Ruby proclaiming really obvious shit in a way that impresses others.

After the mention of Red Claw, the camera pans back to the sunhole in the wall Spike opened up, which leads out into the Mysterious Beyond. Outside, we see a family of small Sharpteeth, a parent and two kids, playing in a pool of water. Then Red Claw and his Fast Biters (the three Sharpteeth in the intro) show up and roar to chase them away!

The Fast Biters drink up while Red Claw sniffs the air, turning his head toward the hole and narrowing his eyes.

Back with The Gang, they're exploring a section with a ton of branching paths. They each come back from one.

Ruby: "This cave is too small."

Ducky: "And this cave floor is too bumpy."

Petrie: "This cave smell funny."

Spike: *sniff sniff* "Urggh..."

Littlefoot: "Don't give up yet, I'm sure we can find a good cave!"

Cera (covered in dust): "Good cave?!" *cough* "I don't think there is such a thing!" *she shakes the dust off*

Chomper: "Hey guys, you have to see this!"

Chomper leads the others through a crack in the wall into a huge cave!

This is the titular "Cave of Many Voices" in that it is a cave which echoes a lot. Chomper yells "Hello" and it echoes. Despite the cool design of the cave, though, they don't do anything interesting or unique with the echo, it's just a regular echo effect. Seems like a shame, they could have done some cool stuff with sound design here.

Ducky yells a "HAWOOGA" loud enough that it startles Petrie and impresses Littlefoot and Cera (even though it wasn't really THAT loud, the VA doesn't actually yell for the line).

Ducky: "Oh, I sound big now! Yes yes yes! If I can talk big in here, Ruby, can you show me how to talk big in the Great Valley?"

Ruby: "You just think I talk big because I'm bigger than you, but if you were bigger than you, you'd talk bigger, too."

Ducky: "Huh?"

Ruby: "But then, you wouldn't be big to you..."

Ruby tends to get lost in semantics, confusing herself. Ducky asks her to try helping anyway, and Ruby capitulates. Everyone has fun making echo sounds, but the sound carries through a hole in the wall... which is somehow the same hole Spike made in the other room.

Goddamnit, continuity guys. They went through like two tunnels between the two rooms, that CAN'T be the same hole! We had this same issue in Movie 11, where the Tinysaurus cave system had the entrance hole appear in a completely separate room.

Red Claw sniffs again and roars to alert the Fast Biters and order them to check out the hole.

With The Gang, Littlefoot's getting thirsty and Chomper's getting hungry. Cera tells him she's off the menu, and the others laugh!

Cera has been accusing Chomper of wanting to eat her since day 1, and she hasn't let up since. I guess he did bite her the one time, but that was a very long time ago, and he looks sad every time she accuses him of this. Kinda fucked up that Ruby's laughing, too. Petrie's flying over because he's got an alternate suggestion: a nest of stinky bugs in the Great Valley that Chomper could eat. He thinks that sounds good and they leave the cave.

Back in the Mysterious Beyond, the Fast Biters can't quite fit in the hole, so Red Claw yells at them and then demonstrates how to gouge the hole out with his foot.

Red Claw then backs off and leaves it to his Fast Biters to double team the hole, spreading it until they can all fit inside.

The Gang are back in the Great Valley. Chomper thanks Petrie for showing him that nest, the stinky bugs were spicy but good. Petrie is unnerved but says "you're welcome" anyway. Chomper wants to get back to exploring but Spike and Cera are still eating leaves.

Chomper (annoyed): "You Flat-Teeth suuuure take a long time to eat!"

Hmm. That's new. We've never heard the term "Flat-Teeth" before. Interesting that we're seeing the "Sharptooth" racism from the opposite angle now.

Littlefoot suggests Chomper go ahead, they'll catch up, and he leaves, excited to get back to adventuring. Ruby and Ducky are talking separate from the group, and Ruby suggests if Ducky thinks big thoughts, it could make her feel big inside and talk big. Ducky points out a large tree and Ruby tells her to pretend that she's as big as that tree. This leads into song 2 of the episode, Talking Big.

Another song that doesn't have a standalone upload. Skip to 12:48 in the episode.

This song sucks. It's not, like, offensively terrible. But it's REALLY shallow and derivative.

It's just The Mad Song again: Ducky being taught how to be more assertive when that's not usually a problem she has, but Talking Big doesn't have any bite. To be fair, The Mad Song had way too much bite, that was one of my big problems with it. But this is SO shallow and simple, the lyrics don't go anywhere or expand on anything, it's just repeating the same idea over and over. There's no complexity, this feels like a Sesame Street song. At least The Mad Song went into how suppressing emotions is bad for you.

I guess the Saurus Rock call-out is a cool continuity nod, and the animation here is honestly a lot better than it has been in the rest of the episode so far (and better than the deranged over-animation in The Mad Song). It's also a decent debut song for Ruby's character, since she's meant to be the mature and smart one, a teaching song fits her. But it's still a limp noodle of a song.

Also, the whole "Ruby talks big" thing really doesn't hit for me. It's like Katy Perry's Roar, which talks a big game and even compares itself to Eye of The Tiger, but then the song has no punch. The whole thing has less impact than the first note of Eye of the Tiger. Like, Ruby really isn't projecting her voice as much as the script suggests she is. They really needed to let the voice actress be LOUD if they were going to go this route. But she's not, she talks at a pretty normal volume.

They return to the group and Ducky introduces herself with Ruby's catchphrase, confusing the others. She's trying to talk big, by avoiding her usual speech patterns and copying Ruby's. Which is obviously NOT the point. Chomper returns and excitedly tells them he found a new cave to live in!

Wait, I thought we had settled on the Cave of Many Voices? This new one's gotta be REALLY cool to overshadow the cave the episode is named after!

It's underwhelming. Everyone else thinks so, too. The thing Chomper is happiest about is the lack of Stone Teeth, which the kids share a hearty laugh over (I've been noticing that a lot this episode, I hope this "in-universe laugh track" doesn't become a trend).

Over at the hole, the Fast Biters have widened it enough for Red Claw to squeeze in, and he motions for them to follow.

One of the Fast Biters roars, and The Gang hear it. They creep forward to find out who made that noise. They see the hole from a ledge above, and it's gaping wide now. Then they look down and see Red Claw and the Fast Biters!

Chomper is the one who recognizes Red Claw, so it's not clear if any of the Flat-Teeth kids have seen him before. The kids sneak away to warn everyone else, but Ducky blows their cover stupidly.

Ducky (loud): "We cannot let those Sharpteeth stay in here, no no no!"

Red Claw: *inquisitive growl*

Cera (whispering): "Don't talk big now, Ducky! WOAH!"

Because she was scolding Ducky, Cera wasn't watching where she was walking and she slips off the ledge! Littlefoot and Chomper try to pull her up, but they can't and all three slide down the ledge too, right toward the Sharpteeth!

Red Claw approaches, and the kids run! Spike bites and pulls another vine to knock down a bunch of boulders! One hits Red Claw in the head and stuns him enough for the kids to regroup and keep running!

Red Claw roars at the Fast Biters and they chase after the kids, living up to their name, they are fast! The Gang barely manage to slip through a small crack in the wall before the Fast Biters catch up!

Walking through a tunnel, the kids discuss how they're going to keep these Sharpteeth from getting into the Great Valley. Littlefoot decides they'll just have to make them leave the same way they came in, through the gaping hole. Spike motions toward a hanging vine and makes tugging gestures and Littlefoot gets it: after they leave, the kids will yank some vines out to make rocks plug the hole.

At the end of this tunnel, the Fast Biters ambush them, having circled around to the front hole since they couldn't fit in the crack in the rear!

Chomper leads The Gang down a bottom hole in the ground!

