“Pete’s Dragon”

Welcome to all the Olympic Athlete’s that may be reading my blog (and to everyone else). Well it has been TWO YEARS since I started up this blog ( well two years on this coming Sunday) . Since that time I have totally laced into the Academy and Kid’s Choice and I have done two end of the year polls (and the movie that won last year ,I still haven’t reviewed; “give me a break I’ve been busy” ). We have reviewed 9 of the Land Before Time movies and we still have 5 left to go! (Do I have to review 5 more of these “crappy” movies? ) Back on to the main subject , I thought the best way to celebrate ( and it’s not remembering all the good times on my blog) is to review another Don Bluth movie. The first review I did was The Land Before Time which is a movie he made by himself ( well technically by himself because he did have a bunch of people working for him ) . One year ago for my one year anniversary I reviewed Sleeping Beauty and that is the first movie he ever worked on ( at least professionally ). Today we will be reviewing Pete’s Dragon ( 1977) . If you're wondering what Bluth did , he was the lead animator on Elliot the dragon. Shall we begin ?

Background:

This film is based on an unpublished short story by Seton I. Miller and S.S. Field . Later on Disney bought the rights and Don Chaffey was hired to direct the film. It became a half live action and half animated film ( if you're wondering how they blended Elliot the Dragon with the real people ,I think it required a special kind of film and a special kind of lighting: very complicated! ). Here is a little fun fact for you , The lighthouse that Disney built in California for this movie was equipped with a ginormously big light that Disney had to get special permission from the Coast Guard to operate due to possible  confusion for the ships ( hows that for irony ? )  

Plot:

The basic premise is a boy that is a person who is trying to run away from his adoptive parents because they used him as free slave labor. A boy named Pete has a friend that happens to be a dragon that is named Elliot . He finds a small town where the people tend to be afraid of dragons and then there is a witch doctor that comes to town and he wants Elliot.

Opinion:

I would like to mention that I am reviewing the 129 minute cut. There are several versions of the movie : the two most readily available are the 129 minute cut and the 128 minute cut. If you're wondering which one I prefer , I will give you that one later. Now this movie can get very boring.  The main villain which is the witch doctor , just didn’t do it for me. Granted he did have his moments but I think that the focus should have been on Pete’s abusive foster parents.  Most of the songs are not in the least bit memorable.  There are only two songs that are catchy, those being “I thought I saw a Dragon” and “Candle on the Water”(sung by the lighthouse keeper's daughter.) Even though the songs are not memorable they have several very funny scenes  connected to them. The animation on Elliot is very good (one of Don Bluth’s best works.) As to which cut I prefer it is the 128 minute cut, because it is less boring. If you are wondering about my feelings about the remake that is coming out I have my doubts due to Disney’s past record on remakes of the classics (granted I have not seen the remake of the Jungle Book.) Pete’s Dragon is a 3 Star movie!

Thank-you to everyone that has read my blog for the past 2 years, I will be forever grateful. I have a whole lot more things planned so keep coming back.

Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™ 

By Mr.Bee 

  

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images courtesy of   The Walt Disney Company and Mango Bollywood respectively.