Disney’s dragon a winner
Hyper-real: Disney’s dragon Elliott with Natalie (Oona Laurence) and Pete (Oakes Fegley) in Pete’s Dragon, rated PG and in cinemas now.
It’s amazing how far animation has come.
In 1977, when Disney first brought a jolly green dragon to screen in thePete’s Dragon musical, mixing 2D animation – the classic, flat Disney style – with live action actors and scenery did not exactly deliver true-to-life results.
But it’s almost four decades on and the animation landscape has changed irrevocably.
With the latest incarnation of the classic story, Disney has delivered a dragon that seemingly is as real as the humans it interacts with.
Dragon Elliot may be even more successful than the studio’s earlier 2016 offerings in The Jungle Book.
Which is a shame, because the earlier movie received the expected Disney marketing package – trailers and TV spots ad nauseum – whilePete’s Dragon’s marketing hardly made an impact at all.
The incredible dragon has to be seen to be believed – much like in the story itself.
Following in the recent Disney tradition of giving all creature sidekicks doglike behaviour – see Maximus the horse in Tangled and reindeer Sven in Frozen – Elliott has all the emotion and cuteness of a pooch.
His eyes are incredibly expressive, his body-language and growls effective in communicating without words.
The fantastical story is grounded by just how lifelike Elliott is.
The humans around him are good value as well – Oakes Fegley is a capable companion as the titular child Pete while fellow child actor Oona Laurence exudes wisdom beyond her years.
The adult component is filled by Bryce Dallas Howard (well-versed in acting opposite computer-generated co-stars after her turn in Jurassic World), Robert Redford, Wes Bentley and Karl Urban.
Like in many seminal 80s films (E.T., The Goonies), the adults in Pete’s Dragon are short-sighted and close-minded.
They don’t understand the dragon and seek to hold him captive – there is a similar anxious feeling of grown-up distrust as can be found in E.T.
On another level, the music in Pete’s Dragon is absolutely beautiful and is matched by the gorgeous landscapes – familiar to anyone who has seen The Lord of the Rings as it was filmed in our neighbouring New Zealand.