The Gang slide down a long and narrow tunnel, which is again too tight for the Fast Biters to squeeze into.

They slide down the tunnel quite a ways and at the bottom, Littlefoot lands first and then everyone else but Cera lands on top of him (though Chomper and Ducky bounce off).

I'm surprised Spike didn't break Ruby. She may be bigger than him, but she's built like a twig while he's built like a tank.

This new cave has a pool of water, and they walk while discussing plans. Chomper suggests he and Ruby hold off Red Claw, but Cera points out they'd just be an appetizer and Littlefoot insists they need to stick together. Ducky wishes the Cave of Many Voices could make their bodies as big as their voices sound, and Littlefoot realizes that's the solution! It scared Petrie, so it should scare Red Claw, too, right?

Petrie: "Um, we roar like we big and angry?"

Cera (smug): "No problem!"

Petrie: "Not problem for you."

They walk upward through a hallway and then Red Claw suddenly bursts through of the wall like Jack in The Shining!

HEEEEERE'S RED CLAW!

He smashes through the rest of the wall and chases them! While running away, the kids run into the Fast Biters! Trapped between two sets of sharp teeth, the kids hide behind this weird stone curtain thing, and the Sharpteeth run past each other and lose track of them.

Chomper says that Red Claw can't see them if they stay still which... has not be a thing for any other Sharpteeth before. Is it just because of that scar over his eye? Is that a Red Claw-specific thing, or are we now retconning the Jurassic Park inaccuracies into this franchise? Because if we are, the same should apply to Chomper.

Cera points out that he can still smell them, and he is indeed sniffing the air and slowly getting closer. Ducky climbs to the top of the rock curtain and realizes they're right near the Cave of Many Voices, it's just behind Red Claw and his Fast Biters! Ruby points out they'd see them, but Ducky says that since she's small, she might be able to sneak past (seems like Petrie could, too, especially if he tried to flit overhead between the stalactites).

But whatever, this is Ducky's moment. She slides down the rock certain, then creeps forward to hide behind a rock near the Sharpteeth, and then just runs right past their feet without being noticed at all.

That's a Nat 1 on Perception.

Ducky makes it past and into the Cave of Many Voices. By sniffing, Red Claw narrows in on the Gang's location, when Ducky repeats her earlier "HAWOOGA", distracting and alarming him! She lets out a few more "HAWOOGA"s, confusing the Sharpteeth and they look upward for the source of the sound. The Gang take this opportunity to run past the Sharpteeth into the cave themselves.

They congratulate Ducky and then everyone starts roaring.

The roars are actually decent at first, but for some reason they re-use all the same voice lines like 5 times in a row (yes, that's not counting the echo, in total you hear the same voice lines like 20 times) and it gets lame and annoying real fast. Petrie sneaks over to the entrance to check and the Fast Biters get nervous at all the noise and run away, Red Claw roaring after them in annoyance. Petrie reports that the plan is working!

Littlefoot: "Chomper, you can speak Sharptooth, tell Red Claw to leave, because a big and angry herd is on its way!"

Chomper: "Okay! GRAWL GRAWAWA RARARA RAOWL RA RAWR RA ROAR RARARAR RAWR!!"

Red Claw: *skeptical, looking around*

Chomper: "RAWRAWRAW RA!"

Ducky: "WE ARE BIG, AND WE. ARE. AIINGRIIY!"

Echo: "AIINGRIIY, AIINGRIIY, AIINGRIIY!"

Ducky: "YUP, YUP, YYUAAAIIIAAAIIIAAAIIIAAAIIIAAAIIIUUP!!!"

I take back what I was saying about the voice actors not being loud enough. Well, not really, that was still the case earlier. But Aria Noelle Curzon (Ducky's VA) fuckin' SCREAMS that last "Yup", with a full-on voice crack and everything. It's kinda sick! Definitely rivals Cera's big snow-shattering scream in 8. Similar cadence, too, like a female version of the Tarzan scream, wobbling in and out of the voice crack in a controlled manner.

If you want to check it out, Ducky's whole bit starts at 21:09.

And it scares off Red Claw!

Okay, so this whole strategy is really dumb. Loud noises sometimes work for scaring wild animals, but this episode has been pretty clear that Red Claw is fairly intelligent. I get it's what the whole episode has been building up to, but it feels like a cop-out to have The Gang scare off Red Claw and his Fast Biters without actually having a real fight scene. And it diminishes Red Claw's threat level quite a bit if Ducky can scare him off.

That said, the execution on this dumb idea is GOOD. Incorporating Chomper's ability to speak Sharptooth as a way to warn and bluff Red Claw is a really nice bit of writing that helps make the plan more believable. And Ducky's voice acting in this scene is genuinely impressive, especially that last big scream! The music is big and triumphant, which could feel melodramatic and unfitting, but Ducky sells it. If the production team really had to go with this dumb idea, they made it work about as well as they could have.

After Red Claw runs off, Littlefoot remembers that they need to plug the hole. They run over to the hole and pull on some convenient vines that were definitely not there earlier to drop a big rock down, slamming a plug into that gaping hole once and for all!

Afterward, Chomper's happy to have his new cave, safe from Red Claw. Littlefoot credits Ducky and Petrie adds on that they wouldn't have made it in the Cave of Many Voices without Ducky sneaking in first. Spike agrees vocally, and all the other kids nod their heads.

Ducky: "Sometimes, being little is better than talking big, but I know I will always be big, in here."

Ruby: "Yup yup yup!"

Everyone laughs and that's where the episode ends.

So, is Ducky motioning to her heart or her lungs? Because the heart is the obvious cliche, but the lungs honestly make more sense here, what with all the yelling and all.

I have mixed feelings on this episode. The last third, with the Red Claw chase and screaming finale, is honestly good, ranging from a 7-8/10. It's dumb in concept, but the execution is strong. But the rest of the episode is kinda weak, ranging from 3-4/10.

As a standalone episode, it's not TOO bad. As the first episode of the series, though, it could be a lot better. It doesn't set up any of the status quo changes, they just happen off-screen and are explained in a few quick lines of exposition. Ruby and Chomper are just here now, and everyone knows them. I really wish there was a "pilot" episode so we could see The Gang meeting Ruby for the first time.

The songs are both diet retreads of previous songs in a way, one directly and the other indirectly. I guess I do appreciate how one is a Chomper song and one is a Ruby song, and both demonstrate their characters.

I'm kinda surprised they went with the "evil boss exasperated by his two stupid henchmen" trope for Red Claw and the Fast Biters. Red Claw's design strikes me as more of a dumb bruiser, but he's definitely more intelligent and malicious than most other Sharpteeth we've seen so far in the franchise. As a villain, this is honestly a decent introduction to him, if Ducky scaring him off doesn't kill off too much of his villain cred. The Fast Biters are just dumb goons so far, not much depth there.

There's some interesting racism commentary here. Especially with that family of raptors Red Claw chased off, this is the most the franchise has ever portrayed Sharpteeth as just. People. And we even learn that Sharpteeth call herbivore dinosaurs Flat-Teeth. I was honestly worried this show would drop the racism theme entirely after 12 mostly ignored it, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Pros: Chomper and Ruby both getting a song is good for establishing "the new kids". The chase sequence is good. Ducky's scream at the end is legendary. Red Claw has some decent characterization already. Good cold open, does a good job of introducing the cast. The Sharpteeth are humanized.

Cons: No set-up for the status quo change. Both songs are weak. Ducky's subplot isn't as bad as in 8, but it still doesn't fit. The central plot is kinda boring, most of the caves look the same. The acoustics of The Cave of Many Voices could have been SO much cooler. The hole's location is inconsistent.

Rating: I'll give this episode a 4/10, below average. It's not good, but it's not terrible. If it was the second episode of this show, it'd get a 5/10, but because it also does a bad job as a first episode, it gets dropped a point.

