Review: Pete's Dragon (1977) (DMC #65)
Have you ever wished you had your own dragon? Last night we watched the original Pete’s Dragon from 1977, marking the sixty-fifth film in our Disnerd Movie Challenge. If you’ve never seen the original film before, or if you’ve completely forgotten it, our synopsis is below. If you watched with us, feel free to jump ahead to our review.
Synopsis
Orphan Pete rides his invisible dragon, Elliott, through a forest to escape the Gogans—his abusive adoptive family who treat Pete like a slave. The Gogans try to lure Pete out of hiding, but Elliott, still invisible, whacks them into the mud and scares them off. After spending the night in the woods, Pete and Elliott enjoy a breakfast of apples and head to the coastal town of Passamaquoddy. Pete instructs Elliott to stay invisible so as not to scare anyone, but even while invisible Elliott causes trouble for the people in town. When the school teacher, Miss Taylor, learns Pete isn’t in school, she scolds him. Meanwhile, Elliott slips the teacher’s petticoat onto a loose nail in the side of a building, which causes the teacher’s skirt to tear away when she walks off. Pete gets blamed for it, along with all the other damage Elliott caused while invisible, so he and Elliott run off and hide. Elliott turns visible again, and Pete scolds him for getting them into so much trouble. Just then, drunken Lampie walks out of the tavern next to Pete and Elliott’s hiding spot and comes face to face with Elliott. After realizing he’s seen a dragon, Lampie freaks out and runs back to the tavern to tell everyone he saw a dragon. His daughter, Nora, arrives at the tavern looking for her father, and Lampie tells her all about the dragon he saw. She and the patrons of the tavern don’t believe him because he’s so drunk. Nora helps her father back to their lighthouse home where Lampie tells Nora that a boy was with this dragon he saw. After putting her father to bed, Nora steps out of the lighthouse and notices a lone boy, Pete, running along the beach and heading for a cave. In the cave, Elliott tries to apologize to Pete and invites him to play tic-tac-toe, but Pete is still mad at him for ruining their first impression. Pete realizes Elliott’s feelings are hurt, so he apologizes just before Nora enters the cave. Elliott heads further into the cave to hide, and Nora warns Pete about high tide reaching this cave. Upon learning that Pete doesn’t know where his parents are and doesn’t have a place to stay, she invites him back to the lighthouse for chowder. Pete agrees and leaves with Nora, but not before running back to tell Elliott he forgives him and that the dragon should stay in the cave for now.
Back at the lighthouse, Nora asks Pete about his bruises, and Pete shares the abuses of the Gogans. Nora asks Pete to stay the night, offering him a change of clothes. Pete happily agrees. He sees a framed portrait of a man sitting on a table and asks Nora about it. It’s a photo of Paul, the man she was going to marry who was then lost at sea. Pete tells Nora he’ll ask Elliott about Paul, and Nora asks Pete to tell her more about this dragon, which she believes to be Pete’s imaginary friend. The next morning, Lampie wakes up and is shocked to see Pete in his home—he recognizes him as the boy with the dragon. Lampie wants Pete to bring Elliott to the tavern to prove to the others that Lampie wasn’t crazy, but Nora discourages both of them from telling anyone about the dragon. Meanwhile, on the other end of town, snake oil salesman Dr. Terminus and his assistant Hoagy burst into town on a runaway carriage with a giant sail. The citizens of Passamaquoddy recognize the quack doctor and aren’t pleased to see him again, but the doctor and his assistant set up shop regardless and use their performance to convince the townspeople of the doc’s potions’ efficacy. Back at the lighthouse, Pete now wears a brand new suit that Nora bought for him while they were in town. Pete heads to the cave to show Elliott his new suit and Paul’s picture while Nora thanks Lampie for going along with the imaginary dragon, but Lampie insists he really saw it. He also calls out Nora for not being realistic about Paul. It’s been over a year since he was lost at sea, and he thinks she should accept that he’s dead. Nora, however, can’t let Paul go and still clings to hope that he’s alive somewhere. Back in the cave, Elliott is impressed with Pete’s new suit. Pete tells the dragon he’d like to do something nice for Nora since she’s been so nice to him. He shows Paul’s photo to Elliott and tells Elliott to focus on finding Paul.
