Some of the opinions I'm seeing don't surprise me. From what I've seen, Episode III was a little polarizing. It wasn't really "love it or hate it" but it was either "like it or think it was okay."
As I explained in my intro, my obsession with the series began in earnest with Episode IV. So Episode III was also kind of lost in the backwash, but I was still aware of it, and I always seemed to think good thoughts about the few times I did watch it.
Watching it again, I can safely say that this is definitely a step up from Episode II.
So without further ado, let's get to it.
The Land Before Time Episode III: The Time Of The Great Giving (upon further review).So we once again have a space themed opening. Nothing too spectacular, just a fly in shot of what I assume is the Milky Way, and the forming solar system. But then it does something that I thought was pretty cool.
It recreates the opening of the original film.Seriously, it has an (albeit condensed) almost shot for shot remake of the opening of the original movie, complete with James Horner's score. Hell it even goes a step further, it actually
shows the evolution of life! Like the plankton giving rise to the first creatures that left the water, which in turn gave rise to the dinosaurs (and there's of course a gratuitous amount of them in the intro).
So we get the standard narration with the intro. The Gang of Five is name checked (again just in case the kids forgot who they are), and we're told about just how awesome it is to live in the Great Valley. The usual stuff.
So we open up with the kids playing around with a rock, which is about the size of Petrie (so it raises the question of what he was supposed to do, but oh well). But this nice little moment of zen is brought to a halt when their playtime is intruded by our new characters of the episode, a teenage Hypsilophodon, Nodosaurus, and a Muttaburrasaurus named...Hyp, Nod, and Mutt.
Okay, I won't lie. Even when I was a kid, I thought those names were just dumb. I mean, who even names their kid
Hyp. I can understand Littlefoot or Ducky or even Petrie, but
HYP?! Even when I did find out that the names were based on their scientific names, I still thought it was dumb!
But on watching it again, I actually realized there was a subtle cleverness here. So subtle it might have been unintentional.
Hyp is the leader of the gang, and he's basically a 80's or 90's teenager in a dinosaur suit. So maybe he's meant to be "hip." But the real genius is with Nod and Mutt, Nod is basically a yes-man (or yes-dino as it may be) and Mutt would be the dumb muscle in any other cartoon, here though he's just more or less the team dog. So I actually think their names make some sense. I still don't like Hyp's name though, it makes me think that his Dad didn't love him enough as a kid...which for all we know he didn't (more on that later).
So Hyp and his crew start to taunt the Gang of Five. Cera of course takes exception to that and wants to brawl. Littlefoot though acts as a mediator and suggest they all play together. This is actually something that is prevalent throughout the episode, and I feel this is the moment that Littlefoot and Cera's characterization really got firmly established. Littlefoot is the cool headed leader and mediator that prefers to negotiate with a threat (but will not hesitate to take action if forced), while Cera is the hotheaded one who prefers to ram first and ask questions later. On a related note, the fluctuation in leadership that we saw in Episode II is not present
at all here in Episode III. From the moment that things get serious, Littlefoot is clearly the one in charge. Again, we'll talk about that more later on.
Back to the plot. The little discourse is interrupted by the arrival of a meteor shower. The animation for this is decent, but the presentation is amazing. There's rockslides, explosions, a giant meteor crashing in the mysterious beyond, it actually feels like a really dangerous situation. The kids (even Hyp and his crew) are absolutely
terrified and run to their families for shelter. Hell, Littlefoot even gets
a tree dropped on him! (But because this isn't the original movie, he's okay). Overall this was actually a somewhat intense scene. It may feel a bit passe to someone who's older and plays videogames where you can knock down a skyscraper onto someone, but I can totally see kids getting pretty scared by all this.
Also it's capped off by a random appearance of the Aurora Borealis. Despite the fact that the color of the background makes it look at one point that the sky was
on fire (which I'm actually not holding against the animators because
it honestly looked really cool) it's a really pretty scene, a nice way to calm folks down after all the chaos we just saw.
