Pete’s Dragon

Disney seems determined to subject many if not most of its classic animated features to live-action remakes. Offhand I would not have recommended this, but I have to say that so far, on the strength of two movies (this one and The Jungle Book), they have done a damn good job of it. Soon the new Beauty and the Beast will be out, and we shall see.

The original was never high on my list of Disney faves, and of course it is a combination of animation and live action, as this is, but CGI processes have elevated this movie to a whole different level of fantastic realism. It still will not ever make my list of faves, but it’s well worth your time when you’re looking for light entertainment. The story has been totally re-written. Not a bad thing, in this case. It echoes the theme of The Jungle Book, too, with a young boy raised not by apes or wolves or garden slugs but by his own personal invisible dragon. I’d give it a B or a B- if I were grading.