History NightmareFuel / TheLandBeforeTime

!![[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime The tv series]]

* The [[SeaMonster Swimming Sharptooth]] in ''The Journey to Big Water''. Its eyes are pure yellow, and its face looks vaguely like a crocodile's skull. The worst part is that it is in the water. You won't be able to see it or hear it until it attacks, and if you're in the water, you are helpless against it.
** It doesn't help that it's a Main/{{Expy}} of the ''Liopleurodon'' from BBC's ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'', and that it boasts probably the most accurate design of any of the Land Before Time creatures.

* As lighthearted as the TV series was, the episode "The Brave Longneck Scheme", there's the fact that Ali's herd were willing to [[WouldHurtAChild kill Chomper]] [[FantasticRacism just because he's a sharptooth]].
** It makes the Sharptooth from the first movie even scarier in hindsight - this entire herd was willing to go on a rampage to kill a baby, and yet the original Sharptooth didn't even flinch at the idea of killing one dinosaur after another. He wasn't afraid that they'd gather together in a herd and fight him, he was that powerful (or overconfident) that he feared none of that.

* In "Secret of Saurus Rock" when Littlefoot is inside the Sharptooth's mouth [[ItMakesSenseInContext trying to knock out one of his teeth]] and he slowly comes to the [[OhCrap horrifying realization]] that the Sharptooth is not dead while he's still in it's mouth.
* In "Journey Through the Mists" Ducky getting snatched up by Ichy and almost getting eaten by Dil.
** As comical as they can be, Ichy and Dil are still predators who fully intend to make a meal of our heroes, [[SuperPersistentPredator will go to any length to get at them]] and come horribly close multiple times. Ichy is also [[PragmaticVillainy frighteningly pragmatic]] - when Archie tries to defend Littlefoot from Dil by offering himself up as a bigger meal, Ichy decides to simply ''[[TakeAThirdOption eat them both]]''.

** There was originally an uncensored version of the scene. Reportedly, Don Bluth ordered the footage to be ''burned'' after seeing it. However, there is an urban legend that a handful of VHS copies include the scene.

* For the second movie, ''The Great Valley Adventure'', there's the Mysterious Beyond scene where the group comes across Chomper's egg. Set during the night, the scene itself is a spooky landscape filled with many dangerous dinosaur roars heard in the background.

* In "Journey Through the Mists" Ducky getting snatched up by Icky and almost getting eaten by Dil.
** As comical as they can be, Icky and Dil are still predators who fully intend to make a meal of our heroes, [[SuperPersistentPredator will go to any length to get at them]] and come horribly close multiple times. Icky is also [[PragmaticVillainy frighteningly pragmatic]] - when Archie tries to defend Littlefoot from Dil by offering himself up as a bigger meal, he decides to simply ''[[TakeAThirdOption eat them both]]''.

** As comical as they can be, Icky and Dil are still predators who fully intend to make a meal of our heroes and [[SuperPersistentPredator will go to any length to get at them]]. They come horribly close multiple times, too - Ducky closest of all, with Dil mere inches from snapping her up before Spike's shout wakes her. Icky is also [[PragmaticVillainy frighteningly pragmatic]] - when Archie tries to defend Littlefoot from Dil by offering himself up as a bigger meal, he decides to simply ''[[TakeAThirdOption eat them both]]''.

** As comical as they can be, Icky and Dil are still predators and fully intend to make a meal of our heroes. Their greed knows no bounds and they’ll go to any length to get at them. When Archie tries to defend Littlefoot from Dil by offering himself up as a bigger meal, Icky just decides to ''eat them both''.

