The new Pete's Dragon flies into theaters this weekend, full of action, adventure, and CG animation. Let's take a short look back at the original Pete's Dragon, released in 1977, which boasted a traditionally animated dragon interacting with a live-action cast. Much like Mary Poppins, Pete's Dragon was an animation/live-action hybrid musical extravaganza. The sometimes underappreciated original film starred Helen Reddy, Shelley Winters, Mickey Rooney, and Sean Marshall as the titular Pete.
The largest difference - outside of story and cast - for the new film will be in Elliot the dragon's character design. Originally, Elliot was a small, rotund green dragon, with a large chin and a short wingspan. He was little taller than a grown man, a helpful design feature when live-action characters aren't actually working with a cartoon but usually a stand-in. With significantly broader limits of technology, today's Elliot looks to be significantly larger and more evenly proportioned. However, there are elements to the new design that are reminiscent of the original charming Elliot. For an even wider comparison of the two films' tone and design, check out the trailer comparison below:
Clearly, this new film will be different from the film we know and love. Much like book adaptations, we'll have to learn to accept the wide discrepancies as Disney reboots more and more of its former works.
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