Petrie (a.k.a. "Panicky Petrie", as he is called on the official website, and by fans), originally voiced by Will Ryan and later by Jeff Bennett, is one of the original seven 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 bird-like Pteranodon, which is one of many creatures called a "flyer" by the characters in the series. When the main characters are listed in order, Petrie is usually listed between Ducky and Spike, but if Spike is listed immediately following Littlefoot and Cera, Petrie is listed after Ducky but before Chomper, Ruby, Ali and Guido.

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.

Personality

Petrie is very panicky and is somewhat aerophobic. Whenever Littlefoot or Ducky encourage him to fly, his usual reply is no. He has a strong relationship with Ducky and is very kind to her, he even forgets his aerophobic ways and helps save Ducky from the Sharptooth. He most likely teased Littlefoot for having a "flathead" by calling him this twice even after Littlefoot angrily corrected Petrie. Even people other than Ducky, he is always happy to help, unless flying is involved

Role in the Films

Reception

Analysis

For the original The Land Before Time, the character Petrie received rather negative reviews. A critic for Animato magazine thought it predictable that the movie would feature a character meant to be one of the more lighthearted parts of the story, then have it seem that the character sacrifices themself to save the others, but survive in the end after all, as this scenario has been redone in numerous films. The reviewer is quoted as saying "At least in LAND, the comic relief deserves to go down."

In the Hollywood Reporter's review, Petrie was considered not to be a first-rate comic relief, as the reviewer said that he "just isn't very funny". In his review on the original The Land Before Time movie, Washington Post critic Hal Hinson described Petrie as "neurasthenic"; effectively irritable. He also said that the character seemed disturbingly reminiscent of comedian and actor Charlie Callas.

The character has been received considerably better in the sequels. In James Plath's review on The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, he describes Petrie as "funny", while Nancy Davis Kho on DisneyFamily.com argued in her review on The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers that his use of broken English would badly influence young children, particularly preschoolers. At the same time, she thought that the plot in which Petrie is struggling to cooperate with the other flyers, but finally summons the courage to fly his own way, would be a good influence on families.

Commendations

Voice actor Jeff Bennett received a nomination for the DVD Exclusive award for "Best Original Song", for his performance as Petrie singing the song "Imaginary Friend". The nomination was shared with Aria Noelle Curzon in the role of Ducky, Anndi McAfee as Cera, Thomas Dekker as Littlefoot, and the songwriters Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom. However, their nomination lost to Jennifer Love Hewitt and Chris Canute for the song "I'm Gonna Love You", from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame II.

Cultural Influence

The character Petrie has not become as widely-known an icon for The Land Before Time franchise as characters such as Littlefoot, Ducky or Cera, but he has consistently remained a fan favourite together with the other main characters. Fans often refer to the character by the nickname he is given on the official website, "Panicky Petrie", in reflection of his nervous behavior.

Merchandise

Handpuppets of Petrie and the other characters from the original film were issued at Pizza Hut, to help promote The Land Before Time. Since then, there have been various toys issued which resemble Petrie, including plush dolls, and others. Petrie is often included in other Land Before Time merchandise, such as video games, puzzles, books, and party favors.

Fanfiction

One of the character's largest cultural impact is in fanfiction. In many Land Before Time fanfiction stories, the characters Petrie and Ducky are often portrayed in a romantic involvement with each other; sometimes they get married in the stories. In fanfics depicting the characters in their older years, Petrie is often described as being an exact image of his uncle, Pterano.

References in media

• The original main characters (Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike) are altogether referenced in question 43 of "Test 6: Animation", in Test-Prep Your IQ with the Essentials of Film, in which the question concerns which character is not a dinosaur.
• They are referenced together again in the "Throwback Trivia" in The Good Book for Great Times by Connor Pritchard and Dominic Russo.

Gallery

Trivia

• The specific species of Pterodactylus Petrie is assigned to in the bonus features for the DVD for the first ten The Land Before Time sequels, Pterodactylus elegans, was reassigned to the genus Ctenochasma in 2004.
• Petrie's former voice actor, Will Ryan, also voiced Digit in An American Tail.
• 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.
• Petrie has the same spoken linguistics trait as Elmo from "Sesame Street."