User reviews

Pete's Dragon may be a little slow, but this memorable movie was one of my favorites when I was a child. What kid doesn't like to imagine having a magical dragon as a best friend? Plus, the songs are catchy, whimsical, and even touching. This is a Disney classic that should be revisited every so often.

This enchanting film that marked the childhood of many was tragically damaged by Disney, where 20 minutes of the film was removed in releases from 2000 onwards.

Therefore, if you want to watch the true version that this film deserves to be watched, look for the VHS version containing 129 minutes.

Disney completely recut the film to omit scenes that would not fit the present day, damaging the work as a whole and its continuity. While some scenes may not be considered appropriate for today's world, the film should be seen as a product of its time. Altering the work detracts from the artistic and creative vision that was executed by the director in the film's original release.

There's a lot to like about this movie, which we all watched together on Roxy's 41st birthday. The early 20th-century New England setting (Passamaquoddy!), the young boy Pete, who looks a lot like my son Sebastian; his resistance to his abusive adopted parents, and positive relationship with Nora; and the traveling healer/huckster/magician Dr. Terminus. The songs definitely added to the show, but were not particularly memorable. Maybe the show's greatest interest--ironically, given the live action remake--is its rare genre of mixed live-action and animated motion picture: beyond Pete's Dragon, the only other examples I can think are the much more famous Mary Poppins and Roger Rabbit. Here the animation is used to great effect because at first glance it suggests that Eliot the dragon isn't real, merely Pete's fantasy, his imaginary friend whom no one else can see: but we soon learn that everyone else can see the physical effects of Pete's actions. It invites us to put faith in children's imaginations, and movies which encourage them.

The best Disney Dragon, this movie is fantastic in many ways. It is good at the level of special effects, has good actors, good story and good bad guys. Highly recommend.

I love dragons! I think they're great, and I think it's all probably because of this fun-filled Disney movie. Now I'm not normally one to sing the praises of Disney films but this time I have to tip my cap to them. Why? Well, this film does exactly what it says on the box. It's about this boy called Pete who has an invisible dragon for a friend. Wonderful!

Okay, so the dragon is invisible, but we do get to see him from time to time and he's quite a funny fellow too! But, there are a lot of other films out there who love to insinuate that there'll be a dragon somewhere in the movie; Red Dragon, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Enter the Dragon, The Last Dragon and the list goes on. But guess what? No dragons!

When will Hollywood learn that they can't keep cheating the movie going public, with blatant misnaming of their films? Imagine if I'd taken my 8-year-old son to watch Red Dragon? Can you imagine how upset and traumatised he'd be, when by the end of the film there was no dragon? Come on Ridley Scott, if you want to see how to make a proper dragon movie, I suggest you watch Pete's Dragon and learn something about filmmaking!

I realize a lot of people do not like this movie. When I first saw all of the negative reviews, I was shocked, because this is one of my favorite movies. I love the music, the characters, and the use of animation and live action (which I found incredibly fascinating as a child). What I realize though, is that I grew up watching this movie, and a lot of others haven't.

Perhaps this is just the kind of movie that people have to see growing up to enjoy. I don't know if I'd like it so much or not if I watched it the first time as an adult. Let your kids see it now and ask them if they still like it in 15 years.