Pete's Dragon

Pete's Dragon seemed out of date when it debuted in theatres in 1977, the same year that Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind were released. A live action-animated musical in the classic tradition of Mary Poppins (but without the late Walt Disney's magical touch), the story revolves around Pete (Sean Marshall), a runaway orphan whose best friend is Elliott, a mostly invisible dragon (voiced by Charlie Callas). With his cruel adoptive family on his trail, Pete finds himself in a New England harbor town, where he's taken in by a kind woman (Helen Reddy) who lives in the local lighthouse. To quote the miscast Reddy's 1970s anthem, she may be Woman, but Actress she is not. Veteran characters do what they can to inject some life into the proceedings: Mickey Rooney is the comically-soused lighthouse keeper who can see Elliott, Jim Dale and Red Buttons are a pair of con men, and Shelley Winters as Ma Gogan. The songs are mostly unmemorable, although the Oscar-nominated ballad “Candle on the Water,” has somehow become part of the Disney canon. But this DVD re-release does offer some nifty new bonus features and archival goodies, for Pete's sake, including a deleted storyboard sequence, demo song recordings, a retrospective featurette on Disney's groundbreaking work in blending live action and animation, a Donald Duck animated short, an interactive game, and stills galleries. Likely to be of nostalgic interest for children of the ‘70s, this is a strong optional purchase. (D. Liebenson)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 23, 2012—Walt Disney, 88 min., G, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1977's Pete's Dragon features a fine transfer and DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Extras include “Brazzle Dazzle Effects: Behind Disney's Movie Magic” featuring costar Sean Marshall (25 min.), the deleted storyboard sequence “Terminus & Hoagy Hunt Elliott” (3 min.), the original song concept for “Boo Bop Bopbop Bop (I Love You, Too)” (3 min.), trailers, and a bonus DVD copy of the film. Bottom line: although not top-drawer Disney by any means, most will welcome this handsome Blu-ray debut.]