Land Before Time Retrospective #12
Released: 2006
This was originally posted as part of the “Character Showcase” forum thread for Guido, a character who was introduced in the twelfth film. (More info about the Character Showcases here.)
Quote from rhombus: What were your initial impressions of Guido and how did they change over time? Also, are there any ideas involving Guido that you would like to see explored in fanfiction or fanart?
Just finished watching The Great Day of the Flyers today so I could share my thoughts on Guido. Then Petrie is next, then Spike, and then I’ll be all caught up on the showcases. Also a disclaimer that I haven’t yet seen the TV series as of this writing; this is just regarding Guido’s film appearance.
A few people here have already expressed a lot of my own feelings.
Quote from Anagnos: I personally would like to know a bit more of his backstory. Like where did he come from or such.
Quote from OwlsCantRead: I also second Anagnos for a Guido backstory. Oddly enough, his past was hand-waved and never explained, with the film simply writing it off with by stating that he got to the Great Valley besides sleep-gliding into it and never elaborating on it.
And I third that. While watching, I was expecting some of his backstory to get explained later in the film. Like, it really seemed as though they were setting up for some big reveal, but then it never happened. Strange.
Quote from Mumbling: While I was discussing the character with Ducky123, we both weren’t too sure whether Guido is a kid or an adult. He sounds/acts like neither in particular, haha.
I didn’t think of that initially. But, you know, that’s a brilliant observation. I was going to say that maybe he’s meant to be a teenager… yet he doesn’t really seem like that either.
Update: I was thinking about this some more. The fact that Petrie invited Guido into his family’s nest as a temporary nestmate makes me think that Guido is probably a kid as well. Although he does seem like an older kid; older than Petrie, at least.
Quote from rhombus: Unlike some of the other later film guest characters I thought that Guido had the right amounts of awkwardness and humor to be funny without being annoying.
Agreed here as well.
Although the sleepwalking/sleep-flying thing and the Gang following him around was strange. It seemed like it was there just to create a situation where the kids go off on at least one dangerous adventure before the movie ends. However, the set-up was rather nonsensical, and it didn’t really add much to the plot anyway. LeventeII does have a good point in that the sleepwalking probably explains why Guido finds himself in unknown locations… yet that just ties back to what was mentioned earlier in that it makes you want to know more about his backstory.
Overall though, Guido was a good supporting character, and one I would’ve enjoyed seeing more of.
Quote from Sovereign: It is rather unfortunate that he had to be introduced in the twelfth film that I’m certainly not fond off but at least Guido made it at least distantly enjoyable.
Mostly agreed there too. I didn’t think the film was bad, but definitely one of the weaker sequels. Guido, thankfully, helped elevate it somewhat.