Pete’s Dragon (1977)

Directed by Don Chaffey. Starring Sean Marshall, Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Red Buttons, Mickey Rooney, Shelley Winters, Charles Tyner, Jane Kean, Gary Morgan, Jeff Conaway, Jim Backus, (voice) Charlie Callas. [G]

In a small seaside town in New England, a little orphan named Pete (Marshall) has a dragon companion who’s invisible to everyone but him…until, um, it’s not? The boy befriends the grizzled lighthouse keeper’s daughter (Reddy) while dodging his own drunken and abusive adopted family, and a fraudulent showman (Dale) and his assistant (Buttons) work at capturing the dragon for their lucrative gain. Another Disney fantasy blending live action and animation, pratfalls and song numbers, and the results are even flatter than the cartoon dragon looks within realistic environs. The child actor lacks charisma, the older performers (especially the veterans working for the paycheck) shamelessly overact, and the movie is paced with the same lumbering gait as Pete’s doughy, bipedal buddy. Throw in a few sing-song yawners and the static presentation of a Disney television special, and you’ve got yourself quite a dud. A straight (non-musical) remake was released in 2016.

40/100