Musical Mondays Week 9 Pete's Dragon (1977)

[kateacola 2440]

I'm not sure it makes it to the Across the Tommyverse hall of fame for terrible movies, but it's a contender!

 

Lol. It's not close to Tommy level for me. Tommy truly upset me on many levels.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Guys, Pete's a real asshole to Elliott for, like, 90% of the movie. He sings that "I love you too" song to him, and then he just bitches at him for most of the movie. Then at the end, he's like, "Help me!"

 

No. Fuck you, kid. You didn't want me around, so you can get yourself out of that sack.

 

Before I chose the "lollipop and raindrops" thing for the first post I was going to something about Pete's abusive treatment of Elliot. He really is a little cock.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

The way Pete's upset at Elliot for his clumsiness makes me feel like Elliot's a Lenny character, unable to hold the bunnies but unable to understand why people get mad at him.

 

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

One thing I will definitely applaud is the restraint shown in not letting Elliot speak English. Can you imagine how much more grating this would have been if Elliot was singing too?

[kateacola 2440]

Before I chose the "lollipop and raindrops" thing for the first post I was going to something about Pete's abusive treatment of Elliot. He really is a little cock.

Probably the cycle of abuse... he was abused so he maybe couldn't help being kind of mean to Elliot.

But to be fair Elliot did cause a lot of damage. Breaking people's fences, putting dragon footprints in the wet-cement, making dragon-shaped holes in the walls of the school.. so I dunno maybe did need a little berating.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Probably the cycle of abuse... he was abused so he maybe couldn't help being kind of mean to Elliot.

But to be fair Elliot did cause a lot of damage. Breaking people's fences, putting dragon footprints in the wet-cement, making dragon-shaped holes in the walls of the school.. so I dunno maybe did need a little berating.

Well, maybe don't take a fucking dragon into town. There's literally no reason for Elliot to be with him at that point. He should just be like, "Stay here, and I'll check it out" like he did when he made him stay in the cave.

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

Well, maybe don't take a fucking dragon into town. There's literally no reason for Elliot to be with him at that point. He should just be like, "Stay here, and I'll check it out" like he did when he made him stay in the cave.

 

Exactly!

 

Also, that teacher was fucking unreasonable. You know Pete isn't the one who started ringing that bell! He was sitting right in front of you when it started!

 

[kateacola 2440]

Exactly!

 

Also, that teacher was fucking unreasonable. You know Pete isn't the one who started ringing that bell! He was sitting right in front of you when it started!

Yeah she was.. and the dragon shaped outline holes in the school walls. How could that have been Pete? She saw it wasn't.

 

Can Pete see Elliot when he's invisible? and read Elliot's thoughts? it seemed like when he was invisible Pete knew exactly where he was and talk/ respond to him but you didn't hear Elliot say anything.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

It's not just the teacher, it's the townsfolk in general. Pete gets the blame for wrecking the fence and making dragon prints in the cement as well as knocking down the mayor's staircase. Poor Pete.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

So, I still enjoyed this movie, even though I realize it has a lot of problems. And it's definitely a LOT better than the remake, which I didn't like at all.

 

There's a lot of stuff that would not fly in a kid's movie today. The Gogans straight up buy an orphan to use as slave labor (although, to be fair, in the remake, BDH steals Pete from hospital and no one says anything). Lampy and Hoagy are drunk for major chunks of the movie. When the Gogans return, the brothers fight over who's going to get to "hold" Nora in the rapiest way possible.

 

But, ultimately, Elliot is what makes the film work for me. He's fucking adorable, and I felt bad for him every time Pete was a dickhead to him. He's a goddamn dragon that's used to living in the woods; he doesn't know how to mix into society. Don't get mad at him because you put him in a situation designed for him to fail. I really like Elliot, but when he leaves Pete at the end, I was like, "Good. Fuck that kid. I hope the Gogans come back after Elliot is gone."

 

Also, the whole Paul storyline was REALLY weird. My best guess about it is that they felt the need to explain why Nora was an adult woman in her 30s who lived alone but wasn't some stereotypical spinster. "Look, she's not weird or anything! The love of her life just disappeared and she's holding out for him to come back!" Side note: when they first showed the picture of him in the lighthouse, I had forgotten that he comes back at the end, and for a second, I thought it was a random picture of Burt Reynolds.

 

I wish they would have dropped that storyline and chosen either the Gogans or Dr Terminus as the villains. Terminus didn't really need the Gogans' help because he already had the whole goddamn town helping to catch Elliot. So it seems weird to have them show up out of nowhere (not to mention what someone else already said about them not even bothering to look at the nearby fishing town for all that time).

[kateacola 2440]

Lampy and Hoagy are drunk for major chunks of the movie.

I want to point out, the scene when Lampy & Hoagy are in the cave and they give Elliot the flask to drink-- when I was a kid and watching, I thought it was juice they gave him. Haha

[tomspanks 9039]

 

Those apples were soooo red / looked really good.

 

That dragon has, at best, 2 working teeth. He would not be able to chew these apples. Poor Elliott is pretending to gum those apples for Pete's sake.

 

Also, I didn't understand how Pete went to sleep in a fallen log in a muddy forrest and woke up in an apple orchard?

 

Roasted apple, yay or nay?

 

No. Not whole like that with the peel and seeds. Slice them up and bake them in a pretty mosaic tart with salted caramel? Yes. I realize Elliott might not be up to date on baking blogs, however.

 

One thing I will definitely applaud is the restraint shown in not letting Elliot speak English. Can you imagine how much more grating this would have been if Elliot was singing too?

 

The dragon tuba-speak gibberish got old real fast for me.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

The dragon tuba-speak gibberish got old real fast for me.

