Pete and his dragon
A FLYING dragon befriends an orphan boy in “Pete’s Dragon.”
Of course, this is yet another rehash of a perfectly good 1977 Disney version of “Pete’s Dragon” with Elliott the Dragon in the starring role—this time in celluloid animation—with musical numbers from the late, great Mickey Rooney.
In that tale, only little Pete could see Elliott, and of course, no one believes him until the great “reveal” at the film’s closing with a joyous happy ending as all Disney movies should.
This time the folks at Disney have ratcheted up the computer animation in this reimagining and moving the venue from America’s East Coast to the luscious wooded Washington State near the Pacific Ocean. This new tale starts with good ‘ol Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford), a local woodcarver who takes great pleasure in telling “tall tales” to nearby children, of a mysterious, massive dragon that lives deep in the heart of the wooded Pacific Northwest.
Bryce Dallas Howard is Grace and Robert Redford is Mr. Meacham in Disney’s PETE’S DRAGON, the adventure of a boy named Pete and his best friend Elliot, who just happens to be a dragon.
Meacham is flanked by his daughter Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) a US Forrest Ranger who, much like the young children, believes these are just fairy tales, until she meets young Pete (played by relatively newcomer Oakes Fegley), a 10-year-old orphan who says he lives in the woods with a giant, friendly dragon.
With help from a young girl named Natalie (Oona Laurence), Grace sets out to investigate if this fantastic claim can be true. There are also throwaway roles for Wes Bentley as Grace’s husband and Star Trek’s Karl Urban as his brother.
Like the original “Pete’s Dragon,” they’re both running the town’s lumber mill.
If you are searching for the plot, that’s it.
Which is the real problem with Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal and all of the movie studios this year as sequel, after remake, after reimagining of previously made great films (can anyone remember “Ben Hur?”) are being pumped out only to die quickly after one week’s showing.
“Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War” notwithstanding, there truly are no new ideas coming out of Hollywood this year and “Pete’s Dragon” is no exception. If you were to watch the original 1977 version side by side with today’s modern one, nearly every scene is identical, with Redford taking the place of Rooney.
Dear Readers, 40 years is a long time, and I was in high school when I watched the original “Pete’s Dragon.” Clearly the people in charge today of the Disney empire are looking at every part of the company’s film franchise to find something … anything … they can readapt or just remake. It is far cheaper to just remake a movie from 40 years ago then spend millions to create something new, fresh and exciting, which is why independent film director David Lowrey was tapped for this live-action animation classic to be moved into a live-action CG realm to “spice up” Pete’s Dragon for a new generation of moviegoers.
Not to say that for those who were not around in 1977 and never saw the original, today’s “Pete’s Dragon” is entirely age appropriate for every Mom and Dad searching in vain for some type of movie they can take their six-year-olds to without seeing endless zombies and/or body parts splattered across the screen.
Elliott has been completely transformed from the goofy looking, mint-green fat blob of the late 1970’s to a brilliant on screen creation that’s more puppy than monstrous dragon and little Pete being more Mowgli from “The Jungle Book” living off the land and sleeps each night in the warmth of one of Elliott’s wings.
If you don’t have a golden retriever as a family pet, it’s a safe bet that every youngster under the age of 17 who sees this movie is going to want a pet dragon for their very own.
Bryce Dallas Howard is Grace in Disney’s PETE’S DRAGON, the adventure of a boy named Pete and his best friend Elliot, who just happens to be a dragon.
“Pete’s Dragon” is a sweet family movie, staying exactly true to its original. It is convenient for Elliott to turn invisible whenever he wants to, which offers overly long, wide-eyed “gasps” from the lead actors when Elliott finally decides to appear. After Steven Spielberg’s misstep with the recent “The BFG,” Disney threw a whole lot of realism into “Pete’s Dragon”, making it a bit too ordinary.
Gone is the mythical element about “Pete’s Dragon.”
Elliott just is … Elliott.
There’s nothing wrong with having a 20-ft tall, forest green flying dragon who can turn invisible at a whim, but “Pete’s Dragon” is just not all that … magical.
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