, ▁or ▁" F ly er ". ▁He ▁is ▁character ized ▁as ▁pan icky ▁and ▁anxious , ▁and ▁tra ve led ▁with ▁Little foot ▁to ▁find ▁his ▁mother ▁and ▁sib lings ▁in ▁the ▁Great ▁Valley ▁while ▁learning ▁the ▁bas ics ▁of ▁flight ▁along ▁the ▁way . ▁He ▁is ▁talk ative , ▁but ▁speak s ▁in ▁broken ▁English , ▁usually ▁om itting ▁such ▁linking ▁ver bs ▁as ▁" is ", ▁" are ", ▁and ▁" am ", ▁using ▁" me " ▁in ▁place ▁of ▁" I ", ▁and ▁referring ▁to ▁himself ▁in ▁third ▁person . ▁He ▁was ▁originally ▁meant ▁to ▁have ▁a ▁larger ▁role ▁in ▁his ▁debut , ▁but ▁much ▁of ▁his ▁screen ▁time ▁was ▁given ▁to ▁D ucky ▁due ▁to ▁how ▁im pressed ▁the ▁produ cers ▁were ▁with ▁Jud ith ▁Bar si ' s ▁performance . ▁He ▁was ▁a ▁central ▁character ▁in ▁the ▁tw elf th ▁film ▁The ▁Great ▁Day ▁of ▁the ▁Fly ers . ▁ ▁The ▁produ cers ▁of ▁the ▁original ▁film ▁had ▁difficulty ▁dec iding ▁on ▁a ▁voice ▁for ▁the ▁character ▁until ▁it ▁was ▁suggested ▁by ▁Steven ▁Spiel berg ' s ▁son , ▁Max , ▁that ▁he ▁sound ▁similar ▁to ▁Dig it ▁from ▁the ▁previous ▁Don ▁Bl uth ▁movie , ▁An ▁American ▁T ail . ▁Dig it ' s ▁voice ▁actor ▁Will ▁Ryan ▁was ▁then ▁asked ▁to ▁fill ▁the ▁role . ▁Pet rie ▁is ▁the ▁only ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁original ▁five ▁principal ▁characters ▁that ▁is ▁not ▁techn ically ▁a ▁din osa ur ; ▁ ▁S pi ke ▁S pi ke ,