Pete's Dragon (1977)


A now for a live-action musical with animation, the original Pete's Dragon.

The Movie:

 Pete's Dragon is a mostly live-action musical fantasy with the title dragon being animated.  It was directed by Don Chaffey, who was known for Jason and the Argonauts and One Million Years B.C.  Pete's Dragon was a modest success at the box-office with mixed reviews from critics.  Today it is one of the lesser known Disney films, but it does have a bit of a cult following.

Pete's Dragon is based on an unpublished short story by Seton I. Miller and S.S. Field.  The movie takes places in Maine near the beginning of the 20th century.  Pete is a young orphan running away from an abusive adopted family of hillbillies.  Pete's only friend is the dragon Elliott, who can turn invisible when he wants.  They come across the town of Passamaquoddy, and Elliott's clumsiness causes Pete to become an instant pariah.  While hiding in a cave, Pete is discovered by Nora, who with her father runs the lighthouse.  Taking pity on Pete, Nora offers him food and shelter for the night.  Meanwhile, the snake oil salesman Dr. Terminus shows up in town, and while he at first dismisses the stories of a dragon, he eventually plans to capture it.

This was not a favorite of mine as child, but I was curious to revisit it as an adult.  And the first thing I must point out is that it is long!  (The DVD case says 88 minutes, but it was actually 129!  For those math-deficient out there, that is over 2 hours!)  Unfortunately, this movie really drags at times.  It does have some good moments.  The animation of Elliott is nicely done, and once you get used to the idea of an animated character existing in an otherwise live-action world, it mostly works.  (Of note, Don Bluth was the animation director for this film, one of his final projects at Disney.)  Helen Reddy in charming in the role of Nora, bringing life to almost every scene she is in.

As this is a musical, there are a lot of songs.  Most of the production numbers have catchy music (even when the 70s schmaltz is apparent), and the large scale dances in "I Saw a Dragon" and "There's Room for Everyone" are well choreographed.  However, the lyrics to many of the songs are just plain goofy, and the film as a whole comes off as quirky.  I know some people find charm in that, but for me at times it is more a "so bad it's good" situation.  There is one standout song that really deserves its place in the Disney songbook, and that is "Candle on the Water."  That song earned an Oscar nomination for writers Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, and the two along with composer Irwin Kostal earned an Oscar nomination for Best Song Score.

Presence in the Parks:

 Oddly enough, the title character of Pete's Dragon, Elliott, used to have a very iconic presence in the parks.  That's because an Elliott float was one of the signature floats in the Main Street Electric Parade.  Now, I imagine in recent years, given the increasing obscurity of this film, there were plenty of park visitors who had no idea that this float was based on a movie.  However, since the parade is not currently running on either coast, you won't find Elliott presently.



Elliott float, Main Street Electric Parade, Magic Kingdom, May 2015

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