Voices of Robyn Moore and Keith Scott
Directed by Yoram Gross
Music and Lyrics by Gairden Cooke
The Dot series was wildly popular in its native Australia, enough to continue for eight films. This is the third of those 8 films, coming after Dot and the Bunny. It also varies the formula a bit, trading in Dot's interaction with real-life animals for something closer to what you'd find in an animated series from this era, a town of talking animals. How does Dot get involved with the story of how one all-animal town created a dam for more power...and learned a lesson when the animals in the bush whose homes were flooded out fight back? Let's begin in that sleepy all-farm-animal town and find out...
The Story: Mayor Percy Pig is certain that their big new dam will thrust their little town into the 20th Century and bring many jobs to the community. What he doesn't consider is that their dam would flood the Outback and destroy the homes of the animals who live there. Bruce the Koala (Scott) encourages all the residents to fight back, but it just ends with them building the dam anyway. They finally bring in Dot (Moore) to help them stop the opening. She's the one who shows Percy, rat detective Sherlock Bones, and his none-too-bright cat sidekick Watson that small towns have their own charms, and there can be progress without destroying the environment.
The Animation: This one takes a different route with the style of animation. The animals look far smaller and less realistic than they do in previous films, with shorter, less detailed bodies and larger, goofier eyes. There's also far less live-action footage, and the animals barely interact with it at all. Dot looks more-or-less the same, but then she also has a lot less to do.
The Song and Dance: Unique story almost comes off as a lighter version of Animal Farm, with the two sides warring over what one sees as "progress" and the other only knows will destroy their way of life. Some of the action sequences, especially in the beginning where they're all fighting, are kind of fun. Scott has fun playing most of the voices, including the stuffy pig mayor who thinks that power is the best way to shove his little town in the 20th Century and feisty little Bruce the Koala.
The Numbers: The local children's "Dam the Power!" chant leads everyone in town to chant about how the dam will mean "progress." The animals in the outback aren't as amused. They go to tell the animals in town what they think of their dam and "Stop It From Happening." Dot and Bruce show how a "Small Town" is just as important in the finale, which continues into the credits.
What I Don't Like: I liked it much better when Dot was helping animals in the real Australian outback. First of all, she doesn't turn up until 40 minutes into a movie that runs a little over an hour, and when she does appear, she doesn't have all that much to do. Second, the animation is grotesque, weird, and a little too goofy, lacking the realistic details of the previous three. The story veers between Sherlock Bones and Watson's dumb gags and the darker story of how so-called "progress" isn't always the answer with no rhyme or reason, and the environmental message is forced and cliched.
The Big Finale: With weirdly goofy animation and a story that veers between cliched, dark, and too silly, I'm going to say this is only for the most ardent fans of the Dot series or Australian animation. All others are fine with the previous three films or the ones that came afterwards.
Home Media: Which makes it just as well that at press time this is one of the harder-to-find Dot films. To my knowledge, the only place it can currently be found in North America is YouTube.
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