Entertainment
 

Pete's Dragon

From The Unofficial DisneyWiki

Pete's Dragon
Directed by Don Chaffey
Don Bluth (animation)
Produced by Jerome Courtland
Ron W. Miller
Written by S.S. Field (short story author)
Seton Miller (short story author)
Malcom Marmorstein (screenwriter)
Narrated by
Starring Helen Reddy
Jim Dale
Mickey Rooney
Red Buttons
Shelley Winters
Voices Charlie Callas
Music Joel Hirschhorn
Al Kasha
Irwin Kostal
Cinematography Frank Phillips
Editing Gordon D. Brenner
Distributor Buena Vista Distribution
Release date(s) November 3, 1977
Running time 134 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget
MPAA Rating G
Preceded by
Followed by
IMDb profile


Pete's Dragon (first released on November 3, 1977) is a live-action/animated musical feature film from Buena Vista Distribution. It is a live-action film but its title character, a dragon named Elliott, is animated. It is about a young orphan named Pete (Sean Marschall) who enters a small fishing community in Maine in the early 20th century. His only friend is a dragon, Elliot (voiced by Charlie Callas and animated by Don Bluth), who also acts as his protector. Elliott can make himself invisible and is generally visible only to Pete, which ocassionally lands Pete in trouble with the locals.

Also featured in the film are Helen Reddy, Mickey Rooney, Jim Dale, Red Buttons, Jeff Conaway and Shelley Winters. The film was directed by Don Chaffey, and the songs are by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn.

The song "Candle on the Water" received an Academy Award nomination, but lost to "You Light Up My Life" from the film of the same title. Helen Reddy's recording (with a different arrangement than the one her character signs in the film) was released as a single by Capitol Records, reaching #27 on the adult contemporary charts. The movie also received a nomination for Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score, losing to A Little Night Music.