Littlefoot's Mother is the overarching protagonist of The Land Before Time. She is an Apatosaurus; one of many sauropods referred to as "Longneck" in the franchise, and the late mother of the main protagonist, the late wife of his father, and the late daughter of Grandma and Grandpa Longneck. She (like her parents but unlike most of the dinosaurs in the first Land Before Time movie) is not bigoted towards other species, although she will generally avoid those of other species because things have been done that way for a long time.
She plays a major role only in the original film, during which she is killed by the original Sharptooth (the scene for which the character is most famous), but she is referenced several times in later films, and is seen in a flashback once.
Personality[]
Littlefoot's Mother is a kind, loving, nurturing and caring mother to her son wanting what's best for him by raising him in a good place, such as the Great Valley.
Role in Film[]
In the beginning of the film, Littlefoot's Mother appears with her parents (Grandma and Grandpa Longneck) and watches her egg which is about to hatch. She then notices an egg stealer trying to take her egg and she hits him with her head, causing him to drop the egg which rolls away from the nest. Along with her parents, she follows it and watches the egg as it hatches into a baby boy longneck, whom she names him Littlefoot and starts licking him with love and puts him on her back telling him to be careful.
A few years later, Littlefoot's Mother is feeding him tree roots to which he asks her if "that's all there is to eat." She tells him that the land has been changing and that they must walk as far as they can each day until they reach their new home: The Great Valley. Then she spots a treestar on a tree and gives it to Littlefoot, telling him it will help him grow strong. Afterward, Littlefoot's mother, Littlefoot and her parents start on their journey to The Great Valley, to which she tells Littlefoot "is a great place where they can live with their own kind" and that although she has never seen the place with her eyes she's seen it through her heart.
On the way Littlefoot spots a threehorn named Cera and begins to play with her but his mother comes and picks him up telling him that they keep to their own kind and that the longnecks, threehorns, spiketails, swimmers, and flyers never do anything together because they are different and that when they reach the Great Valley there will be many longnecks for Littlefoot to play with.
That night, Littlefoot notices a hopper (frog) and sneaks away from his mother to play with it and runs into Cera to which they both accidently run into a Sharptooth. Luckily, Littlefoot's Mother shows up and begins to fight the Sharptooth, only to be bitten by said Sharptooth in the battle but manages to push him into a cave cavern underground and tries to return with Littlefoot to her parents. But then an earthshake begins and she and Littlefoot are separated from each other, and her parents to which she begins to lay down and begins to die from her wounds. But before she dies, Littlefoot finds her and asks her to get up. But she tells him she can't and tells him that in order to get to the Great Valley, he must pass the rock that looks like a longneck and pass the mountains that burn; and that no matter what happens, she'll be with him even if he can't see her and then she dies. She had sacrificed herself to save Littlefoot.
Towards the end of the film, Littlefoot's Mother appears as a spirit in the clouds and guides Littlefoot and his friends to the Great Valley where he is reunited with his grandparents.
Trivia[]
- Doug Walker (Nostalgia Critic) put Littlefoot's mother's death at #9 on his "Top 11 Saddest Nostalgic Moments".
- She may have been referenced in the fifth film, during the song "Always There".
- Littlefoot's mother and Bambi's mother have a lot in common: they are both sweet, caring mothers who try their best to teach their sons the facts of life and care for them. They both die protecting them from danger involving the antagonist. In fact, the similarities between the two don't stop at their personalities. In The Land Before Time, when she is on her proverbial deathbed, Littlefoot's mother tells him that she will be with him "even if you can't see me." Bambi's mother said the exact same thing to Bambi during his dream in Bambi 2.
- While they both are killed, the nature of their deaths are different and both are killed by the antagonist. Bambi's mother dies while fleeing with her son from a hunter, the music adding to the fast-paced, drawn-out intensity of the scene. However, Littlefoot's mother dies calmly and slowly, as rain falls.
- Littlefoot's Mother and Mufasa, Simba's father in The Lion King (1994), also have a lot in common: they are very wise, caring parents who try their best to teach their sons the facts of life and care for them. They both also die protecting them from danger involving the antagonist. After their deaths, their spirits appear to their sons in times of need and aid them on their lives' quests (hers for Littlefoot to reach the Great Valley, Mufasa's for Simba to take his place as king of the Pridelands). In the course of their deaths, their sons put themselves at fault for the loss of their parents (Littlefoot for wandering far from his family, Simba for believing he caused the stampede through Scar's manipulation) and become separated from the rest of their families (Littlefoot from his grandparents through the earthquake, Simba from his pride after he runs away). However, their deaths are eventually avenged when their sons defeat the antagonists (hers when Littlefoot drowns Sharptooth, Mufasa's when Simba overthrows Scar).
- The nature of their deaths are more similar than different. Both are killed directly and intentionally by the antagonist (her by Sharptooth to get to Littlefoot and Cera, Mufasa by his younger brother Scar to be king of the Pridelands). Their sons rush to their aid and try to help them get up. However, Mufasa is already dead when Simba finds him, while Littlefoot's mother was down to her last breath which gave Littlefoot the chance to talk to her one last time before she dies calmly and slowly.
- She also has a lot in common with Speckles' mother in Dino King: they are both caring mothers to young dinosaurs who try their best to teach their sons the facts of life and care for them. They both die protecting them from danger involving the antagonist. They both face off the antagonist one-on-one, the latter whom in both cases are a Tyrannosaurus. Their deaths are eventually avenged when their sons defeat the antagonists by drowning them after stalking them throughout the film.
- She is also very similar to other mothers like Coral from Pixar's Finding Nemo (2003) and Queen Athena from Disney's The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008) as both are also caring and try to protect their children from danger. Both are killed when they're trying to protect them from danger by antagonists (Coral by a barracuda and Queen Athena by pirates).
- She also has similarities with Poppa Henry in Pixar's The Good Dinosaur (2015): they are both caring and wise parents to young dinosaurs who inspire them to do big things, They both get killed protecting them and appear as spirits to help them find their way home.
- Their cause of deaths are different as Littlefoot's mother died from wounds inflicted by the Sharptooth and Poppa Henry was killed by a flood.
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