Mi amigo el dragón

You can be fairly sure with the animated Disney films that you're going to get something good. But with the studio's live-action films there are no guarantees. On the one hand, you might get something like Mary Poppins or 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - in which case you'd be plenty satisfied. On the other hand you could get something as terrible as Popeye, in which case you'd need a great deal of willpower to make it to the end. Pete's Dragon is one of Disney's live-action ventures (though it features one animated character in Elliot, the dragon of the title). Though a little overlong and rambling, it is on the whole a well-made and entertaining film, and it is certainly a gulf ahead of the likes of Condorman, Popeye and Herbie Goes Bananas.

Scruffy young orphan Pete (Sean Marshall) is on the run in the woodland of Maine from the Gogan family, a bunch of abusive rednecks led by Lena Gogan (Shelly Winters), who claims that she owns Pete because she bought him at a market. Pete escapes from them, and sets off for Passamaquoddy, a nearby coastal town where he hopes to find safety. Accompanying Pete is an animated dragon named Elliot, who can make himself invisible and who has come to look after Pete until the kid has got his life sorted out. Once in Passamaquoddy, Pete and Elliot inadvertently cause havoc, including scaring the wits out of lighthouse-keeper Lampie (Mickey Rooney). They hide out in some nearby caves, but Pete is found by Lampie's daughter Nora (Helen Reddy), who decides to take him in. Elliot's job seems done (Pete is now safe and wanted, after all) but then con-man Dr. Terminus (Jim Dale) arrives in town.... and soon he's got his mind set on capturing the dragon.

Like I said, the film is rambling, and from this synopsis it's clear that the plot wanders around a lot, introducing probably more events and characters than necessary. Nonetheless, Pete's Dragon is still entertaining. Jim Dale as the unscrupulous Dr Terminus, and Red Buttons as his dim side-kick, are genuinely funny villains. The blending together of animated Elliot and the living, breathing actors is very good - especially for 1977 - though in a shipwreck sequence near the end the special effects are utterly dreadful. Kids will find a lot to like in Pete's Dragon as long as they can sit still for over 2 hours, and adults too will find pleasures along the way. It's certainly one of the better live-action offerings to come from the Disney studio at a time when their output was quite indifferent in quality.

This is a very well done film. It isn't quite as memorable as Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, but it so deserves to be up there. The protagonist was very well portrayed by Sean Marshall,(despite the lack of singing ability) but my favourite was the animated dragon Elliot. The scene in the schoolroom was priceless. I absolutely loved Helen Reddy as Nora, the way she sang "Candle in the Water"(about her lover) was beautiful. Jim Dale was great and very funny as the quack Dr Terminus, but he has been better in the Carry on franchise. The most entertaining were Red Buttons and Mickey Rooney, and I mustn't forget the Gogans Shelley Winters must have had a ball making this film. The film has two minor drawbacks. It is a little too long, but also the songs while very pleasant to hear aren't as memorable as later Disney efforts, though Candle On the Water and There's Room for Everyone are classics. But I agree it is underrated. This film is an 8/10. Bethany Cox

With the release of the newly updated version out this past Friday, I wanted to write about the original Disney masterpiece, Petes Dragon. It was a great memory as a child, watching this magical film and singing the songs. I realize that not everyone is a fan of musicals or Disney films in general, but this was one of the last true musicals, up there with Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Mary Poppins.

I like the original, it has depth and feeling. Remakes just make me feel like I'm paying for a story I already know. Some remakes can be good, but the original Petes Dragon isn't even that old of a film. And I know Disney has a history of remaking a lot of their own films, but Petes Dragon? It's a classic.

This film has so many memorable moments, from the characters to the sets to the music. Mickey Rooney as Lampie was great, probably his most remembered role ever. And Helen Reddy as Nora was excellent, and her song Candle on the Water is beautiful. And Doc Terminus, played by Jim Dale was hilarious and charming. He is a real treat to watch in any Disney film.

If you love Disney films, watch the classic and give it credit where it's due.