Actually this is one of the reasons I like Episode III better than I did Episode II: the entire movie feels "bigger." When comparing the two it really feels like that for Episode II they were testing the waters, they were trying to see if this was a story that could work with a series of sequels, where could they go? What could they do? They weren't quite sure yet so the first go around had the scope pretty limited; the action was mostly confined to the Great Valley and the biggest hazard was two sharpteeth who wandered in looking for their kid. But with Episode III it felt like they were ready to take on more risks and try some new stuff. The action moves outside of the Great Valley towards the climax, the threats are more dangerous, the characters more complex and interesting, and there's even a couple moments that I felt wouldn't have been out of place in the original film.
It really did feel like that Roy Allen Smith had a real sense of what they could do with the characters and where they could take them. And, for better or worse, it set the tone for the rest of the series.
Anyway, back to the plot. Littlefoot is getting his morning drink when the Thundering Falls suddenly shuts off. I do have a minor nitpick in that I don't think it would instantaneously turn off, probably trickle down to the point where there was nothing left. But fluid dynamics aren't my strong suit, and like I said it's mainly a nitpick. Anyway, Littlefoot recognizes that this is not something that is normal and is very concerned. Grandma tells him to go play with his friends while she and Grandpa talk it over with the other adults.
I think we all know how well that's going to go.
So Littlefoot comes across the Gang of Five who's currently playing hide and seek (apparently Cera is pretty good at this). Littlefoot tries to tell everyone about the current crisis, but they all are more interested in playing. This does lead to a nice moment where Cera scares Petrie who ends up clinging to Littlefoot's nose for dear life. Petrie actually gets quite a lot of slapstick moments in this Episode, arguably the majority.
Eventually Littlefoot does tell them about what happened, and they start to go off to investigate. But Hyp and his crew show up to taunt them again, for basically no reason. And I'm serious, it comes right out of nowhere. Littlefoot tells the Gang to come and see the falls not falling, and Hyp says "why don't you go run and see?" Like, is that supposed to be a taunt? I just don't get it.
But I can forgive that because it results in Littlefoot just getting right to the heart of the manner and asking Hyp
why he wants to pick on him and his crew all the time. Think for a second about how many kids entertainment, even today, just cut through all the BS and straight up ask a bully
why they're doing what they're doing. And the fact that Littlefoot said it is really great. It wouldn't be out of place for, say, Ducky to ask this, but once again this establishes Littlefoot as a mediator: he wants to at least understand these guys
before he decides if they're a threat or not.
Hyp's answer to the question is that he does what he does because he's "bigger." And according to him "bigger is smarter, bigger is meaner, and bigger is better."
This of course leads into "When you're big." And in my opinion, this is one of most memorable villain songs in LBT.
Even today, the song still holds up. The lyrics are great, the beat is awesome, and Whitby Herford does a great job as the cocky Hyp (for those wondering, Nod and Mutt are voiced by Scott Menville and series regular Jeff Bennett respectively). Not only is the song a nice little motive song for Hyp, but it also shows just how great it is to be a teenager
from the perspective of a kid. We've all been through our teenage years (some of us are still going through it) and I think we can all agree they were a pretty rough part of our lives. But when you were a kid, you didn't know that. You thought being a teen was the best thing ever. I can tell you that when I was a kid, I thought being a teenager was
exactly like how Hyp described (though with slightly less sadistic tendencies). Now of course we later find out that Hyp's behavior is due to other factors as opposed to just being a teenager, but that still doesn't cheapen the message that's sent to kids. Overall, "When you're big" is just a great song.
And not even a second after the song ends Littlefoot
totally destroys Hyp's argument with just one line."But Hyp, when you're grown up, you won't be big at all!"
OH SNAP, SON!Seriously, this little moment where Littlefoot and Cera point out that their adult forms will
dwarf Hyp's may not be memorable, but it was really great to me. The villains just sang an entire song about how they were large and in charge, and instantly the heroes wrecked their entire argument with just one line. Now yes this is part of the general trend in the sequels about how after a song ends someone says something contradictory and thus the entire message of the song is subverted or outright destroyed, but this is one of the times where I think it really worked.
So after that little number we go back to what I call "movie B." Because let's be honest, the bullying plot and the water scarcity plot are so different they might as well be two different movies. The adults decide that they're going to ration the water. Daddy Tops is of course bullheaded about this and the adults eventually devolve into an argument.
We all already know the precedent that this is going to set for the rest of the series so I'm just gonna skip analyzing this part.
