Let us talk about the good old film as well as the remake of it which is Pete’s dragon or should I call it Pete’s dragons SCREW IT PETE’S DRAGON VS PETE’S DRAGON
So peats dragon is a Disney classic. Both movies are about a Boy that has trouble coping and is on the run one way or another. In the Disney’s classic he is running from his adopted family that want nothing more than to beat him up and do all of their chores. The first time you see Pete he is floating in mid air. The adopted family known as the “Gogans” I think? Track down where Peat is hiding before singing a song Because why wouldn’t they it is a Disney movie after all they then give up after singing and Pete says goodnight to this strange invisable being called “Elliot”
They then wake up in the wood swamp area which CLEARLY is not the same swamp forest that they fell asleep in.
I don’t know
Maybe Elliot got restless and took Pete where he was sleeping in that tree trunk for a little walk with him. Pete notices the strange being known as “Elliot” eating some apples and he calls out his name and he appears. This is the first time we get to see Elliot the dragon in all his cartoon glory
Pete sees the apples and Elliot sits down. Pete then get’s on Elliots belly and the two start eating apples. They was one left and Elliot told Pete he could have it then Elliot grabbed it and burned it before giving it back to Pete with his flame.
We then get another song that explains their story and their emotional attachment without using up all the film
In the reboot of the movie Pete’s family get’s injured in a car accident which results in death. Gee Disney aren’t you full of sunshine and lollipops. It is not enough to kill off the mother but the farther as well! So a big green dragon walks up to the small baby on the ground and looks at him before taking him into care. Because we all need a Carer ;). It is then after a few years later we see Pete as a feral boy running though the woods on all fours like Tazon style.
In this story is slightly different. Pete names his dragon because of a book he was reading that had the name Elliot. Basically Elliot is like a Farther to Pete. He lives under a tree? (Mmm… that is different?) and tries to protect Pete as much as possible. Both Elliots the reboot and the 1977 are both protective towards Pete. This Elliot however can change colour and camouflage himself which is a lot more different than turning yourself invisible. Oh yeah and changes colour sometimes in the movies for no apparent reason what so ever and this Elliot can heal himself from Broses.
They is no singing in this version I do not think so if you did not like how the characters burst out in song then you will not find any of that here.
To be honest I much more prefer the 1977’s Elliot to the remake version. To me the remake version looks like Elliot has been beaten with the ugly stick. I apologies to anyone that likes the reboot Elliot but that is just my opinion. It dose not mean that the movie in it’s self is bad though in fact rather the opposite.
So what happens next you might ask…
Well they go to a town.
In the 1977’s version after their loving song and Elliot flying down Pete reads a sign for Passamaquoddy. A town that most spell checkers would find a nightmare to spell check.
For a boy on the run raised by a bunch of stupid foster parents this boy can read. So After reading the sign Pete lays down a few ground rules for Elliot.
One of these is too stay invisible and this is most important of them all.
However this goes all tit’s up and after a encounter with the school teacher and with a few other people the towns folk go full on mop for him but luckly he hides in behind some cages. The towns folk are too bent on rage to have noticed that he was beside the cages and hid behind them. Pete tells Elliot off when he appears and we get to see the first character drunky stumble towards Pete. He then speaks to Elliot and tells Pete if he did not know any better he say his friend was a dragon and he stutters just realising what he has just witnessed. He looks back at Elliot while he makes a scary face and growls. Pete tells Elliot off again and Elliot Disappears.
Cappy meets Eliot
So this character who is known as Cappy I think or captain runs away and where do you think he runs off too!
The pub of course. This is probably the most questionable content part at the time of 1977!
What happens one of our main characters runs into a bar and gets I guess is 3 drinks down his gob before he breaks into a song and his daughter comes in to ask the pub where his dad is.
In this scene along they is a lot of rowdy men with beer glasses and the female character kicking beer glasses lifting her skirt up and flashing her privets. Well her privets at the time.
Now I think about it the ending of that song had a innuendo ending to it. The guy makes his way drunkly home with his daughter and tries to tell her what has happened.
