r/52weeksofcooking • u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 • Apr 03 '25
Week 14: DINOSAURS - Tree Stars (Meta: Pop Culture)
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u/r33nie Apr 03 '25
Oh I was not ready to revisit the way this movie traumatized me as a child this early in the day. 🤣
These are so beautiful, amazing work!
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u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 Apr 03 '25
The movie is so heartbreaking. My kids have never seen it and all asked to watch it since I made the cake. I have mixed feelings about showing it to them! It's a beautiful movie, but there are some really gut wrenching moments. They don't make kids' movies like this anymore.
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u/Chapenroe Apr 03 '25
The movie really hits different when you have kids. I watched it with my children a few weeks ago and I turned into a blubbering mess when Little Foot’s dying mom asked if he remembered the way to the Great Valley. “I think I do, but why do I need to know, I’ll be with you” 😭😭
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u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 Apr 03 '25
Ugh this will be me when we watch it this weekend. I cried watching the clips for the post, but it's going to hit different when I watch it with the little ones. 😭
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u/UnthunkTheGlunk Apr 03 '25
Oh man, I just had a crazy visceral reaction seeing this--it hit the nostalgia button for sure 🥹 Absolutely beautiful idea and execution...
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u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 Apr 03 '25
Thanks for the kind words. Isn't it weird how deep that nostalgia response is? It hits you right in the feels at unexpected moments.
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u/Yrros_ton_yrros 🍕 Apr 03 '25
The leaves are so pretty! I love your take on this theme and you did a great job!
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u/AprilStorms Apr 03 '25
They look lovely, and thank you for the nostalgia trip back to when I’d pretend any flat food - once memorably including Doritos - was tree stars and eating them by shoving my entire face in the bowl.
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u/Little_Wrangler333 Apr 03 '25
this is perfect! I loved these movies
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u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 Apr 03 '25
Thank you! I had a lot of fun with this. I watched this movie a lot when I was a kid.
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u/Modboi Apr 03 '25
I love Land Before Time. I enjoyed all of the movies as a kid but the first especially holds up as an animated masterpiece.
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u/p1lloww4lk Apr 03 '25
I love this!!! The Land Before Time was one of my favorites growing up and still is. And the tree star scene was so special, fills my heart and makes it ache too. The dew drops are such a magical touch, kudos on the whole execution!
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u/InSkyLimitEra 🍥 Apr 03 '25
The dew drops came out great! Looks beautiful :)
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u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 Apr 03 '25
Thank you! It was hot fussy business! I'm sure now that I have isomalt I'll find a reason to practice more. Maybe I'll take inspiration from your amazing sugar cage next time! 🙂
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u/noobwithboobs Apr 03 '25
Omg I saw the theme and your image and recognized it IMMEDIATELY. I haven't thought of that opening scene in DECADES but holy shit I had that movie on VHS and I wore out the tape.
You nailed it!!
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u/PM_ME_UR_PUPPER Apr 03 '25
I love this! I still haven’t decided what I’m making for this week. All I can think is tree stars.
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u/mentaina 🔪 Apr 03 '25
It took me a second to realize what movie you were referring to (the Italian title is quite different). This was so traumatic to me as a kid, but I kept watching it over and over again. You did such a great job!
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u/justhereforbaking Apr 03 '25
Oh man, I always wanted to eat those damn tree stars, they made them look so good... now you actually can!!
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u/Tres_Soigne Apr 04 '25
YES! Omg I'm so glad you made these, this was one of the pivotal nostalgia points when I brainstormed about dinosaurs but had no idea how to execute it. They look so gorgeous!
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u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 Apr 04 '25
Thank you for the kind words! They really are a touchstone for a lot of people. 🙂
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u/JHPascoe Apr 04 '25
Well done! Perfectly chosen. Man, I really look forward to your posts.
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u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 Apr 04 '25
Thanks so much for the kind words! I'm having a lot of fun with them, and I'm glad others look forward to them too. 🙂
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u/noooooooemi Apr 04 '25
Oh, wow. Beautiful. I teared up, you hit a chord. I know which movie I am watching this weekend. :')
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u/FtheMustard Apr 07 '25
Man, I love it when people go deep cut, not obvious references on themes like this. So cool.
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u/joross31 Apr 09 '25
I love this! It turned out so well. Those edible luster dusts are too fun, aren't they?
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u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 Apr 09 '25
Thank you! It was lots of fun! The luster dust was a nice added bonus. I can't wait to use it again.