That night, at the tavern, Dr. Terminus and Hoagy are disappointed with business in Passamaquoddy when a very drunk Lampie knocks into their table. He tells the quacks all about the dragon he saw, and that Pete owns him. They think he’s crazy, though the doctor does mention he could make a quick buck if the story were true. Hoagy, nearly as drunk as Lampie, says he’d like to see this dragon, so Lampie leads him to the cave. Elliott wakes up to hear the men talking about a horrible monster, which scares Elliott. He joins the men in searching the cave, but then the men realize the dragon is beside them and they freak out. They offer Elliott a drink from Hoagy’s flask as a sign of friendship, but the liquor makes Elliott belch flames, scaring the two men who flee the cave. Hoagy finds Dr. Terminus in their tent and tells him what he saw, but the doctor thinks he’s merely drunk. The next day, Nora takes Pete to school. Along the way, the children in town ask Pete all about his dragon, but the fishermen complain that Pete and his dragon scared off all the fish. Pete promises them that Elliott can bring the fish back. At the schoolhouse, Miss Taylor doesn’t want to allow Pete in her class, but Nora prevails in convincing the teacher to take him on. Later in the school day, Elliott starts ringing the school bell while invisible, but when Pete tries to get Elliott to stop, the teacher blames Pete for ringing the bell and punishes him by rapping his knuckles. Elliott gets mad at the teacher for hurting Pete and breaks into the schoolhouse while invisible, leaving a dragon-sized hole in the side of the schoolhouse. Dr. Terminus and Hoagy head to the schoolhouse when they hear the commotion and see the dragon-shaped hole, realizing the dragon is real. Together they plot how to use the dragon’s various parts in their potions to make more money. The cons head to the lighthouse the next morning and greet Nora and Pete who are painting the lighthouse. Dr. Terminus tells Pete he wants to buy Elliott, offering three dollars, then five dollars, but Pete won’t sell because Elliott doesn’t belong to anyone. When Dr. Terminus insists on meeting Elliott, Pete points down to the beach, but Dr. Terminus can’t see the dragon because he’s invisible. Dr. Terminus isn’t fooled—he thinks Nora and Pete must be hiding the dragon. Nora and Lampie invite Pete to join their family, and Pete is overjoyed.
The next day, the Gogans arrive in town and find Pete lobster fishing with Nora and Lampie. The Gogans pursue them in a boat, insisting they have a bill of sale that says Pete belongs to them, but Nora refuses to let them have him. Elliott returns from his search for Paul and invisibly dives into the water, overturning the Gogans’ boat. The soaked Gogans head to the tavern where Dr. Terminus makes a deal with them—he’ll help them get Pete if they help him get the dragon. The Gogans think he’s crazy for believing the dragon is real but agree to the deal. They plan to meet at the boathouse at sundown, and Dr. Terminus recruits the local fisherman to help set a trap for the dragon. That night turns stormy as they set up an elaborate trap of fishing nets and a harpoon in the boathouse. Dr. Terminus tells Hoagy to rehearse the trap while he goes to fetch Pete. Back at the lighthouse, Elliott flies to Pete’s bedroom window to tell him the good news—he’s found Paul, and he’s on his way to the lighthouse right now! Pete tries to tell Nora and Lampie the news, but Lampie tells Pete off for making up such nonsense and causing Nora more pain. Nora puts a stop to all talk of Paul and Elliott, telling Pete he needs to be realistic, but Pete is not dissuaded. He trusts they’ll believe him when they see Paul. Pete heads to the woodshed, but Dr. Terminus rushes in and lies to Pete saying Elliott is causing trouble in town. Pete runs to town with Dr. Terminus, only to be handed over to the Gogans who hold onto Pete as bait for the dragon trap. Dr. Terminus sends a terrified Hoagy back to the cave to fetch Elliott, where he tells Elliott that the Gogans have Pete. Elliott storms off to the boathouse with Hoagy in tow. Meanwhile, a giant wave strikes the lighthouse, dousing the lighthouse flame that Paul and his mate were using to safely navigate the cove. Nora and Lampie try to relight the flame but the wick is soaked. At the boathouse, Elliott is caught in the nets. Dr. Terminus is about to shoot the captured dragon with the harpoon when Pete shoves the harpoon away. The Gogans quickly shove Pete into a sack and start to leave, but Elliott hears Pete’s cries for help and escapes the netting and grabs Pete. He frees Pete from the sack, burns the Gogans’ bill of sale, and scares the Gogans into a barrel of tar before scaring them off completely. As Elliott and Pete celebrate, Dr. Terminus aims the harpoon