Famed Disney writer Stu Krieger has revealed some behind-the-scenes secrets from one of his best-known films, Land Before Time, and talks about everything from the inspiration for the character names to the truth about sequel rumors. .
Stu, 72, who is behind several Disney Channel favorites including the Zenon franchise and Smart House, has been answering fan questions about the beloved epic dinosaur adventure in a wholesome series of videos.
The original Land Before Time premiered in 1988 and also featured executive producers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
The plot followed baby Apatosaurus Littlefoot and his gang of friends (Pteranodon Petrie, Triceratops Cera, and Saurolophus Ducky) on an adventure in search of the Great Valley, a green paradise free of natural disasters.
Stu, 72, the writer of the script that also premiered last year a new book titled Rafthas been plagued with questions from Land Before Time fans and lately has been taking to his TikTok to give his answers.
Stu Krieger, 72, is the writer behind the 1988 animated dinosaur adventure film Land Before Time, which also featured executive producers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
Stu has been taking to TikTok to answer fans’ questions about the beloved children’s movie.
For one thing, the name of the young character Triceratops is not spelled ‘Sarah’, but ‘Cera’.
‘Why do all the dinosaurs in Land Before Time have cool names except Sara?’ one asked – They made a mistake when writing Cera’s name.
‘Well, you clearly didn’t investigate, because her name isn’t SARA or SARAH. She is CERA because she was a Tri-cera-tops. And that’s where the name came from,” Stu explained.
“Don’t lie, you also thought it was spelled ‘Sarah’…” she cheekily said in the caption.
Elsewhere, when asked who his favorite character is, Stu admitted: “I’m quite partial to Cera.”
One of the recurring motifs in the film is the ‘tree star’, which feeds herds of dinosaurs and is found in abundance in the Great Valley.
A fan prompted Stu to share the inspiration for the five-pointed star tree visual – essentially the general term dinosaurs used for foliage.
‘For all of you who have been asking for inspiration for the star on the tree, it was a maple leaf!’ Stu declared, holding one in her hand.
In a previous TikTokHe expanded on how he came up with the nickname.
One of the recurring motifs in the film is the ‘tree star’, which feeds herds of dinosaurs and is found in abundance in the Great Valley.
Stu, who came up with the nickname ‘treestar’, explained that the visual inspiration was a maple leaf.
‘That happened when I was thinking about things from the dinosaurs’ perspective. I went out into the backyard, I was lying on my back looking up, and from below they looked like stars! Tree stars.
Furthermore, in another TikTok clip, Stu was confronted with a quick series of questions.
‘Would you ever consider making a movie if it was made with the original animation of them being older?’ one wrote.
Stu admitted that “at the moment” he was more focused on writing books, like Raft.
“But, you know, when it comes to another Land Before Time, I’m someone who never says never,” he added.
‘Why was it so sad and why was it technically a children’s movie?’ someone else wondered, probably thinking about the heartbreaking scene where Littlefoot’s mother dies after saving him from a T-Rex.
The plot followed baby Apatosaurus Littlefoot and his group of friends on an adventure in search of the Great Valley, a green paradise free of natural disasters.
In heartbreaking scene, Littlefoot’s mother dies after saving him from a T-Rex
“You know, I don’t want to knock Steven Spielberg, but when we were talking about the story, he was actually the one who said he wanted to go through a whole range of emotions with the dinosaurs so that we could start teaching kids about all the different emotional challenges. that they would face in their lives,” Stu said.
In another post, the expert We also discussed how Steven’s original vision Land Before Time was more like the dialogue-free sequence set to the tune of The Rite of Spring, which also starred dinosaurs.
“But often when they talk about classic animated films, it’s the characters’ voices that really capture them,” Stu said.
“In order for kids to get the personality and the different nature of the different characters, we really needed the dialogue to make sure those themes were reflected.”