One of the most proud members of the Disney Gold Collection is “Pete’s Dragon,” the beloved animated/live action movie starring Mickey Rooney and Helen Reddy. When an orphaned Pete (Sean Marshall) runs away from his abusive adoptive home, he stumbles upon the town of Passamaquoddy, a fishing town in Maine. What the residents of this little town don’t know is that Pete has his very own dragon! Not an imaginary friend, although that’s what they think. He’s an actual, real dragon, goes by the name of Elliot, and he’s stinkin’ cute, besides.
Lampy (Mickey Rooney) the lighthouse keeper has a drinking problem, and upon stumbling out of the pub one afternoon, comes face to face with Elliot. Of course no one believes him when he tells his outrageous story – he was drunk, after all. When his daughter Nora (Helen Reddy) hears the tale, and then meets Pete, she’s prepared to believe that Pete made up the story so he wouldn’t be alone in the world. She gives Pete a place to sleep and some dinner, and she thinks that the more love Pete is shown, the less need he’ll have for his imaginary friend. But Elliot keeps hanging around, and Nora wonders what it will take for Pete to outgrow him.
In the meanwhile, Nora is waiting for her fiancé, Paul, to return from sea. He’s been gone for over a year, and rumor has it that his ship went down, but his body has never been found. She’s hanging on to the dream that someday he’ll return, but chances aren’t good.
Feeling grateful for everything Nora has done for him, Pete shows Paul’s picture to Elliot, and asks Elliot if he’ll fly around and see if he can find him. Elliot’s sure he can do the job, and when he’s not busy wrecking things around town and ripping walls out of Pete’s classroom, he flys over the ocean, scouting for Paul.
When two shim-shallying con artists ride into town selling their wares, they are surprised to hear that a dragon lives in Passamaquoddy. Once they do some research, they discover that dragons are amazingly useful – you can grind them up in all sorts of potions. They team up with the adoptive family, who has been looking for Pete, and they decide to bring the duo down together. But a huge storm comes up, and Elliot gets the chance to play hero.
This is a delightful film. It won the Best Original Song Score and the Best Original Song for “Candle on the Water,” which Nora sings to Paul while watching fruitlessly for his ship. The adoptive family is a little scary, so you might want to prescreen for your very small children, but the rest of the family will love it. I want an Elliot all of my very own.
This film is rated G.
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