IMDb > Pete's Dragon (1977)
Pete's Dragon
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Pete's Dragon (1977) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 29 | slideshow) Videos (see all 8)
Pete's Dragon (1977) -- Clip: Dragon in the cave
Pete's Dragon (1977) -- Featurette: Monsters
Pete's Dragon (1977) -- Clip: Apples
Pete's Dragon (1977) -- Clip: Dragon in the cave
Pete's Dragon (1977) -- Clip: Apples

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Overview

User Rating:
6.0/10   4,314 votes
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Down 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Malcolm Marmorstein (screenplay)
Seton I. Miller (story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Pete's Dragon on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
3 November 1977 (USA) more
Tagline:
Brazzle Dazzle Brilliance! more
Plot:
An orphan boy and his magical dragon come to town with his abusive adoptive parents in pursuit. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 nominations more
User Reviews:
Live-action Disney flick with a splash of animation. Well-made, entertaining, but slightly overlong. more (61 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Helen Reddy ... Nora
Jim Dale ... Dr. Terminus

Mickey Rooney ... Lampie

Red Buttons ... Hoagy

Shelley Winters ... Lena Gogan
Sean Marshall ... Pete
Jane Kean ... Miss Taylor
Jim Backus ... The Mayor
Charles Tyner ... Merle

Gary Morgan ... Grover
Jeff Conaway ... Willie

Cal Bartlett ... Paul
Charlie Callas ... Elliott (voice)
Walter Barnes ... Captain
Al Checco ... Fisherman #1
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Pete y Elliot el Dragon (USA: Spanish title)
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Runtime:
128 min | Argentina:130 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby (RCA Photophone Sound Recording)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
GOOFY HOLLER: When Doc Terminus is tied to the harpoon shot from a cannon and flies out the building roof with it. more
Goofs:
Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the "Bill of Sale" song is being sung, near the end of it when they are all flying in the air and all saying "We've got a bill of sale right here," Merle is singing when Willie is up in the air and vice versa. more
Quotes:
Nora: Where did you get that bruise?
Pete: Mr. Gogan. I was milking the cow and I missed the bucket.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2003) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Brazzle Dazzle Day more

FAQ

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7 out of 9 people found the following review useful.
Live-action Disney flick with a splash of animation. Well-made, entertaining, but slightly overlong., 11 January 2005
6/10
Author: Jonathon Dabell (barnaby.rudge@hotmail.co.uk) from Wakefield, England

You can be fairly sure with the animated Disney films that you're going to get something good. But with the studio's live-action films there are no guarantees. On the one hand, you might get something like Mary Poppins or 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - in which case you'd be plenty satisfied. On the other hand you could get something as terrible as Popeye, in which case you'd need a great deal of willpower to make it to the end. Pete's Dragon is one of Disney's live-action ventures (though it features one animated character in Elliot, the dragon of the title). Though a little overlong and rambling, it is on the whole a well-made and entertaining film, and it is certainly a gulf ahead of the likes of Condorman, Popeye and Herbie Goes Bananas.

Scruffy young orphan Pete (Sean Marshall) is on the run in the woodland of Maine from the Gogan family, a bunch of abusive rednecks led by Lena Gogan (Shelly Winters), who claims that she owns Pete because she bought him at a market. Pete escapes from them, and sets off for Passamaquoddy, a nearby coastal town where he hopes to find safety. Accompanying Pete is an animated dragon named Elliot, who can make himself invisible and who has come to look after Pete until the kid has got his life sorted out. Once in Passamaquoddy, Pete and Elliot inadvertently cause havoc, including scaring the wits out of lighthouse-keeper Lampie (Mickey Rooney). They hide out in some nearby caves, but Pete is found by Lampie's daughter Nora (Helen Reddy), who decides to take him in. Elliot's job seems done (Pete is now safe and wanted, after all) but then con-man Dr. Terminus (Jim Dale) arrives in town.... and soon he's got his mind set on capturing the dragon.

Like I said, the film is rambling, and from this synopsis it's clear that the plot wanders around a lot, introducing probably more events and characters than necessary. Nonetheless, Pete's Dragon is still entertaining. Jim Dale as the unscrupulous Dr Terminus, and Red Buttons as his dim side-kick, are genuinely funny villains. The blending together of animated Elliot and the living, breathing actors is very good - especially for 1977 - though in a shipwreck sequence near the end the special effects are utterly dreadful. Kids will find a lot to like in Pete's Dragon as long as they can sit still for over 2 hours, and adults too will find pleasures along the way. It's certainly one of the better live-action offerings to come from the Disney studio at a time when their output was quite indifferent in quality.

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