Pete's Dragon Trailer, My Thoughts

Disney has been on a strange kick when it comes to their movies lately. What kind of kick? Well, remaking their animated classics as live-action films. It started with Maleficent (Which was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the POV of the titular character, and is getting a sequel), Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and now...Pete's Dragon.

Can't help but wonder why Disney is doing this kind of thing. I'm not one of those people that gets all into a fanrage about remakes, as I don't think they hurt the originals in any way, but it is a curious move by the House of Mouse in recent years. I even heard they are doing this with Beauty and the Beast.

Yup! Pete's Dragon. The original was a 1977 film that mixed live action and animation in a musical extravaganza, and featured legendary actors Shelley Winters and Mickey Rooney. It also featured the work of Don Bluth, who would go on to create the Dragon's Lair game and An American Tail, The Land Before Time, and All Dogs Go to Heaven.

And it has a trailer!

First thing is first, Elliot the Dragon looks incredible, thanks to advances in CGI. I do think the redesign does help give this new version of Elliot that whole 'shaggy dog' appeal. I know some people may not like the fur, but again, I think it's an application of the shaggy dog thing. Makes him look friendly. That will be helpful since this Elliot will be acting more like an actual animal than the original.

The film also seems to have some great actors in it, like Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, and Karl Urban. Also noticed Isaish Whitlock, Jr. in the trailer. Too bad he couldn't yell out a certain character he portrayed's catchphrase when he saw Elliot. Ah well, Disney.

The story is also surprisingly different from the original. It appears to be about a park ranger who finds an orphan living in the forest, protected by a dragon. Based on this trailer, and what I've read, this film will be more of an action-fantasy than a musical comedy. I think I get why they did this, action-fantasy is in these days. Look at Game of Thrones. Sure, GoT is a dark take on the genre, but hey, people love it.

I know that people will scream that this is just a new story with "Pete's Dragon", but I think it fits. It's still about an orphan boy named Pete, and his dragon that can turn invisible. Personally, the original was not one of the Disney flicks I saw much. I remember only seeing the original once as a kid, and I thought it was alright. Maybe that's why I'm more receptive to this remake. And hey, if people are so angry about this new version, I'm sure the original will be coming to Blu-Ray, and they can watch that.

Karl Urban's character appears to be one of the villains of this film. Honestly, I hope they do make him a more three-dimensional character. I like the idea of his character being after the dragon because he fears it to be a dangerous monster than simply he's after the dragon because he's the bad guy and the bad guy does that.

Sorry about the disorganized thoughts, but my brain tends to be a BIT chaotic when it comes to these things. And I guess I didn't have much to say about this trailer. I may give this film a looksee. It's got a good cast and it looks like it will be fun.