The seventh film of the Land Before Time franchise. It was released on December 5, 2000.
One night Littlefoot sees a mysterious blue meteor pass over the Great Valley. Nobody believes him... except for Petrie's uncle Pterano, who believes this "Stone of Cold Fire" has magical powers. When Pterano and his two henchmen kidnap Ducky on their way to the Stone, it's up to Littlefoot and his friends to rescue her and get to the Stone first.
Tropes:
- A Day in the Limelight: As Petrie's uncle is the main villain of the story, naturally Petrie's given a bigger role in the plot this time around. His mother gets some more screentime and plot importance, too.
- Adults Are Useless: Lampshaded when Grandma Longneck states that the children have gone off on their own, and Ducky's mother comments, "Of course they did! They saw us all just standing around arguing with Mr. Threehorn here!"
- Affably Evil: Pterano is arrogant, unscrupulous, and motivated by wanting to rule all dinosaurs. That being said, he's generally a pleasant guy even to his enemies and people he doesn't like, wants power because he genuinely thinks him being in charge would be best for everybody, and refuses to hurt children. He even makes a Heel–Face Turn at the end of the movie.
- Alien Among Us: It's subtly hinted throughout the movie, and then very strongly implied at the end, that the Rainbow Faces are aliens.
- Aliens Speaking English: The Rainbow Faces, who are all but confirmed as aliens, speak the same language as the other dinosaurs.
- Art Evolution: Starting here, the animation production for the movies is switched over to Wang Film Productions. While their work still doesn't reach the same level as the original film, it's visually more consistent and fluid than AKOM's in the previous films, is now colored digitally, and utilizes some CG elements in many scenes.
- The Atoner: Pterano becomes this at the climax when Ducky (who he and his minions had kidnapped earlier in the film) finds herself in grave danger—coincidentally, the same danger that got one of his believers killed during the expedition for the Great Valley.
- Broken Pedestal: Petrie initially idolizes his uncle Pterano and refuses to listen to the others when they try to tell him that Pterano's not trustworthy. This comes to an end after Pterano kidnaps Ducky.
- Chekhov's Volcano: Though in this case it's saved for the climax of the movie.
- Cold Flames: The subtitle refers to a comet seen crashing by Littlefoot. A few characters believe it to be a legendary "Stone of Cold Fire" that would grant their finders special powers. When found, it just turns out to be a mere rock, though, as much as meteorites can be called mere.
- Continuity Nod: This film explains what the adult dinosaurs did during the first film after getting separated from their children by the earthquake.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Pterano is the first villain in the series to not be some kind of Sharptooth or other predator, and the first with an actual plan instead of just trying to eat something. He has lines he won't cross, as well as a Dark and Troubled Past that explains his behavior.
- Convection, Schmonvection: Littlefoot and his friends escape the storm by entering the base of a volcano. What's worse is that they actually SLEEP in said volcano, and then get on a makeshift elevator that gets them to the top when the volcano erupts!
- Darker and Edgier: Compared to the previous film, and one of the darker entries of the series as a whole. Unlike earlier villains, the main bad guy has positive qualities and his Dark and Troubled Past involves a whole herd of innocent dinosaurs getting killed by Sharpteeth, which the story absolutely does not try to gloss over. As such, Pterano is a much more personal foe to the adults than any villain faced before. The film also deals with the question of existence, the universe, and the unknown in a rather adult way.
- Dirty Coward: Subverted. It seems that Rinkus is this but it's revealed he just played along with Pterano's plans for his own ambitions.
- Dragon with an Agenda: It's immediately obvious Rinkus and Sierra aren't as loyal to Pterano as he might want. They only plan to go along with him until they can steal the Stone's magical power for themselves.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: After hearing Pterano say the loss of his herd wasn't his fault (out of guilt more than denial), Petrie insists that it wasn't since the other dinosaurs couldn't fly away. Grandma Longneck has to explain that as their leader, Pterano was still responsible for leading them off the main path and to their deaths.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Rinkus's gender is never explicitly stated except for one very easy to miss use of 'mister' by Pterano when he's introduced and his name is pretty gender neutral, but for what it's worth, he's voiced by Rob Paulsen.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Pterano, Rinkus, and Sierra can be seen flying near the herd of dinosaurs in the background as all the kids are called home.