Meanwhile the Gang of Five, blissfully unaware of the water rationing plan, are playing around in the water. It is kind of interesting that they knew about the Thundering Falls stopping but still didn't see a problem with playing in water (especially Littlefoot who saw it happen) but I suppose that being so young they didn't quite understand the seriousness of the matter, so I can let this one pass.
Hyp and his crew show up (okay seriously, how do they keep appearing where the Gang of Five are? Are they using offscreen teleportation?) and demand the Gang of Five leave the watering hole. The Gang of Five (who appear to be more annoyed than frighted at their arrival) stand their ground. Hyp decides to show them who's boss...by kicking Nod into the water...who also lands
on top of Littlefoot! (Once again, he's okay).
All the commotion attracts the attention of the adults. Littlefoot is admonished for being careless with water, but he's given some slack by his Grandparents because he didn't know (or at least fully understand) the current situation. Daddy Tops of course is livid about this, and he calls Littlefoot a "bad influence." Grandpa Longneck snaps back at him
"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Considering that we
rarely see Littlefoot's Grandparents get mad, it was pretty cool to see that Grandpa is not gonna take any of the crap that Daddy Tops says about Littlefoot.
Daddy Tops says Cera isn't allowed to play with Littlefoot anymore. Considering that this is already a common thing he says (and we're just in the
third movie), it's not really that surprising. What
is surprising though is that Cera actually tries to stand up to her Dad. She refuses to go along with him, and when she eventually does she's
clearly in a bad state. After the Threehorns leave, the rest of the gang is called home by their families. Littlefoot is confused by why Daddy Tops was so angry, Grandpa just says "sometimes fear makes grownups do strange things."
One of the other hidden gems of this movie is the development of Daddy Tops as a character. Sadly the development doesn't stick (for the most part), but we do get to see a nice exploration of who he is as a character as well as his relationship with Cera. This is shown in the next scene where he says Cera needs friends who know how to act. Cera responds that he doesn't want her to have any fun and actually runs off, leaving Topsy at a loss for words. This was a really great moment because Cera responded just like a kid would respond to their parents when they're in a situation they don't fully understand. We also see development on Cera's part, in the past two films she thought that her Dad was infallible and obeyed him without question because she thought he was always right. Now she's not so sure.
The next day, Littlefoot is woken up by his grandparents for an early breakfast. I'll just say here that the animation for this little scene looks
great. I don't know if it's the lighting or the colors or whatever, but this really looks like a decent piece of animation. Certainly a cut above what we got in Episode II.
So they go to have breakfast and Littlefoot is dismayed to see that the treestars have become so dry that they crumble at just the slightest touch. His Grandparents explain to him that this is because the Thundering Falls have stopped, and if the water doesn't return soon then their food supply will become critically low, not to mention it's a lot easier for fires to start now. I actually really liked this moment because the Grandparents didn't try to sugarcoat the situation, but at the same time they didn't bluntly say what was happening either. They explained to Littlefoot, like they would to an adult, that right now the situation was looking somewhat grim, and there was a real chance they would have to leave the Great Valley. They love and respect him that much that they're going to tell him straight up what is happening instead of trying to reassure him that everything is fine when it clearly is not.
On that note, the shots of the drying up Great Valley are actually really good. You really get a sense that the herds are in real danger of losing their home, especially when you see a
significant lack of vegetation. It doesn't try to brush off this situation as something in the background or not important to the story, the Episode makes it clear that "yes this is a big deal, and yes the herds are going to be in big trouble if things do not improve."
So Littlefoot is thirsty after breakfast. His Grandparents explain that their turn to drink isn't until later in the day, but Grandpa is sure no one would mind if Littlefoot takes a sip now.
Well turns out that Daddy Tops is policing the watering hole, and of course he
does mind. The Grandparents argue that the rationing rules shouldn't apply to the kids, but Daddy Tops counters with the notion that everyone is going to have to make sacrifices during these trying times. This leads into his song, "Standing Tough."
A lot of people have called "Standing Tough" one of the best songs in the series, and I see no reason to dispute that claim. This is the first time in the series one of the adults gets a song, and Daddy Tops absolutely kills it. The music is a stark departure from the optimistic/ethereal soundtrack we've had for the last two movies, and sounds more like something from Bruce Springsteen or Bob Seger. The lyrics flow really well (with the exception of "I'm gonna make sure we all have water enough") and really get you pumped up and motivated. And in terms of vocals, John Ingle does an exceptional job, you can tell he's having a lot of fun singing this.
