Revisiting 1977's Pete's Dragon
When you hear the phrase “Disney movie,” what is the first thing that comes to mind? While many people instantly think of Disney’s classic animated films, like Snow White, Cinderella, and Peter Pan, many of us who grew up in the 1970s think of Disney’s live action films. Movies like The Apple Dumpling Gang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Escape to Witch Mountain were regular staples of my childhood, shown both on television and in school.
Many of these films had mind-blowing special effects. In movies like Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Mary Poppins, human actors entered animated landscapes and seamlessly swam with fish and danced with penguins. In Pete’s Dragon, the interaction between humans and the film’s animated star took place in the real world.
In the opening scene of Pete’s Dragon we “see” Pete riding Elliott the dragon, who at that point is invisible. Pete is obviously being suspended by wires and there is no dragon to see. It’s an interesting illusion, but nothing compared to what’s to come.
The following morning when Elliott awakes, Pete is visible. While Pete was sleeping, Elliott has gathered a pile of apples for the two of them to share for breakfast. The scene begins with the two of them separated, but soon Pete has climbed up onto Elliott’s belly where he tosses real apple’s into the animated dragon’s mouth. It’s an amazing effect that has stuck with me my entire life.
The concept of human actors interacting with traditionally animated characters — be it hand-drawn or stop motion — has always fascinated me. In modern films characters interact with CGI characters and backgrounds on a regular basis, but manipulating footage in a computer is way different than blending real actors with animated characters consisting of tens of thousands of individual drawings. Throughout Pete’s Dragon, Pete rides upon Elliott’s back in multiple scenes. Logically I know I’m looking at an actor being suspended by cables with an animated dragon laid over the top, but Disney was the master of blending the two worlds. Subtle touches, like real branches swaying as the animated dragon brushes against them, help sell the effect.
Pete’s Dragon, like a lot of Disney films from the 1970s, has multiple plotlines and conflicts. As a young viewer I focused primarily on Pete escaping from his adoptive family (the creepy and abusive Gogans) and Dr. Terminas’s hunt to capture and turn Elliott into an additional income stream. As an adult viewer, I find Nora (Helen Reddy) and her relationship with her father Lampie (played by legendary character actor Mickey Rooney) to be just as compelling. Elliot even helps reunite Nora with her long lost love by re-lighting the lighthouse flame.
I must admit I’ve not seen the 2016 remake of Pete’s Dragon. I’m sure the special effects are fantastic and all questionable stereotypes have been removed, but I’ll bet it doesn’t have Helen reddy singing wistfully to the sea from a lighthouse, Mickey Rooney and Red Buttons hamming it up inside a cave, or Jim Backus as a hapless mayor. And I’m positive it doesn’t have the perfectly cast Sean Marshall as Pete, sitting on the belly of an animated dragon while feeding him apples.
Phooey to their CGI remake. I’ll be over here enjoying the hand-drawn animation of the original Pete’s Dragon and having a Brazzle Dazzle Day.