For Pete’s Sake, Go See Disney’s Pete’s Dragon - Review

When I first received the press release in 2015 that Disney would be releasing a new live action version of Pete’s Dragon I had no idea just how amazing this film would be.  Not only was this movie on point with the visuals it also pulls at your heart strings. So much so though that I keep thinking that it’s a pun on a famous Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song.  I feel the title of the song should now be “Stop DRAGON My Heart Around”

So yes during this film I laughed and cried. We can say it had “all the feels” that you expect from a Disney classic. 

What To Expect From Pete’s Dragon

 

The film begins in a very sweet way but soon you learn how Pete became lost in the forest.  The young boy is in what could be a very awful situation until he happens to be saved by a dragon.  Soon you see the film change as you learn Pete has been growing up in the woods under the watchful of dragon he named Elliot.  This scene in the forest are very reminiscent of Mowgli and the animals in THE JUNGLE BOOK that was released earlier this year.  Soon after the plot changes again as Pete and Elliot learn about the world just outside of the forest.

The animators did a great job of bringing Elliot to life through CGI.  When he is first introduced you notice the fur and the forest colours in it, but as the movie goes on you begin to recognize the facial features and characteristics of the 1977 animated version of Elliot.  They also kept the time frame the same with the use of station wagons, pickup trucks and corded telephones from that era. 

For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliot. And from Pete’s descriptions, Elliot seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham’s stories. With the help of Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon.

We think this film is a great way to spend some family time, not only to see the film, but also to learn about the importance of trees and surrounding environment.

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