But perhaps the best part of the song is that for the first time in the series
we can actually relate to Daddy Tops. Like I said above, one of the hidden gems of Episode III is the development of his character. In his scene with Cera he was humanized when he was shown that he doesn't always have a brash bullheaded comeback. In this song though we start to see at least why he's acting the way he is here. And the best part is that
he's right. When the world around you is falling apart, you aren't doing yourself or anyone any favors but just standing around and debating about what course of action to take. At some point you got to get things done, and someone has to be the leader. Heck, he says so himself.
"You can't just run around in circles, wondering what to do. Someone has to be the voice of reason, is it you? Or you? Or you?"(Ironically the
kids would adhere to that advice more than the
adults would over the course of the series, but I digress).
Daddy Tops is trying to be the levelheaded guy in a world gone mad. He's not the kind of character to take this stuff lying down, he's going to do what he can to ensure the survival of himself and, most importantly, Cera. While animation errors and the like have made the amount of Cera's siblings a non zero number more often than not, as far as the actual story is concerned, Cera is Daddy Tops' only child (at least until later movies). And seeing as how it's implied he lost
his entire family during the original film, he's going to move heaven and Earth to make sure that Cera is safe.
Unfortunately this attitude of his does come back to bite him in the tail later, but we'll get to that in a bit.
Speaking of Cera, while all this is going on she's watching the commotion with Littlefoot. She outright asks Littlefoot "What are we going to do about the grownups? They're acting like babies!" (Which is something that, once again, we will see
a lot moving forward).
But the best part of this little moment is when she expresses to Littlefoot how worried she is about her Dad's behavior. She's scared that she won't be allowed to see him or her friends ever again. Littlefoot reassures her that her Dad does love her, and he's acting like this because he's scared as well. Considering these two spent the majority of the last two movies butting heads, it's really great seeing a tender moment between them. It shows that deep down, despite the fact that it seems a majority of the time they annoy the hell out of each other, they really do care for each other.
So while the adults continue to argue ("Can't we agree on anything?!") the Gang of Five calls a meeting to discuss what they're going to do. Spike sleeps through it, prompting a nice little comedic moment where they try to rouse him. Petrie once again gets some slapstick here. ("Spike up!" "Spike down!")
So the Gang decides to find water, with Littlefoot instructing them to sniff it out. We're treated to some more animation showing the dire straits the Great Valley is in, with copious amounts of vegetation dying out. Eventually the Gang finds an oasis near the Valley Wall, and they are overjoyed by this. In addition to finally getting a good drink, they resolve to tell the grownups and thus help alleviate the rationing crisis.
But this moment is interrupted by the arrival of Hyp and his crew (seriously,
are they teleporting?!) who claim the oasis for themselves and demand the Gang of Five keep quiet about it. Littlefoot more or less tells him to shove it (not literally but he makes it clear he gives absolutely zero ***** about what Hyp thinks at this point in time) and the Gang flee the scene, pursued by the bullies. Cera wants to fight them, but she's dragged away by the others who exclaim that they simply don't have time. They do eventually lose the bullies (thanks in part to a wasp that Mutt irritates).
On the way back the Gang take a detour and end up outside the Wall. They discover that meteor shower at the start of the movie blocked off the water (specifically the impact walled it up). They deduce that if they can figure out a way to clear the blockage, they can get water flowing back to the Great Valley. (Of course technically the impacts would have most likely vaporized the water, but then again we can assume some time has passed and thus the basin was full of rainwater. Either way, that's just a nitpick.)
During the trek back a storm rolls in. Lighting strikes a tree, and due to the dryness of the plants, it blossoms into a wildfire. The animation here actually looks pretty decent, there's still some stuff that looks phoned in (the spreading of the wildfire is clearly just a rapid looping of cells), but for the most part the animation holds up. Even if it can't hold a candle (no pun intended) to Don Bluth's animation of the volcano in the first film, it's still enough that it could be somewhat frightening to kids. Also the smoke effects, while still crude, are step up from Episode II. They're a bit more transparent and natural now, and don't look like someone just drew over the frames with a magic marker.