at the dragon, but Hoagy points out that the doctor’s foot is tangled in the harpoon’s rope. The doctor aims the harpoon straight up instead and is sent flying through the air, landing upside-down from one end of the rope. He tries to make a deal with Elliott, but Elliott turns him down and destroys the doctor’s wagon before rescuing the mayor from a falling light post. Back at the lighthouse, Nora and Lampie realize the approaching ship is heading for the reef, so they sound the fog horn. Pete and Elliott hear it and fly back through the storm to the lighthouse. Pete hurries into the lighthouse with Elliott squeezing in behind him. Lampie explains the problem with the wick, and Elliott offers to light it, but he’s too squished in the stairwell to get a good flame going. Nora comes in and finally sees Elliott, realizing the dragon was real all along. Elliot finally lights the wick, just in time for Paul’s ship to change course and avoid the rocks. The next morning is a clear day as all of Passamaquoddy celebrates the ship that was saved and the return of the fish. Paul disembarks from his ship and runs to reunite with Nora. He tells her how his ship sank and he was the only survivor, but he’d lost his memory until a few days ago when he mysteriously fell out of his bed and got his memories back. Pete credits Elliott for this. The mayor thanks the invisible Elliott for his heroic deeds. Pete is happy to have found a new family, but Elliott tearfully tells Pete that now he must go and help another kid in trouble. The two exchange a tearful goodbye before Elliott flies off, leaving Pete, Nora, Paul, and Lampie happily waving to him from the lighthouse.
Thoughts Before Watching
Megan: I have fond memories of watching this movie as a kid. We never had an official copy of the movie, though. We recorded the movie on VHS when it aired on TV, which meant it was edited slightly to fit within the TV viewing slot. I had always assumed that was the true version of the film until I rewatched the movie prior to the release of the 2016 remake. Turns out the version I knew cut out the Gogans’ opening song, a song somewhere in the middle, and a few other little excess scenes. Honestly, I think I like it better without those extra songs or scenes. I also like this one better than the 2016 version, but five years out from seeing the newer film I couldn’t tell you why I prefer the original. It may just be nostalgia. In any case, I’m looking forward to seeing this one again!
Kevin: A couple of my siblings say they love this movie, and as Megan indicates above, she enjoys it, too. To some people it’s a really special film, but I guess it just didn’t strike a chord with me when I was a kid. I know I watched this at least once, but I do not remember a single bit of this movie’s plot. Zilch. Zip. Nada. The only things I know are that Pete has a dragon named Elliott, and that there are two adult characters, one male and one female. My family had the really old black diamond series VHS tape which features Pete and Elliot pushing the woman on a swing (okay, so I guess I remember one thing), and I have no idea if this was the full version or a trimmed down version. I never went out of my way to see the 2016 remake either. (I’ll finally get to it later on in our challenge!) Watching the original Pete’s Dragon now will basically feel like it’s the first time. We’ll see how it goes!
Thoughts After Watching
Chances are, you originally saw a different version of this film, too.
Megan: I did a bit of light research to figure out what version of the film I originally saw, and it turns out there were multiple versions of this film at varying lengths. According to IMDb, the film was originally 134 minutes in length! (And here we thought the Disney Plus version with its 128 minutes was long!) From what I found in that same IMDb link, I’m guessing the version of the film we had in my house growing up was from the 1986 TV movie as part of “The Disney Sunday Movie.” From what I remember, the TV version of the film cut the song “The Happiest Home in These Hills” and the song “It’s Not Easy.” It also cut smaller clips, like portions of the children’s dance sequence from the song “There’s Room for Everyone” and the small dance sequence from “Every Little Piece.” I’m sure there were other small cuts made as well in order to trim the film into the two-hours-with-commercials time slot on television, but I wasn’t able to easily identify those portions of the film based on my memory. Honestly, I think the shortened version of the film I watched as a kid was in some ways a stronger film because of those cuts. I almost wish the filmmakers had been more judicious with their edits in order to tighten up the story and make it stronger. It’s still a good story in its current form, but it does lag at times.
