But big family musicals had long since fallen out of fashion by 1977, and people saw in this a transparent attempt to recapture the magic of Mary Poppins. It even got nominated for two Academy Awards, one for musical scoring and one for Best Original Song for Candle on the Water. The acting and singing were praised, and it didn’t escape peoples’ notice that there was more energy and just plain fun in Pete’s Dragon than there were in a lot of Disney’s output of this era. Reactions to this movie were and are decidedly mixed. Then, in 1975, producer Jerome Courtland of “singing the Old Yeller theme song” fame dusted it off because Walt’s trash bin is running out of crunched up scraps of discarded ideas and by god we have to put something out. It briefly went back into production in 1968, but still wasn’t quite ready for the screen. Fortunately for my eardrums and yours, the serial wasn’t quite working out so Walt shelved it. The plan was to adapt this into a two part serial for the Disneyland TV series starring Kevin Corcoran as the lead and oh my god can you even imagine? The climax where Elliot gets tied down would just be twenty minutes of THAT’S MY DRAGON THAT’S MY DRAGON!!! Noooo thank you. Field called Pete’s Dragon and the USA (Forever After). Waaaay back in the 50’s, Disney purchased the rights to an unpublished short story by Seton I. Once again, production on this movie started well before it hit screens. Writer Malcom Marmorstein’s name is less familiar, as this is his first of two Disney movies, but he was best known for over 80 episodes of Dark Shadows, which I also watched frequently with my mom as a kid. It helps that I liked Don Chaffey’s other directorial outings, Greyfriars Bobby and The Three Lives of Thomasina. Not quite none (see: Family Band), but songs are always a point in a movie’s favor. I know it’s corny, but it’s fun-corny, and there are few things that can’t be helped by making them a musical. All photos are from Animation Screencaps unless otherwise stated. The opinions expressed therein reflect those of the authors and are not to be viewed as factual documentation. The authors’ claim no ownership of this material. Any material, including images and/or video footage, are property of their respective companies, unless stated otherwise. Disclaimer: This blog is purely recreational and not for profit.
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