The kids get back to the adults and alert them to the fire. Grandpa orders an immediate evacuation of the Great Valley...and he and Daddy Tops
argue over who is going to lead the herds out. Littlefoot and Cera glance at each other as if to say "Really? they're going to do this now?" (A sentiment also being expressed by the audience I imagine).
Daddy Tops's escape plan involves him going downwind. Grandpa points out that he's going to be putting himself in danger. Daddy Tops refuses to listen to reason and demands Cera come with him. Cera refuses, but eventually she's dragged along. This time the poor girl is in near tears and everyone else is visibly concerned. Grandpa resolves to go after them to make sure they don't get hurt, while Grandma leads the rest of the herds out.
There are several moments in this film that would not be out of place in the first movie. Daddy Tops and Cera trying to escape is one of them. The two are literally
chased by the fire spreading through the valley. It's actually kind of hard to watch, Cera has flames that a literally licking at her backside and she worryingly asks her Dad if this is the right way, and he just says "Yes! I'm sure it is!" Almost like he's trying to reassure himself as much as he's trying to reassure Cera. Eventually they get trapped in a literal ring of fire, but luckily Grandpa Longneck is able to get them out by knocking down a (apparently fireproof) tree for them to use to escape.
Meanwhile Grandma is leading the other herds out. Eventually though the smoke becomes too think for her, and she asks Littlefoot to take the lead. At first he's hesitant, but then he takes his leadership skills he exercises with his crew and applies it to the whole herd, using his voice as a guide to lead them out of the Valley. This is perhaps one of the defining moments for Littlefoot as a character, he's being asked to take on a huge responsibility, the responsibility for the
lives of the other herds, and he handles it like a pro. He doesn't panic, he takes charge, and he gets the job done.
This is why Littlefoot is my homeboy.The herds make it out of the Valley and are reunited with Cera and Daddy Tops, who thanks Grandpa for saving his hide (you don't see that often in the series). The celebration is tempered though when the herds realize what the fire has done. The Great Valley has been severely damaged, and the herds are now without food, water, and a home.
This is one of the reasons I liked Episode III more than Episode II. It didn't try to hide or tone down the threat to the Valley. Keep in mind that the biggest threat the last time around were a pair of wayward sharpteeth who were dispatched quickly by the grownups. This time around they're in danger of losing their home. And they don't just talk about the danger, no,
you actually see the scorched and charred valley. Episode III doesn't play around, it lets you know full well that things are serious.
Thankfully the herds only despair for a moment or so before the Gang informs the adults of what happened to the water. Grandpa is worried that the presence of the water will attract sharpteeth, but Daddy Tops says they have to go free the water as they don't have any other choices. Considering that the adults are usually scared to even set a toe in the mysterious beyond, it was nice to see at least one of them (even if it was Daddy Tops) say "Yes it's dangerous, but we have to go out there or we won't have a home to live in!"
But of course the adults start to argue over what course of action to take. This actually provides a nice moment of snark from
Petrie of all dinos. Grandma breaks up a fight between Daddy Tops and Mr. Clubtail saying "Stop it! You're acting like children!" and Petrie quips "Ha! We no act like that!"
Meanwhile Hyp and his crew have teleported onto the scene (seriously, I'm going with that, just try to prove me wrong) and decide to go get the water themselves. Nod and Mutt express some serious reservations, but Hyp convinces them to go along, boasting that he can take on any sharpteeth they find. This crazy brave persona does little to reassure Nod and Mutt, but the bullies set out anyway.
The Gang of Five see them head off. Littlefoot is concerned for their safety and wants to follow them, whereas Cera just wants to leave them for dead. The rest of the Gang somewhat agree with Cera, not really understanding why Littlefoot wants to help them after all the abuse they took from them over the course of the movie. Littlefoot explains that, even though they were acting like fools, they were still just kids like they were, and they needed their help. This leads into "Kids like us."
This is perhaps one of the most underrated songs in the entire franchise. I've never heard anyone say it's a bad song, but I also haven't seen people put this in one of their top fives. The music is once again the ethereal soundtrack that we've come to expect from the series, and Scott McAfee does a really great job with the vocals, especially when you consider that this song is just one big solo for Littlefoot.