Or, you saw the full version and still realized it’s a bit too packed!
Kevin: Okay, so first off, I remembered this movie better than I thought! I can only put it in ways that adults looking back on their childhood might understand. It was like not remembering a vacation spot you may have once been to, only to suddenly remember the details once you’re there. Or thinking you’ve forgotten the rules of a game you might have played once or twice as a child but then it all comes back to you as soon as the rules are explained. I’m not sure if those examples are similar, but that’s what it was like here. As each scene played out I found myself remembering almost instantly what the next thing was to come. It wasn’t perfect clarity or anything, but there’d be moments where I seemed to know what a character was about to say or sing, or what the next part of the plot was. Is it because the film is a bit predictable? Possibly, but I don’t think that was entirely it. I think I just somehow buried what I knew about the movie so far down in my brain that it seemed like I forgot. What was so interesting about this was that my memory seemed to be the complete opposite of Megan’s. Where the version Megan watched cut some parts out, I could tell that the version I once saw had all of these moments because I remembered every one of them. So, I’m guessing the black diamond series VHS tape I mentioned earlier is either the same version on Disney Plus, or the full uncut version. Fascinating as this was however, I, too, felt the version on Disney Plus is too jam packed. Some of the songs could have been trimmed and certain sequences could have been cut or edited. The opening plot with Pete hiding from the Gogans, for example, goes on for too long. Actually, almost anything with the Gogans seems unnaturally long. Maybe it’s because they’re just so unlikable villains compared to Dr. Terminus and Hoagy, who are at least entertaining, that I wanted the Gogans gone sooner. In any case, the story is definitely simple enough that a few trims here and there would have been totally fine and would not have messed the story up one bit.
Wow, the Gogans are TERRIBLE!
Megan: I’d always remembered the Gogans were horrible people, but I never realized just how horrible until this viewing! I mean there’s the obvious stuff, like how creepy and unattractive they look—that definitely terrified me as a kid—but there’s also SO. MUCH. ABUSE. Granted, the version of this movie I grew up watching did not include the song “The Happiest Home in These Hills,” so I had only encountered these lyrics twice in my lifetime. Still, have you listened to some of these lyrics?!
Gonna snag him, gag him, drag him through town.
Put his head in the river, let the pup drown.
Trap him, strap him, wrap him in a sack, yeah.
Tie him screaming to a railroad track.[…]
Gonna paw him, claw him, saw him in half.
When he cries out for mercy we'll just laugh.
Beat him, heat him, eat him for dessert, yeah.
Roast him gently so the flames won't hurt.[…]
We're gonna string him from a tree
In these hills
We're gonna sting him like a bee
In these hills
We're gonna spill him on his head
In these hills
We're gonna fill him full of lead
In these hills
I mean, I know they’re the villains, but isn’t this supposed to be a family-friendly kid movie?! And that’s the first song in the movie?! I’m personally glad that part of the film was removed for my childhood viewing. Still, the song really highlights how horrid the Gogans are. Beyond the copious threats of violent child abuse and murder, the lyrics quoted above are interspersed with lyrics of seemingly good-natured yet empty promises, emphasizing that the Gogans aren’t just physically abusing Pete, but emotionally abusing him as well. To Pete’s credit, he runs away from them and doesn’t leave his hiding spot no matter what the Gogans promise him. At least Pete is wise enough to know they’re no good for him. I also applaud Pete for readily sharing the abuse with Nora rather than hiding it. Although it takes Nora noticing Pete’s bruise and asking about it for Pete to open up, I get the sense that with Pete’s history of trying to run back to the orphanage only to be returned to the Gogans, perhaps he’s learned to be more careful about who he shares his troubles with. As a kid, I don’t think I fully grasped what Pete’s time with the Gogans was really like. I knew the Gogans were bad, and that they were treating Pete like a piece of property rather than a son, but a lot of the “grown-up” conversations went over my head at the time. Watching the movie as an adult, it’s much more obvious how bleak life must have been for Pete before Elliott came to him and before he came to Passamaquoddy.
