First of all, I do think it is an improvement on Land Before Time 2, which was passable, but lacked heart, which was what made the original so poignant. The Time of the Great Giving is probably the best of the countless sequels that border from good to unwatchable, but suffers from being too preachy at times. The animation is surprisingly good, but isn't quite true to the style of animation in the original. In most scenes it had some lovely colours, but had some flat backgrounds in others. The incidental music by Michael Tavera was excellent, especially the Firebird-like music in the fire scene. It was nice to hear the heart-rending main theme from the original, but whereas in the original it made me weep buckets, it didn't have an effect on me here. The songs are okay, Kids Like Us being the best one, and Littlefoot's singing voice is for once pretty decent, but the other two songs When You're Big and When You're Standing Tough came across as rather unmelodious. The story is a very nice idea, about the values of friendship, survival and sticking together. There is also some nice dialogue, but the film further suffers from being too short and being devoid of any real emotion. I will say that the voice talents were very impressive. Ducky is still funny, with similar dialogue we associate her with from the original, though it doesn't quite feel the same without the sweetness and vulnerability of the original voice actress, the late Judith Barsi. Scott McAfee is decent as Littlefoot, and I liked Linda Gary and Kenneth Mars as the grandparents. However, in correlation to the original, John Ingle's narration, as nice as it was, was somewhat unnecessary, but I was more impressed with his gruff characterisation of Cera's father. All in all, a surprisingly good sequel, though it doesn't surpass the first and the finest. 6/10 Bethany Cox.
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Cylex11 June 2001This film's main fault is that the share and care theme is laid on rather thick. When the Valley's water supply is blocked, our young heroes search for a new source. They are hindered by a trio of bullies and a pack of hungry raptors, as well as the unreasonableness of parents. The songs are okay, if forgettable. The raptors are well worth seeing. In spite of the preachy tone of some dialogue and narration, regular fans will not be disappointed.
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Mightyzebra29 December 2007Genre: Animated film about dinosaurs and a major water catastrophe.
What happens: In the Great valley for the gang, there are TWO annoying problems (unfortunately, not one or none). There are three bully dinosaurs who are CONSTANTLY picking on the poor good dinosaurs and to top all the depression, the waterfall in the Great Valley has stopped flowing. Though the lovely gang (Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky Petrie and Spike) are sad and annoyed, they have a positive view as well over this mess and decide to work together to find water
My thoughts: I like most of the L.B.T films. Unfortunately, this one is not at the top of my list for me. It is just too depressing! All the songs focus on some bad thing or other, unlike in all the films, where at least one focuses on just happiness! It also concentrates on the crisis of the film WAY too much for my liking. The music sticks to the depressing tune for 75% of the film, everyone is EXTRA grumpy because of the crisis and it's just too annoying! When there IS happiness, it feels deflated, like rather floppy balloon, it just isn't STRONG enough. Luckily, I prefer this film to "Land Before Time 11", which is my least favourite L.B.T, but this one is still not NEARLY as good as most of the others for me. I know lots of other people like it, but for me, it's just too depressing, too annoying, too deflated and too pessimistic. So there. I like the main characters of course. The new characters are not all that good, because they're bullies.
Recommended to: People who like the eleventh L.B.T, people who find all the other L.B.T's too happy and jolly and people who do not mind becoming a little too depressed by an animated film. -
Smells_Like_Cheese29 March 2009The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving of course is the third installment into the Land Before Time story. When I got the opportunity to see all the sequels, I definitely took up on it, even though these sequels are given such a hard time, I'm still curious what they were about. I do love just a nice little family movie every once in a while, something light hearted and an occasional laugh. Now the second Land Before Time movie wasn't as bad as I was expecting, so I went into the third installment with good hope. Now it's definitely to as good as the first or second Land Before Time, but it's still enjoyable and something that I'm sure your kids will enjoy.
