The Land Before Time

Ducky:
Petrie, do not feel sad. It is alright. Many things cannot fly. Rocks, trees, sticks, Spike...

Littlefoot's mother:
Let your heart guide you. It whispers so listen closely.

Daddy Topps:
Come Cera, three horns never play with long necks.

Ducky:
Don't step on a crack, or you'll fall and break your back.

Cera:
My father told me that Flatheads have very small brains.

[Ducky's stomach growls]

Ducky:
My stomach is talking.

Littlefoot:
A tree star.

Littlefoot's mother:
It is very special. It will help you grow strong. Wherever you're going, there are so many of these leaves.

[Littlefoot plays with the tree star]

Littlefoot's mother:
Come on.

Grandfather:
Ha, ha ha.

Littlefoot's mother:
The Great Valley is filled with green food like this. More than you can ever eat, and more fresh cool water than you can ever drink. It is a wonderful beautiful place where we can live happily with many more of our own kind.

Littlefoot:
Gee. When will we get there?

Littlefoot's mother:
The bright circle must pass over us many times, and we must follow it each day to where it touches the ground.

Narrator:
All that remained of his herd was his mother, grandmother and his grandfather. He knew them by sight, by scent, and by their love. He knew they would be together, always.

Littlefoot's mother:
Dear, sweet, Littlefoot, do you remember the way to the Great Valley?

Littlefoot:
I guess so. But why do I have to know if you're going to be with me?

Littlefoot's mother:
I'll be with you. Even if you can't see me.

Littlefoot:
What do you mean I can't see you? I can always see you.

Narrator:
At first, Littlefoot could only think about his mother. He hardly noticed his hunger and had forgotten about the Great Valley and that he must somehow reach it.

Narrator:
Then Littlefoot knew for certain he was alone, and although the Great Valley was far away, the journey there was perillous. He would have to find his way, or the chain of life would be broken.

Littlefoot:
Cera, hello.

Cera:
What do you want?

Littlefoot:
Nothing. Where are you going?

Cera:
I'm going to find my own kind. They're on the other side.

Littlefoot:
I've looked all over here. You can't climb up the other side.

Cera:
Maybe *you* can't!

Littlefoot:
You want to go with me?

Ducky:
YEAH! Oh... Oh, yes, yes, yes! I do! I do!

Littlefoot:
Alright, come on. But you'll have to keep up.

Ducky:
I will keep up. I will.

Ducky:
Where are we going?

Littlefoot:
To the Great Valley. I'm not gonna stop until I find my grandparents.

Littlefoot:
[to Petrie on his head] Are you just gonna stay up there?

Petrie:
Yes!

Littlefoot:
Well, you can't. You're tearing my tree star!

Ducky:
It is very special. Very. His mother gave it to him. She did.

Petrie:
Ooh. Mother present. Very important. Ooh, yes. I can save it. I'll let nobody touch it!

Ducky:
Yeah, Petrie. You keep it safe. Yep, yep, yep.

Littlefoot:
Nope, nope, nope. I'm not a carrier. Get off! You're a flyer, now start flying.

Ducky:
Open your wings, Petrie! Open! Open!

Petrie:
No! No! I can not do this!

Littlefoot:
You can fly! Now open your skinny wings!

Ducky:
You are a spike-tail... so we will call you Spike!

Narrator:
So the five hungry dinosaurs set off for the Great Valley. There had never been such a herd before. A long neck, a three-horn, a big mouth, a flyer, and a spike-tail all together, all knowing that if they lost their way, they would starve or find themselves in Sharptooth's shadow.

Narrator:
Littlefoot had been wrong about the Sharptooth, but the others followed him. They're only hope was to reach the Great Valley, and Littlefoot alone knew the way.

Narrator:
Though, they were sourced out and tired, Littlefoot urged them on. He'd never seen the Great Valley, but his heart told him that they were close. Surely, at the top, they'd behold it, finally.

Ducky:
Spike, do not stop! We must stay together!

