Tema: Film
Tip: Plakat

48 x 68 cm
2 x presavijen
movie poster

Pete`s Dragon is a 1977 American live-action/animated musical fantasy comedy film directed by Don Chaffey, produced by Jerome Courtland and Ron Miller, and written by Malcolm Marmorstein. It is based on the unpublished short story `Pete`s Dragon and the USA (Forever After)` by Seton I. Miller and S.S. Field. The film stars Sean Marshall, Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Jeff Conaway, Shelley Winters, and the voice of Charlie Callas as Elliott.

The project was initially conceived in 1957 as a two-part episode of the Disneyland television series, but it was shelved until it was revived as a musical film in 1975. The film was released on November 3, 1977 to mixed reviews from critics, though some praised the animation, and was a moderate success, grossing $18 million over a $10 million budget. The song `Candle on the Water` received an Academy Award nomination, but lost to `You Light Up My Life` from the film of the same name. Reddy`s recording (with a different arrangement than the one her character sings in the film) was released as a single by Capitol Records, reaching #27 on the Adult Contemporary charts. The film also received a nomination for Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score, losing to A Little Night Music.

In the early 1900s, Pete rides his invisible dragon Elliott in the woods, fleeing from the Gogans, an abusive family that purchased Pete to work their farm. The family sings about how they`ll treat him better if he returns, while expressing their true intentions (`The Happiest Home in These Hills`) Elliott swings his tail, knocking the Gogans into the mud. After they leave, Pete falls asleep in a log.

Pete and Elliott visit Passamaquoddy, where the unseen Elliott`s clumsiness causes Pete to be labeled a source of bad luck. Lampie, the lighthouse keeper, stumbles out of a tavern and encounters Pete. Elliott makes himself visible and Lampie, terrified, runs into to the townsfolk (`I Saw a Dragon`). In a seaside café Pete scold Elliott for causing trouble. As they make up, Lampie`s daughter Nora appears, warning that Pete isn`t safe staying in there because of the ongoing tides from the sea. When she realizes he`s orphaned and not from the area, she offers him food and shelter at the lighthouse and he accepts.

Pete tells Nora of the abuse he suffered from the Gogans, and as she offers to let him spend the night at the lighthouse, they strike up a friendship (“It’s Not Easy”). He learns the story of her fiancé Paul, whose ship was reported lost at sea the year before. He promises to ask Elliott about Paul. She believes that Elliott is Pete`s imaginary friend.

The next morning, Dr. Terminus and his assistant Hoagy arrive and win over the gullible townspeople who are initially angered by their return (“Passamaquoddy”). The next day the local fishermen complain about the scarcity of fish and believe it`s Pete`s fault. Nora tells them the fishing grounds shift from time to time and Pete should be welcomed into town. She takes him to start school, where the teacher, Miss Taylor, punishes him unfairly for Elliott`s antics. Enraged, Elliott smashes into the schoolhouse, leaving his shape in the wall, as Pete runs off.

Pete turns down Dr. Terminus` offer for Elliott but accepts Nora and Lampie`s invitation to live with them permanently. When the Gogans come to town to demand him back, Nora refuses to hand him over. As the Gogans attempt to chase them in a small boat, Elliott `torpedoes` it, saving Pete (`Bill of Sale`).

Dr. Terminus teams up with the Gogans to capture both Pete and Elliott. He also convinces the superstitious locals that helping him capture Elliott will solve their problems.

That evening, a storm blows in. At sea, a ship approaches Passamaquoddy with Paul on board. Dr. Terminus lures Pete to the boathouse while Hoagy does the same to Elliott. Once there, the invisible Elliott is caught in a net trap, but he frees himself, saves Pete, and confronts the Gogans. Lena yells at him, claiming Pete is their property and waves her bill of sale at him, which he torches. Now completely defenseless, they flee after he frightens them away. As he and Pete laugh, Dr. Terminus makes one more effort to harpoon him, but his leg is caught in the rope and he is sent catapulting through the ceiling and screams as he goes through it, ending up dangling upside down near a utility pole. In a last-ditch effort, he tries to offer buying Elliott`s `spare parts`; Elliott declines and proceeds to destroy Dr. Terminus` traveling wagon, ending his scamming business.

Elliott then saves the Mayor, Miss Taylor, and the members of the Town Board from a falling utility pole, revealing himself to them. Back at the lighthouse, the lamp has been extinguished by a storm-driven rogue wave. Elliott returns and lights it with his own fire. As he does, Nora sees that he is real. The light is ignited and the ship is saved.

The next morning, the Mayor and the townsfolk praise Elliott for his help, and Nora is reunited with Paul, who was the sole survivor of a shipwreck at Cape Hatteras and suffered amnesia. Now that Pete has a loving family, Elliott tells him he must move on to help another kid in trouble, and is sad that they must part. Pete comforts Elliott by telling him if that anyone can help that kid, he can. He then happily flies away as Pete and his new family wave good-bye to him. Pete happily reminding him once again he is supposed to be invisible.