Littlefoot and his friends are constantly being bullied and browbeaten by three teenage dinosaurs: Hyp, Nod, and Mutt. However, when a shower of meteorites impacts near the Great Valley and causes a rock slide in the Mysterious Beyond, which blocks the water supply of the Great Valley, Hyp, Nod, and Mutt are no longer the biggest worry of Littlefoot and his friends. The increasing lack of water causes conflicts between the inhabitants of the Great Valley, who have lived in relative peace and harmony until this event. When the interspecies situation becomes worse and worse, Littlefoot and the others set out to find water, to keep the peace in the Great Valley. They are pursued by Hyp and his friends. When Littlefoot and the others find a small lake, the teenagers emerge and claim the waterhole for themselves, demanding that Littlefoot and the others keep silent about their discovery. Unwilling to comply, Littlefoot and the others flee from the bullies and during the following pursuit discover the reason for the blockage of the Great Valley's water source. Before they can return and tell the other Valley inhabitants the truth, a lightning strike ignites a wildfire that spreads rapidly through the dried Valley. The dinosaurs barely make it to safety at the edge of the Mysterious Beyond while the fire ravages their home. When the protagonists tell the other dinosaurs of their discovery of the water's being blocked in the Mysterious Beyond by the rock slide, disunity about what to do prevents the adult dinosaurs from doing anything to utilize this knowledge. Hyp, Mutt, and Nod set out into the Mysterious Beyond on their own to get to the water first. But Littlefoot and his friends are on their tails to find a way for them to share the water with the rest of the Valley.
Over all The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving is a good movie, it's worth the watch for the kids, but is made more so for them rather than the adults to join in on it as well, but it's all good. Littlefoot and his friends are still a joy to watch on the screen as they get into these new adventures. So far these sequels are really not as bad as everyone says they are so I am looking forward to watching the fourth installment of the Land Before Time series, they're cute for the kids.
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Punk1911 November 2006Roy Allen Smith, who directed The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, directs this beautifully magic movie with it's stunning graphics perfectly. Four actors/actresses have returned to voice the characters we have all fallen in love with.
A huge meteor hits nearby the valley and causes a rock slide in the mysterious beyond that blocks the water supply to the valley. After this our favorite dinosaurs Littlefoot (Scott McAfee), Ducky (Heather Hogan), Petrie (Jeff Bennett), Cera (Candace Hutson) and spike are bullied by the bigger dinosaurs Hyp (Whit Hertford), Nod (Scott Menville) and Mutt (Jeff Bennett).
After a few days the valley is thrown into turmoil as the water supply decreases. The bullying problems increase and then the gang discovers the cause for the shortage. Littlefoot and his friends follow Hyp and his friends into the mysterious beyond and saves the valley, after it was hit by a lightning bolt and lit on fire.
The Time of the Great Giving shows what friendship, bullying and love can lead to. This is the second of the series to include songs; When You're Big, Standing Tough, Kids Like Us. I recommend for every family with children. This is a fun movie to watch for everyone, the young and the old. -
IonicBreezeMachine11 April 2021Shortly after the Great Valley experiences an event with "Flying rocks" (Meteorites), the Valley finds itself in a state of drought when the Thundering Falls that supplies the Great Valley with water suddenly stops. While the valley is dealing with tensions among the grown ups related to water/resource rationing, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike are dealing with their own issues as they've become targets for Hyp the Hypsilophodon, Mutt the Muttaburrasaurus, and Nod the Nodosaurus, a trio of bullies who delight in antagonizing and threatening the group.
The Land Before Time III is yet another entry in the lucrative direct to video series spawned from the Don Bluth film, Land Before Time. The film is basically at more or less the same level as the previous one with animation provided by Universal's TV unit Universal Cartoon Studios. This time around the movie tries to be "edutainment" with plots involving resource conservation, dealing with bullying, and even fire safety. As is, Land Before Time III is perfectly serviceable.
The movie is what it is, a slice of life story (more or less) built around dinosaurs to try and teach life lessons. It's not particularly subtle about it, but it's not overly pandering either (except for maybe the song "Kids like us" that goes maybe a little too saccharine). There's an attempt at trying to breakdown and understand bullies by looking at lead bully, Hyp's, interactions with his father, but it comes so late into the movie it feels more like an afterthought. The titular "Great Giving" a thanks giving analog is basically a throwaway line of narration towards the end of the movie and feels like it was just put there as an excuse for the title.
