PETE'S DRAGON: Blu-ray (Disney 1977) Walt Disney Home Video
By the time
Walt Disney’s Pete’s Dragon (1977)
reached theaters, its arduous journey from story to screen had become one of
the studio’s most lamented projects. Originally acquired by Walt for his
popular ‘50s television anthology, Pete’s
Dragon languished in pre-production purgatory while Disney’s
ever-increasing diversification into films, TV and theme park operations became
his main focus. Disney’s investment in live action features in the mid-50s has
always held a curious place of distinction in cinema history.
While many of
his initial efforts, including 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea, Swiss Family Robinson, Pollyanna, The Parent Trap,
and of course, Mary Poppins, were
obvious and ambitious attempts to rival the other studios product in scope,
scale and overall quality, a lot of Disney’s later efforts – like The Absent-Minded Professor, The Shaggy Dog,
and Old Yeller play like little more
than glorified and extended television episodes torn from Disney’s own Disneyland variety hour programming.
Walt died in
1966, his last personally supervised live action feature – The Happiest Millionaire – a star-studded and lavishly appointed
family musical that unfortunately sank like a stone at the box office. After Disney’s death, the company went into
self-imposed hibernation characterized by a chronically stymied output of
artistically uneven films that continued to champion the Disney ‘family brand’,
though regrettably, in a decade that increasingly seemed to have little
interest in such product. Nearly two decades later the studio, desperate for a
mega hit like Mary Poppins, green
lit Pete's Dragon for director Don
Chaffey. It would be the studio’s last big budget attempt at resurrecting the
Hollywood musical until Newsies (1992).
In theory, Pete’s Dragon had all the essential
ingredients necessary to make it another box office smash, not the least being
its infectious integration of live action and animation, so winningly brought
to life in Mary Poppins (1964) and,
more recently, Bedknobs and Broomsticks
(1971). Hence, in retrospect it remains something of a mystery how the finished
film could so completely missed the mark and fail to connect with its audience.
The screenplay by Malcolm Marmorstein – based on the much beloved children’s
story by S.S. Field – contains many of the studio’s time-honored hallmarks;
buoyant and occasionally memorable songs by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn that
included the Oscar-nominated ‘Candle on
the Water’; an all-star cast featuring Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Jim Dale
and songstress Helen Reddy - winsome and appealing in her first film - and some
truly stellar animation supplied by Don Bluth – all of it married to Frank V.
Phillip's sumptuous cinematography and some breathtaking matte work that
effortlessly recaptured the rustic seaside locales of turn of the century Maine.
Yet Pete’s Dragon was a colossal critical
and financial disappointment. Critics who had praised the Disney schmaltz as
‘magic’ a decade earlier were now quick to attribute more maudlin quaintness to
the exercise, prompting the studio to quickly pull and re-edit the original 134
minute road show print down to 121 minutes. The cuts did little to change
audience perceptions of the film however. It faded from public consciousness
until the advent of home video, where oddly enough Pete’s Dragon not only did quite well in rentals but actually
managed to turn a profit.
However, by
then the film’s run time had been pared down to a scant 104 minutes on video
cassette and an even more abysmal 94 minutes for its first televised broadcast.
The version currently available on Blu-ray is a 128 min. approximation of the
original theatrical engagement, leaving this critic to speculate that it is
probably unlikely the original 134 min. road show still exists or will ever
surface on home video.
Plot wise: the
story begins with Pete’s (Sean Marshall) escape from the Gogan family; a vial
crew of lazy good fer’ nothin’s headlined by Lena (Shelley Winters). It seems
Pete is their legal ‘property’ and has been exploited for hard labor on their
ramshackle of a farm. Having successfully eluded his captors, Pete settles in
for the night with his invisible dragon, Elliot (voiced by Charlie Callas). The
next morning Pete and Elliot – the latter fully materialized into a towering
green and pink overgrown child - make their way to the enclave of
Passamaquoddy; a coastal town presumably in Maine, but actually Morro Bay
California where all of the film’s exteriors were shot.
Pete is first
spotted by town drunk, Lampie (Mickey Rooney) who flips at the sight of Elliot.
The good news for Pete is that no one believes Lampie’s story – not even his
own daughter, Nora (Helen Reddy), who takes a shine to Pete. After learning
that he is an orphan, Nora opens her heart and the doors to the lighthouse she
shares with Lampie to give Pete a home. Nora’s heart has been empty since the
disappearance of her beloved sea captain sweetheart, Paul (Cal Bartlett). Nora
tells Pete he must go to school. But his first day is an unmitigated disaster
when Elliot decides to wreak havoc on Pete’s cruel disciplinarian teacher, Miss
Taylor (Jane Kean).
Enter Doc
Terminus (Jim Dale) – a one man travelling circus and a charlatan who sells his
potions, lotions and snake oil remedies to unsuspecting citizens with his
accomplice, Hoagy (Red Buttons). Learning of Pete’s dragon from the locals,
Terminus decides that Elliot is real – especially after a drunken Lampie takes
an equally inebriated Hoagy down to the cave beneath the lighthouse to show
Elliot off in a truly hilarious scene. Hence, when the Gogans arrive in town
looking for Pete, Terminus strikes a bargain to secure Elliot for himself – as
a medical experiment - and give Pete back to his oppressors.
