Review of Pete's Dragon (1977) by Jacob B — 12 Sep 2017

I give credit towards some of the interaction between the live-action humans and the cartoon dragon and the year when this was released render it immune to criticism towards clearly fake special effects.

It's almost as if he's there, am I right? I have to remind myself how truly well done they are. You can almost touch the ink and paint used to create the dragon. It is a bit hard to detect sarcasm in something that's typed rather than spoken, isn't it? Mickey Rooney is the best thing to come out of this flawed movie.

Who claims that a kid stepped on their wet cement when it is clear that those footprints are clearly of either a dragon or a dinosaur? And no one even accuses him of practicing witchcraft. This movie takes place in the 1900s, for Pete's sake (pun intended).

And there's no explanation as to where Elliott came from or how he and Pete met. You see, these flaws are what make the 2016 remake one that looks unnecessary upon your first glance. The songs won't hold a dear place in my heart like the soundtrack of the movies from the Disney Renaissance but there's still some charm in them although they contribute to a ridiculously longer runtime than it deserves to be.

I don't claim that it's illegal for any movie categorized as animation to be above 90-100 minutes meaning I chastised Cars, Sing, The Incredibles and Ratatouille for breaking those rules but this movie feels like it's moving at a slow pace.

And the runtime's also responsible for the dragon, as a visible being, not having enough screen time. Money, how did it work back then? The original Pete's Dragon has its moments and it's somehow worth it to see Mickey Rooney panic drunkenly about seeing a dragon but if I were you, I'd stick with the remake.

That movie was nearly heartbreaking, in a good way.