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Pete's Dragon
Directed by Don Chaffey
Produced by Jerome Courtland
Ron W. Miller
Screenplay by Malcolm Marmorstein
Story by S.S. Field
Seton Miller (short story)
Starring Helen Reddy
Jim Dale
Mickey Rooney
Red Buttons
Shelley Winters
Sean Marshall
Music by Joel Hirschhorn
Al Kasha (Songs)
Irwin Kostal
Cinematography Frank Phillips
Editing by Gordon D. Brenner
Studio Don Bluth Entertainment
Distributed by Walt Disney Productions
Buena Vista Distribution Company, Inc.
Release date(s) January 1, 1977 (1977-01-01)
Running time 134 minutes
Country United States
United Kingdom
Language English
Budget $10 million
Money made $36,000,000

Pete's Dragon is a 1977 live-action/animated musical movie from Walt Disney Productions. It is a live-action movie but its title character, a dragon named Elliott, is animated. The story is about a young orphan named Pete who goes to the town of Passamaquoddy a small fishing community in Northeastern Maine. His only friend is a dragon named Elliott. Elliott is also his protector and can make himself invisible.

Cast

  • Charlie Callas (voice) as Elliott the dragon
  • Sean Marshall as Pete, an orphan boy whom the Gogans treat like a slave
  • Helen Reddy as Nora, Lampie's headstrong but kind daughter
  • Mickey Rooney as Lampie, Passamaquoddy's lighthouse keeper and Nora's father
  • Jim Dale as Dr. Terminus, a scheming quack
  • Red Buttons as Hoagy, Terminus' sidekick
  • Shelley Winters as Lena Gogan, the matriarch of the Gogans
  • Charles Tyner as Merle Gogan, Lena's husband
  • Gary Morgan and Jeff Conaway as Grover and Willie Gogan, Lena and Merle's adult sons
  • Cal Bartlett as Paul, Nora's fiancé
  • Walter Barnes as the Captain of the ship on which Paul returns home
  • Jane Kean as Miss Abbey Taylor, a mean schoolteacher
  • Jim Backus as the mayor of Passamaquoddy

Awards and honors

Academy Awards

Pete's Dragon was nominated for two Academy Awards:

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Awards

The movie was nominated for four Saturn Awards:

  • Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film
  • Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor - Red Buttons
  • Saturn Award for Best Costume
  • Saturn Award for Best Special Effects
Golden Globes

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated Pete's Dragon for one Golden Globe Award:

  • Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score - Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn

Release Dates

Country Premiere
 United States 3 November 1977
 Argentina 8 December 1977
 Brazil 23 January 1978
 Australia 13 April 1978
 Spain 28 August 1978
 Sweden 23 September 1978
 Netherlands 5 October 1978
 Finland 6 October 1978
 Denmark 13 October 1978
 France 18 October 1978
 Hong Kong 19 October 1978
Republic of Ireland Ireland 8 December 1978
 West Germany 14 December 1978
 Portugal 15 August 1980
 Hungary 21 April 1994
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