Petrie:
[as Littlefoot, Ducky and Spike save him from the tar pit] Flathead! Ducky! Spike! Oh, Petrie is so happy!

Ducky:
It's Sharptooth.

Littlefoot:
Let's get rid of him once and for all.

Ducky:
What will we do?

Littlefoot:
Look. We'll coax him to the deep end of the pond. He can't swim with those scrawny arms. Me and Spike will go up and push that big rock on top of his head, and then he'll fall off into the water. Petrie, you whistle when he's just at the right spot, where the water gets dark. Now we need some bait...

[everyone looks at Ducky suspiciously]

Ducky:
Meeee? Oh no. No, no, no. No, no, no, no.

Narrator:
The Great Valley was all they'd dreamed it would be: a land of green, and leaves, and life.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Once upon this same earth, beneath this same sun, long before you, before the ape and the elephant, as well; before the wolf, the bison, the whale, before the mammoth and the mastodon, in the time of the dinosaurs. Now the dinosaurs were of two kinds. Some had flat teeth, and ate the leaves of trees, and some had sharp teeth for eating meat, and they preyed upon the leaf-eaters. Then it happened that the trees began to die. The mighty beasts who appeared to rule the earth, were, in truth, ruled by the leaf. Desperate for food, some of the dinosaur herds struck out to the west, in search of the Great Valley, a land still lush and green. It was a journey toward life.

Narrator:
In this time of the clash of continents, a great earthquake split the land. Herds were scattered. Families were cut in two. Littlefoot was separated from his grandparents.

Daddy Topps:
Cera!

Cera:
Mama! Daddy!

Narrator:
Cera was on one side of the divide. Her parents were on the other.

Ducky:
Up, Petrie! Higher! Higher like a flyer!

Narrator:
And Littlefoot found his grandmother and grandfather at last. The same loving faces he looked into on the day of his birth.

[last lines]

Narrator:
And they all grew up together in the valley, generation upon generation, each passing on to the next. The tale of their ancestors' journey to the valley long ago.

Littlefoot:
Have you ever seen the Great Valley?

Littlefoot's Mother:
No.

Littlefoot:
Well, how do you know it's really there?

Littlefoot's Mother:
Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart.

Littlefoot:
I don't understand, Mother.

Littlefoot's Mother:
You will, my son. You will.

Littlefoot:
Mother, what's a long neck?

Littlefoot's Mother:
Well, that's what we are, dear.

Littlefoot:
Oh. Well, why can't I play with that three-horn? We were having fun.

Littlefoot's Mother:
Well, we all keep to our own kinds. The three-horns, the spike-tails, the swimmers, the flyers... we never do anything together.

Littlefoot:
Why?

Littlefoot's Mother:
Well - because we're different. It's always been that way.

Littlefoot:
Well, why?

Littlefoot's Mother:
[chuckles] Oh, don't worry so much. When we reach the Great Valley, there'll be many, many long necks for you to play with.

Littlefoot:
[sighs] I wish we were there now.

Littlefoot's Mother:
Well, it's a long way yet. Past the Great Rock that looks like a long leck, and pass the mountains that burn... still a long way, but we'll get there.

Cera:
You again? Go away! That's MY Hopper.

Littlefoot:
I saw him first.

Cera:
Well, he's in my pond.

Littlefoot:
I'm going to the Great Valley. We could help each other.

Cera:
A three-horn does not need help from a long neck. [she tries to climb down the rock ledge herself, but she slips and falls backward into the ravine]

Littlefoot:
Well, at least we won't be alone.

Cera:
Well, when I find my sisters, I won't BE alone! So go away. Three-horns can be *very* dangerous, and they only talk with other three-horns, and they only *travel* with other three-horns.

[repeated line]

Ducky:
Yep, yep, yep.

Ducky:
The tree is talking!

Littlefoot:
No it isn't.

Ducky:
You should not eat talking trees. Nope, nope nope.

Petrie:
I fly?

Ducky:
No, you falled.

