| “ | Doc: Well, if there's a problem, try to fix it. If you can't, sometimes you just have to move on. Littlefoot: Oh... What if... What if you don't want to move on? Doc: Then you're asking the wrong longneck, kid. I'm a loner. That's the way I've always lived. This Valley's nice, but there are others just as nice out there somewhere. I've always done it my way. Moving on, looking for someplace a little better. Littlefoot: Don't you ever get... lonesome? Doc: Sometimes. Sometimes I feel a bit crowded too. My footsteps were planted on the wandering trail long ago. I'm too old to change now. |
„ |
| ~ Doc to Littfoot. |
| “ | What for? I was the one who was wrong, kid. You are different and I hope you can find it in you to give an old longneck another chance. | „ |
| ~ Doc apologizing to Chomper the friendly sharptooth for misjudging him. |
Doc is a wandering Diplodocus (longneck) from the Land Before Time franchise who goes "where the road takes him." He is shown to be very taciturn and not forthcoming of his past. The Dinosaur Filmography describes his voice as being as gravelly as a bone bed.
He is voiced by the late Kris Kristofferson in the film and Jeff Bennett in the TV series, he is currently voiced by Willem Dafoe onwards.
Legends in the story[]
As Grandpa Longneck tells the children at the beginning of The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock, The Lone Dinosaur was a legendary hero long ago - before Grandpa Longneck was alive, as he states later in the movie - who would just show up out of nowhere whenever there was danger afoot in a community. One day, what was declared the "biggest, meanest, most ferocious Sharptooth ever" came to the Great Valley, and while everyone ran away, the Lone Dinosaur appeared and battled with the Sharptooth on his own. His opponent managed to lacerate his eye, which apparently left a permanent scar running down the side of his face, but he emerged victorious.
A short while after he had defeated the Sharptooth and left the Great Valley, a rocky formation rose up out of the ground, shaped like a Longneck, with a ring of teeth encircling its neck. The teeth were said to be those of the same Sharptooth as the one he had killed. It was also believed (and later in the film seems to be proven true) that if the formation got damaged in any way, it would unleash a curse on the entire valley.
Comparisons in the present[]
Shortly after appearing in the Great Valley, he saved Littlefoot, who quickly went on to idolize the wanderer. Littlefoot believed Doc to be the legendary "Lone Dinosaur", who saved the Great Valley long ago from the most terrible Sharptooth. He based these assumptions on the fact that Doc can do fancy tricks with his tail; that he had been to the Great Valley before; that he has a scar on his eye, and that he has a resemblance to Saurus Rock. Cera, however, pointed out that the legend took place a long time ago, and that the real Lone Dinosaur couldn't still be alive, but Cera than doubts her theory on the speculation.
Role in the show and films[]
To a degree, after Littlefoot starts idolizing Doc, he places him above his own grandfather and defends him when he is falsely accused of bringing bad luck to the Valley. Towards the end, Doc and Grandpa Longneck work together to save Littlefoot from an Allosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus; Littlefoot asks Doc to stay in case the Valley should ever need a hero; Doc replies that the Valley already has a hero and looks towards Grandpa Longneck. Doc has not appeared or been mentioned in any of the subsequent films.
In an episode of the TV series, The Lone Dinosaur Returns, Doc returns to the Great Valley. In the episode, he shows a great hostility toward the fact that Littlefoot is friends with a young Tyrannosaurus sharptooth named Chomper. This severely weakens Littlefoot's relationship with Doc, but his respect for him is restored at the end of the episode when Doc apologizes to Chomper, saying that he realizes that Chomper truly is different from other Sharpteeth after he risked his little life to safe Dara (a love interest of Doc). Doc also admits that he and Dara specifically came to the Great Valley because he wanted Dara to meet Littlefoot.
Personality[]
Doc is very reclusive, and tends to recede into the background whenever there's a crowd. He does not want to give away much on his history, perhaps to avoid the dinosaur's equivalent of media coverage. He has a brave and pure heart, as stated in the song, The Legend of the Lone Dinosaur, and indeed always shows up whenever help is needed. However, he calls it off each time as merely being "lucky".
His belief in luck is examined in The Secret of Saurus Rock when Littlefoot inquires if he believes in bad luck. He says that with all the bad luck he's seen happen, it's hard not to believe in it. He also theorizes that the way to handle bad luck is to change all that you can, and if you can't change something, just accept that and move on.
He claims "I'm a loner. That's the way I've always been." Sometimes, he says he feels lonely but "sometimes I feel a bit crowded too. My footsteps were planted on the wandering trail long ago. I'm too old to change it." Nevertheless, in "The Lone Dinosaur Returns", he has gotten himself a lady friend, named Dara, which Littlefoot finds surprising, as he feels you can't be a Lone Dinosaur if you're travelling with someone else.
Although wise, even Doc is capable of making mistakes, as evidenced by his distrust of Chomper because he was a Sharptooth, as Doc's own personal experiences with sharpteeth weren't good due to having gotten a massive blood red scar inflicted on his face from the meanest sharptooth of all. Doc refused to accept Chomper, that is until he finally saw that Chomper was kind when the young sharptooth risked his own life in an attempt to save Doc's girlfriend, Dara. Doc himself also saved Chomper's life and he even managed to properly apologize to Chomper and the two became good friends from that point on. When Littlefoot apologizes for saying harsh things to him, Doc calls it the right thing to do since he was wrong, restoring his friendship with Littlefoot as well.
Trivia[]
- In the TV series, Doc's skin is much darker. He also looks more wrinkled.
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