The Land Before Time in widely known to the public in many ways, in quite a few positive and negative. In one way however, it is known for its low-end animation quality. It is not uncommon for the films and (especially) the TV series to have animation errors, some small, some downright erroneous. This article is dedicated to listing every animation error that has occurred in The Land Before Time franchise, in order of which they first occur.
Animation errors in the films
Mama Flyer with Petrie's colors
During the scene in The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving where the grownups are arguing over water, Mama Flyer is briefly seen with her son, Petrie's coloring.
Oversized Cera model in the crowd
During the scene in The Land Before Time IV: Journey through the Mists where Old One and her herd arrive in the Great Valley, an oversized model of Cera briefly appears in the crowd.
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Brachiosaurus with back stripe
In The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, in the scene with the duckbill skeleton, a Brachiosaurus is seen having a long, black stripe on the back of its neck instead of a single black spot. It is identified here as a Pelorosaurus.
Cretoxyrhina eye errors
In The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island in the chase with the Cretoxyrhina, the shark has a number of errors. When it dives down into the water, it does not have sclera nor irises, only pupils. When it bursts out of the water right before it bites the log the gang are on, it has black sclera and white pupils. In a couple of shots, it also has no irises.
Littlefoot's back color error
During the scene in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island where Littlefoot catches Ducky after she falls from the clutches of the Sharptooth Flyer, Littlefoot's back is colored the same color green as Spike.
Grandpa Longneck with Grandma Longneck's coloring
During the scene in The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock where Grandpa Longneck admonishes Daddy Topps for being rude to Doc, Grandpa Longneck has Grandma Longneck's coloring.
Browridge Sharptooth with three fingers
On three different occasions, the Allosaurus from The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock is accidentally (though correctly) depicted with three-fingered hands, though throughout most of the film, it has two. Also, in the first instance, the Browridge Sharptooth also seems to have four fingers on his right hand. As well, in the third instance, the sharptooth's head seems to be more rough than his head normally is.
Prosaurolophus with Spiketail scutes
During the scene where the far-walkers arrive in The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire, a Prosaurolophus is depicted with scutes like a Spiketail. It is identified here as a Scelidosaurus.
Petrie's wing color error
During the song Good Inside in The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire, the back parts of Petrie's wings aren't colored in when he holds Ducky's hands.
Cera's extra frill bump
During the song Good Inside in The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire, Cera's frill has an extra white bump on it.
Cera's orange eyelids
For one frame in The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire, Cera's eyelids change to the same color orange as the rest of her body.
Camarasaurus coloring errors
In two scenes in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, Camarasaurus is shown in the colors of other longneck species. The first error has the longneck having the color of a Rebbachisaurus, while the other error shows it having a similar color to a Brachiosaurus. They are identified here as a Dicraeosaurus and Jobaria respectively.
Brachiosaurus coloring error
During one shot in the forest scene in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, a Brachiosaurus is depicted with the colors of a Camarasaurus. It is identified here as an Astrodon.
Green Sharptooth with a green tooth
Strangely, in one scene where the Green Sharptooth from The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration lunges at Grandpa Longneck, she has a green tooth for about a frame.
Fast Biter eye color error
During one shot in The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, the eyes of one of the Fast Biters changes from red to yellowish orange.
Giant Tinysaurus
At the end of The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, when all of the residents of the Great Valley are gathered around the Treesweet Tree, a giant Tinysaurus, a creature known for being tiny, can be seen among the crowd. It is identified here as a Bellusaurus.
Rainbowface fast biters
An infamous animation error, which occurred in The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, shows two fast biters as residents of the Great Valley, with the colors of rainbowfaces, around the residents near the Treesweet Tree. They are identified here as Erlikosaurus.
Cera with blue scleras
During the song Things Change in The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers, the scleras of Cera's eyes change to blue for a single frame.
Cera's pupil and eye color errors
In one scene in The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends, Cera's pupils briefly become extremely large before she falls into the river. Later on in the film, her scleras turn green and her irises turn white when she instructs Littlefoot to "tell them one of your wisdoms."
Littlefoot's transparent right eye
During the song Say So in The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends, Littlefoot's right eye briefly becomes transparent.
Spike's green chin
During the song Say So in The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends, Spike's chin is briefly colored the same color green as the rest of his head.
Petrie's brown eyes
During the scene in The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends where Cera asks the Yellow Bellies where their herd is located, Petrie's eyes briefly flash brown.
Tyrannosaurus with Baryonyx
Another rather unusual error that occurs multiple times throughout The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends, wherein the Hookthumb Sharpteeth are occasionally drawn as Tyrannosaurus.
Giant Camarasaurus
In the opening scenes of The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave, a giant model of the franchise's Camarasaurus can be seen. It is currently identified here as a Dreadnoughtus.
Horned Sharptooth with four fingers
On two different occasions in The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave, the Horned Sharptooth is correctly, though accidentally, depicted with four fingers, the first instance on his right hand for a few seconds, and the second instance on his left hand for a couple of frames.