But my favorite part of the song is the message. It's actually a very mature outlook on the whole situation. Littlefoot recognizes that Hyp and his crew are not so different from the Gang of Five. At the end of the day they have parents, hopes, fears, feelings, and so on. They like to act tough because they're bigger, but deep down inside they're just as scared as the Gang of Five is about the unknown (maybe even more).
Littlefoot says that he has to try and stop them, and actually tells the other dinos they don't have to accompany him on this mission. It shows what kind of character Littlefoot has when he's willing to risk his own skin to save some dinos that don't particularly like him that much, and he respects his friends enough to not hold it against them if they don't come along. But of course since this is the Gang of Five we're talking about, they go along anyway.
Meanwhile Hyp and his crew are out in the mysterious beyond looking for water (we get some nice shots of decaying dino remains as well). Hyp eventually finds what he thinks is a watering hole and jumps in. It turns out though that it's a tar pit and he starts to sink. Nod and Mutt panic and argue amongst themselves about what to do while Hyp struggles for his life.
Luckily the Gang of Five arrives and start getting right to work. Littlefoot tells Hyp to stop moving and he freezes in possibly the most hilarious indignant posture ever. The Gang form up a dino chain and pull Hyp out of the tar pit. Hyp states that he was never in danger, to which Petrie calls him a "big fat fibber!" Cera points out that they just saved his hide and perhaps he should be grateful for the help. Hyp just says "I don't need help! Not now! Not ever!"
Until he sees the herds arriving (apparently they teleported as well, how else could they know where the kids went when they were
too busy arguing to notice they had left?!).
"....help!"
Hyp hides behind the Gang of Five as the Grandparents ask them what they were doing out here. Littlefoot explains they were trying to save Hyp from the tar pits.
And then we see why Hyp was hiding.
His Dad walks over and chews him out for running away when they were in the middle of a crisis. And what really sells the scene is Hyp's cowering posture and expression. When he tries to put on a tough face his Dad just smacks him down (verbally). Based on this interaction we can assume that this is a regular occurrence.
I won't go so far as to call this child abuse, but it seems to be that the movie is implying that the relationship between Hyp and his father is...not great.
The end result though is that Hyp, a character we previously felt nothing but animosity towards,
instantly becomes sympathetic. Sure we all kind of felt satisfied when Hyp was trapped in the tar pit as he got what was coming, heck we may have even felt dissapointed when the Gang of Five saved him. But the second we see him cowering in front of his father, who's even
worse than he is when it comes to behavior, we instantly realize that Littlefoot was
right about him just being a "kid in trouble."
And the first adult to realize this?
Daddy Tops.He tells Hyp's father that "If you only react with anger, that's all your son will know, and that's all he'll be able to express towards others." Not only is that a very mature look at the issue, but again this is coming from Daddy Tops, who also goes onto express remorse for the way he treated Cera throughout the film, saying he gets short with her because he's worried about her. Cera says that he doesn't have to worry about her, and does it in perhaps the sweetest and most heartwarming tone possible.
And FINALLY after nearly an entire film, the adults realize that if they ever want to get things done, they can't argue all the time and will need to work together. (This would be a good lesson if it wasn't forgotten
BY EVERY SINGLE MOVIE THAT CAME OUT AFTER THIS ONE.)
And what better way to put this newfound trust to the test than by getting attacked by a pack of Raptors?
That's right! A pack of Raptors just happens to show up because Universal remembered that we hadn't had a faceoff with a carnivore yet. While the Raptors don't look as threatening as the T-Rex's in the past films, they still look
very cool. Also considering that this movie was released 2 years after Jurassic Park was, I got a feeling the kids watching knew exactly how dangerous Raptors could be.
Like in the last movie the adults actually lead the charge against the predators. Hyp's Dad leads the kids out, while Grandpa and Daddy Tops take on the Raptors. Safe to say they start kicking tail and taking names. It's a really awesome sequence.
The kids flee down a path with Hyp's Dad as an escort. But soon enough they come to a dead end and are cornered by some Raptors. But the Raptors are then cornered by the adults.
Not so clever girls.
