The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving (1995)

 

Genre: Family/ Adventure

Time: 1h 11mins

Director: Roy Allen Smith

Quick Summary: When the water supply to the Great Valley is blocked, Littlefoot and his friends must cooperate with a group of bullies to find the reason for the cause.

I understand why Cera is a little bitch now.

As far as openings went for all of these, this was okay. It was simple but it put the foundations down smoothly; meteorites stop water from getting into the valley. This causes all the adult dinosaurs to panic and argue. The kids are pretty much clueless and don't get why they can't play in the lake (maybe because there is no lake anymore? Just a guess.) Though it is funny looking back on these films now, this was the start of these films ALWAYS having some sort of climate change issue as their opening. Sort of like their go-to opening to a problem. 

Because these kids feel like it's always their job to fix things, they decide to go off and find water. They actually end up being followed by their group of bullies, who we're apparently supposed to know and then forget about after this film because they're never mentioned again after this, which is a common theme in these films. Maybe they assume because kids have a memory of goldfish, which is very incorrect. They have better memory than most. Basically, their bullies do what bullies do and bully them, along with a song. Honestly, it wasn't bad either, I think I preferred it to the previous egg song. Through some stupid antics they manage to escape, then find some water miraculously, then end up working together with their bullies after saving one from drowning. 

Meanwhile, Cera's father is the perfect role model for choosing to be a dictator on who gets to drink what little water they have when. Everything has to be his way or gets very angry too. No reasoning could get through to this guy. Storming around, command everyone about, assuming specific types of dinosaurs within the group are the reason they have no water. It's easy to see why Cera is the bossy bitch she is. I mean, the guy calls her friends bad influences, when she is the one running off half the time because the group is tired of her attitude. Sorry to say dude, but looks like you're the bad influence. 

Honestly, this got boring really quick, as nothing really happened. There was this whole thing about some Carnivore dinosaurs sneaking into the Great Valley and of course, the kids are the ones who manage to beat the crap out of them with rocks, but my attention had already gone out of the window. I really couldn't tell you what happened in the middle of this. The art and animation stayed the same as the last one, so there isn't much to comment on there. 

But something I was genuinely surprised about is there was not one, but two different moral lessons gently placed in this. The first is the obvious of sharing is caring. People need to share in emergencies like this, but sharing in everyday life is always seen as a kind thing to do. It's one of the main things to teach young kids, who usually have siblings or go to school because it's a way they can bond and something that can relate to adult life eventually, as I can bet we all know people who are selfish and self-centred. The other was directed more towards adults, and that was if someone is always treated with anger that is all that they will know. They actually go into detail about it explaining that a kid who is always yelled at or treated with anger towards them, won't be able to process or express any emotions but anger. (It then does a funny little nod towards Cera and her Father which was hilarious to me). I can imagine that might have hit hard for any adults watching it back in the day.

Again, this was okay. It felt like more of a TV episode plotline that got stretched out into a short film. I don't remember it being as funny as the previous one, but there was still a little splash of forced comedy and slapstick. Still in the watchable territory, but I wish they stopped here.

5/10

"Ducky: Don't worry, Littlefoot. You're not an influence... whatever that is."