Piper's Perspective DVD Review: Pete's Dragon-High Flying Edition
Posted by Ben Piper on 08.23.2009
It's mid-seventies Disney! It's a brazzle dazzle day!
Sean Marshall: Pete
Helen Reddy: Nora
Jim Dale: Dr. Terminus
Mickey Rooney: Lampie
Red Buttons: Hoagy
Shelly Winters: Lena Gogan
Jane Kean: Miss Taylor
Jim Backus: The Mayor
Charlie Callas: Voice of Elliot
Screenplay by Malcom Marmorstein
Based on a story by Seton I. Miller and S.S. Field
Directed by Don Chaffey
Rated G; All Ages Admitted
129 Minutes
Originally released theatrically on November 3rd, 1977, Pete’s Dragon continued the Disney tradition in the sixties and seventies to mix live action and hand-drawn 2-D animation, following in the footsteps of such classics as Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Over thirty years after its release, a new DVD set will be released August 18th in an attempt to charm a new generation of children. Will the movie hold up to the test of time and avail itself as a forgotten children’s classic? Or will a new generation of kiddies decide to tune out?
The Film
Pete’s Dragon follows in the line of all the other family friendly musicals Disney has put out over the decades. As the title indicates, it follows a runaway orphan named Pete and his best friend, a playful and loyal dragon named Elliot who has the ability to turn invisible at will, and their misadventures in a sleepy coastal village called Passamaquoddy.
Nostalgia can be a funny thing, especially pertaining to the memories of one’s own childhood. I have to freely admit at the start that Pete’s Dragon resides fondly within my personal memory banks, due to the fact that my mother took me to see it on its opening day, which not so coincidentally, was my seventh birthday. The last time I agreed to write a DVD review for a “children’s DVD” it was also for something that I held near and dear to my heart, and after viewing the material as an adult for the first time, I found I was terribly disappointed. As such, I went into watching Pete’s Dragon with a bit of trepidation that I might be feeling let down afterwards.
Thankfully, those feeling were unfounded, as Pete’s Dragon remains as delightful and heartfelt as when I first saw it when I was a child.
I won’t go into the details of the plot except in passing. Instead I would like to highlight why the movie still works for me, even after all these years.
While I’m not a big fan of musicals, and Pete’s Dragon makes a habit of trotting out song and dance numbers at ten to fifteen minute intervals, while there are a couple that fall flat, the songs are enjoyable for the most part and resonate. Consider yourself lucky if you don’t get any number of them stuck in your head after watching it, for they are catchy and memorable. Trust me, as I stated before I hadn’t watched this movie since I was a kid and as I watched it again I found myself remembering the lyrics of many of them out of nowhere. The songs manage to contribute to the story while moving the plot along, and again, for the most part, they don’t suck. I can already say for a fact that I’m going to have a hard time getting “It’s Not Easy” and “Every Little Piece” shaken out of my noggin anytime soon.
Then there’s the casting. Show Biz legend Micky Rooney is a complete delight as the town drunk. He plays the part with aplomb and you can tell that he’s enjoying the work, as any time he appears he never phones it in and plays it to the hilt. While you can tell he was having fun playing the role, you could also tell that he took the job serious enough not to devolve into pure caricature.
Helen Reddy (She is woman, hear her roar) is cast as his responsible daughter Nora, Passamaquoddy’s lighthouse keeper. One night she finds Pete cold and shivering in a cave along the shore, and takes him in, becoming the first real person that he trusts and she acts as surrogate mother figure towards him from then on.
I can see why she was cast in this part, as she basically is the anchor of several song and dance set pieces. While she succeeds in that aspect, she only passes muster in the acting game. She’s alright, but not anything to write home about.
The MVP of the movie acting wise in my book is Jim Dale, whom plays a snake oil salesman named Dr. Terminus. Dale, whom was a Broadway veteran already (And went on to win a Tony for his portrayal of Barnum) made his movie debut here, and it is a great comic-musical performance. He chews the scenery greatly, while never taking things a step too far, and provides many laughs along the way, such as tempting Pete with his cure-all potion at one point: “You drink this, and you’ll start puberty two years earlier than you would normally”.
Interesting to note that Dale went on to become a bit of a Disney staple throughout the rest of the seventies, based on his performance here, which is great. Very underrated actor, and in this movie he shines.
Oscar winner Red Buttons is on board as Terminus’s flunky, Hoagy. While his presence doesn’t detract greatly, (as he’s very good in small doses here and there) you can tell that he struggles to keep up with the likes of Dale and Rooney when he interacts with them, as he often resorts to simply mugging for the camera as a result, rather than acting out the role convincingly like his counterparts do.
Also cast is another Oscar winner, Shelly Winters. She plays the matriarch of the Gogan clan, the abusive family that Pete was running away from at the start of the movie. She proves to be effectively creepy in her passive-aggressiveness (more aggressive than passive I might add) and manages to add the right amount of dark element to the proceedings without going too dark for the kiddies. While the rest of her family comes across as buffoons, you can instantly tell that she is someone you don’t want to mess with.
