With Pete’s Dragon soaring into theaters on August 12th, a new mockumentary has been released by Disney in what can only be described as a very clever, adorable way to market the film. Treating Pete’s titular dragon Elliot as another cast member, the featurette shows how cast and crew — including hair and make-up, in a nice comedic stroke — have to deal with a “twenty-foot tall, fuzzy, green, sometimes-invisible dragon.”
We think it’s a film worthy of the creative effort, having said in our review, “By simply utilizing the basic set-up of a lesser original feature and giving its director the freedom to infuse his own distinct sensibilities, Pete’s Dragon sets an ideal standard for what Hollywood should be doing in the remake realm. In capturing childlike wonder through Pete’s eyes, this film has more than a few heartbreaking moments regarding the definition of a home and the people (or fantastical creatures) that give it life. And by keeping things relatively small-scale, David Lowery’s studio debut retains a personal touch with an unceasing supply of magic running through its lovable, full-hearted soul.”
See the mockumentary below, along with a new U.K. trailer and clips from the film.
For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete’s descriptions, Elliot seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham’s stories. With the help of Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon.
Pete’s Dragon opens in the U.S. and U.K. on August 12th.