Elly is sick. Poor baby. She is snotty and her eyes are red, has no energy, is easily frustrated, and can't sleep. And she has the most pathetic little sneezes.
Mer and I are a little sick - no energy, low-grade fever, but no cold as such of yet. So between all of that, we took it easy today, and while Derek drove Elly around and around trying to help her sleep, Mer and I watched The Land Before Time.
Mer loves dinosaurs, so Derek thought this would be a good choice. He was unaware of the truly heartwrenching mother-dies-in-an-earthquake scene and the fairly terrifying being-chased-through-a-dark-swamp-by-a-T-Rex scene. Mer and I cuddled and looked away when it got too sad or scary. But after those scenes, when the kid dinos form their own little herd and set off against the big world together, Mer leaned into me and told me matter-of-factly, "They will die soon, too." Why?" I asked, surprised. "Because the dinosaurs all died, Mom," she reminded me. "They're extinct."
They didn't, though; they made it to the one valley that still had green foliage - not to spoil the plot for anyone out there. I'm now wondering if the six sequels to Land Before Time begin to address the issues of overpopulation and overcrowding in the one little valley, with all the dinosaurs in the whole world going there. Or perhaps there is a mass extinction scene, theories about meteors, etc. Somehow I think not.
-JRR
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Secret, varied understandings of A Land Before Time
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We have since learned that there are actually 12 Land Before Time movies, and 2 more in the works. This is on top of a television series. The dinosaurs must be popular with the kids.
According to Wikipedia, the young dinosaurs do continue to live in the unchanging valley as the world outside changes. But no extinctions as of the 13th film. I guess that would be more traumatic than the Bambi-style mother-dying-in-the-beginning tact. Plus, I'm sure they want to bang out at least another 12 sequels.
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