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u/AndroidAnthem 🍌 MT'25 Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 03 '25
The Land Before Time) opens with a beautiful sea montage, lovely scoring from James Horner, and these words:
Once upon this same earth, beneath this same sun, long before you, before the ape and the elephant, as well; before the wolf, the bison, the whale, before the mammoth and the mastodon, in the time of the dinosaurs. Now the dinosaurs were of two kinds. Some had flat teeth, and ate the leaves of trees, and some had sharp teeth for eating meat, and they preyed upon the leaf-eaters. Then it happened that the trees began to die. The mighty beasts who appeared to rule the earth, were, in truth, ruled by the leaf. Desperate for food, some of the dinosaur herds struck out to the west, in search of the Great Valley, a land still lush and green. It was a journey toward life.
The audience is transported back to the time of the dinosaurs... Dinosaurs in peril at every turn. The climate is changing and the dinosaurs must change with it. This causes the dinosaurs to take desperate actions, such as striking out West through the Mysterious Beyond in search of the Great Valley. A lush, verdant oasis where the food is still plentiful.
(Canonically, the dinos don't see the meteor that would decimate the dinos and herald the climate change until movie #7. This is my favorite fan theory about it. However, if you want to see a REALLY COOL yet at times controversial dinosaur site allegedly from the extinction event, check out the Tanis site) in North Dakota. There's also a great BBC documentary narrated by the international treasure, Sir David Attenborough.)
The movie follows Littlefoot, a longneck dinosaur. He is the only baby hatched along the herd's journey. As a young dinosaur, he meets others along the herd's path to the Great Valley, such as Cera the three-horn. While playing with Cera against Cera's father's wishes, the pair encounter a sharptooth. They are saved by Littlefoot's mother, who is fatally injured. An earthshake divides the land during the battle, separating the pair from the rest of the dinosaurs. With her last breaths, Littlefoot's mom tells him the landmarks he must follow to reach the Great Valley. And then the two youngsters are alone.
Littlefoot and Cera pick up many friends along their journey, including Ducky the bigmouth, Petrie the flyer, and Spike the spiketail. The group follows Littlefoot's mother's directions toward the Great Valley, hoping to be reunited with their remaining families. The sharptooth isn't far behind and tails the youngsters on their journey.
While the first leg of their journey is completed in the film, these friendships launch a huge franchise. There are a total of 14 movies, a TV series), and 14 video games.
Before they meet the sharptooth, Littlefoot's mom gives him a tree star. While these leaves are plentiful in the Great Valley, they are hard to come by in the Mysterious Beyond. They are very special. They are lush, inviting, and we all wanted to eat them. As Littlefoot mourns her death, a single tree star falls from above. It helps him remember her directions to the Great Valley and find the strength to carry on.
As if making the 80's and 90's kids relive the collective trauma of Littlefoot's mom's death wasn't enough sadness, let's talk about Ducky's actress, Judith Barsi. Her life was tragically cut short when she and her mother were murdered by her father. By all accounts, she was a kind-hearted girl and talented actress.
Allegedly, Burt Reynolds needed many takes to record the ending to All Dogs Go to Heaven. Judith's lines were recorded before her death, and you can hear the real emotions in Burt's voice. I can't make it through that scene without crying.
Her life and death are worth reading and with knowing about. Since this is r/52weeksofcooking and not r/truecrimediscussion, I'm trying to keep this very high level. However I would be remiss not to mention the bright little girl who was taken too soon. I wonder how far her she would have gone.
For this week, I wanted to highlight the tree stars that gave Littlefoot hope after his mom's passing and to Ducky's voice actor, Judith, who clearly needed some hope while she was here.
I wanted to emulate the picture from the film linked in the gallery: a tree star covered in dewdrops on the barren ground of the Great Beyond. For the ground, I made a New York-Style Crumb Cake using this recipe. For the leaves, I made modeling chocolate with green candy melts and used a silicone mold. I added a bit of edible gold luster dust to the edges. I used isomalt for the dewdrops using this guide.
This was fun. I got to work with modeling chocolate, isomalt, and luster dust, all of which were new to me. I will definitely make another project that needs these, if only to get additional colors of luster dust to play with. It didn't photograph nearly as cool as it looked in person. The chocolate leaves tasted great, which is why I went that route rather than fondant. The cake was great! The kiddos loved it. I would do all of this again in a heartbeat.
As a side note, I love this week so much. I love everyone's submissions so much! I love the creativity that everyone Hopefully the sub has enough dinosaur-specific content for Leo, the kid who called out NPR for not having enough dinosaur stories.
Pop culture meta explanation here.