The music is forgettable
Kevin: I think Megan might disagree with me when I say “Candle on the Water” is the only good song from this movie. I’m not saying the rest of the songs are bad, but they’re not good. They’re really just okay. In this section, I’m referring entirely the emotional resonance of the songs and not so much their messages, however well intended. When doing some quick research on the movie, I believe I discovered why this soundtrack is so forgettable. “Candle on the Water” was originally planned to be the only song in the film. However, the filmmakers enjoyed the song so much that they decided to turn the film into a full musical. I wonder how far along in the production they were when this decision was made, because it truly does feel like “Candle on the Water” had the most amount of work put into it while the rest of the songs were put together in a rush. What’s missing from the other songs is the emotional punch that “Candle on the Water” delivers. It’s not that it’s a love song that makes it emotional, although that helps. There are plenty of musical numbers from many other soundtracks that are written across a variety of genres, and they all deliver the emotional release we usually see from Disney music. For example, “The Happiest Home in These Hills” is technically a villain song, but it has none of the fun scheming that truly makes me wonder what the villain has planned. It’s just a weirdly awful and disgusting bit of music. “Every Little Piece” is the movie’s second villain song, and it honestly just wasn’t that memorable to me. The cutesy song between Pete and Elliott (called “Boo Bop Bopbop Bop (I Love You, Too)”) is fine, but again it is nothing special. “I Saw a Dragon” and “Brazzle Dazzle Day” might come the closest to being interesting, but they fall a bit short, too. “I Saw a Dragon” has some similarities to “Step in Time” from Mary Poppins, yet it doesn’t have the same bravado in spite of the dance numbers. “Brazzle Dazzle Day” can be a bit catchy when it’s playing in the moment, although it’s as quickly forgotten as the rest. I appreciate the message that the song “There’s Room for Everyone” is trying for, and it’s a message that needs repeating, but once more it’s not exactly the most interesting or well-written song of the soundtrack, at least to me. I’m not trying to knock the songwriting team of Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn for their work. They clearly made a good song in the form of “Candle on the Water” so I still think that maybe they just didn’t have as much time for the other songs. The soundtrack just doesn’t have the magic we’ve seen from the Sherman Brothers, or that we’d come to see from future songwriting duos like Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Maybe I’m a bit biased, or nostalgia is playing a factor, but I’m wondering if watching this a few more times might change my mind about the music.
The music is entirely memorable
Megan: It could be that I saw this movie far more times as a kid than Kevin did, but I found myself remembering lyrics to the songs and singing along as we watched the film. I have a completely different relationship with the song “Candle on the Water,” though. As a kid, I hated the song because it was slow, and kind of sad, and there really wasn’t much of anything interesting happening on screen—just a lady standing in front of a light in the lighthouse. I had some understanding that the song was Nora singing about her love for Paul, but as a kid I just wasn’t interested. As an adult, however, I have a completely new appreciation for the song. (It doesn’t hurt that I also now know what it’s like to be in a long-distance relationship, so the emotional resonance of the song is that much stronger.) Now, I would say that “Candle on the Water” might just be my favorite song on the whole soundtrack, although “Brazzle Dazzle Day” is a very close second (and while I don’t like the Gogans’ part of the song “Bill of Sale,” I do find it very fun to belt out Nora’s part in that song!). To give you a sense of the evolution, I think my favorite songs from this film as a kid were “I Saw a Dragon” and “Brazzle Dazzle Day.” This is not to say that any of these songs come close to my love for popular soundtracks from the ‘90s Disney films, because they certainly don’t reach the top ten and may not even reach the top 100 songs in my book. However, I wouldn’t write these songs off quite yet. Perhaps it’s nostalgia, perhaps it’s a difference in musical tastes, but I personally enjoy the catchy tunes from this film (but seriously, no one needs to hear another rendition of “The Happiest Home in These Hills” so let’s do everyone a favor and please edit that one out.)
Nora is amazing, but why must she be the only moral compass?