Petrie:
I FALL?

Ducky:
You cannot fly? But how did you get way up there?

Petrie:
I climb.

Littlefoot:
But you are a flyer, not a faller.

Petrie:
Hard thing, to fly.

[imitates a shot down airplane]

Littlefoot:
I guess it is. We can't do it.

Ducky:
Nope. We cannot do that alright.

[Littlefoot had just found the Great Valley]

Littlefoot:
The Great Valley. Cera! Spike! Ducky! Petrie! Over here!

[the others run in to join Littlefoot]

Cera:
Littlefoot, you found it!

Ducky:
Yep, yep, yep!

Littlefoot:
We did it! We did it together!

Rooter:
Hey. What's going on here?

[Littlefoot cries]

Rooter:
What's your problem? You're not hurt.

Littlefoot:
It's not fair. She should have known better. That was a Sharptooth. It's all her fault.

Rooter:
All whose fault?

Littlefoot:
Mother's.

Rooter:
Oh... I see. I see.

Littlefoot:
I've never wandered so far from home!

Rooter:
Oh, it's not your fault. It's not your mother's fault. Now, you pay attention to old Rooter. It is nobody's fault. The great circle of life has begun. But see, not all of us arrive together at the end.

Littlefoot:
What'll I do? I miss her so much.

Rooter:
And you'll always miss her. But she'll always be with you, as long as you remember the things she taught you. In a way, you'll never be apart, for you are still part of each other.

Littlefoot:
My tummy hurts.

Rooter:
Well - that, too, will go away with time. Only in time.

Petrie:
You've got a nice flat head, Flat Head.

Littlefoot:
Do you smell something?

Petrie:
[Ducky's on his head] I... I smell... I smell... I smell... hmm... Ducky.

Ducky:
You smell me? Ha ha!

Cera:
Look at what they're doing. They're so greedy. What about me? I'm still hungry!

Petrie:
YOU hungry? I'm empty all the way to the top! Now we're at the Great Valley and STILL GOT NO GREEN FOODS! We be hungry FOREVER! Oh...

Littlefoot:
Aw Petrie, Cera's wrong. This isn't the Great Valley.

Ducky:
It is not a Great ANYTHING. Nope, nope, nope.

Cera:
See? I can take care of myself - all *by* myself. I'm not afraid to be alone. I know my way to go, AND I'm not afraid of Sharptooth... I hope he doesn't eat any of you!

Cera:
NOW do you believe me?

Littlefoot:
I'm sorry. We're safe now.

Cera:
Nobody's safe with *you*.

Littlefoot:
You can't quit now. What if the Great Valley's just over the top of these rocks?

Cera:
This is the Great Valley? You're crazy! I'm leaving!

Littlefoot:
Cera, we have to keep following the bright circle.

Cera:
I'm taking the easy way.

Littlefoot:
But it's the WRONG WAY!

Cera:
Who says?

Littlefoot:
My mother.

Cera:
Then SHE was a stupid long neck too.

Littlefoot:
Take that back!

Cera:
Never!

Littlefoot:
TAKE IT BACK!

Cera:
NO!

Littlefoot:
Go on! Go the wrong way! We never wanted you with us anyway.

Ducky:
Cera's way is easier.

Petrie:
I think so, too.

Narrator:
Cera was still too proud to admit that she'd gone the wrong way.

Cera:
I'M gonna find MY OWN green food! [walks off]

[repeated line]

Cera:
I found it! Hee!

Littlefoot's mother:
I'll be in your heart, Littlefoot. Let your heart guide you.

Littlefoot's mother:
Littlefoot... Littlefoot...

Littlefoot:
Mother!

Littlefoot's mother:
[faintly] Littlefoot...

Littlefoot:
Mother... I - I tried to do what you told me, but it's just too hard. I'll never find the Great Valley.

Narrator:
One herd had only a single baby, their last hope for the future. And they called him Littlefoot.

Cera:
I found it! Ha ha ha ha! I foooound it! Hmm!