Ali (The Land Before Time)

Ali is an Apatosaurus who bears a striking resemblance to Littlefoot, (Ducky even comments when she first sees Ali, playing with Littlefoot, "Hey! There are two Littlefoots!") apart from her darker pink skin color and light blue eyes. In the TV series, she has a more purplish color of skin. She and her mother belong to a herd of longnecks who are related to Littlefoot's grandparents and were forced to leave their homeland due to flooding and excess rain. With their old home turned into a vast swamp, called the Land of Mists, Ali's herd, led by the matriarch called the Old One, was forced to leave.

Role in the stories
Ali and her herd first appears in The Land Before Time IV: Journey through the Mists. During migration, Ali's herd found the Great Valley and were welcomed by their cousins, Grandpa Longneck's family. Grandpa Longneck fell ill during this time, whereupon Ali and Littlefoot left the Great Valley to search Ali's old home for the fabled Night Flower that would heal him. Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike soon followed them, and met up with Littlefoot and Ali. Together, the group found the Night Flowers and brought them to the Great Valley to heal Grandpa Longneck. Afterwards, Ali and her herd left the Valley to continue their migration even though the narrator said she and Littlefoot would one day meet again.

Though fans began to despair of that promise ever being fulfilled, the "other story" remarked upon by the narrator is seen to be The Land Before Time TV series, when Ali returns with the herd in the episode, The Brave Longneck Scheme. She has met a new friend, Rhett, after her herd had merged with his. The episode mainly focuses on Ali meeting and reacting to Chomper.

Personality
Like most dinosaurs outside of the Great Valley herd, Ali was wary of trusting dinosaurs outside of her species. She later explained that she had only ever gotten to know other longnecks because her herd moved around so frequently. When Littlefoot asked her to help him get to the Land of Mists, she said the others could not come; they would only slow them down as they did not know the way. It is uncertain whether or not this is the only reason, or if she was also afraid of having them present because of their difference. Nevertheless, once she saw how nice the others were, and how well they all could work together, she became open-minded to having inter-species friendships, and was the lead singer in the song "It Takes All Sorts".

Ali is portrayed as very kind and compassionate, as she is concerned when Grandpa Longneck becomes ill. She is also very brave; she risks her own life to save Cera when the latter falls into the rushing river, and Ichy and Dil are closing in on her. She is also shown on several occasions to be smart and quick-thinking, though in The Brave Longneck Scheme, she is revealed to be gullible when Rhett convinces her that he is feared by Sharpteeth.

Reception
Ali has become a popular character among fans, despite her limited appearances. Fanfiction often has Littlefoot and Ali fall in love and marry as adults;     others disagree, calling such a match incestuous on the grounds that they are cousins. One reviewer on DVD.Ciao.co (United Kingdom) believed that the character was introduced to mate with Littlefoot.