Pete's Dragon (1977)

I saw this movie once when I was a kid and it did appeal to me, even if just a little. Upon re-watching it on the occasion of the release of its remake, it is apparent that there are flaws. The premise of "Pete's Dragon" is a great idea and Elliot himself is quite a delightful character but there were problems with the narrative structure and duration of the show. Disney was also trying to resurrect some of the magic it saw come out of the 1960's but failed to do so.

In the two decades following the success of "Mary Poppins", the Disney studio was looking for a repeat. The closest they came to replicating "Mary Poppins" in my opinion is "Bedknobs and Broomsticks". "Pete's Dragon" fell short for a few reasons. Firstly, the original Roadshow version with a running time of 134 minutes made the show much too long for its target audience. The version we can enjoy today is 129 minutes in duration but that is still too long. I am betting that the 1984 re-release (which lasted 104 minutes) didn't solve this problem because besides the long running time of the movie, this show has a narrative pattern that doesn't provide the needed rising and falling action. The climax felt at lot more dramatic as a kid but because the whole movie felt a little boring from the perspective of an adult, the ending suffered. Other aspects suffered as well such as the songs. Some of them did not contribute to the story and as a result felt out of place or unneeded. The songs were also below par from what we are used to in a Disney film. They felt dated unlike those written by the Sherman Brothers. I will say that my favorite song in the movie is "Every Little Piece" because it is clever and is harmonious. The film had a lot of dubbing for the outside scenes & during the songs and it was distracting. It was possible back then for a musical to disguise the moment when they switch from on-set dialogue to the pre-recorded song track but the sound in "Pete's Dragon" was annoying. Due to the boring nature of the overall film, we tend to notice all the flaws a lot more. I will say though that the use of the Goofy holler was pretty fitting during the ending. There was a plot hole that bugged me in this movie. I wonder why Nora still fails to believe in the existence of Elliot when the rest of the town is starting to. The school and the attack on the Gogans should have been enough for her to suspect the truth. Before Delores Umbridge, there was Miss Taylor. She really irked me. Yet another flaw with the movie was the quality of the animation. Walt Disney's team of senior animators from the 1930's to the 60's were nicknamed the Nine Old Men but "Pete's Dragon" was the first animation from the studio for a feature film in which they were not contributors. Putting aside how charming Elliot is as a character, the animation was not as clean as what we are used to nor did it play well along side the live action elements. "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" pulled off tricks that were not possible during the 60's and the film won an Oscar for it but "Pete's Dragon" six years after "Bedknobs" did not push technology forward. For example, some live action props became animated whenever Elliot interacted with them. In other Disney films previously that have combined live action with animation, they got away with such tricks without the audience noticing. Because the slow pace of this movie draws attention to the animation flaws and probably because of a lower budget, the magic was lost on "Pete's Dragon". The combination of animated and live action for Elliot's fire breath also was a blemish. The mechanical dragon under the netting almost worked except during the overhead shot when the rig pivots. That was a flaw that caused the scene to change from believable to phony. The animation and special effects in this movie weren't awful; they were just not what we've come to expect from the studio.

This movie did launch the careers of many animators despite the quality of the animation, most notably Don Bluth as the animation director on this movie. It was his first senior role for a feature film in his career. He enjoyed great success in the 80's when he collaborated with Steven Spielberg on such films as "An American Tail" and "The Land Before Time". Animator Gary Goldman would remain by Bluth's side even into the new millennium. Some of the animators/crew members on "Pete's Dragon" would become very important figures in the Disney Renascence. These include Ron Clements ("The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin"), Glen Keane (who would animate Ariel and the Beast among many characters) and Don Hahn. He was the assistant director to Bluth and gained experience that would later come in handy on "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", a film released only a little over a decade after "Pete's Dragon" but would leave its special effects in the dust. Hahn remains an important producer at Disney today. In terms of the animation not blending perfectly alongside the live action, the fault could be placed on Bluth because even later in 1991, the scenes in "Rock-a-Doodle" that combined live action with animation were no better. Now that I have I am done talking about the animation as a whole, I can pay tribute to the character that helped "Pete's Dragon" save face. Elliot is charming, sweet and loyal. I think the credit should belong to Ken Anderson as Elliot's creator and Charlie Callas with the vocal performance. Anderson had a long career at Disney and 1977 appears to have been his last year at the studio. He also served as the animation art director on this movie. Part of Elliot's appeal is that he is a silent character. You could say that he is a combination between Pluto, Dopey and the Crocodile from "Peter Pan". Another familiar name in the credits is Irwin Kostal, who composed the musical score. He worked on a few notable musicals in the 60's and 70's. This show has two Oscar-winning actors by way: Red Buttons and Shelley Winters. I don't know if this was the film that introduced me to Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rooney or if it was "Fox and the Hound".

I have always been proud of the fact that I could remember the name of the town in this movie but then on the occasion of watching it to prepare for the 2016 version, I found out that the name is not "Paddamaquacy" but "Passamaquoddy". I was disappointed in myself. "Pete's Dragon" received Oscar nominations for its musical score and for the song "Candle on the Water". I think that what really allows this film to remain present in the public's consciousness is the idea of an imaginary friend being real. Also, kids who saw the movie in the 70's are now grown up and remember the film because it appealed to them at a young age. The character of Elliot is still fun to watch today but the mistakes with the overall movie are hard to overlook. For those who decide to revisit it like me, they might be sad to find that it is boring and technically inferior to previous Disney live action fantasies. Starting in the 2010's, Disney began to see the benefits of creating live action versions of their animated films or remaking old classics and "Pete's Dragon" inspired one of those remakes.

3 Stars