Petrie

Petrie is one of the main characters in the Land Before Time films and television series. He is a supporting character in The Land Before Time, a major character in the sequels, and the main protagonist of The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers. He is also one of only three characters to appear in every movie and TV episode. He is a type of pterosaur known as a Pteranodon, which is one of many creatures called a "flyer" by the characters in the series.

Petrie is raised by his mother, together with his brothers and sisters, and has an uncle named Pterano, who appeared in The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire. Petrie is very timid and nervous most of the time, and was afraid to learn how to fly in the original film until the very end. The character's most notable aspect is his improper grammar usage.

He was at first intended to be the comic relief for the original film, but the critical reviews on the character's comedy were relatively negative. They have since improved, although concerns over Petrie's broken English and the way it could affect children have persisted. Though with a minor cultural impact, Petrie is popular with fans of the series, and his relationship with both the main character Ducky, and his uncle serve as inspiration for many fanfiction stories on The Land Before Time.

Appearances

 * The Land Before Time (1988)
 * The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994)
 * The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (1995)
 * The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists (1996)
 * The Land Before Time: Sing-Along Songs (1997)
 * The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island (1997)
 * The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (1998)
 * The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire (2000)
 * The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze (2001)
 * The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water (2002)
 * The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (2003)
 * The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses (2005)
 * The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers (2006)
 * The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends (2007)
 * The Land Before Time (TV series)
 * The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave (2016)
 * The Land Before Time XV: Journey to Sharptooth Mountain (TBA)
 * The Land Before Time XVI: Return to Big Water (TBA)
 * The Land Before Time XVII: The Return of the Yellow Bellies (TBA)
 * The Land Before Time (TV Series 2)
 * The Land Before Time XVIII: The Time of the Blooming Flowers
 * TBA

Trivia

 * The specific species of Pterodactylus Petrie is assigned to in the bonus features for the early 2000's DVD releases for the first ten The Land Before Time movies, Pterodactylus elegans, was reassigned to the genus Ctenochasma in 2004.
 * Petrie's former voice actor, Will Ryan, also voiced Digit in An American Tail two years earlier.
 * Out of all the main characters the audience never witnessed Petrie's birth and nor ever seeing him as a baby.
 * Real Pteranodon ate fish, not leaves or berries. In fact, all known pterosaurs were carnivores in real life.
 * Certain covers for various media of the franchise depict Petrie with bat-like wings; traits otherwise absent in his animated appearances and a trait also absent in real life pterosaurs.
 * Petrie has been in the mouth of three different Sharpteeth. (Sharptooth, the Swimming Sharptooth in the 9th movie, and the Belly Dragger in the 10th movie.)
 * In comparison to the other main characters, Petrie is the smallest member of the group.
 * He may be somewhat superstitious, believing that red Tree Stars are unlucky, that the Bright Circle will be upset if they don't do a good enough job at the Bright Circle Celebration, and that the Smoking Mountain hates Flyers.
 * He is very gullible, as he even admits when he believes Littlefoot about the Stone of Cold Fire (I think that was it) when few else did, saying "Me believe you.  But then again, me believe anything."
 * Petrie sometimes get offended by others thinking that he is not brave enough. One time, he got so offended that he decided to fly across the Smoking Mountain to prove his bravery.
 * Petrie normally gets along well, but when upset enough, tends to become angry and distressed and, sometimes panicky, in an almost comical way.
 * Petrie said in "Spooky Nighttime Adventure" that even things that are not real can scare him.

Voices

 * Will Ryan (1988)
 * Jeff Bennett (1994–present)