The meat-eating bull
It is unknown as to if it is an error or not, but the animators seem to take a nod to the Carnotaurus, whose name means "meat-eating bull", by connecting its horns together for about a second.
Animation errors in the TV series
Red Claw's green iris
In the opening of the show, the iris of Red Claw's yellow eye briefly flashes to green before the lightning strikes.
Limusaurus mother with teeth
During the scene in the episode, "The Cave of Many Voices", where Red Claw's shadow looms over the family of Limusaurus, the mother is briefly depicted with teeth, a feature she doesn't have throughout the rest of her appearance.
Chomper with four fingers
During the scene in the episode, "The Mysterious Tooth Crisis", when Petrie is giving Chomper back his tooth which he saved, Chomper has four fingers on each hand when he reaches out to grab the tooth.
Cera on dry land
This is an infamous scene in the episode "The Great Log Running Game". In the climax of the episode, Cera gets washed down the fast water, toward the Roaring Falls. Her dad, Littlefoot, and Spike go to rescue her. While Topps is pushing a large rock to block off her from falling down the waterfall, instead of Spike standing next to Littlefoot, Cera is shown next to him.
Old One coloring errors
During one shot in the episode "The Brave Longneck Scheme", the colors of Old One briefly change to the colors of the rest of her herd.
Chomper with red sclerae
In a short scene in a flashback in "The Meadow of Jumping Waters", Chomper has red sclerae, similar to the pre-art shift Tyrannosaurus.
Thud's green claws
In the same episode, when Screech and Thud are pursuing the children, Thud's hand claws appear green.
Cera with brow horns
In one shot in the episode, "Escape From The Mysterious Beyond", Cera is correctly, though accidentally, depicted with two brow horns. One of her eyes is also strangely green.
Oversized domehead
In the scene in "The Hidden Canyon" where the grown-ups are gathering the children and forming a blockade to stop Screech and Thud, there is a very large Pachycephalosaurus that is almost as large as Grandma Longneck.
Red Claw with three fingers
In one shot in the same episode when Littlefoot is looking at the battle wondeing what to do to help, Red Claw has three fingers on each of his hands.
Littlefoot's tail coloring error and Chomper with two fingers
Shortly after the previous error, when Littlefoot is looking at the treesweets, some of his tail is colored the same as his underbelly, and Chomper is correctly (though accidentally) depicted with two fingers.
Grandpa Longneck with red sclerae
A curious error made in the same episode, wherein Grandpa has red sclerae instead of white when he is about to knock away Thud. This happens for a few frames.
Grandma Longneck with Grandpa Longneck's Coloring
During the scene at the end of the episode, where Grandpa Longneck and Daddy Topps are pushing rocks to block the Hidden Canyon, Grandma Longneck is briefly seen with Grandpa Longneck's coloring.
Oversized longneck child
A curious error made at the end of the same episode, in which a model reserved for young longneck characters, such as Littlefoot and Ali, is applied to an adult longneck. It is identified here as an Amphicoelias.
Rock Circle crowd errors
Aside from the oversized longneck child, several other dinosaurs seen at the meeting at the Rock Circle at the end of "The Hidden Canyon", have animation errors. The crest of one Corythosaurus fades in and out of the frame, while another appears to be floating. An Ankylosaurus is seen fused into a wall, while another is facing in the completely wrong direction. The left foot of an Iguanodon is fusing into the foot of a Euhelopus right next to it. Oversized models of Cera and Spike can also be seen in the crowd, with the model even being mis-colored in Cera's case. The Cera model is currently identified here as a Protoceratops. Even Red Claw can be seen in the background.
Ankylosaurus with no side spikes and shrunken Saurolophus
At the beginning of the episode, "The Lonely Journey", Chomper passes by a pair of Ankylosaurus that lack the spikes on their sides. They are identified here as Pinacosaurus. In the same scene, one of two baby Saurolophus appears to be a shrunken-down version of an adult, instead of looking like Ducky.
Sauropod model and Ornithopod coloring errors
In one scene in the episode, "Stranger From the Mysterious Above", a quartet of dinosaurs are seen with some errors. The sauropods appear to be scaled up versions of the model used for young longnecks, like Littlefoot and Ali, while the ornithopods appear to be coloring errors of the series' Maiasaura and Iguanodon respectively. They are identified here as Europasaurus, Rhabdodon, and Bactrosaurus respectively.
Lambeosaurus errors
In one scene in the episode, "The Amazing Threehorn Girl", a Lambeosaurus is accidentally depicted with no eyes. Later on in the same episode, another Lambeosaurus is depicted with a flopped-over crest.
Sharptooth Mom with white eyes and no killing claws
In "The Great Egg Adventure", an error happens where the sclera of the Sharptooth Mom turn white, though they are supposed to be red. She also lacks a killing claw on both of her feet.