I actually really like that choice.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

(Also, the Gogans might be the worst, but they have the catchiest songs)

[tomspanks 9039]

This was a pleasant-enough movie and the HD version looked great. Weird thing is, I watched this only 4 days ago, but I don't recall any of the songs.

[kateacola 2440]

So, I still enjoyed this movie, even though I realize it has a lot of problems. And it's definitely a LOT better than the remake, which I didn't like at all.

 

There's a lot of stuff that would not fly in a kid's movie today. The Gogans straight up buy an orphan to use as slave labor (although, to be fair, in the remake, BDH steals Pete from hospital and no one says anything). Lampy and Hoagy are drunk for major chunks of the movie. When the Gogans return, the brothers fight over who's going to get to "hold" Nora in the rapiest way possible.

 

But, ultimately, Elliot is what makes the film work for me. He's fucking adorable, and I felt bad for him every time Pete was a dickhead to him. He's a goddamn dragon that's used to living in the woods; he doesn't know how to mix into society. Don't get mad at him because you put him in a situation designed for him to fail. I really like Elliot, but when he leaves Pete at the end, I was like, "Good. Fuck that kid. I hope the Gogans come back after Elliot is gone."

 

Also, the whole Paul storyline was REALLY weird. My best guess about it is that they felt the need to explain why Nora was an adult woman in her 30s who lived alone but wasn't some stereotypical spinster. "Look, she's not weird or anything! The love of her life just disappeared and she's holding out for him to come back!" Side note: when they first showed the picture of him in the lighthouse, I had forgotten that he comes back at the end, and for a second, I thought it was a random picture of Burt Reynolds.

 

I wish they would have dropped that storyline and chosen either the Gogans or Dr Terminus as the villains. Terminus didn't really need the Gogans' help because he already had the whole goddamn town helping to catch Elliot. So it seems weird to have them show up out of nowhere (not to mention what someone else already said about them not even bothering to look at the nearby fishing town for all that time).

 

I agree with you on these points. Elliot was adorable and I totally prefer this Elliot to the furry CGI one. I could have used more Elliot and less of the side storylines they were trying to include.

 

The Paul storyline was weird, and I agree they probably felt like they had to justify why she was an attractive unmarried woman living in a lighthouse with her drunk dad.

 

And yes, they should've stuck with one set of bad guys. Or just leave the Gogan's in the intro like I said earlier to establish a little backstory for Pete and leave Dr. Terminus & Hoagy to be the end bad guys. They didn't need the Gogan's help at all.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

And yes, they should've stuck with one set of bad guys. Or just leave the Gogan's in the intro like I said earlier to establish a little backstory for Pete and leave Dr. Terminus & Hoagy to be the end bad guys. They didn't need the Gogan's help at all.

I wish the remake had had a Dr. Terminus-type character, just because I really want to see Walton Goggins (hands down my favorite character actor working right now) play that role.

[tomspanks 9039]

Some of my favorite 5-star reviews on Amazon:

 

 

[kateacola 2440]

(Also, the Gogans might be the worst, but they have the catchiest songs)

Yeah I liked the Gogan songs.. and really liked Dr. Terminus & Hoagy's "Every Little Piece" song. When it started I was like "ohh shit" cause I remember it clearly as a kid, but guess not what the point of the song was--that they wanted to use Elliot's body parts for medicine..

 

 

Their first song I did not like at all, the whole bit about Dr. Terminus not knowing the name of the town got pretty old / did not need a whole song about.

[kateacola 2440]

Some of my favorite 5-star reviews on Amazon:

 

 

Lololol... I wonder if the movie was an unpleasant ordeal? or if it was the receiving the Dvd in the mail? and if the five stars was for the shipping or for the movie? I can understand either way.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

She's woman, indeed.

 

Yeah I liked the Gogan songs.. and really liked Dr. Terminus & Hoagy's "Every Little Piece" song. When it started I was like "ohh shit" cause I remember it clearly as a kid, but guess not the point of the song that they wanted to use Elliot's body parts for medicne..

 

 

Their first song I did not like at all, the whole bit about Dr. Terminus not knowing the name of the town got pretty old / did not need a whole song about.

The funny thing is that Helen Reddy obviously has the best voice in the movie, but both of her big songs are sooooo boring. I totally checked out during "Candle on the Water."

 

And while the Gogans' songs are catchy, their lyrics are super upsetting. One is about all the inventive ways they've thought up to torture this orphan, and the other is about how they somehow legally purchased a human being as a slave.

[Cameron H. 23786]

The dragon tuba-speak gibberish got old real fast for me.

 

Eliot sounding like an asthmatic orangutan?

 

[kateacola 2440]

 

The funny thing is that Helen Reddy obviously has the best voice in the movie, but both of her big songs are sooooo boring. I totally checked out during "Candle on the Water."

 

 

Yeah, "Candle on the Water" wasn't one of my favs, and agree was kind of boring. But it was nominated for an Oscar for best song.

 

The thought I had when she was singing "There's Room for Everyone" was that obviously Trump has not seen Pete's Dragon, lol

https://youtu.be/PqE1Wzo_vZg

[Cameron H. 23786]

I have to agree with Tom and say that I thought the songs were rather forgettable as well. The two stand outs for me were "It's Not Easy" and "Brazzle Dazzle Day." Both of which nailed that wholesome Disney vibe for me.

 

 

[kateacola 2440]

I have to agree with Tom and say that I thought the songs were rather forgettable as well. The two stand outs for me were "It's Not Easy" and "Brazzle Dazzle Day." Both of which nailed that wholesome Disney vibe for me.

The Gogans' songs and "Every Little Piece" stuck with me the most after watching-- of course the dark/ twisted ones haha.

 

 

It wasn't until listening to the songs on Spotify afterwards that I realized how catchy those two and "I Saw a Dragon" were.