Film #170 - Pete’s Dragon (1977)
Pete’s Dragon is an odd film that marked the last time Disney had animation and live action interact onscreen. (There was, of course, Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, but that was released as a Touchstone film.) It has a lot in common with the animated films of the day and less with the studio’s live action output.
The style of the film is very much in line with animated features such as The Rescuers and Robin Hood. Everything is colorful, fanciful and full of song. The dragon, Elliott, is hardly menacing in the least, which makes the human’s reaction to him even more comedic and less dramatic.
And, of course, as is usually the case with these kinds of films, it’s a group of humans (in this case the Gogan family led by Shelley Winters) who are the real villains, adopting the titular Pete (Sean Marshall) simply so that he can work for them essentially as a slave. (They even go so far as to literally say so in the song “Bill of Sale”.) There is also a conniving snake oil salesman, Dr. Terminus (Jim Dale) and his henchman Hoagy (Red Buttons), who are out to catch the dragon for their own nefarious purposes.
Well, Pete escapes and finds his way to the town of Passamaquody, where he meets Nora (Helen Reddy) and her father, Lampie (Mickey Rooney). Unfortunately, Pete’s usually invisible friend Elliott comes along as well and causes a lot of trouble for Pete, eventually attracting the attention of Terminus.
It’s a fairly formulaic story of an outcast kid who finds his way towards a more normal life. Without the dragon and the fantastic elements, I don’t think anyone would remember this film better than they have Candleshoe. (Please, don’t pretend you remember Candleshoe.)
It’s not that the film is bad, it’s just that there isn’t anything that hasn’t been seen before and since dozens of times. Pete is reminiscent of countless little lost boys going as far back as Oliver Twist, the songs (though fine) are not really memorable and there’s not truly compelling storyline to pull the audience through the film.
In fact, the only really interesting and memorable part of Pete’s Dragon is…well..Pete’s Dragon. Elliott is a really fun character with an interesting design (more comedic than scary) and I think it is the appeal of Elliott that is the cause for this film being as fondly remembered as it is. But realistically, he’s not in the movie that much and can only carry it so far.
The burden of carrying the film is mostly on the young star, Pete Marshall, who just doesn’t have any of that star quality about him. He’s okay, just not strong enough to hold his own against the much older rest of the cast. Helen Reddy makes the most of one of her rare acting appearances and her sympathetic role as a woman longing for her husband’s return serves as one of the few draws for an adult audience. The rest of the cast (able though they may be) ham things up way too much to contribute significantly to the film’s appeal.
In the end, Pete’s Dragon is a formulaic children’s adventure movie that can hold some minor appeal for adults, but were it not for a well-conceived design for the title character, would probably have been mostly fogotten these days.