"The Forbidden Friendship" is the eighteenth episode of The Land Before Time television series. It originally aired on May 18, 2007.
- Certificate: TV-G
- Genres:
- Animation
- Adventure
- Drama
- Family
Summary[]
Spike's friend Tippy and his spiketail herd return to the Great Valley, but there's not enough green food to go around. The adults' tempers flare, and Spike and Tippy are forbidden to be together. So when Ducky discovers Spike and Tippy sneaking off to play, she's not sure what to do with them.
Plot[]
The episode starts in mid-winter where the Gang is waiting for the snow to melt. They witness an icicle fall and then realize that the ice on the river is thawing. The Gang then goes to play "Hard Water Hop." Ruby's attention turns to the growing grass, knowing that there's just enough food for everyone if they share. Soon after, Far Walkers show up. They're Spiketails, and among them was Tippy, who had improved on speaking since they last met in The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze and was very excited to see Spike. After a bit of reunion, the Spiketails enter the Great Valley and inquire to share food with the other valley residents. Mr. Threehorn protests that there's not enough food for everyone, to which the Spiketail Leader responds by accusing him of being selfish. The situation escalates to the point where the entirety of the Great Valley residents and Far Walkers are arguing with each other, with Mr. Threehorn and the Spiketail Leader even going so far as to get into a short physical fight. After the fight's resolution, the Spiketail Leader thanks Grandpa Longneck for offering and letting them have their green food but says that it doesn't mean that he'll be around them, thanks to Mr. Threehorn's behavior towards him and his herd.
Tippy and Spike are playing together until they're interrupted by the Spiketail Leader telling Tippy that it's time to go. Tippy explains that he wants to play with Spike, but his mother breaks the bad news, with the Spiketail Leader saying to Tippy that he's forbidden to hang around with the Great Valley residents, including Spike. This greatly saddens both of them. Some time later, Tippy sneaks away to play with Spike. Ducky witnesses them playing and worries for their sake, not knowing what to do. During Spike and Tippy's playtime, they end up in an area where there's a surplus of food with enough for everyone. The two decide to tell the grownups. Meanwhile, Ducky tells the Gang about what's happening between Tippy and Spike, resulting in Cera trying to tell her father about it. Cera lies about it, when Spike and Tippy suddenly show up. Their parents become very upset with the Gang, with all of them being in big trouble for disobeying them. Tippy's mother accuses Spike of talking her son Tippy into it but Mamma Swimmer points out that Spike couldn't have done that because he doesn't talk. As the grownups begin to decide their punishment, Tippy tells everyone about the place with lots of food. Ducky asks why they intentionally let the grownups catch them. This ignites an even bigger argument between the grownups.
The Gang and Tippy decide to run away. As they attempt to cross an icy bridge, both Tippy and Spike fall off. The grownups then immediately work together to save them. Afterwards, the residents of the Great Valley agree to share the food. Tippy is then allowed to play and interact with Spike and the others. Soon, the Far Walkers had to leave the Great Valley altogether (Tippy included) to set off on their journey to travel to other places. Spike is saddened to see Tippy leave the valley. To help cheer him up, Ducky tags Spike. Eventually the rest of the Gang all took part in it, all of them having a good time with good friends.
Full Cast & Crew[]
- Directed by
- Scott Heming ----------------------director
- Writing
- John Low ----------------------------written by
- Judy Freudberg -------------------characters
- Tony Geiss --------------------------characters
- Ford Riley ---------------------------developer
- Cast
- Cody Arens-------------------------Littlefoot
- Anthony Skillman------------------Littlefoot (singing voice)
- Anndi McAfee----------------------Cera
- Aria Noelle Curzon----------------Ducky
- Jeff Bennett-------------------------Petrie/British Spikethumb
- Rob Paulsen------------------------Spike/Spiketail Leader
- Max Burkholder--------------------Chomper
- Meghan Strange-------------------Ruby
- Cree Summer----------------------Tippy
- John Ingle---------------------------Daddy Topps
- Kenneth Mars----------------------Grandpa Longneck
- Susan Krebs-----------------------Tippy's Mother/Female Bonehead
- Tress MacNeille--------------------Mama Swimmer
- Produced by
- Diane A. Crea ---------------------producer
- Casting by
- Susan Blu ---------------------------casting
- Sound Department
- Roy Braverman --------------------foley mixer
- Editorial Department
- Tim Gilmer --------------------------post-production coordinator
- Music Department
- Steve D'Angelo -------------------composer (theme song)
- Terry Tompkins --------------------composer (theme song)
- Other Crew
- Susan Blu ---------------------------voice director
- Joe Moeller -------------------------production assistant
Company Credits[]
- Production Companies
- Amblin Entertainment
- Universal Animation Studios
- Other Companies
- Toon City Animation (animation)
Songs[]
- The Land Before Time Theme Song
- written by Rocco Gagliese, Steve D'Angelo & Terry Tompkins
- performed by Ladysmith Black Mambazo
- The Land Before Time Theme Song (Instrumental)
- written by Rocco Gagliese, Steve D'Angelo & Terry Tompkins
- performed by Ladysmith Black Mambazo
- Good Times, Good Friends
- What To Do
Trivia[]
- Tippy and his herd (including his mother and the Spiketail Leader) return in this episode. Tippy is voiced by Cree Summer in this episode.
- Littlefoot says that Tippy is learning to talk, but he knew how to talk before, although he is more talkative then he was before.
- Tippy talks in third-person, which he didn't do in the eighth movie.
- Grandma Longneck, Tria, and Mr. Clubtail all appear but they have no lines.
- This is the second time Topsy has a fight with a Spiketail.
- It is unknown why Tippy's herd didn't freak out upon seeing Chomper, like Ali's herd did (though, in that case, Chomper had pretended to be vicious and the herd already had a report from Rhett that he was dangerous) and how Doc didn't take a liking to him either at first, and it is unlikely that they had crossed paths sometime before and had already met Chomper, given that they only seem to show up when food is low during a cold time. Then again, Hyp, Nod, and Mutt weren't afraid of him in Great Egg Adventure (despite it being established that he'd never met them before then and didn't even know who Hyp was, though, in this case, Hyp may have heard about him when Chomper first came to the Great Valley.) and Scuttle wasn't afraid of him either.
- This episode, which occurs at the end of the Winter season, may have taken place just before the events of The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave, which takes place in very early Spring.
- Similarly, the episode may also take place after the events of "Through the Eyes of a Spiketail" and/or "The Bright Circle Celebration", which both occur around the beginning of of the "cold time".
- This episode almost feel like something out of "Romeo and Juliet".
| Preceded by: Stranger From the Mysterious Above |
The Land Before Time TV series | Followed by: The Amazing Threehorn Girl |