10/10:

9/10:

8/10:

7/10:

6/10:

5/10:

4/10: The Cave of Many Voices (S1E1)

3/10:

2/10:

They don't play with the Universal logo this time, but I'm okay with that, since they did the thing last time. It just shows up like normal and then fades out.

... and then the movie fades in on a shot of the solar system, and zooms in on the Earth anyway. Seems like they could have integrated this into the Universal Logo fine.

Huh, that's not Pangaea, but it's not our present Earth, either. The landmasses are a little off, but I think this is setting the movie around 75 million years ago, or right near the end of the Cretaceous. That long island should be the Zagros Mountains of Iran, meaning the peninsula at the top is the North Caucasus region of Russia.

That top landmass is the one the camera zooms in on, meaning I guess The Land Before Time takes place in Russia? Or China/Mongolia, the camera tracks quite a ways. The Land Before Time takes place in North Asia. Or at least this intro segment does.

Narrator: "Our world has existed for billions of years, and has been home to many different types of creatures. All have faced unexpected challenges. And have had to develop their own kinds of wisdom to keep them safe. The dinosaurs of the Great Valley had to learn some lessons, too."

That was the shortest, shittiest narrator opening yet! I usually cut out half the narrator speech and just include the important bit, but this was so short I could include the whole thing!

We see Littlefoot and Grandma eating from trees.

Littlefoot eats the bottom leaf, then uses the Longneck Trick from 2 to bend the tree down so he can eat the top one, but when it does, it snaps back and launches him off. He shakes it off and then sees a fallen tree spanning a huge ravine, with leaves in the canopy on the other side. He walks across the tree halfway, then calls back to Grandma.

Littlefoot: "Hey, Grandma! Look at me!"

Grandma: "Littlefoot! Come down from there, that's quite a drop!"

Littlefoot: "But Grandma, there's still some Tree Stars on it!"

Grandma: "There are plenty of Tree Stars on this tree, dear."

Littlefoot: "But I can get these all by myself!"

Then the ground starts shaking and the log starts rolling side to side precariously, and Littlefoot falls off! Grandma runs over onto the tree and reaches down to catch him in her mouth, then deposits him on the ground.

But then the tree falls under Grandma's weight! She falls into the ravine! But she catches herself on the side! She manages to bite a root and pull to climb back up onto the ledge! Littlefoot asks if she's okay, and she reassures him that she's fine. He insists it would have been okay if not for the Earthshake, and she nuzzles him to make him feel better.

Then we cut from that to nighttime, where Grandpa, Grandma, and Littlefoot are all sleeping (wait, was that a dream? that would explain the weird vibe and dialogue). Littlefoot is having a nightmare! In his nightmare, Grandma catches herself on the ledge but there's no root to bite!! She reaches out to Littlefoot but he can't save her, and she falls to her death!!!

Littlefoot wakes up gasping for air, and Grandma is also awake. He calls out to her, and she reassures him that she's here. He tells her his dream and she reminds him that she didn't fall before, this was just a Sleep Story.

Oh. So the earlier scene WASN'T a dream. The way this was set up was confusing. So Littlefoot was just acting like an idiot for no reason and Grandma actually almost died. As a seasoned veteran of crossing chasms on makeshift bridges, he should know the dangers of them by now. However, I guess I have to give the movie props for going this dark, this early.

Littlefoot apologizes to Grandma for causing trouble.

Grandma: "I know, dear. But no-one knows what life is going to bring us before it happens. That's why we learn The Wisdoms."

Littlefoot: "Wisdoms? I remember them! ...what were they, again?"

Grandma: "Oh-hoho! Those are the ways of doing things which help us stay safe when the unexpected happens. Like this one: 'stay in a group'. I stayed near you, so I was able to help when you got into trouble. Your grandpa and I have tried to teach you The Wisdoms, although we may not have always called them that."

Littlefoot (determined): "Well, I want to remember all of them! Tell me The Wisdoms, Grandma!"

That's where the scene ends. So that "we may not have always called them that" is the movie's excuse to introduce this new concept and say it's always been around. I'm already rolling my eyes at the "after-school special" vibes of the lessons this movie promises to teach.

Littlefoot in this movie is voiced by Cody Arens, Logan Arens, and Anthony Skillman. Yup, three voices. I'm sure THAT'S a good sign! Y'all will probably only hear Anthony, since he's the singing voice. I think the voice I've heard so far is Cody and uh, I hate it! It's REALLY high-pitched, you'd never believe Cody was 14 here, he sounds like he's 7. I don't understand this obsession with constantly re-casting Littlefoot to sound like a kid. Cera, Ducky, and Petrie have had the same adult voice actors since 5, and they do a fine job. It's really jarring to hear Littlefoot's voice constantly changing.

The next day, the rest of The Gang is jumping across a rushing river on some rocks. Flying and swimming is off-limits, and Petrie flubs a jump and is carried away, barely climbing onto another rock! Cera shows off by doing a big jump of her own, but misses and falls in the water, also getting carried away! Littlefoot sees her flailing and tries to save her but she complains about him hurting her tail.

Littlefoot freaks out and demands the others help her, but she just stands up and walks back. This river is fast, but very shallow, and they're just pretending to be in danger as part of the game "Jump and Get Swept Away".

Littlefoot: "I think pretending to be in trouble is against The Wisdoms!"

Ducky: "What are 'Wisdoms'?"

Littlefoot: "They help you be safe, like 'stay in a group', or 'work together'!"

The others are confused.

Petrie: "Ohohoho! You mean 'The Say-Sos'!"

Littlefoot: "The what?"

Petrie: "'The Say-Sos'! Mom tell me to do those things 'cause 'she say so'!"

The after-school special vibes are INTENSIFYING!

This leads into song 1 of the movie (what, ALREADY?!): Say So.

Sorry about the bad quality, for some reason the official upload of this song only has the first bit.

This song fucking sucks. The tone and singing is annoying, the lyrics are basic, boring, and repetitive.

It sets up Littlefoot as a stick-in-the-mud and the rest of The Gang as strawmen rebels, complaining about parental nagging. But like, both sides feel out-of-character. Littlefoot is just as much of a rebel as the rest of them are, and the rest of them have been in more than enough dangerous situations, have more than enough practical field experience, to know the reasoning behind these various tips for living. Everyone here feels too immature. And it's SO preachy.

Also the animation is REALLY jank, especially on Cera. I've noticed when Cera gets mad in a song, the animators use a lot more squash and stretch on her than normal. I don't like it, it's really jarring. The last third of the song is downright surreal.

The only decent bit is Cera mentioning Tria for continuity and Cera mentioning the adults harassing them with The Wisdoms is a recent thing. So I guess they had an off-screen parent conference about their kids constantly getting into trouble and decided to drill safety into their heads. Which, y'know, fair. Also, overall the song isn't offensively bad, it could be worse.

The song ends with Cera launching herself into some tall grass, and the other kids laugh at her for WAY too long. Then she screams and backs up out of the grass! She says there's something strange in there! The kids look on in fear and back up as the tall grass rustles!

No.

No, not this early, we're only 12 minutes in!

Not introduced in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY GUIDO WAS!!!

DAMNIT! Oh, just by their designs alone (and from what others have told me), I can already tell these three are gonna suck!

Blue: *emerges from the grass* "Well, hello!" (waves)

Pink: *backs out of the grass, when her butt hits Blue's butt, it makes a squeaky toy sound* "What did you say?"

Blue (coy): "I wasn't talking to you!"

Pink: *shrugging* "Then who were you talking to?"

Green: *squeak*

Pink: "Him?"

Blue: "Nope!" *he nods toward The Gang* "Them!"

