The New Leader of the Herd
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- The whole opening scene, complete with James Newton Howard's Awesome Music.
- The pteranodon swooping under that brachiosaurus' tail.
- Aladar's first encounter with the herd is pretty breathtaking.
- Aladar leading the herd in repelling the Carnotaur with their bellowing. While this happens, you can see the beast actually stepping back to avoid them.Aladar: No! Don't move! If we scatter, it'll pick us off! STAND TOGETHER!!
- Even the tiny, squawking struthiomimus manage to help!
- Truth in Television: this is actually how most large predators react to facing a large group of prey animals, or even just one that holds its ground/faces them instead of running; big cats, especially, don't attack from the front. So not only is it awesome, it's realistic.
- The Courtship. Just the music and the lemurs' acrobatics...it just feels so right.
- Upon reaching a dead end, Aladar begins to lose hope, after repeated failures and the loss of Bruton. Baylene steps forward to reassure him and begins demolishing the wall. His friends all join in breaking down the dead end, which leads to the "Nesting Grounds".
- Aladar saving the entire herd by finding water under the dry lakebed—and then single-handedly protecting Eema from the stampede that Kron sets off in his rush to claim the single small waterhole for himself."Yeah, keep pushing and shoving! That's very helpful!"
- Aladar's first real confrontation with Kron has this in spades for the sheer level of fury we get from a previously laid-back and friendly character.Aladar: But the others in the back—they'll never make it!Kron: They'll slow down the predators!Aladar: YOU CAN'T SACRIFICE THEM LIKE THIS!
- Neera saving Aladar from Kron.
- Aladar's sheer, unwavering devotion to getting everyone to safety, to keeping everyone safe. And he does it without ever once openly challenging Kron. He doesn't fight for leadership of the herd; he appeals to them directly, and lets them choose. He suffers for that decision; Kron beats him down more than once simply because Aladar doesn't fight, only at the end does Aladar fight back, and he actually does fairly well for his first real fight. And that makes it so much more satisfying when the herd ultimately chooses to follow him.Aladar: ...They'll never make it over that!Eema: Aladar! Kron'll eat. You. Alive.Aladar: Let him try.
- There's something that stays with you about Aladar's line near the end. It's just such a perfect illustration of who Aladar is as a leader, and who Kron could never be.Aladar: Look, we gotta go now!
Kron: Go where?! Straight to the Carnotaurs?!
Aladar: If we hurry, we can get around them! You can't get over those rocks! There's a sheer drop on the other side. (Kron violently shoves the two orphans to get them moving up, ignoring Aladar's words) YOU'RE GONNA KILL THE HERD! I know a way to the valley, and everybody can make it! Now follow me! - Throughout the movie, Aladar has only raised his voice during dire moments, and only then exactly once in anger at Kron, with the latter continually brow-beating him into submission. Now he's officially had enough of Kron and is yelling at the top of his lungs throughout his entire speech, refusing to be silenced again. The way he punctuates it is likewise a very clear middle finger to Kron and his way of leadership.Kron: (Enraged) They're staying with ME!Aladar: Alright, let's go.
- There's something that stays with you about Aladar's line near the end. It's just such a perfect illustration of who Aladar is as a leader, and who Kron could never be.
- The first encounter between Baylene and Aladar during the sandstorm.
- When Aladar reaches the Despair Event Horizon after their path to the nesting grounds is blocked by a cave in, Baylene of all dinosaurs, reprimands him for giving up when he's the one who encouraged them the whole time. She then completely demolishes the caved in wall.Aladar: We're not meant to survive.Baylene: Oh, yes we were! We're here, aren't we? And how dare you waste that good fortune by simply giving up! Shame on you. Shame on you, shame on you! And the worst of it is, you... allowed an old fool like me to believe I was needed. That I still had a purpose. And do you know what?(Aladar looks away in shame)Baylene: You were right. And I'm going to go on believing it! I, for one, am not willing to die here!
- The early concept for Dinosaur (which had more religious tones) has a moment where Noah (later Aladar) is lamenting about how the other dinosaurs think he's crazy because of his visions. Cain (later Kron) comes to taunt him and tell him that he's got no place in any herd. So what does Adam the lemur (later Zini) do? He gives Cain one heck of a calling-out. Even if he wilts from Cain threatening to chomp on him, it takes a lot of guts for a tiny lemur to call out a very ticked-off Iguanodon.Adam: So that's it?! You fear him [Noah]!Cain: (turns with a Death Glare) What did you say?Adam: You fear him! And you fear the future!
- Bruton sacrificing himself to save Aladar from the carnotaurs after remembering what happened to the scout from earlier who got killed when they were both attacked. Even awesomer when he says to Aladar after saving him "I'll hold them off you help the others" shows that he cared more about others than his own.
- And though it ends up costing him his life, Bruton sure puts up a hell of a fight against two massive Carnotaurs. First he hits one with his tail so hard it goes stumbling into the cave wall and knocks loose a huge boulder. This then gives Bruton the idea to ram the other one into the wall along with himself, triggering a full-on cave-in that buries both Carnotaurs in rock, successfully killing the smaller of the two!
