Pete's Dragon

1977 would see yet another hybrid put out by the Disney Corporation. Pete’s Dragon was an entirely live action musical, save for the animated dragon, Elliot, who would often disappear. The first Disney film to be recorded with Dolby Stereo, it was directed by Don Chaffey and Don Bluth and starred Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, and Mickey Rooney. “Candle on the Water” was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to “You Light Up My Life.”

In the early 20^th century, the orphan Pete (Sean Marshall) is on the run from the Gogans (Shelley Winters, Charles Tyner, Gary Morgan, and Jeff Conaway), a backwoods family that bought him as a slave. His only friend is Elliot, a friendly dragon that doesn’t speak, but can fly, breathe fire, and turn invisible. He’s always looking out for Pete and the two make their way to Passamaquoddy, Maine.

No one believes in dragons, usually because Elliot is invisible, which causes problems for Pete. Pete is taken in by Nora (Reddy), the daughter of lighthouse keeper, Lampie (Rooney). Elliot hides out in a nearby cave.

Pete tells Elliot about Nora’s fiancé who is lost at sea, hoping he can find him But Doctor Terminus (Dale) arrives and his lackey, Hoagy (Red Buttons), learns about Elliot. Terminus realizes the medicines that can be used by dragon compounds and seeks to capture him. Then the Gogans arrive in town and the two combine their forces. Everything comes together one stormy night and the townspeople learn that Elliot is real.

This movie is a complete mess.

Remember when I said in my review of Mary Poppins that the animated sequence was unnecessary? It’s even more so with this film. Constantly, you’re seeing the effects of what Elliot has done. Fence posts are destroyed, footprints in cement, two holes in the schoolhouse, and the townsfolk even drop a net over him at one point. The first shot you see in the film is Pete riding on an invisible Elliot in the woods. The only time Elliot should have shown up in the movie is during the action at the end, when everyone finally believes Pete.

The songs, while catchy, overstay their welcome to the point that the original focus of the songs are lost and people are singing just because this is a musical. The only exception is “Candle on the Water.” Also, most of the acting just isn’t very good. The only two characters who are acted well are Nora and Terminus, mostly because Reddy is able to pull off a strong willed woman quite well and Dale seems to realize how corny this movie is and just goes to town on going so over the top that the character seems like a realistic snake oil salesman.  I expected better from Mickey Rooney, but then look at what he was given.

Something also must be said about this film’s pacing, which is so slow that it’s just hard to get through. I feel like this film could have been about a half hour to 45 minutes shorter.

It was thanks to Pete’s Dragon (and Popeye’s failure three years later) that Disney didn’t put out another live action musical until Newsies in 1992 and was the main reason Don Bluth left the company. This film just isn’t that good and shows how out of touch the company was in the 70s, because what would you rather see? A musical about a boy and his semi-invisible animated dragon? Or Star Wars?

Final Call: Not completely terrible, but not at all good. It’s been a while since a film crossed the Edge of Dissatisfaction. #27. 

The Rescuers

In 1977, Eva Gabor would star in another Disney movie alongside Bob Newhart. Based on the Margery Sharp books, The Rescuers and Miss Bianca, the film known as The Rescuers would be the highest grossing animated film of all time until Don Bluth released An American Tail in the 1980s. It was the last time Milt Kahl and Frank and Ollie would work on a film together. This film was also the first Disney movie to warrant a sequel, with The Rescuers Down Under. Not The Jungle Book as I had previously stated.

The flamboyant Madame Medusa (Geraldine Page) is trying to get her hands on the world’s largest diamond, which is hidden in a dank and gloomy swamp. However, she needs someone who will fit in a tiny hole so she kidnaps an orphan girl named Penny (Michelle Stacy).

Penny sends out a message in a bottle asking for help. The message is found by the all-mouse Rescue Aid Society, who send out Agent Bianca (Gabor) and the janitor, Bernard (Newhart).

Along the way, they are assisted by an albatross named Orville (Jim Jordan), a dragonfly named Evinrude (James MacDonald) and the denizens of the swamp (Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, George Lindsey, Larry Clemmons, Dub Taylor, and John Fiedler).

Once again, the villain is the most memorable part of the film. Medusa is very reminiscent of Cruella De Vil, trying to put on a façade of glamour and refinement, thinking she has a sense of subtlety, but loves to go overkill and has a tendency to go berserk when she isn’t getting her way. She’s also got a shotgun in this film. A shotgun with which she uses to try and kill Bernard and Bianca. The pet alligators are a nice touch to. Medusa’s henchman, Snoops, is also fairly interesting. Like with Merlin, there’s a sense that he’s obfuscating incompetence and can actually be fairly useful when he wants to. This is seen at the end where he manages to escape and laughs at Medusa’s misfortune. You can tell he also really doesn’t like Medusa and is just partnering with her for a cut in the profits, as he really doesn’t want to let Penny drown in pursuit of the gem.

And then there’s Penny. She suffers from The Aristicats’ problem in that she’s there to be cute and innocent for the sake of it. However, the helpless, endearing and naïve traits that Disney was going for just become incredibly annoying. On the other hand, Stacy does good voice work and makes it sound like Penny’s always three seconds from having a nervous breakdown. Considering her situation, she probably is, but she needs more characterization than “I’m here, save me.”

As for the mice, Bernard and Bianca are good foils for each other. She’s strong willed and doesn't care about what troubles they may befall, he’s superstitious and constantly wondering about what could go wrong. The alligators turning on Medusa at the end is also ironic, considering their names are Brutus and Nero.

As for everything else, the music is decent and the animation is pretty good. The story is your average kidnapping and salvation plot, but even if Penny suffers from a lack of characterization, everyone else carries it along quite well.

Final Call: A good film with mostly great characters. #11.