Pink (scared): "Ooh!" *endeared* "Oooohhh!"

At this, The Gang take a step back. Right move kids, stranger danger, and these three are strange. Remember how I said Guido felt like a stand-up comedian? Blue and Pink do, too. They just have that performative way of speaking.

Pink runs toward "them", arms outspread! She calls Cera "beautiful", picks her up, and hugs her!

Stranger danger! STRANGER DANGER!!

Pink introduces herself as... (sigh) Doofah before putting Cera down. Blue is Loofah. Green is Foobie (but it 100% sounds like Doofah calls him "booby"). Loofah asks if there are any berries to eat, and the scene ends there.

Remember how previous movies had the guest characters voiced by famous celebrities, and I figured that must have been the plan for Guido? Well, these three are. Doofah is voiced by Sandra Oh, Loofah is voiced by Cuba Gooding Jr, and Foobie (even though he doesn't talk, he just squeaks) is voiced by Pete Sepenuk. I'm disappointed in them as people for taking these roles.

Supposedly, according to Wikipedia, these three are Beipiaosaurus. Which are SUPPOSED to look like this:

What a downgrade. See those claws, poking out of the feathers? Yeah, Beipiaosaurus were therizinosaurs, the claws on its arms were HUGE. Cera should have been disemboweled!

Next scene, we see Loofah, Doofah, and Foobie eating berries by the handful, sloppily and messily, with lots of gross smacking mouth sounds.

Littlefoot: "How long has it been since you ate?"

Loofah: "Must've been, uhhh, let's see... right before you guys showed up!"

Doofah: "Mm, but not berries! Berries are the best!"

Loofah: "The place where we're headed for has berries, too, and it's a valley just like this one! Hah, I wish I could remember what it's called... it's got a real catchy name!" *he bonks his head with his palm*

Doofah: "Is it 'Doofah'? Oh, ahahahaha, no ah, that's my name, nhaha! Don't worry, the Wise One will figure it out, eventually!"

...Sandra Oh plays Debbie Grayson in Invincible. And she's AMAZING in that! I'm glad this didn't kill her career. Because it SHOULD'VE! No, that's too mean.

Cera and Littlefoot are relieved to hear there's a "wise one", because they can tell as much as the audience that these two are idiots. Doofah eats a whole bunch of flowers and then starts choking on it. Foobie spits some berry juice at Loofah's face, and he remembers it's called "Berry Valley" (oh, thank dino-god, it's not the Great Valley, they're not gonna live here permanently).

Loofah finally realizes Doofah is choking and runs over to give her a really stupid-looking Heimlich maneuver, spinning her around and slamming her butt on the ground repeatedly (which makes squeaky toy noises, because of course it does). The Gang just watch, slack-jawed in stunned silence.

She coughs up flower petals and Loofah says they call that the "Yellow-Bellied Bounce". Doofah should've been disemboweled.

Doofah asks if there's anything to drink around here, and Cera leads them on. They walk off while talking about how many berries must be in Berry Valley, and Petrie looks back at the skeletonized berry bushes and grumbles about how they used to have berries here, too.

You know, having a really annoying character isn't forgivable just because they're annoying on purpose and the other characters think they're annoying, too. Just look at Jar-Jar Binks.

At a watering hole, they're sucking down a ridiculous amount of water. Littlefoot asks where the rest of the herd is, and Loofah explains they're on their way to meet up with them, then he forgets their destination again and asks Doofah what it was.

Doofah (quickly): "Berry Valley! Ever-since-our-herd-first-heard-of-Berry-Valley, we've-wanted-very-badly-to-be-Berry-Valley-Yellow-Bellies!" *she kicks water off, making squeaky toy noises*

Loofah (quickly): "EEEEEEEEEEE!!! Yeah, there's-nothing-Yellow-Bellies-love-better-than-berries-and-a-valley-filled-with-berries-means-lots-of-berries-to-fill-us-Yellow-Bellies!"

Doofah and Loofah bounce bellies together, making a loud squeaky toy noise, then they laugh together REALLY annoyingly and high-pitched. Petrie can't understand them.

Cera: "Sooo, where are you meeting your herd?"

Loofah: "No idea!"

Foobie: "Mmmm!"

Doofah: "Can't remember!"

Littlefoot: "Then hhhhhhhow do you know which way to go?"

Loofah and Doofah: "Simple! We'll go, this way!" *they all point in different directions*

They look at each other and all start laughing, then hunker down in a huddle and talk hurriedly amongst themselves. Then they say "we'll go this way", and they all point different directions again. Foobie points the same direction, but Loofah is pointing the exact opposite direction and Doofah is pointing slightly to the right. They all laugh again, then wave goodbye to The Gang, Doofah again saying they're beautiful, and they walk away, weaving side to side, humming to themselves.

Okay, that was weird, but they're gone now, right?! We won't have to see them anymore, they were just in the movie for 4 minutes? No, of course not.

So, I get what they represent. They're stupid and dumb and represent stupid and dumb people who don't listen to their parents and learn The Wisdoms. That's obviously how they tie into the movie thematically, right? Doesn't make it any better. Although they do have a "Wise One" who I'm pretty sure is Foobie. He spat berry juice at Loofah to remind him it's called "Berry Valley", and then when they were deciding where to go, Foobie pointed the same direction twice, like that's the right way.

That night, Littlefoot's having another nightmare. He imagines the Yellow-Bellies (I get it, they were traumatizing) dancing on the fallen tree. He warns them to keep their eyes and ears open, since it's a long fall, and they all dramatically look down. Loofah and Doofah freak out and run toward Littlefoot, scrambling over each other until they both trip and fall to their deaths off either side of the tree (oh, if only). Littlefoot wakes up, gasping.

Littlefoot: "That does it, we've gotta help 'em!"

WHAT?! NO!! That's the motivation for this movie?! Littlefoot thinks they're fucking stupid idiots who need help from children?! You knew them for FOUR MINUTES, why are you going to risk your life for them?!?!

At dawn, Littlefoot has gathered The Gang and is leading them up the Great Wall.

Cera thinks this is ridiculous, and I agree. Littlefoot insists he needs to teach them The Wisdoms so they stay safe.

Cera: "Who cares if those three go wandering around in the Mysterious Beyond?!"

Ducky: "I do! Yup yup yup!"

Littlefoot: "Me too! After the Sleep Story I just had, I can't let them go like this!"

Cera: "You and your Sleep Stories! You've got to learn to relax."

Petrie: "Me think you got to stop eating Tree Stars right before sleepytime!"

I can't tell, but the movie might be making a reference to 10 here, since the inciting incident of that movie was Littlefoot and his grandparents having a prophetic dream. If so, that's a decent continuity nod.

Well, maybe we'll get lots of fun adventuring time before the kids catch up to the Yellow-Bellies. We're only like 18 minutes in, this is pretty early to start the adventure, so maybe the film will be more adventure-focused like 5 or 10. The Yellow-Bellies had half a day head start, they should be pretty far along by no-

Nope. Next scene, later in the day, we see the Yellow-Bellies standing on the edge of the Great Wall, all marveling at the Mysterious Beyond. Loofah and Doofah have gotten turned around and are looking at the Great Valley, thinking that's the Mysterious Beyond. Foobie makes some weird squawking noises to alert them to the fact that they're facing the wrong way.

Yeah, Foobie is definitely the "Wise One". Littlefoot walks up behind them and says hi, jumpscaring all three into smashing their beaks into the ledge beneath them, cracking it. They're touched the kids came to see them off, and Littlefoot says he doesn't think they're ready to go.

Loofah: "WHAT?!"

Doofah and Foobie: "Huh?"

Loofah: "But we have to! We have to lead our herd to Berry Valley!"

Doofah: "They'd be lost without us!"

Petrie (looking at Cera): "...You not gonna say something?"