The Raptors take on the adults in a fight that sadly is offscreen (but based on the reactions of the kids, it was pretty intense). The end result is the small outcropping they were standing on collapsing in a landslide that incapacitates the Raptors as well as the adults. The Raptors are roused first due to dramatic convention and go to finish off the adults. Hyp's Dad tells the kids to run and he takes on the Raptors
by himself. Seriously, he actually manages to take on three at a time, and he does a pretty good job.
It's even enough to move Hyp. When Nod and Mutt talk about what a dork his Dad is for risking his skin (seriously, they actually say something to the effect of "Look at your Dad saving everyone! What a dork!") Hyp actually joins in the fray as well, distracting the Raptors long enough for the other adults to awaken and get back to business.
Speaking of which, this wouldn't be a LBT movie if the Gang of Five didn't get in on the action. Once again using a Death from Above tactic, and with assistance from Hyp and his crew, they bury the Raptors in piles of rock several times. And the Raptors
still get up to try and fight them! (Seriously, is everyone just made of iron in this movie?)
Eventually though Littlefoot realizes that the battle has chipped away at enough of the barrier to free the water. He alerts the others and everyone escapes the scene just before a massive wall of water breaks through the barrier. The Thundering Falls instantly switches back on, and the cascade of water puts out all the remaining fires in the Great Valley (and conveniently washes away the Raptors...who survive because why not). Grandpa tells Littlefoot that he and his friends saved the day, Littlefoot just says "No, we all did."
So we get a final montage to wrap everything up, once again set to the original score by James Horner. Realistically the Great Vallley isn't instantly healed, everything is still burnt and charred and there's a real scarcity of food. The Gang of Five is out scouting for food, with the assistance of Hyp and his crew, and Hyp suggests they all share what they found. Nod and Mutt can't believe what they're hearing, and Hyp says "Not sharing is for scaredy-eggs!" (A line that is cheesy enough to work).
We close out the film with a sequence of the Gang of Five + Hyp's crew sharing some treestars, and a closing narration that says eventually this would be known as "The Time of the Great Giving." Not only is that a rare title drop in the series, but it also helps tie the two plots together.
Like I said in my Episode II review, each Episode has a particular theme. Episode II's was "coming of age." In Episode III the theme isn't really as apparent as the two main plots are so different (one is about bullying, the other about survival) that they might as well be two different films, as I stated above. But in the climax of the film, both plots mesh together as one story, and we finally get a revelation as to what the theme is.
The theme of Episode III is "Helping others." And I don't just mean helping people out when a disaster strikes their home, I also mean helping others to realize that there's an alternative to bad behavior. Being big doesn't mean you have to be bad. You don't need to pick on other kids just to feel powerful. And most importantly, you always need friends, even if you don't think you do.
This is the reason I like Episode III a lot more than Episode II. Episode II wasn't terrible, but it was kind of a letdown after all that we saw in the first movie. It feels like that it was just meant to be kind of a proof of concept film, to show that "yeah this is a story that can be continued with a healthy amount of sequels." There was still action and drama and stuff, but it was fairly limited, as the scope of the film was pretty small. I mean it's called "The Great Valley Adventure", that's not just there to sound cool.
Episode III though feels a lot bigger. It feels like Universal finally knew what they wanted to do with their characters and stories. So they upped the ante. They gave us a real danger to the Great Valley that the adults couldn't just drive away with brute force. They gave us some complex antagonists. They explored the characters of our protagonists. Hell they even hit a home run on all three songs! Seriously unlike last time where the songs were hit and miss (mostly miss), I have zero major problems with
any of the songs in Episode III.
So on the whole, I really did like this one. And to those that didn't all I can say is:
"You don't like it? TOUGH!"
No, for real, like I said in the intro, this is a polarizing episode for some reason. I don't see a lot of folks calling it terrible, but I do see people saying it's either better than the majority of the sequels or just okay. I can understand why, the bullying plot may feel a little bit shoehorned into a survival story, the characterization arcs may go in directions you may not agree with, or heck maybe you don't like the songs. So if you really don't see Episode III as one of the better sequels, who am I to stop you.
For me, this is the Episode III that I saw. While it's not as great as the original, it is certainly a cut above Episode II in my opinion. It took more risks, it developed the characters, it was a vocal success, it was just a great flick.
And like I said, in my opinion this was the beginning of a brief period of time where the sequels could at least be mentioned in the same sentence as the original.
Next time, we go on a Journey Through the Mists...