Several times my father has told me that he used to love taking me to the movies when I was little because I took him to better movies than my mother did. I don't know if that's true, but I certainly have wonderful memories of sitting next to dad, holding his hand while the whale ate Pinocchio and while the witch gave Snow White that poisoned apple. As I got older we sat together watching James Bond - our first was Octopussy - and Indiana Jones. When I was in college we even saw Beauty and the Beast together for old times sake, and a year and a half ago we saw Tomorrow Never Dies. When my dad visited me a few weeks ago we sat next to each other watching Original Sin.

Some of my best memories involve sitting in a dark theater with my dad immersed in a fantasy world created by Disney or Spielberg. The first such trip I remember was a magical journey to the small Maine town of Passamaflossie...errr, Quasamatoddie....ummm, Paddatomassie...Passamaquoddie! Yes that's it! Dad and I were swept away by the evil Gogans, a no-nonsense lighthouse keeper named Nora, a dark swarmy medicine doctor, a lovable drunk Lampy, a sweet energetic boy names Pete and a clumsy, mischievous, well-meaning green and pink dragon named Elliott.

The first time I saw Pete's Dragon, when it was originally released in the theater, I was five years old. I certainly didn't get every element of the complex tale. To me, it was all about Elliott. Pete loved Elliott and I loved him too. It was sort of about the music too. I left the theater singing "Boop bopbop boop...I love you too." I sang it so much in the ensuing days that my mother donned ear plugs and my father decided to allocate money for singing lessons when I got older.

Then when I was a bit older - nine or thereabouts - Pete's Dragon was shown on television. I think it was on the Wonderful World of Disney but I'm not positive. My parents and my younger sister and I all gathered in the living room in front of our brand new color television and watched together. This time I was old enough to really understand the movie. I understood it wasn't just some lovefest between a boy and his dragon, but a well-crafted story of longing and acceptance, a story highlighting that we should all get along, a story of hope and ultimate triumph over the foibles of human nature. I giggled, bellowed, and cried my way through the movie.

When I was in college I bought myself a VCR and started buying videos. One of the first videos I bought was Pete's Dragon. I was free to watch Elliott frolic through the green grass outside Passamaquoddie, to watch Elliott beg Pete to play tic-tac-toe on his tummy, to watch Dr. Terminus scheme, and to watch a silhouetted Nora sing longingly to her lost love with a beautiful glass and light lighthouse backdrop whenever I pleased.

I don't watch Pete's Dragon that often. I save it for those special times when I need to be reminded that the world can be magical and sometimes misfits can find their place in the world. A few months ago the movie came out on DVD and I snapped it up but I didn't watch it until this weekend. I've been very busy at work and more than a bit stressed out, so I decided it was time to let Elliott do his thing.

The Story

Pete is an orphan boy purchased by the Gogans for $50 plus filing fees. Overworked and mistreated, Pete runs away with the help of Elliott the dragon, ending up in Passamaquoddie. Pete hopes to make a good impression but the mischeivous dragon gets him in trouble instead. Pete ends up in the care of Nora and her drunken father Lampy, the local lighthouse keepers. Lampy saw Elliott while he was under the influence and tells the whole town of the hideous monster endangering them all, getting them all worked up. A swarmy medicine man, Dr. Terminus, comes to town, and learning of the dragon decides to capture him and become rich. Meanwhile Elliott is off looking for Paul, Nora's lost love that everyone insists drowned at sea. Does Dr. Terminus capture Elliott? Is Paul still alive, and if so will he come home? Does the town ever accept Pete? You'll have to watch the movie to find out.

The Animation and Special Effects

Most of the movie is live action, but for obvious reasons Elliott is animated. Don Bluth directed the animation, and Ken Anderson created Elliott. Although primitive compared to the modern computer generated animation, they did an exceptional job making Elliott completely believable and life-like. Without the help of any dialogue, Anderson and Bluth make us feel the deep love between Pete and Elliott and successfully express emotions ranging from joy to playfullness to anger to sorrow. The scene near the beginning of the movie where Elliott dances with Pete to the song Boo Bop Bopbop Bop (I Love You, Too), both clumsy and oddly graceful at the same time, is particularly indicitive of how Elliott moves and how every emotion comes through loud and clear.

Perhaps even more challenging than the animation was making Elliott successfully interact with his surroundings. At the first arrival in Passamaquoddie, Elliott accidentally knocks over a fence post by post with his tail as he walks by while he's invisible. Timing this perfectly so we can imagine Elliott's actions causing this damage to his surroundings was another task done well.

From the opening credits, bold orange letters on a backdrop of painted seaport scenes, this picture alternates between visually stunning colors and pictures and dull dark skulking scenery. The happy parts are bright, the sad or disturbing dark. It's an effective ploy.

The Acting

Sean Marshall plays Pete, and plays him well. The scenes between Pete and Elliott are particularly well done, making a loving relationship come to life even though the scenes were done with a blue screen and the dragon never says a word. His singing voice is a bit weak, but his emotion and cuteness tend to make this forgivable.