Cera: "Maybe later."

Hah! Okay, the film got ONE laugh so far.

Littlefoot says he's gonna teach them some Wisdoms because you never know what's gonna happen. Then the ledge crack grows and falls, all of them sliding down the Great Wall with it!

Doofah starts having fun, and they surf the rock down the wall and up some curved slopes like a snowboard. Petrie just flies over them. They stop on the lip of a cliff, but then when Petrie lands, it tips forward and slides down again to another cliff. Loofah says that wasn't so bad, then steps forward and falls. Unfortunately for me, he falls on the cliff side of the rock, not the 500-foot sheer drop side.

He falls on his face, and when he pulls his beak out of the ground, he remembers where they're supposed to meet the herd! At a huge pile of rocks that look just like a Yellow-Belly! He looks out, but can't find it, turning around to reveal a pile of rocks behind him, perfectly matching his silhouette.

Foobie points at it, and then when Loofah doesn't understand, he physically turns Loofah's head to make him see it.

Loofah: "Wooow... we look like that?!"

All three get all self-conscious about their appearance, Loofah lifting up his giant gut and then dropping it with a sloshing sound.

Remember how I said the Spiketails in 8 were an example of moderately positive fat representation? In that they ate a lot but were very matter-of-fact and practical about that, and were approving of Spike for eating a lot, too? And the movie didn't really make fun of them for it?

Yeah, the Yellow-Bellies are non-stop fat jokes.

Littlefoot praises Foobie and then says he's gonna teach them the Wisdoms, they just need to listen and repeat what he says. The Yellow-Bellies, to their credit, seem mildly uncomfortable with being talked down to by this kid, but they go along with it and listen up. He says to "keep your eyes and ears open", and they keep listening expectantly. He tries explaining that was it, but they just get confused.

Petrie tells Littlefoot to give up, and Cera says they need to go back home, since it's gonna be a long hike uphill before dark. Littlefoot feels iffy about leaving them, but Petrie and Ducky point out they can see the meeting place, and then once they meet up, the Wise One will take care of them (wait, are they seriously gonna drag out the reveal that the Wise One is Foobie? It's so obvious). Littlefoot relents and tells them to stay in a group before leaving with The Gang. Doofah thinks that sounds fun. The Yellow-Bellies squeeze together and walk away with arms slung over their shoulders.

Okay, NOW we get movie time without them, right? NOPE!

Littlefoot hopes they remember the "stay in a group" Wisdom, then they look back and they're already split up and walking in different directions. Cera, exasperated, agrees to help them until they find their herd (no, please Cera, stay strong, I can't take much more). They turn around (noooooooo....).

Doofah freaks out when she sees Cera and she runs and trips onto Petrie, squishing him. Littlefoot scolds Loofah for not staying in a group, then tells Loofah his plan to reunite them then return before dark. Uncomfortable, Loofah asks which group will lead, and Littlefoot very slowly (clearly enunciating every syllable) says The Gang will. The kids DEFINITELY think the Yellow-Bellies are MORONS. Littlefoot promises Petrie that after this, they'll get home before dark.

Okay, so the message of the movie is the opposite of what I said before. The Yellow-Bellies have their own culture and "Wisdom" and Littlefoot's being a preachy brat by imposing his own cultural ideas on them and assuming they're stupid. Except they are stupid, I hate them, and I don't want to respect their culture.

As they're walking along, Doofah sings horribly off-key while skipping and plucking flower petals and throwing them in the wind, annoying Cera. Ducky laughs at her and when she turns around, Petrie rats Ducky out. At the back, Foobie shares some leftover berries with Spike. At the front, Loofah has a question for Littlefoot.

Loofah: "So these, what do you call 'em, Wisdoms you were talking about? Explain 'em to me again, would you please?"

Littlefoot: "They're just... thoughts to help you get through life and stay safe."

Loofah: "OH, you mean like 'go with the flow of the Big Water' or... 'up with your tush and you look like a bush'."

Littlefoot: "Huh? I don't even understand that one."

Loofah: "Just relax! There's nothing out here to be so worried about! We're completely ALOOOOOOONE!!!!"

Okay, so the bush thing is gonna come back later, obviously. That's why they've been trying to stick their heads in the ground. I'm picking up on what this movie is putting down. I just hate it.

Also, yeah, Loofah screams "alone" super loud and then we cut (in a really janky and low frame-rate pan, actually the animation this whole movie has been really off-model and weak) to a pack of Sharpteeth, listening in.

Wikipedia says these are Baryonyx, and that's... not too far off from what they're supposed to look like. Good job Loofah, you've doomed us all.

Later, Cera's whining that she just wants to go home and they can handle the walk over by themselves (yes, please). In response, Loofah sits down and announces that he's thirsty like a toddler. The other two follow suit. Littlefoot says they passed a watering hole before, why didn't they drink then? Loofah retorts he wasn't thirsty then, but he is now, and the other two agree with that logic. Cera says the Wisdom "plan ahead" covers this, and Littlefoot suggests they search for another watering hole, how about in that dangerous-looking canyon?

As you can see, the Yellow-Bellies are staying put because they're "too thirsty to move".

Later, Doofah (oh, c'mon, now we're focusing on them even WITHOUT The Gang?!?!) sees a mirage in the distance, and Loofah sees it too, and he wakes up Foobie. Foobie realizes the thing they're looking at (the pack of Baryonyx charging toward them with REALLY terrible animation, like my god it's bad) is real and he desperately tries to make these two morons who are too dumb to live get up and run away. He just barely succeeds when the Baryonyx reach them and the brown one bites one of his tail feathers. It's only after they've started running that Doofah and Loofah finally realizes they're real.

What follows is an unbelievably poorly-animated and excessively long chase sequence into the canyon. The Gang hear the screaming and run back to see, and somehow they're on a ledge high over the Yellow-Bellies, who get cornered against a stone wall (EAT THEM, BARYONYX!)! They try to bury their heads again, but the ground is still too hard!

And then... the stupidest thing ever happens! The Yellow-Bellies start bouncing up and down on their butts, shaking the ground and making rocks fall. The Gang help out from above by pushing more rocks down, and eventually a huge rockslide buries the group of Baryonyx.

THEY'RE THERIZINOSAURS!! THEIR DEFENSE MECHANISM SHOULDN'T NEED TO BE BOUNCING ON THEIR FAT ASSES TO SHAKE THE FUCKING EARTH, THEY SHOULD HAVE MASSIVE CLAWS TO DEFEND THEMSELVES WITH!!!

I hate this, so much. For so many reasons. The Baryonyx should have been disemboweled.

The Yellow-Bellies run over the buried Baryonyx and run up to the ledge the kids are on, then run right past them out of the canyon. When Littlefoot sees the brown Baryonyx still moving, he pulls a fucking Mortal Kombat fatality and pushes another rock, completely burying it in a rockslide. Merciless. Everyone stops running, gasping for breath.

Doofah: "So, did you find any water?"

Cera: "Grrr... THAT'S IT!!!" *she charges at them* (YES!)

Littlefoot: "Cera, wait!" *he jumps in front of her* (NO!) "WE'VE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!!!"

Doofah (cheerful): "Okie-dokie!" *they walk away*

Cera (stunned): "...here we go again."

I don't know if that line was supposed to be delivered that way, but Littlefoot's yell definitely gave me the vibe of "stand down, soldier, that's an order". It felt very forceful and directed. The mood whiplash in these scene is painful.

Later, Littlefoot is wondering if they'll be fine on their own, and Cera insists they will, based on how fast they can run. Littlefoot makes an aside that they need to know when to run (how do you know that's a problem they had? You weren't there for that scene!)