Pete is
kidnapped by the Gogans but freed by Elliot, who also manages to save town
council from electrocution during a violent thunderstorm, thus incurring their
respect and admiration. But the biggest surprise of all is the arrival of Nora’s
sweetheart, Paul who, after suffering from amnesia in a distant hospital for
many months, awoke to remember his past and is saved from having his ship smash
against the rocks of Passamaquoddy light by Elliot’s flame-throwing
capabilities. The story ends with Elliot informing Pete that he must leave him
for good to go in search of another child who is desperate for his intervention.
This bittersweet farewell is diffused by Pete’s appreciation for all that
Elliot has done for him, and by the fact that Pete now has a real home with
Lampie, Nora and Paul.
Pete’s Dragon is by no means a perfect movie. The dance sequences
are rather haphazardly staged, relying more on the rustic coastal beauty than
any sort of structured choreography to ignite our fancy. Onna White staged the
dances, but herein she seems content to allow the cast to do pretty much as
they please. The children’s elaborate routine that interrupts Reddy’s ‘There’s Room For Everyone in This World’
reveals glimmers of the same bell kicks White used during Buddy Hackett’s Shipoopi number in The Music Man over at Warner Bros. a decade earlier, but without
any of the finesse or swirling camera work necessary to make them truly
outstanding.
‘Brazzle Dazzle Day’ has Rooney, Marshall
and Reddy do little more than walk in and out of frame with their arms locked,
occasionally pretending to polish the lighthouse glass and lenses with rags,
their shirt sleeves and their bottoms. ‘I
Saw A Dragon’ is just a series of cutaways cobbled together in the editing
process, as Lampie and the town’s drunken rabble lampoon their fear of the
unknown. Indeed, viewing Pete’s Dragon
today it remains the dance portions that are the most reluctantly out of touch;
with their own time, the supposed vintage of the story and the esthetics of
traditional movie choreography. None hold up under closer scrutiny and all
bring the storyline to a screeching halt.
Still, Helen
Reddy warbles most of the songs with great heart and conviction – particularly
‘Candle on the Water’ – a haunting
ballad with undercurrents of personal longing. As Lampie, Rooney is an
admirable ham, while Dale manages to make the most as an inspired foppish
villain. Reportedly Rooney and Buttons chewed up the scenery in the scene where
Lampie takes Hoagy down to the cave to meet Elliot for the first time. The two had
great good fun riffing off one another’s feigned drunkenness, drawing explosive
laughter from the crew. But their mugging for the camera extended the sequence
by fifteen minutes of pratfalls and tumbling.
Realistically,
Pete’s Dragon may not represent the
pinnacle of Disney’s brand in family entertainment – but it is certainly a far
cry from the clunker denounced by most critics back in the day. Viewed today,
it continues to delight mostly because the performances within it are universally
good and very sincere – Reddy and Rooney’s in particular. Don Bluth’s animation
is superb as is Charlie Callas’ evocative series of grunts and groans that
effectively relate a dialogue for Elliot who remains non-speaking throughout
the film. And the music, if below par compared to Mary Poppins per say, is still very rich and melodic indeed. It may
not have Poppins’ staying power, but
it certainly has well beyond enough charm to warm the heart.
Disney’s
marketing for Pete’s Dragon on
Blu-ray is most curious indeed. The Blu-ray is housed in a DVD case with a copy
of the film on DVD that is ear-marked as a 35th anniversary edition.
That said, the powers that be at Disney, in their infinite and mysterious
wisdom, have chosen to excise all of the extras originally featured on their ‘gold
collection’ DVD release from 1998, including a series of shorts. Instead, we’re
given a featurette hosted by Sean Marshall that spends the bulk of its run time
affectionately waxing about Disney live action/animation history while only
superficially glossing over the production of Pete’s Dragon. This was part of the DVD reissue from 2004. We also
get a deleted song and some trailers – none remastered in 1080p.
Now, for the
good news. Pete’s Dragon on Blu-ray
looks incredible! The new hi-def master yields richness in color and texture
not seen since the original theatrical release. Flesh tones are very natural.
Color throughout is vibrant while fine detail simply pops as only a true 1080p
mastering effort can showcase. Contrast is bang on with deep and enveloping
blacks. Matte work and animation are seamlessly blended with the live action
for a visual presentation that is universally stunning. Great stuff, and
hopefully a precursor to what we can expect from Disney when they get around to
releasing other classics like 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea, Swiss Family Robinson, Pollyanna, The Parent Trap, Mary Poppins, et al to hi-def.
The other
impressive aspect of this transfer is the sound. The new DTS 5.1 audio is
exceptionally vibrant, particularly during the songs. Dialogue is very natural
sounding throughout. Truly, Disney has given us Pete’s Dragon in an incarnation that will please all who adore this
movie. While I could fault the company for what’s not there – namely the
aforementioned extras - I was so pleased by my viewing of the feature film that
I can practically forgive the company this oversight. Bottom line: highly
recommended.
FILM
RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
3.5
VIDEO/AUDIO
4.5
EXTRAS
2
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