Megan: I absolutely love Nora! Even as a kid she was probably my favorite character. I think a lot of that has to do with her being the only female character worth rooting for and me being a girl who was looking for role models. Also? Nora is kind of a badass! I mean check out the way she walks into a tavern full of men and gives them attitude when they leer at her. Her entrance during the “I Saw A Dragon” song is so fun, and so are her stunt-like dance moves atop the bar and on the rolling beer barrel! Then, of course, there’s her heroics as she sings against the Gogans in the “Bill of Sale” song, and the way she tells off Miss Taylor when the teacher tries to refuse teaching Pete. Then there’s her quieter acts of heroism, like how she takes in Pete and shows him kindness that no one else (except Elliott) has ever shown him. She’s also a dynamic character with her own mix of hope, longing, and grief for her lost love, Paul. And, of course, she’s got a sense of humor, like when she tells Pete to blow the fog horn to scare of Dr. Terminus and Hoagy. For all of this fantastic character development, however, Nora cannot save this film from failing the Bechdel test, and she certainly doesn’t change the sexist world the filmmakers created. While Nora is not the only named female character we see on screen, she is the only one we actually like. Lena Gogan (aka Ma Gogan), of course, is the villain and very clearly not someone we’re supposed to root for. She’s incredibly mean, she’s ugly, and we never see any redeeming qualities in her. Miss Taylor seems pretty good when compared to Lena Gogan. At the very least she’s more attractive. However, her scolding nature makes us dislike her almost as much as the Gogans—especially since she’s quick to blame Pete for everything when it wasn’t really his fault. The only tiny redeeming quality we see in her is at the very end of the movie when she sees a very visible dragon saving her and the other town officials from a falling light post. We can guess from her facial expression that she now realizes Pete was telling the truth, and perhaps there is some regret for her previous actions. Then again, perhaps that’s just wishful thinking on my part. Still, even though we have three named female characters on screen, they never speak to each other about anything other than a male character—namely, Pete. The closest we get is when Miss Taylor talks to Nora about her “students,” but that implies both the male and female students in her class, so it’s still a conversation about male characters. It’s really a disappointment. Nora is one of the better female characters we’ve seen from Disney thus far, yet she is an island—or, more aptly, lighthouse—unto herself with no friends beyond her father (who’s at times more like a child than a parent or peer), Pete (an actual child), and Paul—who’s presumed dead for 90% of the film. And, of course, she’s still stuck with all the problems sexism brings, like all the men in the tavern grabbing her, and the Gogan men fighting over which of them gets to hold her—sexist moments in the film that unfortunately reinforce the idea that men can touch, grab, or restrain women whenever they please, no matter how much a woman might say “let go of me” or “no.” Can we please get a strong female character who’s not facing sexist abuse? Please and thank you!
Nora also ends up being the moral compass (or moral lighthouse) for the film’s entire cast of characters. She’s constantly the one taking the moral high ground, from when she tells those grabbing her in the tavern to “mend your wicked ways” to when she tells the Gogans they can’t have Pete (never mind that she doesn’t tell them they can’t have her, either). Even the song “There’s Room for Everyone” is Nora once again teaching a moral lesson. I wouldn’t mind so much, except that it makes Nora out to be the perfect angel while the only other named female characters are essentially devil women—Lena Gogan who is nothing but evil, and Miss Taylor who is a lesser evil but by no means saintly. It’s not exactly a wide range of options for a young girl to aspire to. Meanwhile, young boys have the courageous and adventurous Pete and the fun and mischievous yet protective Elliott to admire, in contrast to the drunk but friendly Lampie, the lying and scheming Dr. Terminus and Hoagy, and the terribly violent and vindictive Gogan men. Whereas the female characters make it very clear that ugliness equals evil and attractiveness mostly equals good, the male characters don’t fall into this same dichotomy. The evil Gogan men are generally shown as unattractive, sure, but Dr. Terminus is quite a handsome villain. Then there’s Lampie, who’s not what one would call traditionally handsome, though he is a bit cute in an old-man-cute sort of way. With the male characters, we get many nuances in appearance and no clear link between their level of attractiveness and their goodness. Why can’t we get the same variety with female characters? Why does the female villain always have to be hideous? Why does the female lead have to be absolutely gorgeous? (Okay, I know the answer to that last one is “because Hollywood,” but still.) It wouldn’t hurt to get a bit more variety in female characters.
Is Elliott some type of guardian?
