Pete’s Dragon now on Blu-ray

I find it hard to write a negative review about Disney movies, but there’s a first time for everything. Speaking of, for the first time ever on Blu-ray, you and your family can rediscover Disney’s classic musical adventure – the 35th Anniversary Edition of Pete’s Dragon in dazzling Blu-ray High Definition with an all-new digital restoration!  When Pete, an orphan, and his best friend Elliot – an invisible green dragon – wander into the seaside village of Passamaquoddy, the townspeople think he’s behind a slew of hilarious mishaps. But after a daring rescue, they change their tune and believe in Pete’s fire-breathing buddy. Filled with friendship and fun, and featuring the Academy Award® nominated “Candle On The Water” (Best Song, 1977), this family classic on Disney Blu-ray turns every viewing into a Brazzle Dazzle Day. Ok, now that that’s out of the way, click ahead to read my review…

Elliot the Dragon

As a kid I had an over-active imagination, heck I still do…but I was one of those kids who had imaginary friends growing up. To find a fun movie about a young boy who also shared adventures with his invisible pal, well Pete’s Dragon instantly became one of my all time favorites. Now I’ve seen evey concievable version of this since it’s it’s debut on home video…from earliest clamshell Beta-Max &  VHS tapes, Laser-disc, 1993 sleeved VHS, 2001 & 2009 DVDs, so of course as a huge fan of this film, this version was an anticipated addition to the collection. I have to share that I was a little upset to see that this film’s big Blu-ray debut has gotten very little promotion or had no new bonus features added. All the other Disney classics on Blu-ray have gotten their own special promotional trailer, you could do a google search for Blu-ray images and/or box-art and be inundated, but sadly, not for this movie. All we got for poor Pete and Elliot were a couple clips from the film (seen below), a handful of images and the same recycled box art from the 2009 DVD High Flying Edition, not to mention no new bonus features. Very dissapointing, would it have hurt to wait until the 40th and work another 5 years on building content of deleted scenes, original recording tracks, a gallery of production stills or behind the scenes of the making of the film!?!? But alas…here is what we got.

THE PICTURE:

Now I’ll admit that  the picture quality is as sharp as ever in this recent conversion, all the locations from the swamp, the cave, the lighthouse and the town of Passamaquoddy look colorful and vibrant. Almost as perfect as something comparably shot in today’s standards, I was quite pleased about that. I’m not sure though why Elliot the dragon seemed less impressive in this transfer. His pink and green colors at times seemed dull and muted, outshined by the live -action characters, when it’s really Elliot who should have been overshadowing and dynamic. It almost felt like Elliot needed more restoration than the rest of the film needed, if at all that much…?

THE SOUND:

DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround tracks are well balanced and sound great. Nora, Pete, Lampie, Elliot, Dr. Terminus all come across crisp and clean. The sound effects seem clearer than ever, from swooshing tails to sea-storms, the ambient atmpospheric sounds are more dynamic than ever and the music of Helen Reddy is richer ane more melodic than ever before. No real issues with the sound.

THE FEATURES:

The biggest frown on my face as soon as I recieved my copy was seeing that nothing new Binus wise was present other than the 2009 High Flying Edition. I can only hope that means in 5 years for the 40th Anniversary we may see something if there is enough interest in even putting something out for it. In the meantime, enjoy Disney’s Movie Magic, a history of Disney’s magical mix of live action with animation. Narrated by Sean Marshall (Pete), deleted Story board Sequence Terminus & Hoagy Hunt Elliot, rare demo dialog track and storyboard sketches, Original Song Concept: Boo Bop Bopbop Bop (I Love You Too) first demo recording March 1976 with story sketches for an early concept of the song Pete sings to Elliot, Original Demo Recordings: Brazzle Dazzle Day, Every Little Piece, The Greatest Star of All (Deleted Song for Deleted Character), Promotional Record, Four songs are pop versions of the songs used to promote the music and originally released on one 7 inch record including Academy Award nominated Candle on the Water.

FINAL THOUGHTS: 

In closing…unless you’re on a kick to swap out all your DVD collection with Blu-rays, then I’d say wait, the cost is low for this, but I dont think you’re getting anything more than a smaller, thinner,  blue clam shell case. Of course that being said, with low numbers on sales of this on Blu-ray, it may not inspire an effort to put the energy into a 40th edition with added bonus features. So maybe it’s best to support the cause and bite the bullet for the sake of Pete and the gang. It is available over at AMAZON.com, so order your copy today of Pete’s Dragon, 35th Anniversary Edition!

Pete’s Dragon now on Blu-ray