* The [[SeaMonster Swimming Sharptooth]] in ''The Journey to Big Water''. Its eyes are pure yellow, and its face looks vaguely like a crocodile's skull. The worst part is that it is in the water. You won't be able to see it or hear it until it attacks, and if you're in the water, you are helpless against it.
** It doesn't help that it's a Main/{{Expy}} of the ''Liopleurodon'' from BBC's ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'', and that it boasts probably the most accurate design of any of the Land Before Time creatures.
* The ''Giganotosaurus'' from the fifth movie has one of the most intimidating designs to date, and it tosses around ''[[TheWorfEffect other Sharpteeth]]''. It's also the only character to shed '''[[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence blood]]''' onscreen in the entire franchise-- something not even the original Sharptooth did.
* Rinkus and Sierra from "Stone of Cold Fire". Rinkus starts out seeming like [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain a comically ineffectual villain]], but shows his true colors later on in the film as a disturbingly realistic sociopath. Sierra, on the other hand, is easy to summarize; violent, hateful, sadistic and all too willing to [[WouldHurtAChild kill a group of small children]]. Rinkus, meanwhile, starts out seeming like a silly, DirtyCoward (being [[Creator/RobPaulsen voiced by]] [[WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain Pinky]] undoubtedly helps in that regard), but then we find out just how nasty he truly is when he plots with Sierra to use Pterano to both their advantage and, in his words, "let him lead [them] to the stone". And when Pterano proves himself to be entirely useless to them, Rinkus drops his loopy, cowardly persona, implying that said persona was fake all along...
** Also from "Stone of Cold Fire," a flashback shows that Pterano got into a disagreement with the other dinosaurs searching for the Great Valley during the events of the first film and the herd split into two fractions. Pterano led his to a secluded valley, which they thought for sure was the paradise that they were looking for. [[RaptorAttack And then a pack of hungry]] ''[[FromBadToWorse Utahraptors]]'' [[FromBadToWorse shows up.]] While no blood is shown, the scene is still pretty violent, and we only see a brief glimpse of the massacre (the only onscreen death we ''do'' see is an unlucky ''Parasaurolophus'' falling off a steep cliff into the gorge below. And while you expect him to utter a pained animalistic screech as he plummets, he instead lets out a human-sounding yell of pure horror and despair.) with Pterano watching the ambush in horror. Pterano was the only survivor, and that's only because he can fly.
* As lighthearted as the TV series was, the episode "The Brave Longneck Scheme", there's the fact that Ali's herd were willing to [[WouldHurtAChild kill Chomper]] [[FantasticRacism just because he's a sharptooth]].
** It makes the Sharptooth from the first movie even scarier in hindsight - this entire herd was willing to go on a rampage to kill a baby, and yet the original Sharptooth didn't even flinch at the idea of killing one dinosaur after another. He wasn't afraid that they'd gather together in a herd and fight him, he was that powerful (or overconfident) that he feared none of that.

* The [[EarthquakesCauseFissures "Earthshake"]] that happens shortly after Littlefoot's mother fights off the Sharptooth. If you think earthquakes are already scary, just imagine if you experienced one as a ''child'', or mother nature forbit, a ''baby''.

** And guess what? ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen It could have been worse]]''. It's been stated that many scenes featuring the Sharptooth were cut because the producers feared that they might actually cause ''psychological damage'' to children. So, scary as the Sharptooth is in this film, what we get are the ''least'' frightening scenes they made with him that the creators said are basically LighterAndSofter in comparison to the deleted scenes! Whatever the hell was in the 11 minutes that were edited out [[NothingIsScarier is freaky in and of itself]].

* There are several instances where the characters have almost suffered horrific deaths. Vague ages aside, they're ''children'', and the thought of ImprobableInfantSurvival being averted [[AdultFear doesn't bring happy thoughts to the mind]]...

* The [[EarthquakesCauseFissures "Earthshake"]] that happens shortly after Littlefoot's mother fights off the Sharptooth. If you think earthquakes are already scary, just imagine if you experienced one as a ''child''.

** And guess what? ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen It could have been worse]]''. It's been stated that many scenes featuring the Sharptooth were cut because the producers feared that they might actually cause ''psychological damage'' to children. So, scary as the Sharptooth is in this film, what we get are the ''least'' frightening scenes they made with him. Whatever the hell was in the 11 minutes that were edited out [[NothingIsScarier is freaky in and of itself]].

* [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Rinkus and Sierra]] from "Stone of Cold Fire". Rinkus starts out seeming like [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain a comically ineffectual villain]], but shows his true colors later on in the film as a disturbingly realistic sociopath. Sierra, on the other hand, is easy to summarize; violent, hateful, sadistic and all too willing to [[WouldHurtAChild kill a group of small children]]. Rinkus, meanwhile, starts out seeming like a silly, DirtyCoward (being [[Creator/RobPaulsen voiced by]] [[WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain Pinky]] undoubtedly helps in that regard), but then we find out just how nasty he truly is when he plots with Sierra to use Pterano to both their advantage and, in his words, "let him lead [them] to the stone". And when Pterano proves himself to be entirely useless to them, Rinkus drops his loopy, cowardly persona, implying that said persona was fake all along...

* The tar pits. Seeing all the innocent, rather young protagonists getting submerged in black gunk and nearly losing their lives is ''not'' a fun thing to watch at the age of 6 ''or'' in your adulthood. The 'tar monster' that the characters form to scare Cera is also pretty morbid in appearance.

*** Some of it has been shown, albeit in storyboard or script form. It shows things such as several near misses and more than one JumpScare (one of which seems to be inspired by the "Here's Johnny!" scene in ''The Shining''). The deleted scene for the intro has Littlefoot and Cera climbing up and hiding in the hollow tree trunk and the Sharptooth ripping apart with his claws jaws to flush them out. It also shows him toying with them before Littlefoot's mother arrived; when they emerged from the thorns it was between his legs, he slams his head down in front of them, they run back and he slams his tail down, then he swings his head towards them, jaws gaping and just misses them. He even tries to stomp on them. This likely indicates that the SerialKiller portrayal of him in the novel was originally supposed to be in the movie.