Then there’s Sean Marshall, whom plays Pete. Child actors are hit and miss at best. And while Marshall isn’t the best singer or actor, he plays the role satisfactorily for the most part. Later on in the bonus section he himself admits that he had no formal training when he made the movie, so perhaps this is a case of getting a better performance that what truly could have been…
It must be noted that the animated aspects of the movie, namely Elliot in his entirety, is pretty outstanding for the time that it was done. That has to be attributed to of course the animators, as well as Don Bluth, whom oversaw the work. While Elliot is only seen in animated form for a brief 22 minutes according to my research, whenever he appears he is well conceived and drawn. He comes across as a fully functioning character in his own right, and succeeds in drawing the viewer in into liking him. While in this day and age of CGI has us spoiled by photo realistic animations, it’s nice to relish in some old school hand-drawn stuff.
At 129 minutes, Pete’s Dragon is long in the tooth for a children’s movie. And in this day and age, movie executives would likely order that the movie be cut down greatly. I myself can think of a couple of songs that I would personally cut to pare down the screen time. But the length is what allows the movie to flesh out the characters and the situations slowly without ever becoming boring or bashing the viewers over the head with unsubtlety.
While the movie does has its flaws, for the most part it works. It is both charming and enjoyable, and that is from an adult perspective. Young children will eat it up with a spoon and quickly ask for a second dose. So if you’re a parent that’s looking to buy this for your young ones… Be prepared to be assailed with it continuously, as children tend to do. But look at it this way. It’s Disney. In this day and age, I can’t think of a better studio or most importantly, an era of said studio to keep them entertained. Disney put out good stuff in the mid-seventies. They could be watching worse.
Score: 8.0
Video:
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 1.66:1… My first thought when I began to watch it was that is was a remarkably crisp transfer until Elliot began to appear, as he looked grainy, while the rest of the screen didn’t, which is even apparent in the menu options. Later on in the movie, entire scenes come across as grainy as well. I attribute this to the age of the film.
Score: 7.0
Audio:
Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, in English only, with subtitles for the hearing impaired. Solid transfer, nothing to write home about, though.
Score:8.0
Bonus Features
Brazzle Dazzle Movie Effects: Behind Disney’s Movie Magic- Narrated by Pete himself, the now adult Sean Marshall, this segment looks at how they were able to blend the live action and animation aspects seamlessly without the use of computers back in the mid 70’s. The entire process (called “sodium screening”) is explained starting with the origins thereof back in the 1920’s when Walt Disney was first breaking into the business and looking for some way to make a name for himself. It then proceeds from there to cover Disney’s great animation history and the many innovations that he and his counterparts were able to come up with. It then goes on to becoming a straight “making of “ piece in which Marshall recounts his memories of the shoot along with the technical aspects tossed in for good measure. Fantastically informative and entertaining segment.
Deleted Storyboard Sequence: “Terminus and Hoagy Hunt Elliot- Basically as the title describes, and unfilmed scene played out via storyboards and voice actors. Mildly amusing.
Original Song Concept: “Boo Bop Bopbop Bop (I Love You, Too)”- Accompanied by storyboards from the scene in question. Basically an early demo musical version of what’s in the film.
Original Demo Recordings- Two songs that were in the movie, and one that didn’t make it. “Brazzle Dazzle Day” is a completely different version from what is presented in the film. No storyboards this time, just a solid background with an informative fact that remains throughout the song. Up next is “Every Little Piece” with the same lyrics as in the movie but with a completely different melody. The song was changed once it was determined that this version was too somber. The third song (“The Greatest Star Of All”) was to be sung by a character that was jettisoned from the movie in the planning stages once it was suggested that another villain wasn’t required.
Promotional Record- ‘Pop’ versions of four of the soundtracks songs, used to promote the music and originally released on one 7” record.
Where’s Elliot?: The Disappearing Dragon Game- A simple interactive children’s game.
Pete’s Dragon Art Galleries- A bounty of still images from the making of the film, covering concept art, behind the scenes, and promotional endeavors.
Trailers- Two trailers for the movie, one international and one theatrical.
About Pete’s Dragon- This is a series of factoids presented with musical backgrounds about the movie.
Disney Family Album (excerpt) - This is a brief segment about Ken Anderson, the artist who designed Elliot and includes various clips from the many Disney movies he has worked on.
The Plausible Impossible (excerpt)- According to Walt Disney himself in a TV broadcast that originally aired on Halloween in 1956, the plausible impossible is taking something that is against the laws of nature, something impossible, and make it into pure rational and acceptable. He explains that the quote is from his book, The Art Of Animation. The segment goes on to speak about dragons and their place in mythology and folklore.
Lighthouse Keeping: An old animated short starring Donald Duck. Donald uses his position as a lighthouse keeper to keep a pelican awake. Animosity ensues over keeping the lighthouse lit as a result. Again, mildly amusing.
Score: 7.0
Final Scores-
Film: 8.0
Visual: 7.0
Audio: 8.0
Extras: 7.0
The 411: While I think that younger children (say below the age of 8) will greatly enjoy Pete’s Dragon, older kids will likely check out. Speaking as an adult that watched it, I can honestly say that I enjoyed it a lot more than I truly expected to. While not on the level of other true Disney classics, Pete’s Dragon is enjoyable for what it is; not great but good enough.