Helen Reddy was at the height of her singing career when she took time to play Nora in this movie. For a singer she does a surprisingly credible job acting, truly making us feel her longing for Paul and her indignation at the way the townsfolks treat Pete.

Mickey Rooney isn't one of my favorite actors, but he plays the slightly one-dimensional Lampy well. The manic panic his sighting of Elliot inspires is a bit over the top, as his reaction to the dragon in general (but then again, how would you react to seeing a realio trulio little pet dragon?*)

Broadway veteran Jim Dale plays the luciously evil Dr. Terminus. The character seems like a characicature of Ray Bolger's Barnaby from Babes in Toyland, himself a characicature of the swarmy villian in black. Both explain their villanous plans through song and dance, and both are out for grand riches. Although performed very well, I can't get the image of Ray Bolger out of my mind when Dale sings, and unfortunately he is worse for the comparison.

Shelley Winters plays Ma Gogan, the filthy leader of the Gogan clan, determined to reclaim their expensive slave. A slapstick role, Winters spends much of her time covered in mud or drenched in water. She plays the sly lazy woman out to get her own way to the hilt in this small but crucial role.

The Songs

Although a few of the songs are mediocre, for the most part Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn managed to write a collection of interesting, warm, funny, emotional songs that really fit the movie well.

One of the most beautiful and haunting love songs I've ever heard comes from this movie. Candle in the Water won the Best Song Oscar, deservedly so. Nora's re-affirmation that she will wait forever for her true love Paul to come home to her, the song plays on the lighthouse themes of the movie:

I'll be your candle on the water
My love for you will always burn
I know you're lost and drifting
But the clouds are lifting
Don't give up
You'll have some where to turn

Other favorites include Boo Bop Bopbop Bop (I Love You, Too) discussed several times in this review, It's Not Easy a song about acceptance no matter who you are or what you look like, I Saw a Dragon, a rollicking song sung by Mickey Rooney as he tells everyone about seeing Elliott, and both of Dr. Terminus' songs, particularly Every Little Piece gleefully extolling all of the money they can make by capturing Elliot and using him to make curative potions.

I'm mostly ambivalent to the opening song, Happiest Days in These Hills sung by the Gogans to entice Pete back into their care and to Brazzle Dazzle Day, my least favorite song in the movie.

DVD Extras

The DVD menus created for Pete's Dragon sparkle - literally. Set with a backdrop of a grass field, Elliott pops in and out of the menus which shimmer with the blue field that surrounds Elliott in the movie whenever he turns invisible. It's a small touch but a nice one.

Although it doesn't have a commentary track, the DVD does have some wonderful extras. In addition to the theatrical trailer and the trailer shown internationally (I like the international one better), the DVD has several wonderful excerpts from Disney shows, pseudo-documentaries, and other goodies.

Lighthouse Keeping is a never-before released for home viewing short starring Donald Duck as a lighthouse keeper and a Pelican determined to put out the lighthouse flame. They have an all out war, and Donald showcases the Wile E. Coyote laws of gravity many times to humorous effect.

Man, Monsters, and Mystery is a wonderful pseudo-documentary about the history of monsters and man's quest to solve mysteries such as the Loch Ness Monster. Much of the film focuses on Nessie and the many attempts made to determine if she is real or a figment of several overactive imaginations. I call this a pseudo-documentary because although the attempts are real as is the information about those making them, the action is led by a brightly colored and patterned animated Nessie sitting in the middle of the loch.

The DVD also comes with a simple game called "Where's Elliott?" that has you find Elliott as he hides amid seascape and town scenes. Each time you find him you get a piece (his tail, his bottom, his head) and every fourth time you uncover Elliot in his full visible glory. If you guess the wrong location, you get a small dragon fact regarding Pete's Dragon or other Disney movies. Uncover him completely twice and you unlock a rather enjoyable short documentary on the history of dragons in folklore and movies.

There are excerpts from two Disney television shows, one on Ken Anderson, the man who animated Elliott, and one on the Plausible Impossible from 1956 narrated by Walt Disney that explores how man has been believing in the plausible impossible for a very long time, from Egyptian gods to Chinese dragons to the Greek Centaur.

Summing Up

Pete's Dragon would always hold a special place in my heart even if it were a terrible movie as the first bonding experience with my dad that I remember. Luckily I don't have to associate such fabulous memories with anything less than a wonderful movie.

My Kid's Favorite Media Writeoff

This is my entry into the My Kid's Favorite Media Writeoff hosted by MaryTara. Please visit the writeoff website at http://marytara.iSPARKL.com or read the other entries by:

adjensen
ali78
bearysweet
blackcat2
bops_mom
clpurser
cripper
dearladyb
deaser26
debbie26
destinys-child
dgturtle2
donnie013
eplovejoy
fallyn96
jo.com
kcfemme
khahn86351
kimzstuffz
KMINER
kurt_g
ledomaine
lisaw1215
lorinsilver
marytara
melissasrn
mellkinwa
micheich
mkmama42
mommykim
mtbat
Photogirl814
shantel575
sloving
social14
staceys1
Tammyinmiami
westerbear
willeftk
77chelle

* my apologies to Ogden Nash for using his phrase about Custard the Dragon.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8