Finally, they make it to the big stupid pile of rocks that looks like a Yellow-Belly. Again, Loofah takes offense at the rock, this time at its huge rear end. Ducky walks forward and finds a pond, surrounded by a bunch of stupid-looking bushes. Doofah starts talking to them, and The Gang briefly thinks she's crazy until some of them pop up, and then Littlefoot realizes the meaning of the tush bush thing he said earlier, which is why they keep bonking their heads into the ground (obviously).

I'm sorry, I'm not even halfway through the film and I'm already burnt out. So is Petrie.

Petrie (abruptly): "Well, we found herd, time to go home before dark, that deal!"

Littlefoot: "Yeah but... maybe not now."

Ducky: "We came to show the Yellow-Bellies how to obey the Wisdoms, and now we are breaking one?! That does not make a lot of sense, no no no!"

Littlefoot: "I'm sorry, I just think it's safer to stay here with the big group and wait for the Bright Circle to rise again."

Petrie: "Ooh, our folks is gonna worry, for sure!"

Big Sis Ducky hates being responsible for anyone besides Spike, but she'll do it if she has to.

With this, we cut back to the Great Valley (YES, CHARACTERS I ACTUALLY LIKE!) at dusk. Grandma is walking through and looking around. She sees Tria and asks her if she's seen the kids.

Tria: "No, and I always tell Cera to be home before dark...!"

Grandma: "They know the Wisdoms, I wouldn't worry. But, perhaps we should speak to the others."

And that's the end of that scene. Gone too soon. We cut back to the Yellow-Belly herd having a pool party. They're all chatting and laughing with a super-annoying "hyuck-hyuck" laugh. Cera is moping.

This (nooooo) leads into (no no no) song 2 of the movie (nonononononono) Yellow Belly Bounce (FUUUUUUUUUUUU-)

4 MINUTES, OH LORD! (-UUUUUUUUUUUCK!)

I hate this. I hate this so much. This is like if Hakuna Matata was terrible. I hate the canon-breaking assertion that The Gang don't know how to dance and have fun (like this isn't the 39th song in the franchise). I hate the janky animation. I hate how the song is half annoying dialogue and half annoying singing, it barely counts as a song. I hate how it JUST. KEEPS. GOING. I hate that it's almost TWICE as long as most other songs in the franchise!

I REALLY hate the browbeating. How the kids are basically forced to conform and party the way the Yellow-Bellies want them to. Especially the blatant lack of respect for Cera's personal space throughout. Seriously, why the hell did they write the scene with the guy who sounds like Yakko like he's harassing her at a bar?! I hate how they wanted this to be the catchy centerpiece of the film that kids would sing and emulate, despite what a bad message it is to browbeat people into partying if they don't want to! I hate that this movie, which has the GALL to preach good morals and life lessons, has SUCH A BAD MESSAGE central to the main song which is central to the film!!

Remember kids: "stay in a group", "keep eyes and ears open", "be home before dark", "plan ahead", and "bully people who don't conform"!

I hate how annoying ALL the Yellow-Bellies are. All of them, they're all loud, obnoxious, stupid, their designs horribly clash with the setting, they're bouncing fat jokes, they're prehistorically inaccurate, and they're OBVIOUSLY MADE JUST TO BE SQUEAKY-TOYS FOR MERCHANDISE! Foobie's the only one who's less annoying because he doesn't talk, but he still sucks (and I caught that "Foobie" cheer, the movie still thinks it's going to be a twist when he's revealed as the Wise One).

I hate everything about this. There's nothing I like. This song gets a 1/10.

The raucous sound of the party wakes up the Baryonyx leader (impressive, considering the party is quite a ways away from that canyon...) who pushes out of the rock pile. So the party isn't just stupid and horrible, it's actively detrimental. It would have been better if the party hadn't happened. Also, both times the Baryonyx have been alerted to our position by the Yellow-Bellies being loud idiots.

Later, everyone's asleep and all the Yellow-Bellies are snoring with REALLY ANNOYING squeaking sounds. I'm sorry I keep bringing it up, but I need to emphasize to you how the Yellow-Bellies are CONSTANTLY making really annoying noises in the background. Littlefoot wakes up Cera to tell her that he's going to help lead them to Berry Valley. Cera complains, but Littlefoot points out they didn't see any "Wise One" in the whole group (they're really dragging out the reveal that it's Foobie).

Littlefoot: "We already had to save them from Sharpteeth once. I just don't think they stand a chance. I'm going with 'em!"

Cera: "You- Hey, y'know Littlefoot, the Yellow-Bellies got along just fine before they met us."

Littlefoot: "Maybe they were just lucky. And luck can run out, but Wisdoms can keep you safe."

Cera: *sigh* "There's one more Wisdom you should know. DON'T EVER WAKE ME UP AGAIN!!"

Cera spends this whole movie being right, but everyone's a jerk to her because she's being a grouch about it.

In the Great Valley, Grandma's standing alone when she declares, apropos of nothing, that she's worried now. A weird amount of Grandma focus here. I wonder if they're making up for last movie, where she had no dialogue at all.

The next morning, the herd of Yellow-Bellies is on the move and they're ALL MAKING LOUD AND ANNOYING SQUEAKING SOUNDS! Littlefoot stands in front of them, alone and intimidated.

He looks back and no-one's behind him. He looks forward and is disheartened by the number of them and how none of them are paying attention to him. He's taken on too big of a task, leading a huge group like this by himself.

Cera: "You really think we can lead this herd of goofballs to Berry Valley?" *she and the rest of The Gang walk up*

Littlefoot: "You mean... you're with me?"

Cera: "Aw, you'd be lost without us!"

Petrie: "Yeah! Besides, me no wanna be the one who 'splains to grown-ups why you no come back with us!"

Ducky: "It would not be pretty, no no no!"

Littlefoot turns to address the Yellow-Bellies, but they're too loud and annoying to yell over. Cera screams and that gets their attention! They all (except Foobie) bury their heads in the sand. Cera tells Littlefoot to give them a Wisdom. But he doesn't know if they'll hear him with their heads in the sand. Foobie buries his head and makes a squeal underground that they hear, making all of them pop their heads up. Cera tells Littlefoot to give them a Wisdom (they re-use THE EXACT SAME RECORDING of her line! We're reaching levels of laziness unseen before!)

Kuttkefiit (huh, so that's what happens if I mistype "Littlefoot" with my right hand a little to the left) tells them to stay in a group and follow him. And then, Littlefoot leading, they just kind of wander off, with no clear direction for where Berry Valley is. The Sharpteeth pack follow behind. While walking, some of them deviate from the trail, but Petrie and Ducky herd them back in line like cowboys.

Then we cut to Grandma, Grandpa, Topsy, Ducky's mom, and Petrie's mom following their tracks (I guess this is happening now!) over the Great Wall and into the Mysterious Beyond.

The Yellow-Belly herd keeps trudging on under the hot sun, getting tired.

Cera: "Do you have any idea where you're going?"

Littlefoot: "Sssssort of. See, I've never heard of "Berry Valley" before, so it's gonna be someplace I've never been, right?"

Cera: "Yyyyyeeeeeeaaaah..."

Littlefoot: "Sssso, I'm going in directions I've never gone before! I'm bound to hit it sooner or later! Makes sense?"

Cera: "Mmmmaybe to some folks."

Loofah: "Makes sense to me!"

Littlefoot (aside): "Mmmm. Is that good or bad?"

Cera: "Do you have to ask?"

I guess the idea is they've been to the Mysterious Beyond so many times that he has an incomplete map of it in his head? Also, why are they dragging out the first syllable?

Loofah asks if there's any water, and Littlefoot says they'll find some eventually. Loofah runs forward and falls off a cliff (YES)! He's okay, he fell in a pool (NO)! Littlefoot calls back to tell the rest and he's bowled over by the stampede of Yellow-Bellies. They all relax in the water and Loofah credits Littlefoot to the discovery of this watering hole.