There's a lot to like about this movie, which we all watched together on Roxy's 41st birthday. The early 20th-century New England setting (Passamaquoddy!), the young boy Pete, who looks a lot like my son Sebastian; his resistance to his abusive adopted parents, and positive relationship with Nora; and the traveling healer/huckster/magician Dr. Terminus. The songs definitely added to the show, but were not particularly memorable. Maybe the show's greatest interest--ironically, given the live action remake--is its rare genre of mixed live-action and animated motion picture: beyond Pete's Dragon, the only other examples I can think are the much more famous Mary Poppins and Roger Rabbit. Here the animation is used to great effect because at first glance it suggests that Eliot the dragon isn't real, merely Pete's fantasy, his imaginary friend whom no one else can see: but we soon learn that everyone else can see the physical effects of Pete's actions. It invites us to put faith in children's imaginations, and movies which encourage them.

Too many people spend too much time comparing Disney movies to each other, as if to say that every Disney movie made should unfold in such a way as to easily identify it as a "Disney Movie." That's a shame, as each movie should be judged on it's own contributions to the motion picture lexicon. Fortunately for Pete's Dragon, it contributes something that is essential and valuable to a child's world: fun.

There's nothing too serious in Pete's Dragon. Granted, the catalyst for the action in the film is a boy running away from an abusive family, only to encounter an equally abusive society (not to mention a scheming charlatan who wants to capture - and kill - Pete's Dragon for his own monetary gain), but all involved in the production are aware that their target audience is children, and so all of the aforementioned is handled with kid gloves. The best example of this is the acting.

The cast does their best to have fun with their character and, as such, contributes greatly to the light-hearted tone of the film. In particular, the villains are played with great, over-the-top gusto, which is exactly what is needed in a kids movie. You want to teach children a lesson, not scare the crap out of them. As such, Shelley Winters as Ma Gogan and Jim Dale as Doc Terminus are classic kiddie villains: Winters stomps through her scenes in a bluster of hilarious hillbilly kookiness, while Dale steals every scene he's in - and nearly the whole show - in a deliciously maniacal role that should have one him an oscar - seriously!

Any actor can bring on the tears and boo-hoo their way through an "emotionally intense" role; they're a dime a dozen. It takes a real actor to come up with the kind of performance Dale did, in which every line of dialogue is nailed, and his voice and his body seem to be in completely in synch with each other and with the character. There is not one word left untouched by his genius. Especially fun are his interactions with his sidekick, Hoagy, played by Red Buttons. The two are perfect comic foils. They are no matches, however, for the straight-shooting Nora.

Nora (Helen Reddy), along with her father Lampie (Mickey Rooney) tend to the local lighthouse. It is in these two characters that children find their protectors. In any kids movie, there needs to be at least one character on screen with which children can find comfort and solace. Reddy plays Nora as a down-to-earth, take no bull lady who becomes a mother figure to Pete. Rooney plays Lampie as a drunken old coot who rides the fence about Pete until about halfway through, at which time he, too, joins the side of good. There's a lesson in this movie for adults, too.

Nora and Lampie both learn a little about life from Pete. Nora had decided to keep people at arm's length for fear of losing them (as she did her beau, a seaman who was lost at sea). Through her encounters with Pete, she learns to open up and allow love back into her life, this time in the form of motherly love. Lampie, too, becomes attached to the kid, and, throughout the process of his daughter and Pete bonding, learns that there's more to life than the bottle: there's family. These, really, are important lessons for adults, and ones that are never dated, rather, always applicable to any time and place. So is the lesson for children.

At the heart of Pete's Dragon is a simple message for children: hold tight to all that is right, no matter how bad life gets, and good things will come. Pete escapes a horrid life slaving away for the wretched Gogan family, only to run into the arms of a civilized society that looks down on him because of he's an outsider. He's anything but welcomed, and when things start going wrong, he's the first one to be blamed. No matter how hard he tries, society won't believe him, or accept him. He could easily make the wrong choice: give in and become the ruffian they all think he is or, worse, do what society did to him, and turn his back on his friend, Elliot, who is partly to blame for Pete's predicament, as he pulls pranks while he's invisible, leaving Pete to take the rap. In the end, his perseverance pays off: the town embraces him and he gets a family. This lesson is learned, as is to be expected in a musical, with a song and a dance.

The musical numbers are by far the weakest element in the movie. The songs are simple, yet they work (believe me, after you watch the movie, you'll find yourself spontaneously singing the choruses the next day). The dancing is the most difficult to digest, as it is often stiff and pointless. That's okay, though, as the story and the acting more than make up for it. When all is said and done, Pete's Dragon is everything a kids movie should be: educating and entertaining.