Kevin: This is a small observance, but I was very interested at the film’s ending, where Elliott tells Pete he needs to leave to help another kid. Pete is understandably sad that Elliott is leaving, but being the kind-hearted boy he is he also understands that Elliott feels a strong need to do this. The fact that the dragon has this need to help another child not only shows just how selfless both Elliott and Pete are, but it begs the question—why must Elliott leave? While the film gives no indication that Elliott has helped other children before Pete, the ending seems to imply that he has, in fact, done so. It makes me wonder if Elliott is some sort of guardian dragon, bound by a sense of duty to help children. It opens up other questions, too. Does he only help homeless children? Does he help any child in need of a friend and love? Does he leave those children once he’s safely helped them find love among humans? Elliott is basically like Mary Poppins; a mythical figure who seems to pop in to help needy children find comfort and security, only to move on to the next child that needs his help. I’m actually glad that the movie chooses not to explain this. Elliott’s backstory is not important to the plot at all. He’s just there, a character in this story, and he happens to be magical! That’s all we need to get through the story. When we learn that he must move on to help another kid, I wasn’t left thinking it was a plot hole. I was left with some pleasant questions about his nature, but they are questions that don’t need answering. We already know enough about Elliott’s nature that this revelation just heightens his mystery. It’s fun to think about why he’s around and why he ultimately moves from one child to the next, and it’s better left unsaid.
Normalizing affection between male best friends
Megan: I’ll admit that listening to the song “Boo Bop Bop Bopbop (I Love You, Too)” on this recent viewing, my first thought was to question the romantic lyrics for a friendship between a boy and a presumably adult dragon. However, my next thought was to scold my own personal instinct born of a culture that discourages affection between friends—especially male friends. So, rather than scolding the film, I’d like to applaud it for making strides to normalize expressing love between friends. Think about it—how many of your friends do you openly and readily say “I love you” to? And how many did you say that to as a 9-year-old kid? My guess is probably not as many as you may have wanted to. Sure, you definitely love(d) those friends, but expressing that love in our current culture is often frowned upon. Boys, more so than girls, have to deal with the fear that someone will tease them for expressing affection and call them gay or a girl (insults, I might add, that rely on a patriarchal society where women and LGBTQ people are, quite wrongfully, seen as less than). That’s why I love thinking of little boys watching this movie where a boy easily and happily expresses his love for his dragon friend, and his dragon friend (albeit in dragon-speak) expresses that love in return. Even better, these male characters show us how much they love each other by their tearful goodbye at the end of the film. Both boy and dragon are crying, unashamed of their tears, fully feeling the sadness that they will most likely never see each other ever again. This emotional expression is so important for young boys to see! I wish more films would show boys and men expressing the full range of human emotions.
Kevin: This is a great point, and I agree that it’s something that isn’t fully explored. As someone who identifies as a straight man, I am pleased that the film chose to show this friendship. On the one hand, it seems to be ahead of its time given the decade, but then again I think society might see a friendship between a young boy and his animal friend (or in Elliott’s case, a mythical creature) in far better light than two men or two boys. Again, this implies that platonic love between two human men would be seen as gross, while the kind of relationship between Pete and Elliott is seen as okay. Still, all the same, having this scene in this movie is a right step forward. I admit that I’m not always best at expressing my own full range of emotions, but I believe that’s far more to do with cultural influence than innate personality. We should be seeing more films and television shows (as well as books, plays, and other media) that display such positive platonic love among human boys and men. The more we can show this in the content we consume for entertainment, the more I think we can make it less of a stigma.
Humanity is still gullible and could stand to learn to make room for everyone
Megan: As I watched Dr. Terminus and Hoagy fool the townspeople into believing the doctor’s concoctions actually worked, my first thought was that no one would be fooled by such a performance nowadays. While it might be true that a stage performance likely wouldn’t convince today’s sophisticated audiences that a cure was real, people today are still just as gullible. The illusion has merely become more sophisticated. Now it’s an edited video (ex: deep fakes), or fake news stories on the internet. It would seem that humanity is stuck with its con artists so long as there are people gullible enough to be taken in by the illusions.
For all this film’s faults, however, it does have a very timely message in the lyrics of the song “There’s Room for Everyone.” Though the song is delivered by a predominantly white cast singing about making room for a dragon no one can see, I watched this film hearing a different message because of today’s cultural conversations about race and equality and equity. Take a look at these lyrics:
There's room for everyone in this world
Will everyone make some room
Love given freely can spare this world
Let friendly feelings bloom
Just give an inch, give a yard, never flinch
When the time comes to offer a hand
So let's all make sure we give everyone somewhere to stand
Tell me, do you feel the same?