** [[AdaptationalVillainy He's even worse in the novel]]. In the movie, he's mostly portrayed as an instinctive force of nature bordering on SuperPersistentPredator, but in the novel he's more akin to a narcissistic serial killer who fancies himself above other dinosaurs. He's hunting the children for petty revenge (Littlefoot and Cera in particular, as the former [[EyeScream blinded him in one eye with a thorn]] and the latter used him as a headbutting practice target while he was knocked out)[[note]] While these scenes are still in the movie, the novel expands upon how the Sharptooth reacts to these events[[/note]], and during his hunt, he toys with them just to enjoy watching them tremble in horror before him before he'll kill them. And when he finds the entrance to the Great Valley, the novel says that he growled and sniffed the air "in evil joy", which would hint that he likely kills other dinosaurs ''[[ForTheEvulz for fun]]'', and the next thing he plans to do after he kills the children would be going around doing a killing spree in the Great Valley...

** [[AdaptationalVillainy He's even worse in the novel]]. In the movie, he's mostly portrayed as an instinctive force of nature bordering on SuperPersistentPredator, but in the novel he's more akin to a narcissistic serial killer who fancies himself above other dinosaurs. He's hunting the children for petty revenge (Littlefoot and Cera in particular, as the former [[EyeScream blinded him in one eye with a thorn]] and the latter used him as a headbutting practice target while he was knocked out)[[note]] While these scenes are still in the movie, the novel expands upon how the Sharptooth reacts to these events[[/note]], and during his hunt, he toys with them just to enjoy seeing their terror before he kills them. And when he finds the entrance to the Great Valley, the novel says that he growled and sniffed the air "in evil joy", which would hint that he likely kills other dinosaurs ''[[ForTheEvulz for fun]]'', and the next thing he plans to do after he kills the children would be going around doing a killing spree in the Great Valley...

** Littlefoot later has the exact same nightmare, only with Loofah and Doofah on the unstable log.

* The ''Giganotosaurus'' from the fifth movie has one of the most intimidating designs to date, and it tosses around ''[[TheWorfEffect other Sharpteeth]]''. It's also the only character to shed '''[[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence blood]]''' in the entire franchise.

** And guess what? ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen It could have been worse]]''. It's been stated that many scenes featuring the Sharptooth were cut because the producers feared that they might actually cause ''psychological damage'' to children. So, scary as the Sharptooth is in this film, what we get are the ''least'' frightening scenes they made with him. Whatever the hell was in the 19 minutes that were edited out [[NothingIsScarier is freaky in and of itself]].

[[caption-width-right:300: First he'll kill your mother, then come after you.]]

* '''Sharptooth.''' A NighInvulnerable, perpetually furious, red-eyed demon of a ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' who brutally kills Littlefoot's mother and pursues Littlefoot and his friends with the singular intention of killing and eating them. One of the most terrifying villains to ever originate from family media.
** The fight scene between Littlefoot's mother and Sharptooth. [[spoiler: She even dies afterward.]] [[WhatCouldHaveBeen They were originally planning on showing the scene where Sharptooth takes a bite out of Littlefoot's mother's back in full color]] [[ShadowDiscretionShot instead of in shadow]].
** Sharptooth himself ''is'' this trope. Imagine a large, extremely vicious T-Rex that simply does not give up until he kills his target, no matter how many times said target escapes. Not to mention the fact that the main characters are in constant fear of him and have to always watch their backs. The scene where the beast ambushes them while ''they were asleep'' shows that he can attack ''anywhere''.
** [[AdaptationalVillainy He's even worse in the novel]]. In the movie, he's mostly portrayed as an instinctive force of nature bordering on SuperPersistentPredator, but in the novel he's more akin to a narcisstic serial killer who fancies himself above other dinosaurs. He's hunting the children for petty revenge (Littlefoot and Cera in particular, as the former [[EyeScream blinded him in one eye with a thorn]] and the latter used him as a headbutting practice target while he was knocked out), and during his hunt, he toys with them just to enjoy seeing their terror before he kills them. And when he finds the entrance to the Great Valley, the novel says that he growled and sniffed the air "in evil joy", which would hint that he really mostly kills other dinosaurs just ForTheEvulz, and the next thing he plans to do after he kills the childen would be going around doing a killing spree in the Great Valley...
** The EyeAwaken moment just before Cera can use the Sharptooth's head as head-butting practice.
** Note also that many scenes featuring Sharptooth were cut because the producers feared that they might actually cause ''psychological damage'' to children. So, scary as Sharptooth is in this film, what we get are the ''least'' frightening scenes they made with him. Whatever the hell was in the 19 minutes that were edited out [[NothingIsScarier is freaky in and of itself]].
*** Some of it has been shown, albeit in storyboard or script form. It shows things such as several near misses and more than one JumpScare (one of which seems to be inspired by the "Here's Johnny!" scene in ''The Shining''). The deleted scene for the intro has Littlefoot and Cera climbing up and hiding in the hollow tree trunk and Sharptooth ripping apart with his claws jaws to flush them out. It also shows him toying with them before Littlefoot's mother arrived; when they emerged from the thorns it was between his legs, he slams his head down in front of them, they run back and he slams his tail down, then he swings his head towards them, jaws gaping and just misses them. He even tries to stomp on them. This likely indicates that the SerialKiller portrayal of him in the novel was originally supposed to be in the movie.

