Bron

Bron Gallery

Bron
Info
Gender	Male
Status	Alive
Color	Brown
Eye color	Blue-Green
Species	Apatosaurus
Food	Plants
Voice actor	Kiefer Sutherland (X) Cam Clarke (TV series) Scott Whyte (XIV)
First appearance	The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration
Last appearance	The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave

Bron is a character in The Land Before Time series. He is an Apatosaurus, which is called a "Longneck" in the films and TV show. He is the father of Littlefoot, and adoptive father to Shorty and was separated from Littlefoot, his mother, and Grandma and Grandpa Longneck shortly before Littlefoot's birth.

Character

History

During the drought seen in the original The Land Before Time, Bron left his wife and parents-in-law in search of a better land, so that when his child hatched, he would not be raised in famine, or in danger of the Sharptooth roaming the region. In his absence, the Great Earthshake (earthquake) occurred, and when he returned, he was unable to find his family. Knowing Littlefoot would have hatched by then, he made it a priority to find him. He met a dinosaur who informed him of his wife's death, but who was unable to tell him the fate of his son. It is possible that the dinosaur was the character Rooter from the first film, however this was never confirmed and due to the fact that Littlefoot and Rooter met in the first film it is unlikely this is the case, as according to Bron the dinosaur "had no word" of Littlefoot, though it is possible that he met Rooter BEFORE Littlefoot did. However this is unlikely as Rooter didn't seem to know about Littlefoots mother's death until he informed him. But it is still possible because Bron may have meant that Rooter did not know what happened to Littlefoot after they parted ways.

Bron continued in his search for Littlefoot, and along the way he met dozens of Longnecks. They looked to him for support and leadership, and with them he formed a new herd. The first members were many orphaned children, including a Brachiosaurus boy named Shorty, who, though protective of the younger Longnecks he had been stranded with, was aggressive in nature. While the other children were adopted, no one took Shorty in, and thus Bron acted as a guardian for him.

In The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, when Littlefoot and his grandparents are moved by their sleep stories (dreams) to the valley within a crater, in which Bron's herd had also traveled to, Littlefoot meets with Bron after Shorty bullies him, and they marvel over the apparent coincidence that Littlefoot's name is identical to a nickname Bron had as a child. At that point, Grandpa Longneck finds Littlefoot and recognizes Bron, and reveals the depth of their connection. Believing Bron to have abandoned him, Littlefoot flees, and Bron follows. Upon catching up with him, he explains his absence and Littlefoot forgives him; admiring his father for taking leadership over the Longnecks.

For the remainder of the film, Littlefoot and Bron bond with each other and Bron wishes for Littlefoot to stay with him, but in the conclusion Littlefoot decides that his place is with his grandparents and friends in the Great Valley. Promising upon Littlefoot's request that he will adopt Shorty, Bron adds that he will visit Littlefoot sometime, and they part.

He is briefly mentioned by Grandma Longneck in The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, when Littlefoot is feeling self-conscious about his stature. She reminds him that the longnecks in his family have all grown up to be very large, including Bron and Grandpa Longneck.

In the TV series episode "The Big Longneck Test," Bron and Shorty visit Littlefoot and his grandparents; Bron mentions that he has visited them before. In the episode, Bron tests Littlefoot's skills at leadership with the "Big Longneck Test".

Bron reappears in the fourteenth film where he becomes trapped at Fire mountain while saving his herd from an eruption.  

Personality

Bron is portrayed as having a strong paternal instinct, as he informs Littlefoot that he set off to find a good land to raise Littlefoot in, and when he returned to the land where his family had been, and could not find them, he spent many months trying to find Littlefoot. He also gives guidance to Shorty and gently scolds him when he misbehaves. On a different note, he is shown to have a fun and playful side, as shown when he plays with his son in the song, "Me and my Dad".

In The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, Bron mentions during the Sharptooth attack that he despises Sharptooth; viewing them as "cowards". It is uncertain if Chomper has had any effect on Bron's opinion of Sharptooth, as he is not shown paying much attention specifically to Chomper in "The Big Longneck Test"; this indicates that this is not his first meeting with Chomper and consequently not his first visit to the Great Valley since the events of the 10th film. It's very probable that Chomper is one of, if not the only Sharptooth, that Bron does not view as a "coward".

Character development

Voice acting

Bron's voice was provided by Kiefer Sutherland in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration. In a 2009 interview with Shiela Roberts of MoviesOnline, on his role as General W.R. Monger in Monsters vs. Aliens, and Samson the lion in The Wild,  Sutherland briefly mentions the Land Before Time character, and states that he wanted the voice to sound like his own, so the audience would recognize it as himself. In the television series, he is voiced by Cam Clarke. In The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave, he is voiced by a new actor, Scott Whyte.

Reception

Bonnie Sayers on epinions.com said in her review on The Great Longneck Migration that she believed Kiefer Sutherland's voice was just right for him. She said it was surprising to see Littlefoot's father introduced in the film, but thought it was nice that Littlefoot and Bron were finally acquainted. In his review of the film on reel.com, James Plath expressed an opinion that the plot depicting his and Littlefoot's distant-relationship would serve as educational for real-life fathers and children in similar situations. Bron has received some negative reception among fans, who believe his excuse was invalid. Marzgurl, an internet reviewer, pointed out in her review of X that while she thought they introduced him kindly, it didn't excuse his absence from the past nine movies.

Gallery

Land Before Time Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Bron.