I probably was five-years-old when I saw the original “Pete’s Dragon” and to this day I remember that song Pete and the dragon sang together back in 1977.
In the original film Pete and the dragon were secret friends who meet after Pete escapes his brutal foster parents, whereas in the twenty-sixteen version the dragon is more of a savior to Pete, who’s parents died in a car accident trying not to overrun a deer on the highway. So, now Pete has lived for five years in the forest with Elliott, the dragon, and that’s our story begins…. Disney just loves those orphan got lost in the wild stories, immediately Tarzan and the Jungle Book come to mind.
Even though, the plot is a typical Disney family flair, something about this David Lowery directed flick feels very different. Maybe its New Zealand’s majestic forest’s with their silence and natural voices you don’t usually hear in movies, the water stream, the wind, the birds chiming and a dragon that is not cartoonish, who’s movement affects the forest and makes noises you would expect of a real life dragon.
And although this is a movie geared towards kids, adults will come out of it fully charged with a high dosage of enchantment to make your inner child come alive. I give it a thumbs up!!!
Clips courtesy: Walt Disney Studios