- Easily Forgiven: Subverted. Pterano's exile is lessened to five years because he saved Ducky, but he still has to face the consequences of his actions.
- Evil Uncle: Petrie's Uncle Pterano in The Stone of Cold Fire complete with eyebags, long fingers, and an English Accent. Except for the killing bit, but he does kidnap Ducky... and then saves her in the end, so he's not evil. He's got his regrets.
- Friendly Tickle Torture: During the "Good Inside" song, Ducky briefly tickles Petrie.
- Gender-Blender Name: Sierra. He’s a real tough guy, even if his name doesn’t sound like it.
- Giant Flyer: The Quetzalcoatlus that Petrie's mother brings to take the children home.Cera: Whoa. That is one. Big. Flyer!
- God Was My Copilot: Two mysterious dinosaurs periodically help the protagonists throughout the movie. The final scene implies rather strongly that they were aliens who took on the form of dinosaurs.
- Heel–Face Turn: Pterano ends up saving Ducky's life.
- "I Am Great!" Song: "Very Important Creature", a song where Pterano outright states that him being in charge would be best for everybody.
- Imagine Spot: When Ducky is slipping off the edge of a cliff, Pterano sees her intercut (by lightning) with the Parasaurolophus who died that way in his past. This causes him to rescue her.
- Just in Time: Petrie's mother and the large flyer she got to help her arrive Threehorn's Peak, just as the volcano was beginning erupt to rescue the kids.
- Lack of Empathy: Sierra shows some traits of this. Namely, how he casually discusses feeding the children to the sharp teeth once they take over.
- Large Ham: Pterano, all the way! You can really tell Michael York had a great time voicing him.
- Literal Cliffhanger: A Parasaurolophus died this way as the other dinosaurs who followed Pterano were killed by Deinonychus. Ducky has a similar fate, though Pterano saves her this time!
- Locked Out of the Loop: The main reason Pterano can fool Littlefoot and friends is because they were not present when Pterano got a group of dinosaurs killed, and none of the adults bothered to tell the kids about this incident. Lampshaded by Littlefoot:Littlefoot: When what all happened? Nobody tells us anything.
- Made of Explodium: Rinkus and Sierra learn the hard way that hitting the Stone of Cold Fire over and over with rocks will make it explode.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Even if the Stone of Cold Fire can't grant a wish, most meteorites don't blow up in a yellow energy explosion when hit by rocks.
- More Despicable Minion: Pterano is the Big Bad for most of the film, but he is a Well-Intentioned Extremist with a tragic past who Wouldn't Hurt a Child. His two minions Sierra and Rinkus are much more selfish and cruel than he is, and they're planning to betray him as soon as they no longer need him.
- Never My Fault: Discussed when the adults reveal Pterano's backstory. When his followers are massacred by raptors, Pterano, being a pterosaur, is the only one who escapes the slaughter, and when he returns to the main herd, he repeatedly states that it wasn't his fault. This is less to do with his ego and more with his Survivor's Guilt and being traumatized, though. When Petrie claims it wasn't Pterano's fault his followers didn't "know how to fly away", Grandpa Longneck points out how it was Pterano's fault that they died, and Grandma Longneck explains how a good leader has to accept the blame during bad times just as much as he deserves credit during good times.
- Noble Demon: Pterano's not above kidnapping, but he does make a point to strike his own henchmen to punish them for two things he considers intolerable: violence (particularly, though unspoken, against children, including and especially his nephew) and asking redundant questions.Pterano: If there's one thing I will not tolerate, it's violence!
Rinkus: Then why are you hitting me?
Pterano: Right... make that two things: violence and stupid questions!- He then becomes The Atoner toward the end when he has a flashback to when he tried to find the Great Valley due to Ducky coming close to meeting the same fate as did one of the dinosaurs on the earlier expedition.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Rinkus. While he initially appears cowardly, bumbling and ineffectual compared to the charismatic Pterano and the aggressive Sierra, it's revealed to be an act. As it turns out, he's much smarter and more dangerous than he seems, and he plots with Sierra to betray Pterano so that they can take the stone's power for themselves.