The Land Before Time III is exactly what it is, a harmless slightly over an hour kids movie designed to keep your kids distracted with bright colors and songs for about an hour while you do something else in another room. It's well intentioned enough I suppose and there's nothing objectively wrong with it for what it is. Take it for what you will. -
allyball-6312416 April 2016This is a re-review. In my original review, I was a bit to negative. The only real problems with this movie are that some scenes are a little padded out, the bullies are obnoxious and the first song is awful. The only scene I thought was really padded out was the scene where they were out at night sniffing for water. The entire movie could've also been resolved in 10 minutes rather than 70 but I see why it wasn't. As for the bullies, they nearly destroy the movie and every scene they're in. Their song in particular was really painful. However, there are upsides to this movie than I pointed out in my original review. For example, I like the last two songs. The second song is just funny and the third song is really pretty. The animation is surprisingly really good for a direct to DVD movie with a low budget. The conflict is much bigger than The Great Valley Adventure, the kids are better characters in this movie, and the adults' behavior is somewhat justified. People get cranky and aggressive from stress or hunger which all of the adults are experiencing at the same time. I didn't realize this on my first few viewings but now I get it. I wish I could say the same for the bullies. Yes, the leader does have a bit of a backstory and I do give them credit for trying to make Hyp more of a character but it comes in a little too late for me. They should've hinted at it more and maybe cut out some of their scenes, especially the song. As for the other bullies, they're following Hyp because I'm guessing they're afraid of being hurt by him. I also give major credits to the action scenes and tension in general in this movie. The fire scene and the velociraptor fight are amazing. They are intense and interesting to watch. Overall, this movie has good intentions, good morals, and just good qualities in general but it's a little too clumsy for me. I appreciate it more than I watch it.
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jkennard-979725 May 2020Like the original, an amazingly crafted heatwarming tale. This storyline is full of morals and lessons from bullyng, arrogance, pride, prejudice, discrimination, teamwork, friendship, sharing and much more.
The animation is traditional and simplistic with some innccuracies of depictions of species' features and some inaccuacies between Mesozoic and Cenozoic periods. However the dubbing is amazing with characters vocal patterns and use of language being correlative to the species presumed intelligence.
Unlike the original this has several musical numbers which seem dubious in the context of the series. The songs are marginally better than the second film, but still quite ropey.
However a must watch for kids. -
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". -
SnoopyStyle2 August 2021Meteorites hit all around the Great Valley. A big one lands just outside and the water source gets cut off. The social order deteriorates as the water level declines. While running away from bullies, Littlefoot and the gang stumble upon the river blockage.
This is a straight to video sequel. I like the environmental storyline. It's better than the previous sequel. The kids get to be the heroes. It's all very standard writing. The songs are not my favorite but most aren't anyways. I like this. -
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.
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rossrobinson15 October 2003The land before time III: The time of the great giving i think was a good movie. I like what i saw in the movie. The story is about Littlefoot and his pals when they get bullied by Hyp and co. Later on the water fromthe thundering falls stops giving water. Littlefoot and his pals travel to free the watch as the water was stuck with aload of branches/twigs etc: Hyp and co become friends with littlefoot and his friends when he is been rescued as he is gets sucked down in the water. I give this movie a score 8 out of 10.
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zsofikam20 April 2016I have made no secret of loving Land Before Time, excepting Wisdom of Friends and Invasion of the Tinysauruses, and Time of the Great Giving is a certainly a good one. The intro with the underwater scenes and John Ingle's narration is very immersive and reminds me a little of Blue Planet. I have to say that I enjoy The Time of the Great Giving more than The Great Valley Adventure for a few reasons, one being the lesson of coming together to share whatever you have. The one weakness would have to be the songs, which while fun aren't always as lyrical as the songs in The Stone of Cold Fire, Journey Through The Mists, or The Mysterious Island. But the story itself I cannot fault, having always found it to be quite lovely. The plot is engaging and goes at a steady pace and there's some good amusing dialogue such as "my brother is not a very good hider." Something I liked is that rather than wandering off for the sake of doing so like they do in Great Valley Adventure, the group wander off for the greater good, to find the water that has stopped flowing. The bullies, although bullies, are interesting as well and are redeemed at the end. Plus, while the movie isn't very exciting at first, the fire and the raptor attack make sure it ends with a bang.
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jvfunn13 August 2009I thought the 3RD Land Before Time movie was a great sequel to the first and second movies. In this adventure Littlefoot and his friends must find water after the water dries up in the Great Valley and they must deal with dinosaur bullies Hyp, Mutt, and Nod. I think this sequel was the best out of all the Land Before Time. I loved the dinosaur bullies especially Mutt because he was the one who was really slow and dumb witted and his friends would always have to get him to agree with them and he would say Oh! Uh yeah! Pretty funney! I also liked their song When You're Big! Pretty cool Bully song! I also liked the song Cera's Dad sang Stand Tough! John Ingle sang it pretty good! Also the boy who provided the voice of Littlefoot did a good job singing Kids Like Us which I thought was good in teaching about giving kids especially bullies another chance at being good kids! Filled with great animation, story, and music Land Before Time III Time of the Great Giving is a perfect sequel any Land Before Time fans can enjoy 10 out of 10!
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catsrule2823 February 2006this 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)