Pete's Dragon

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Pete's Dragon, a 1977 Disney film, is another Spiritual Successor to Mary Poppins, though not as direct a successor (in fact, not very successful, period) as Bedknobs and Broomsticks was. It's a live-action musical that uses cel animation to bring its title character to life.

It is the early 20th century, and Heartwarming Orphan Pete is on the run from the cruel Gogans, a backwoods family that bought him to be their slave. He has but one friend - Elliot, a friendly dragon. Elliot doesn't speak English, but he can fly, breathe fire, and turn himself invisible; most of all, he's got Pete's back. Together they arrive in the town of Passamaquoddy, Maine.

No one here believes in dragons, of course, and because Elliot's usually invisible, his faithfully following Pete around causes a lot of problems for the kid - which are sometimes exacerbated when Elliot tries to protect him from unjust punishment. Still, Pete is taken in by Nora, a lighthouse keeper's daughter (her dad, Lampie, is the one person in town who has seen Elliot, but no one believes him), and Elliot hides out in a nearby cave.

Pete soon bonds with Nora and Lampie, and even tells Elliot about Nora's lost-at-sea fiance in hopes the dragon can find him. Alas, Snake Oil Salesman Doctor Terminus, played by Jim Dale, arrives in town and learns from his lackey Hoagy (whom Lampie takes to the cave to prove his claim) about Elliot. The parts of a dragon can be compounded into all kinds of medicines, so Terminus seeks to capture Elliot. Then the Gogans arrive, and the two evil parties meet and combine their forces. It all comes to a head on a stormy night that will be rife with rescues.

This was Disney's big holiday release for 1977, but while it was a modest hit, it does point up how out-of-touch the company had become when it came to appealing to families - Star Wars was where it was at for most kids that year, and they just didn't have time for a broad musical comedy like this. (If you thought there were large hams in the other Disney musicals...) It was the last live-action musical the company produced for many years, and, by some accounts, Don Bluth's motivation for leaving the company.

In 2016, Disney released a live-action remake that changed the story considerably.

Tropes used in Pete's Dragon include:
  • A Boy And His Dragon: Pete and Elliot
  • Award Bait Song: "Candle on the Water", one of the earliest examples of the trope. Lost to "You Light Up My Life.
  • Berserk Button: The Gogans to Elliot, especially if they threaten Pete.
  • Big No: Hoagy does this when Dr. Terminus told him to get the dragon.
  • Billing Displacement: Sean Marshal (Pete) gets an And Introducing credit after the adult actors. Charlie Callas (voice of Elliot) is credited after him.
  • But Now I Must Go: Elliot leaves Pete at the end specifically because another kid needs his help.
  • Cassandra Truth: Pete trying to tell his teacher that "It was Elliot!" who was doing all the crazy shenanigans that she was blaming and punishing him for
  • Chekhov's Skill: Many dragons breathe fire, of course, but Elliot's ability turns out to be the one thing that can relight the lighthouse lamp in the climax.
  • Coconut Superpowers: Elliot's invisibility means that for long chunks of the runtime, we only see the effects of his presence. (In fact, as originally conceived, the audience was never going to see him at all.)
  • Corrupt Hick: The Gogan family.
  • Crowd Song: "I Saw a Dragon".
  • Crunchtastic: The big Ear Worm song, "Brazzle Dazzle Day"; in fact, the movie's Tagline was "Brazzle Dazzle Brilliance!"
  • Dastardly Whiplash: Dr. Terminus, more or less.
  • Dunce Cap: Pete gets one when he gets in trouble with his teacher on his first day of school for things that Elliot did. Of course, Elliot blows it off when he gets enraged enough.
  • Easy Amnesia: It turns out Nora's fiance Paul was in a shipwreck and suffered amnesia. When he returns to her at the end, he says he regained his memory when he fell out of a bed - an "accident" which was obviously Elliot's doing.
  • Efficient Displacement: An invisible Elliot leaves a dragon-shaped hole in the school wall.
  • The Family for the Whole Family: The Gogan clan.
  • Foreshadowing:

Doc: "The existence of a dragon would have an impact of gigantic proportions. Mythology and legend would become history and science. (to himself) One would make a quick buck with it."

  • Gentle Giant: Elliot.
  • Happily Ever After
  • Heartwarming Orphan
  • Ink Suit Actor: Elliot's expressions are identical to Charlie Callas.
  • Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Elliot.
  • It Makes Sense in Context: Dr. Terminus's "Landship," a sailboat on wheels
  • It Must Be Mine: Terminus wanting to capture Elliot.
  • It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY": Terminus keeps getting the town's name wrong. Hoagy would correct him.
  • Large Ham: Most of the cast, especially the villains.
  • Medicine Show
  • Medium Blending
  • Mobile Kiosk: Doctor Terminus' "Landship"
  • Musical Chores: "Brazzle Dazzle Day".
  • Never Trust a Hair Tonic: When Dr. Terminus comes to town, the townspeople confront him about his various medicines that didn't work the last time he was there, including one man whose hair turned from gray to pink, thanks to the doctor.
  • No Sympathy: When an invisible Elliot begins playing with the school bell while Pete is in class, Pete runs out to stop him; he is followed by the teacher who then accuses Pete of ringing the bell -- despite the fact that Pete was sitting in the front row of the classroom when the bell began ringing. This is pretty much the teacher picking up the Idiot Ball in order to press Elliot's Berserk Button.
  • Not-So-Imaginary Friend: Elliot.
  • Obfuscating Disability: Hoagy uses this to give Doctor Terminus and his tonics some ill-deserved credibility. First he inverts it by playing an old and obviously deaf woman, and fakes gaining the ability to hear. Then he plays it straight by masquerading as a old man who hobbles on crutches and doesn't need them anymore once he's had some of Terminus's tonic.
  • Plot-Driven Breakdown: The climactic storm extinguishes the lighthouse's lamp just as a ship - carrying Nora's fiance, among others - is approaching, risking a wreck. Nora and Lampie can't relight it, so it's left to Elliot to do the job with his fire breath. He does, and in the process, Nora sees him for the first time.
    • In that same scene, it also applies to Elliot's fire-breathing ability, in that he's wedged so tightly into the lighthouse's stairwell that he can't inhale.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Elliot, after hearing Hoagy's message that the Gogans got Pete.
  • Shut UP, Hannibal: Nora does this several times in the second Villain Song. Unfortunately, the Gogans will not shut up, requiring Eliot to take a more forceful approach to convince them.
  • Snake Oil Salesman
  • Stupid Evil: Earth to Ms. Gogan, you cannot use legalese to convince a dragon to back off.
  • Stock Scream: Dr. Terminus lets out a Goofy holler.
  • There Is Another: The reason Elliot must leave Pete is to help another kid.
  • They Would Cut You Up: What Dr. Terminus wants to do to Elliot.
  • The Unintelligible: Elliot, who communicates with grunts, clicks and scatting, leaving Pete to translate for him when needed.
  • Villain Song: "The Happiest Home in These Hills" and "We Got a Bill of Sale Right Here" for the Gogans, and "Every Little Piece" for Dr. Terminus and Hoagy.
  • Verbal Tic: The school teacher's habit of repeating key words three times. Lampshaded/Parodied very shortly after being introduced:

Teacher: No no no, this is irregular, irregular, irregular!
Nora: But he needs an education, education, education.

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