How the reboot dose this Pete unwillingly get’s bought to a town after knocking himself out or been knocked out. Finding himself in a hosbitle bed because one of the female characters put him their, he then escapes out of a open window and the epic chase seen begins.
One of the main characters I think calls the cops and they start chasing this little feral boy. To be honest this part of the movie I was actually cheering for Pete hoping he could out run the cops and go back to the woods.
At one point he even get’s on top of a school bus and rides it which is the most epic thing you will see in your life. He unfortunately gets captured by the man again and that epic chase scene is over.
Later he gets introduce to 2 characters that he is living with until they figure out what to do with him.
Both scenes have our man character going out of his comfort zone to a new place. The difference is that the 1977 version Pete wonders into the town while in the reboot he has no choice because he needed medical attention. Both get involved in the whole town somewhat or another chasing him except in the remake Elliot is not with Pete when he is getting chased. Nobody goes to the pub for a pint and in the Reboot version Elliot tries to look for his Adopted pal. The only difference with the two chase scenes is that the towns folk of Passamaquoddy are pretty dumb and race past Pete while he hides under some catches. In the reboot it is a full on chase and people are more determined to catch Pete.
In both movies where Elliot lives is slightly different. In the 1977 version he kind of just wonders around with Pete until he finds a place to stay at. Elliot and Pete go inside a cave near the sea to hide away from everyone else and it is a real emotional part of the film because Pete is feeling Octrisaged by all of the towns folk and Elliot just followed him. Elliot is feeling sad as well since he is getting told off by his pal.
After this bit Elliot pretty much lives in the cave. He can not fit in any houses so he just kinda lives in the cave near the house for most of the duration of the story.
In the reboot he mostly lives under a tree stump which I got to admit is very different for a dragon?
Even though you know my thoughts on Elliot in the rebooted version I would love to hug that lovely green dragon and let him cuddle me in his paw. The house is also where Pete grew up as well.
He has a lot of memorabilia from when he was a baby in Elliots stump house. Also I think if I remember correctly Elliot out right steals stuff from people to give to Pete or I could be wrong.
The settings are slightly different and although they both start in the woods they are somewhat kind of different. For example in the original version he flees to the woods just to get away from his mean foster family. In the reboot he pretty much lives in the woods. The towns and feels are different too. I think Disney was going for a let’s put a dragon in a place where they would not normally fit. Like the city and lumber jack part of America. Both towns are different too.
The feel of the movie also makes a strange difference. In the 1977 version it is bright and colourful though in the remake it is more cinematic.
Let us get to the baddies in this because we all are wondering who they are? Well if you watch the original they was 2 baddies. One was the group known as the Gogans that wanted nothing more but to make Pete do hard labour on their farm while they do apsalutly nothing.
SPOILER TERRORORY
The second is the Doc that has the metrical cure for all medicine. Basically hard licker, what is it with this film and drinking?
The Doc dose not appose any threat until he finds out how much dough he can make out of a dragons body parts. He sings about this too and it is the most dark twisted up tune beat I have ever heard in a U rating Disney film. They do go into a bit of detail.
Not only that but both baddies decide to work together since they both have something that the other person wants. For the Gogans they want Pete and for the Doc he want’s the dragon.
In the reboot it is some bad loggers that want to prove to the world that dragons exist and he wants to keep Elliot for himself by bounding him up. He dose to a truck though Elliot dose get rescued in the end same as 1977 Elliot gets trapped but is able to get out in the end.
Theory time. So By the end of sorry SPOILER ALERT! By the end of Pete’s Dragon 1977 Elliot is sad and tells Pete that they is another kid in trouble. The theory is that that kid is in the distant future and it is up to Elliot to find him so up he flies.
The kid in question is also named Pete and Elliot takes him in until he dose not need his help anymore. This would explain Elliots state in the reboot so the theory is that Elliot waited all that time to help another Pete out that was in the wilderness.
So what do I think here. I would say that they are both great films and worth a watch if you have not already seen them! The 1977 film will make you feel like a kid again while the reboot will take you away breathless. If I had to choose it has to be the Classic Peat’s Dragon 1977’s film. They did not have that much technological leaps back then but how they did it was amazing!
Till next time
furriesandbronies 