om per ▁and ▁Ruby ▁( O vi ra pt or ). ▁Other ▁characters ▁include ▁the ▁families ▁of ▁the ▁main ▁characters , ▁the ▁residents ▁of ▁their ▁home , ▁the ▁Great ▁Valley , ▁and ▁out s iders ▁to ▁the ▁Great ▁Valley . ▁ ▁Cre ation ▁and ▁development ▁The ▁idea ▁for ▁The ▁Land ▁Before ▁Time ▁came ▁during ▁production ▁of ▁An ▁American ▁T ail . ▁Steven ▁Spiel berg ' s ▁studio ▁Amb lin ▁Entertainment ▁was ▁interested ▁in ▁doing ▁a ▁film ▁about ▁din osa urs , ▁which ▁were ▁popular ▁at ▁the ▁time , ▁leading ▁Spiel berg , ▁director ▁Don ▁Bl uth , ▁and ▁producer ▁George ▁Lucas ▁to ▁develop ▁the ▁pre histor ic ▁setting ▁and ▁its ▁cast . ▁In sp ired ▁by ▁the ▁din osa ur - th emed ▁" R ite ▁of ▁Spring " ▁sequence ▁from ▁Disney ' s ▁Fant asia , ▁Spiel berg ▁had ▁originally ▁intended ▁for ▁the ▁movie ▁to ▁have ▁no ▁speech , ▁with ▁music ▁c ues ▁and ▁body ▁language ▁telling ▁the ▁story , ▁effectively ▁rendering ▁all ▁the ▁characters ▁m ute . ▁However , ▁it ▁was ▁decided ▁that ▁the ▁film ▁could ▁not ▁carry ▁a ▁story ▁without ▁dialog ue , ▁and ▁each ▁character ▁was ▁given ▁language ▁accordingly . ▁The ▁film ' s ▁artists ▁used ▁the ▁Fant asia ▁sequence ▁and ▁characters ▁as ▁gu ides ▁when ▁creating ▁their ▁first ▁concept ▁art . ▁ ▁Bl uth ▁had ▁to ▁learn ▁most ▁of ▁his ▁information ▁about ▁specific ▁din osa ur ▁species ▁before ▁work ▁began , ▁stating ▁" I ▁had ▁to ▁do ▁lots ▁and ▁lots ▁of ▁research ▁because ▁I ▁never ▁was ▁a ▁fan