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

The Worst Film Ever

the audience applauded

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Admirable film.

Winning Best Home Video Presentation of the 1995 Annies, "The Time of the Great Giving" is the third installment of the Land Before Time series. For some reason, it was originally supposed to be #4, but was pushed forward one year. Maybe Roy Allen Smith just wanted to save best for last. One way or another, this is still a great addition to the franchise.The film begins in a similar way to the opening of the first movie, with the same sweeping score and the same calm note, underwater. The animation's cool wavy effects and the silent ancient creatures give a great feel for the setting to those who are starting the series with this installment.In the Great Valley, Littlefoot, Cera, Petrie, Ducky, and Spike have constantly been getting bullied by a trio of adolescent dinosaurs: a hypsilophodon named Hyp, a nodosaurus named Nod, and a muttaburrasaurus named Mutt.So on this evening, a meteor shower impacts near the Great Valley and causes an explosion in the Mysterious Beyond. Fortunately, no one is injured severely. But the next day, the Great Valley dinosaurs wake up to find the Thundering Falls, their main supply of water, drying up. The increasing lack of water causes conflicts between the adults. Considering his species the wisest (even singing a whole song about it), Cera's dad is insistent that he make the drinking arrangements. He becomes so conceited that he gets unreasonable. In fact, he accuses Littlefoot of wasting water when he gets sprayed by a splash caused by the bullies, who hightail it out of there to not be noticed. Despite the fact that the gang had no knowledge of the water problem, Cera's dad cites Littlefoot as a bad influence and forbids Cera to be around him. To bring an end to all the bickering, Cera sneaks out with the others to set out on a water hunt of their own.One of the most graphically stunning sequences in the movie, the animation of this wildfire fire that spreads through the Great Valley is dazzling and the score is appropriately alarming for the situation, sounding much like that of the Firebird stage from Fantasia 2000."Kids Like Us", is the best song in the movie. While the other two have great instrumentals, their lyrics aren't very top notch. This one is very meaningful, if somewhat preachy, and hopefully will show children how to deal with bullying.The only real issue with this movie is that it kind of makes it seem like children are always the ones with the solution to a problem while the adults are just helpless and argumentative. This movie could have benefited more by encouraging children to always seek adults' help. Even so, it's better than "The Great Valley Adventure", as it deals with the grown ups as much as the kids, and it offers great messages for both children and parents of cooperation and preventing bullying.The storyline, though formulaic, is pretty well-developed, and though the kids' dialogue is juvenile, that isn't so much a bad thing when working with characters who are still very young. Kids will be kids. The action scenes are sufficiently entertaining, the animation is outstanding, and Michael Tavera's score is most beautiful here, making for a fine addition to the Land Before Time canon.8/10 for "The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving".

Even though the second film lacked the heart of the original which was in my opinion one of Bluth's best films, it was pretty passable with it's nice animation and some decent villains. While I think that this is an improvement over The Great Valley Adventure, it also lacks the heart of the original.The story about the value of friendship, teamwork, and sharing was a nice idea and I think that it has some very nice dialog with such hilarious quotes including "Me go play bullies somewhere else" and "Me unscareable". The animation is beautiful with some lovely colors, but also has some flat backgrounds due to it's below average editing. The songs, although not great, are very pleasant to listen too. The strongest aspects is the wonderful music from Michael Travera and it's excellent voice acting.Scott McAfee did very decent as Littlefoot and his singing was pretty good. I also liked Linda Gary and Kenneth Mars as Littlefoot's grandparents. John Ingle's narration was clunky, but Cera's father's gruff characterization really amused me.Overall, while an improvement on the Great Valley Adventure, it doesn't have the heart of the original, but it's still worth watching.

this is the best movie ever. i love the dinosaur, Hip (he is the cutest bully <3) "When You're Big" is the best song it's to the point, great for a sing along, and even somewhat obnoxious. what more in a groovy tune could you possibly need?? the movie, i of course bought the soundtrack me that Ms. Britney Spears. u cant gulp and slurp and swig. i also loved Standing Tough sung by Daddy Tops, it was just such a powerful song, it just made me wanna jump around the room and holler I'm tough.(after watching ck, and shared it with all my friends who just simply adored it as much as i did!) Back to the movie: it was about the dinosaurs running out of water in the great valley. it also shows how Littlefoot and the gang deal with big kids (aka bullies.)(i know, i know, yes its so awful, but don't worry, they make it into the perfect movie for the family or for just relaxing at home with your root beer and sunflower seeds)

I could not find any really bad spots in this movie. Roy Allen Smith does it again! This movie was a bit disappointing when I thought there wouldn't be a fight, but a species from my favorite sharp-tooth class is here! (If you don't want me to ruin the surprise for you, skip to the end of the spoilers) Velociraptor is THE predator! This is a touching tale! Hyp reminds me of an old a**hole back at school! He was really ungrateful to the ones that saved him from suffering death at the tarpit. I hate braggarts who have nothing to be arrogant about! Still, Littlefoot's kindness pushed through in the song "Kids like us". It was a runner up for most touching song in my opinion.(End of spoilers here) Overall a film worthy of its legacy.