The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (1995)
If The Land Before Time III: The Time of Great Giving had been just as bad or worse than #2, I might've called the series quits despite having accidentally purchased a bunch of the films. Luckily, it's a step up. Enough that I would even recommend it as entertainment for children. Let's examine why it earns itself a 3/5 rating.
When a shower of meteorites falls near the Great Valley, the flow of water suddenly stops. While the adults try to manage the dwindling supplies, Littlefoot (Scott McAfee), Ducky (Heather Hogan), Cera (Candace Hutson), Petrie (Jeff Bennett) and Spike (Rob Paulsen) face a trio of older bullies. When the situation between all of the different species becomes increasingly strained, our heroes search for a new source of water in the hopes that it will bring everyone together again.
The only people who will see this film are the ones who have seen the first Land Before Time, the The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure and still want more. It's a niche audience and they will be satisfied by third third chapter. If I had kids and they wanted to see it, I'd even sit down with them and wouldn't groan if they asked to watch it a few more times again.
What makes it good is the story. Some sequences are very reminiscent of the first film (no doubt a mixture of the animators not knowing what to do with 5 characters without hands living in a prehistoric world and an attempt to recapture some of that original magic) but there are some original ideas introduced as well. After a long period of paradisial life, what happens when something goes wrong? They act like I would imagine talking dinosaurs would. They stick around and hope that if they save their water and wait the problem will solve itself. I liked that the dinosaur parents were given a plot with its ups and downs, realistic conflicts, and genuine character development. Their story is mirrored in the way the children deal with the scenario.
There's a definite improvement between LBT 2 and 3 but the problems are still there. They’re just not as bad. We still have songs that are wholly unnecessary inserted throughout and none are good. The animation's quality dips (some characters change size, and in a few shots there’s an ankylosaurus whose tail looks way off). Additionally, the dialogue is not well written... for this story. The langue has gotten less “dinosaur-y” in the sense that they talk less in broken English and use fewer terms like “the mysterious beyond” or “the sinking sands”. That gave the film a feeling of genuinely being from The Land Before Time. It's disappointing to hear the word "fire" instead of “the burning” or “the red lights” or something like that.
The Time of the Great Giving tells a nice lesson. Overall, the movie is gentle and delivers its ideals of sharing and cooperation in a way that feels organic and legitimate. It isn’t some rinky-dink issue where a bunch of little kid dinosaurs can’t get along because they only have one toy for the five of them. It’s a life-altering, potentially lethal situation in which creatures that don’t understand the world around them have to figure out a way to solve a complex problem together. Although it's no substitute for the first entry in the series, it's a decent runner-up. (On VHS, March 19, 2015)
