Disney is reimagining a '70s fave with extra soul and state of the art FX. Tara Bennett meets Pete's Dragon.
![Dragon Heart](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/5197/177195/5799cf8eb8154_13/.jpg)
Some say the ’70s was Disney’s forgotten decade, overshadowed by the golden eras either side of it. But the House of Mouse had a prolific, inventive run of movies back then, from ambitious SF epic The Black Hole to a live-action musical featuring an animated dragon...
While Pete’s Dragon was a modest success at the time, it never received the critical acclaim that met Mary Poppins, another live action-animated hybrid. Nor does it have the cross-generational nostalgia of that Julie Andrews classic. So in 2010 Disney targeted this boy-and-his-dragon tale as part of the back-catalogue that might be ripe for reinvention. They stripped the musical aspect from its DNA and asked writers to pitch them new takes. Indie director/writer David Lowery, best known for Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, was one who heeded the call.
A long-time Disney fan, Lowery tells SFX he saw the original film when he was six – but he hasn’t re-watched it, even to this day. “It’s not one of the crown jewels of their library,” Lowery says of the 1977 version. “It’s beloved by many people, but it’s not so beloved that you can’t take it and run. I saw it as an opportunity to tell a new story.”
The producers agreed. “The mandate from the studio was, ‘We want to make a movie called Pete’s Dragon. It has to have a boy named Pete in it… and a dragon. That’s it. They had been thinking about it for a while, but they didn’t have a goal to have it in theatres by 2016. They were more of the opinion that if the right story came along, and the right storytelling, it would be worth doing.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2016 من SFX.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2016 من SFX.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
![Future Shock - Futurama's David X Cohen talks about what's in store for the show's ninth season](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5197/1760102/zDOBvT4bY1721295529312/crp_Matt-Groening-David-X-Cohen-FuturamaCohen-Leela-Billy-West-Dr-Farnsworth-catoons.jpg)
Future Shock - Futurama's David X Cohen talks about what's in store for the show's ninth season
Futurama's David X Cohen talks about what's in store for the show's ninth season
![Who Says](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5197/1791567/wPgKX5qnn1723018785973/WHO-SAYS.jpg)
Who Says
The Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz return - we're all ears
![Parallel Doomsday](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5197/1791567/MHg04HnAN1723018490873/PARALLEL-DOOMSDAY.jpg)
Parallel Doomsday
Terminator Zero creator Mattson Tomlin explains where the anime series fits within canon
![Growing Your Hare](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5197/1791567/9KFIM20qR1723018186605/GROWING-YOUR-HARE.jpg)
Growing Your Hare
Daniel Kokotajlo talks about his '70s-set folk horror film Starve Acre
![STAR TREK: DISCOVERY](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5197/1791567/HDX-NJpcD1723017364999/STAR-TREK-DISCOVERY.jpg)
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
TRIPS INTO TREK HISTORY PROVIDE SOMETHING OLD AND SOMETHING NEW FOR STAR TREK: DISCOVERY COSTUME DESIGNER ANTHONY TRAN
![DAY OF THE JACKAL](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5197/1791567/Rt7o1ZsS41723016906967/DAY-OF-THE-JACKAL.jpg)
DAY OF THE JACKAL
TALKING TIME, TECH AND MYSTERIES IN PART TWO OF OUR INTERVIEW WITH DOCTOR WHO SHOWRUNNER RUSSELL T DAVIES
![THE DARK KNIGHT RISES IN VINTAGE STYLE IN BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5197/1791567/PydfaqsbC1723016244631/THE-DARK-KNIGHT-RISES-IN-VINTAGE-STYLE-IN-BATMAN-CAPED-CRUSADER.jpg)
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES IN VINTAGE STYLE IN BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER
BATMAN IS NOT FRIENDLY,\" insists Bruce Timm. \"He has to be weird. It's not just enough for him to dress up like a weirdo - he has to be a weirdo.
![KAOS THEORY](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5197/1791567/2c-nOKXXi1723015673583/KAOS-THEORY.jpg)
KAOS THEORY
THE LIVES OF GODS AND MEN ARE ENTWINED IN KAOS MEET THE TEAM BEHIND NETFLIX'S EPIC DARK COMEDY
![POWER UP](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5197/1791567/Z5xZI-fHl1723014900361/POWER-UP.jpg)
POWER UP
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER SHOWRUNNERS JD PAYNE AND PATRICK MCKAY PROMISE PLENTY OF TOLKIEN TREATS IN SEASON TWO
![JAWS IN SPACE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5197/1791567/U-XPz_TaD1723014095947/JAWS-IN-SPACE.jpg)
JAWS IN SPACE
FORTY-FIVE YEARS ON FROM ITS ORIGINAL RELEASE, ALIEN CONTINUES TO TERRIFY. WE DISSECT WHAT ARGUABLY REMAINS THE MOST CHILLING INSTALMENT IN THE SAGA