Later, they're walking through a field of grass and dandelions.

Littlefoot (to Loofah): "So how did I do it?"

Loofah: "Do what?"

Littlefoot: "Find the water."

Loofah: "Same way you'll find Berry Valley! Same way we do just about eveythang. We just... feel it."

Littlefoot: "But it doesn't make sense. If you just feel it, then you never think about it, so how can you be sure you're following the Wisdoms?"

Loofah: "Ugh, now you're thinking like a Longneck again!"

Littlefoot: "Okay, forget I said that..."

This fuckin' anti-intellectualist bullshit... ugh. Not a fan. And I mentioned this at the top, but it bears repeating: Littlefoot's voice actor sucks. I can tell when it changes, which is constantly, and he sounds WAY too young and immature.

Foobie smells something and points forward while making excited noises, and the rest get excited and charge forward in another stampede! Ducky has to dodge and weave to avoid getting stepped on! Littlefoot asks Loofah what's going on, and he says they found Berry Valley!

Finally, this dumb-ass journey is over!

No, it isn't. It's just a few berry bushes.

Also, there's a compositing error in this shot where a Yellow-Belly runs underneath Littlefoot.

The Yellow-Bellies crowd around the bushes and eat. The kids are hungry and want to eat too, but they can't push through the solid wall of squeaky-toy butts. Cera yells at them to move, but they just ignore her. They eventually dissipate, having completely skeletonized the bushes, with no berries or leaves left for the kids.

Seems very rude and selfish of them.

The Yellow-Bellies take a midday group nap, and Littlefoot's bothered by something. Cera asks what's wrong.

Littlefoot: "I thought I could teach 'em our Wisdoms. But instead, I'm starting to think like a Yellow-Belly. Ugh, I'm all mixed up! Maybe they don't really need us at all."

Yup, this whole adventure was a total waste of time, you should have stayed home and my life would've been a lot less annoying. This leads into song 3 of the movie: How Do You Know?

This song isn't good, either. It's not as offensively bad as the other two, but still not good. The central question of the song isn't really relevant to the question at hand, which was more about Littlefoot questioning his own leadership and wisdom, not about Littlefoot questioning who he should listen to. And the final outcome just being "trust your gut and your brain and your instincts" is a pretty weak takeaway.

Especially since Petrie's mom spent most of last movie telling him to fly with the rest and not trust his instincts, it's rich to have him say this is a lesson she always tells him. The idea of other people's perspectives being unique is a decent one, though we've heard it many times before. And the music is weirdly loud, the sound mixing is off.

After the song, a huge thunderstorm starts rolling in out of nowhere! The Yellow-Bellies all wake up and start panicking, running back and forth. Loofah asks Littlefoot what to do, and he says to get to high ground (that would be good advice if it was raining, but it's not, there's just lightning). Littlefoot also tasks Foobie with rounding them up (has he finally realized that Foobie is the Wise One?).

Littlefoot leads the group up a mountain pass, single-file. The kids in front and then the Yellow-Bellies in a row behind them. Littlefoot sees some lightning and second-guesses himself, since rain might wash them down the mountain. He's freaking about about Wisdoms and Cera tells him to do what the Yellow-Bellies do and "feel it" (really? the takeaway is really that the Yellow-Belly's instinct-only lifestyle is CORRECT?!). Then it starts raining.

Littlefoot decides to keep going, they're near the top and might be able to rest there.

For some reason, Ducky, the Swimmer, is really bothered by the rain. She covers her head and squints her eyes, and walks straight forward instead of turning, almost falling off the edge! Petrie flies over to grab her and pull her back up, then he reminds her to "keep eyes and ears open". What a bizarre character choice for the scene, why would Ducky be bothered by water?

She doesn't even listen, she just climbs on top of Spike then goes back to shutting her eyes. Like, girl. You swim underwater all the time! Real-life hadrosaurs didn't, but they do all the time in this franchise!

Eventually, they reach a fork in the path. Littlefoot doesn't think about it, he just trusts his instincts and goes left. Doofah gets distracted licking up rain, and wanders right. At the top of the left path, there's a huge rocky overhang they can take shelter in.

I swear, if the climax of this movie is rescuing Doofah from her own stupidity, I'm gonna be so mad.

They reach the overhang and crowd under it, Ducky and Petrie get squished by the huge pile of Yellow-Bellies and then there's a fart joke. Hilarious. The Yellow-Bellies laugh uproariously at it, but I agree with Petrie that it's not funny.

But it's not just any fart joke! I shit you not, they play the "fart with reverb" meme sound effect, sans reverb. This exact one:

This movie came out in 2007! This sound effect only became a meme in the last few years, how the hell is it in here?! Was this a pre-existing stock fart sound effect for years before the internet discovered it? Or, even worse, is this movie the ORIGIN of this specific sound effect?

See, this is what this movie is doing to me, I'd rather be researching the origins of a fucking fart sound effect than watching this piece of garbage.

Whatever, back to the film.

Nevermind, the animators fuck up and accidentally include Doofah in the crowd shot, even though she's not supposed to be here.

She's like, right there. Right next to Loofah, right in the middle in the front.

After pouring down for a bit (really not THAT long), the rain stops and the clouds clear and a sunbeam shines down. When Littlefoot announces it, they almost get run over by the stampede of Yellow-Bellies, again. Ducky and Petrie are embedded in the wall, with their beaks stuck. They pull themselves out.

It's at this point that Cera realizes Doofah is missing (what do you mean? she was just here in the group!) and asks where she is. None of them know, but then they hear her humming in the distance, and head down the mountain trail to find her.

Wait, what? The whole trek up here, flat rocky area, and overhang was POINTLESS?!?! I thought for sure this would be where Berry Valley is!

They head back down the trail and take the right side in the fork, then they reach Doofah, who is... wandering in circles, humming to herself so loud that it causes the mudslide, breaking the path and cutting her off from the rest over a gap. Littlefoot scolds her for not staying in a group, which she thinks sounds fun, and then he tells her to jump. She hops in place on one leg, not even realizing the potential danger (just let her die, she deserves to win a Darwin Award). Right before the mudslide spreads and hits her, he tells her to jump and she does a ballerina leap across, but doesn't make it and Foobie has to catch her!

No, none of you help, Foobie and the children have clearly got this. With much effort, they pull Doofah up. And then the Yellow-Bellies cheer and unfittingly epic triumphant music plays like this wasn't a complete waste of time.

Cera: "Way to 'feel it'!"

I'm so mad.

As they walk back, Doofah finally gets what "stay in a group" means, using the Sharpteeth in front of them as an example. Oh hey, the Sharpteeth caught up! The Gang run for their lives backward, and apparently they walked WAY further back than I thought, since they go left at the fork.

At the plateau, both groups split up and run around, it's chaos! Cera notices Doofah being chased down and she runs up to headbutt the Sharptooth from behind in the leg, which makes it trip over Doofah!

Cera cites the Wisdom of "bump 'em with your horn".

Ducky and Petrie run from another Sharptooth and cite the Wisdom of keeping eyes and ears open. Ducky jumps over a rock which the Sharptooth trips over!

The scarred Sharptooth corners Littlefoot against a ledge, but he escapes by... just running between its legs. He doesn't even do anything tricky. They both just stand there for like three seconds, then Littlefoot runs forward between its legs and it does nothing to stop him. The Sharpteeth and Yellow-Bellies both regroup and as the Sharpteeth approach, Loofah asks Littlefoot what the Wisdoms say!

