Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Pete, a young orphan, runs away to a Maine fishing town with his best friend a lovable, sometimes invisible dragon named Elliott! When they are taken in by a kind lighthouse keeper, Nora, and her father, Elliott's prank playing lands them in big trouble. Then, when crooked salesmen try to capture Elliott for their own gain, Pete must attempt a daring rescue.
Pete's Dragon is a charming but uneven Disney live-action/animation hybrid from the late 1970s. The plot is fairly thin and episodic, relying on familiar orphan-finds-a-home beats without much narrative sophistication. The acting is broad and pantomime-heavy, fitting for a family musical but not particularly distinguished even by the era's standards. The cinematography is competent but unremarkable, typical of Disney productions of the period with the animation integration being functional rather than seamless. Novelty gets a modest bump for its hybrid live-action/animation format and the genuinely lovable, goofy design of Elliott, which gave the film a distinctive personality among Disney offerings of the era. The ending is sentimental but rushed and predictable, wrapping up conflicts too neatly without much earned emotional weight.