From Amazon.com
This story of a winsome orphan and his guardian dragon features an Academy Award-nominated score and song, Helen Reddy's "Candle on the Water." The combination of a live-action story with an animated figure was innovative in 1977, and the green dragon with pink wings will still charm youngsters today. However, its plot has the boy running from a nasty family to whom he's been sold into slavery, as well as an evil magician who tries to steal the dragon for his parts. These dark story lines may scare or bore younger children, who only want to see Elliot the dragon belch fire and give Pete rides on his back. And older children who might appreciate the plot may scoff at the relatively crude animation. This leaves a rather narrow audience window of about ages 3 to 7. A cast of veterans includes Shelley Winters, Mickey Rooney, and Red Buttons, who all turn in the hammiest of performances. Acting newcomer Reddy demonstrates both why her acting career never took off and why her singing career did. (Lines like "You're a bunch of superstitious ding-dongs" don't give her much help.) However, her sometimes awkward performance as the lonely lighthouse keeper who gives the boy a home provides the film with its heart. Bottom line: it's a keeper for diehard Disney fans, dragon lovers, and those who remember this movie fondly from their childhood.
--Kimberly Heinrichs
Review
Following in the tradition of hybrid classics like Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Pete's Dragon is a live-action musical adventure where real people interact with Disney-style animated characters. Namely, a cartoon giant dragon named Elliot that is occasionally invisible. It was a big hit at the box office at the time of release, and even was nominated for two Academy Awards, for the musical score and the song "Candle on the Water." Made during a bit of a rocky time for Disney, this is still just a mediocre effort and mostly just good for nostalgia value. The hammy overacting is almost unbearable, particularly an over-the-top Mickey Rooney as lighthouse keeper Lampie and shrill Helen Reddy as his daughter, Nora. Acting veterans Shelley Winters and Red Buttons also make exaggerated appearances. The animation is subpar, but it marks one of the last projects by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman before they left Disney and went to make classics like An American Tail. This movie is no classic by critical standards, but it has enjoyed a long life on home video with younger viewers. For its 1984 re-release, Pete's Dragon was cut down to 104 minutes, but was restored to its original length for the 2001 DVD release. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
DVD ~ Angela Lansbury
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