Littlefoot notes that the ground is too hard to bury your head in, then he asks Foobie what they should do. Foobie yells at the Sharpteeth, making them back up. Littlefoot agrees and tells everyone to "sing", and they all scream at the Sharpteeth, hurting their ears and making them back up. Then Littlefoot tells them to "dance" and they all bounce up and down on the ground, making more noise and intimidating the Sharpteeth even more, pushing them up against the cliff. The Yellow-Bellies bounce forward menacingly, still screaming, until the wet ground breaks and the cliff falls with the 4 Sharpteeth on it!

This is easily the stupidest Sharptooth defeat so far in the franchise, and I'm including 8, 11, 12, and their earlier defeat in that. And again, BEIPAIOSAURUS HAD MASSIVE CLAWS! THEY SHOULDN'T BE WINNING FIGHTS BY SCREAMING AND BOUNCING!

Littlefoot (looking down): "What d'you know, they're still in a group!"

What a terrible one-liner. The Yellow-Bellies laugh at it, but they're easy to amuse. Loofah asks Littlefoot where to go next, but before Littlefoot can respond, Foobie smells something and freaks out, pointing frantically. They run over and look down off a ledge to see...

Berry Valley! (FINALLY! Also, I called it!)

Littlefoot: "Great job, Foobie! You found it!"

Foobie: "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!"

Doofah (flatly): "That's why they call him the Wise One."

Duh. The movie had WAY more than enough foreshadowing for this "twist", I caught on almost instantly. The Gang, however, are stunned.

Littlefoot (aside): "He's the 'Wise One'?!"

Cera: "Guess so!"

Loofah credits Littlefoot for helping find the Valley, since he brought them here. Ducky just wants to go home.

The Gang and Yellow-Bellies wave good-bye to each other (Doofah says they're beautiful), and Ducky apparently missed the entire message of the movie.

Ducky: "Do you think they will make it okay? They still do not have any Wisdoms."

Littlefoot: "Actually, Ducky, they always did! And now, they've got ours, too. You know, I think it takes a little bit of both."

Cera: "I can't believe it, a Longneck just learned something!"

Littlefoot: "Yyyyeah, I just wish I knew how to get back to the Great Valley."

Cera: "We'll find it, we always do."

These two lines from Cera are among the few lines in this movie that bring me any amount of joy, since they're decent continuity nods.

The Gang walk back through a forest, not a way they came from, but taking a shortcut. Suddenly, they hear some thudding noises, see some huge menacing shadows flash between the trees, and...!

It's just their guardians (wait, how? they JUST said this is a different path, and the guardians were following their tracks).

Also, I guess Tria joined them at some point? And Petrie's mom is off-screen? Either that, or the animators fucked up and swapped Petrie's mom with Tria. Which. Would be a CRAZY mix-up to make.

The kids are happy to see them, and though "how they got here" is a long story, the kids are proud of how they followed the Wisdoms, even listing them off.

Grandma: "But you forgot the most important Wisdom: stay in the Great Valley."

Ducky: *shrug* "...we have trouble with that one, yup yup yup."

They walk home as the narrator chimes in that the young dinosaurs learned from this journey that Wisdom comes in different forms.

To no-one's surprise, the end credits song is an instrumental version of Yellow Belly Bounce.

Yeah, this fucking sucks. They were right, this is easily the worst Land Before Time movie. The Gang were out-of-character, the songs ranged from below-average to atrocious, and the FUCKING Yellow-Bellies hogged SO MUCH of the film's screentime.

Like, Guido was a major character in 12, and I hated him, but he wasn't literally the entire focal point of the movie. Petrie carried the main plot while Cera had her own subplot, and while Guido was heavily involved in Petrie's plot, Petrie was the main character of it. But this movie was so goddamn simple. There were NO subplots, no depth. Unless you count the guardians searching for them, but they didn't even matter to the story. This movie has one central plot involving the Yellow-Bellies, and that's the entire plot and nothing else matters. At least 11 had the step-mom subplot, 13 has NOTHING.

If you hate the Yellow-Bellies, and it's REALLY HARD not to when they're meant to be annoying, than there's nothing really to like in this movie. The writers expected the Yellow-Bellies to carry the film, and they really misjudged how ear-bleedingly infuriating they and their FUCKING SQUEAKING was gonna be. What an absolute stain on the resumes of the guest-star voice actors playing them. Also, Guido at least had some okay moments mixed in with all the terrible. The Yellow-Bellies didn't. There was not ONE POINT in the WHOLE MOVIE where I liked ANY of them.

Foobie has the dubious honor of being the Yellow-Belly I hated the least by virtue of being a lot quieter and not being a fucking idiot, but I still disliked him. Loofah sometimes feels like he's patronizing Littlefoot, just being nice because he's a kid, but sometimes he's obviously and genuinely looking to Littlefoot for leadership and the whole thing is very jarring and confusing. To contrast Foobie as "the wise one" and Loofah as "the chill one", Doofah had to be "the quirky one", which meant she had the misfortune of being a female character who was EVEN STUPIDER and MORE ANNOYING than the others!

Also, the whole "Grandma dying" thing went absolutely nowhere. It only existed to facilitate Littlefoot's personality shift into being a rule-following know-it-all, and then was never addressed again. Despite there being a nighttime scene in the middle where it could have come up again in another nightmare, it didn't. We didn't even get a moment calling back to the fallen tree over the ravine, unless you count Doofah with the mudslide, but that was pretty different. And Grandpa got no dialogue in this movie, I guess to mirror Grandma not getting any dialogue last movie.

I guess, if I have to give the film some credit for something, it properly foreshadowed the "Wise One Foobie" twist and also the whole "bouncing and screaming" thing being the Yellow-Belly's unique way of fighting. Except the former was way over-foreshadowed to the point it was painfully obvious, and the latter was among the stupidest things I'd ever seen in my life. They didn't even bring back the head-burying thing and that they can communicate underground.

I guess 13 did bring the racism theme back after 12 ignored it entirely, but "The Gang is disrespectful to another people's culture out of ignorance" is a plot point copied from 9, which copied it from 5. And, if anything, the Yellow-Bellies are JUST as disrespectful to outsiders, especially in their big song. And it's hard to respect them when they really are too stupid to live at multiple points. Literally ALL of the drama in this movie comes from the Yellow-Bellies being so stupid that it causes problems. Even the Sharpteeth wouldn't have found them if Loofah hadn't yelled and alerted them.

The message of "The Wisdoms" makes the movie feel SO preachy, it feels like an after-school special. Like a movie-length version of Sonic Sez or those cartoon crossover anti-drug PSAs. And then the film has the AUDACITY to include a PRO-BULLYING message RIGHT in the dead center of the film, during the big bonus-length centerpiece song! Genuinely, how DARE it!!

Pros: I related to Cera, Petrie, and Ducky throughout the first half, in that I also did not want to be here.

Cons: Atrocious side characters. Shallow plot. Terrible songs, including The Worst Song. Overly preachy about good morals, while also having a bad message. Abysmal writing. Worst Sharptooth "fights" yet. Terrible prehistorical inaccuracies. The anti-intellectualism makes me blood boil. Littlefoot's three voices were all bad. Terrible animation and some glaring animation errors. Fat jokes.

Score: 1/10. There is nothing good about this film. Nothing I enjoyed enough to be worth a full point. This was miserable, and I hated every minute.

The Land Before Time: 8/10 (hypothetical uncut version: 9/10)

The Great Valley Adventure: 8/10

The Time of the Great Giving: 7/10

Journey Through The Mists: 7/10

The Mysterious Island: 9/10

The Secret of Saurus Rock: 2/10

The Stone of Cold Fire: 10/10

The Big Freeze: 6/10

Journey To Big Water: 4/10

The Great Longneck Migration: 9/10

Invasion of the Tinysauruses: 2/10

The Great Day of the Flyers: 3/10

The Wisdom of Friends: 1/10