* The many instances where the characters almost died horrific deaths. They're supposed to be really small children, even if their ages are somewhat vague.

* The large "earthshake" in the first movie.

* The pachycephalosauruses that attack Cera in the tar pits. The fact that [[AscendedToCarnivorism they weren't even carnivorous]] may make it more or less scary.

* The ''Giganotosaurus'' from the fifth movie has one of the most intimidating designs to date, and it friggin' tosses around other Sharpteeth. It's also the only character to shed '''[[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence blood]]''' in the entire franchise.

** Also from "Stone of Cold Fire," a flashback shows that Pterano got into a disagreement with the other dinosaurs searching for the Great Valley during the events of the first film and the herd split into two fractions. Pterano led his to a secluded valley, which they thought for sure was the paradise that they were looking for. [[RaptorAttack And then a pack of hungry ''Utahraptors'' shows up.]] While no blood is shown, the scene is still pretty violent, and we only see a brief glimpse of the massacre (the only onscreen death we ''do'' see is an unlucky ''Parasaurolophus'' falling off a steep cliff into the gorge below. And while you expect him to utter a pained animalistic screech as he plummets, he instead lets out a human-sounding yell of pure horror and despair.) with Pterano watching the ambush in horror. Pterano was the only survivor, and that's only because he can fly.
* As lighthearted as the TV series was, the episode "The Brave Longneck Scheme", there's the fact that Ali's herd were willing to [[WouldHurtAChild kill Chomper]] just because he's a sharptooth.
** Makes The Sharptooth even scarier in hindsight - this entire herd was willing to go on a rampage to kill a baby, and yet Sharptooth didn't even flinch at the idea of killing one dinosaur after another. He wasn't afraid that they'd gather together in a herd and fight him, he was that powerful (or overconfident) that he feared none of that.

** It becomes even scarier if, rather than being an example of AscendedToCarnivorism, one interprets it as them just wanting to kill Cera [[ForTheEvulz for the hell of it]].

* The opening scene to ''Wisdom of Friends'' Littlefoot tries to cross a log over a deep ravine to get some tree-stars from it, despite his grandmother's objections that there's plenty of treestars whre they are standing. He quickly regrets his foolish decision when the log shakes and he nearly falls before Grandma rescues him. Then the log breaks, and ''Grandma'' nearly plummets down the ravine, before she barely manages to catch herself and climb back up to safety.

* The [[ThreateningShark Swimming Sharptooth]] in ''The Journey to Big Water''. Its eyes are pure yellow, and its face looks vaguely like a crocodile's skull. The worst part is that it is in the water. You won't be able to see it or hear it until it attacks, and if you're in the water, you are helpless against it.
** It doesn't help that it's a Main/{{Expy}} of the Liopleurodon from BBC's ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'', and that it boasts probably the most accurate design of any of the Land Before Time creatures.
* The Giganotosaurus from the fifth movie has one of the most intimidating designs to date, and it friggin' tosses around other Sharpteeth. It's also the only character to shed '''[[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence blood]]''' in the entire franchise.

** Also from "Stone of Cold Fire," a flashback shows that Pterano got into a disagreement with the other dinosaurs searching for the Great Valley and the herd split into two fractions. Pterano led his to a secluded valley, which they thought for sure was the paradise that they were looking for. [[RaptorAttack And then the raptors show up.]] While no blood is shown, the scene is still pretty violent, and we only see a brief glimpse of the massacre (the only onscreen death we ''do'' see is a swimmer falling off a steep cliff into the gorge below) with Pterano watching the ambush in horror. Pterano was the only survivor, and that's only because he can fly.
* In the TV series episode "The Brave Longneck Scheme", the fact that Ali's herd were willing to [[WouldHurtAChild kill Chomper]] just because he's a sharptooth.

* The opening scene to ''Wisdom of Friends'' Littlefoot tries to cross a log over a deep ravine to get some tree-stars from it, despite his grandmother's objections. He quickly regrets his foolish decision when the log shakes and he nearly falls before Grandma rescues him. Then the log breaks, and ''Grandma'' nearly plummets down the ravine, before she barely manages to catch herself and climb back up to safety.