The ultimate segregation for the dinosaurs is that there were two different kinds that could not socially intermix. “Some had flat teeth and ate the leaves of trees. And some had sharp teeth for eating meet. And they preyed upon the leaf eaters.” Leaf eaters and sharp teeth dinosaurs could not be friends because eventually sharp teeth would eat the leaf eater.
However, why couldn’t the different types of leaf eaters be friends? Well this movie shows us that eventually they can.
Little Foot’s mother (Helen Shaver) says the Great Valley” is a place where [they] can live happily with more of [their] own kind”. This would imply living with more longnecks. However, we, as the audience, already know multiple kinds of dinosaurs are going to the Great Valley. So they would be living around many different kinds of leaf eaters.
Our first real exposure to the segregation of this world is when Little Foot (Gabriel Damon) meets Cera (Candace Hutson). Her dad says, “Three horns never play with long necks.” When Little Foot looks for an explanation, his mom says, “We all keep to our own kind. The three horns, the spike tails, the swimmers, the fliers, we never do anything together... Because we’re different.” Even Little Foot doesn’t think this is a satisfactory explanation.
After the Big Earth Shake, “herds were divided. Families were cut in two.” Cera was separated from her whole family. Little Foot’s mother died and left him without anyone, too. They are alone.
Even Little Foot tries to keep up the segregation by dismissing Ducky (Judith Barsi) when he meets her. However, he quickly finds out they are both alone so he invites her to come along. Also, she doesn’t even identify herself as a swimmer. She is “a big mouth”. Ducky doesn’t see creatures in set terms. This is the beginning of the creatures starting to integrate.
Soon after finding Ducky, they find Petrie (Will Ryan). Then Cera comes back “to warn [them]”. Last in the bunch is Spike. Even though Little Foot’s mother said specifically these types of creatures did not hangout (and the narrator says there has never been a herd like this before), they all traveled to the Great Valley successfully. They even defeat Sharp Tooth.
These little dinosaurs show the older ones that separation is not how it has to be. They are all different and remain friends. In the end, Ducky’s family even takes in Spike as one of their own. Integration is how it should be.
I found a blog I would not recommend if you're looking for a positive critic about this movie, but he does have some interesting information about the history and making of The Land Before Time. Check it out.
Thanks for reading!