The famine that resulted from these fictional conditions is what drives Littlefoot and his friends toward the Great Valley.īut Thomas Cullen, a paleontologist and postdoctoral research scientist at the Field Museum of Natural History, told Insider by email that there doesn't appear to be any record of an environmental disaster like this taking place during the movie's probable time frame. Complete with dramatic, literally ground parting, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and softly falling ash, the landscape of what is likely North America has a striking similarity to that of an environmental apocalypse. "There is no particular record of a great famine or other environmental catastrophes in the Late Cretaceous that would cause a large migration like that seen in 'The Land Before Time,'" Cullen wrote.ĭe Agostuni Picture Library / Getty ImagesĪpart from the banter and hijinks of Littlefoot's rag-tag group of friends, another ever-present characteristic of "The Land Before Time" is the land itself. It was a tough life being a Littlefoot in reality." "They just buried their nests, abandoned them and the babies would hatch on their own and be pretty able to fend for themselves right away. "We know now that Sauropods were not good parents," Hutchinson said. While this relationship was important for the emotional development of the film, Hutchinson says that in reality, Apatosauruses were probably very bad parents. Littlefoot mourns his mother but holds her memory close as a guide for the rest of the film. When Littlefoot's mother dies after protecting him from a "Sharp Tooth" or Tyrannosaurus rex, it's heartbreaking given their earlier bond.
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The loving relationship between Littlefoot and his mother is obvious during the very first scenes of the movie when his mother gently explains the Great Valley to Littlefoot and the young dinosaur burrows into her to sleep on their long journey. Littlefoot's relationship with his mother is another driving aspect of the film that experts say was likely unrealistic. The Land Before Time / Universal Pictures "We know now that Sauropods (including Apatosauruses) were not good parents," Hutchinson said. To put that into context, modern humans have only existed for roughly 300,000 years, so grasping the vastness of such deep geologic time can be mind-boggling, but Hutchinson told Insider to get a better idea of the scale you can imagine it like this: "There's more time between them then there is between T-Rex and us." These Late Cretaceous dinosaurs would have included Cera, Ducky, T-Rex, and Petrie - even though Petrie is technically not a dinosaur. Littlefoot and Spike would have lived during the Late Jurassic period, which spanned from around 165 to 145 million years ago, while many of the others would have actually lived during the Late Cretaceous period, which spanned from around 100 to 66 million years ago. While the diversity of their group gave them an advantage when it came to reaching taller heights or muscling through obstacles, John Hutchinson, a professor of Evolutionary Biomechanics at the University of London's Royal Veterinary College, told Insider that it wouldn't have been possible for these different species to have all lived at during the same time period. "The Land Before Time" features a cast of widely recognizable dinosaurs, including a Triceratops ("Three-Horn") named Cera, an Apatosaurus ("Longneck") named Littlefoot, a Stegosaurus ("Spiketail") named Spike, a Saurolophus ("Big Mouth") named Ducky, and a Pteranodon ("Flyer") named Petrie.
Littlefoot and Spike would have lived during the Late Jurassic period, while many of the others would have actually lived millions of years later during the Late Cretaceous period.
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