- Obliviously Evil: Petrie's Uncle Pterano. Believing himself to essentially be The Chosen One who is meant to "take his rightful place" as the herd's leader, Pterano spends nearly all of his screentime speaking of how noble and great he is, even when he's resorting to kidnapping and extortion to get what he wants. The way he intends to go about this is essentially by trying to become a god. Through it all, he refuses to see reason until he's humbled when the artifact that would allegedly grant him power proves to simply be an ordinary meteorite. That said, he does draw the line at murder and harming children.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Grandpa Longneck gets visibly heated upon hearing Pterano's come to the Valley. Anyone who can get him that upset has got to be trouble.
- Papa Wolf: An uncle example occurs, after Pterano and his minions kidnap Ducky, Petrie tries to reason with him into letting her go, only to be knocked out of the sky by Rinkus (one of Pterano's goons). Pterano does not take too kindly to this and promptly wallops him for hurting his nephew.Pterano: "If there's one thing I will not tolerate, it's violence!"
Rinkus: "Then why are you hitting me?"
Pterano: "Right, make that two things: Violence, and stupid questions!" (Proceeds to wallop Rinkus a second time.) - Poor Communication Kills: The adults and children were separated from each other when Pterano got part of the herd killed, and the adults never told the children what had happened. It isn't until Ducky is kidnapped that they realize what a mistake this was.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Pterano is against threatening or intimidating the children for the answers he seeks, since he knows they will tell their parents what happened and it will put all of the heat on them as a result.
- Real After All: While the Stone of Cold Fire itself has no magical powers, the ending reveals there are supernatural forces at work when the Rainbow Faces depart in what's all but stated to be their spaceship.
- Rope Bridge: In order to cross a canyon, the little dinosaurs walk across a bunch of vines. Unfortunately, Spike spots a flower on the vines and eats it, cutting the vines and sending the dinosaurs swinging into a cave.Cera: [to Spike] Don't ever. do that. AGAIN!
- Series Continuity Error: Either that or Artistic License – Paleontology. The two rainbow faces are meant to be Gallimimus, and their kin seem to be harmless vegetarians, given how they are allowed into the Great Valley without rousing any suspicion. Meanwhile, Ozzie and Strut, the Struthiomimus brothers from the second movie, are depicted as Evil Egg Eaters, and the same is true with the random Struthiomimus at the beginning of the first movie. Since both animals are ornithomimids (as closely related as a T. rex and Albertosaurus), you would expect them to have similar diets.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: As mysterious as it is and despite being the driving force of the whole plot, the Stone of Cold Fire has no magical powers. It's just a rock.
- Shown Their Work: An odd case; at one point, Sierra makes a paddling motion with one foot while carrying Ducky in the other. While this was definitely not something pterosaurs could do, it is behaviour displayed by modern birds of prey when they're carrying particularly heavy loads in their talons.
- The Starscream: Pterano's two lackies, Sierra and Rinkus, decide that Pterano has much too high of an opinion of himself and they don't like his more moral goals, so they intend to take the Stone of Cold Fire for themselves.
- Survivor Guilt: This is Petrie's pompous uncle Pterano's tragic backstory. Pterano, blinded by arrogance, unintentionally lead a smaller herd into an earthshake/raptor ambush where EVERYBODY but himself was killed, and he barely managed to escape (and that's only because he can fly). He's shown watching at least one follower die (the swimmer that falls off the cliff). When he meets back up with the main herd at the Valley, he can only turn his back and cradle his head in his hands in grief and shock. Ouch.
- Terrible Trio: Pterano, Rinkus, and Sierra. Subverted when Pterano turns out to be less of a villain, and Rinkus and Sierra take a more direct position of antagonist later on.
- Traitor Shot: As Pterano sings about how brilliant but misunderstood he is, his partners Rinkus and Sierra have a brief conversation about kicking him out once they have the stone. This culminates in a shot of them shaking hands behind Pterano's back and singing "the very important we" instead of "the very important me" (where "me" refers to Pterano).
- Villain Song: "Very Important Creature" has Pterano sing about how he sees himself as being smarter and more important than everyone else around him.
- Wham Line: This one, revealing that Rinkus and Sierra are planning to backstab their "boss", as well as the fact that Rinkus isn't as dopey as he leads on:Rinkus: (to Sierra about Pterano) Just be patient! Let him lead us to the stone...
- Worthless Treasure Twist: At the end of the movie it's revealed the Stone of Cold Fire isn't magical. It's just a meteor that happened to be blue. (And, as Rinkus and Sierra find out, explosive.)
