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As Disney continues to remake or update some of their beloved family classics, the results seem to be (more often than not) pretty good, and their latest might just be one of the best yet. The original version of PETE’S DRAGON came out in 1977, and the big gimmick was the mix of live action with hand-drawn cel animation. The update switches the cels for CGI, and plays things a little more seriously and down to earth, but it’s also one of the most surprising and satisfying Disney movies to come along in years.

As the story opens we experience a flashback to young Pete and his family in the car driving through a wooded area. Pete reads his favorite book about a dog named Elliott and his fictional family going on an adventure, just like he and his family are on their own little adventure. When a freak accident happens, Pete finds himself alone in the dangerous woods and is about to become dinner for a pack of wolves, until a mysterious creature shows up to protect him. Cut to several years later, and the woods are now under the watch of Grace the forest ranger (Bryce Dallas Howard). She’s enjoying her relationship with Jack (Wes Bentley) and his daughter Natalie (Oona Laurence), and tries to impress her father Meachum (Robert Redford), who scares the local kids with tales of how he once encountered a dragon in the woods. Jack’s brother Gavin (Karl Urban) spends his days chopping down the trees of the forest, and isn’t about to let anything get in his way. Unbeknownst to all of them, Pete (Oakes Fegley) lives in those tress with his pet dragon he named Elliott, and is now far removed from civilized society. When Grace finds Pete alone, she rescues him and takes him in, and for a bit it seems like the boy may have discovered a new family to join with. But when Gavin finds Elliot alone in the woods, everyone starts to wonder if the old tales Meachum told were true, and whether or not they’re now all in danger.

This version of the story is directed by David Lowery (AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS), which is most definitely an inspired choice. The end result is surprisingly non-flashy considering the source material, and presents things in a quiet and simple way, with a few big flourish moments to keep the young ones in the audience interested. But Lowery did something really fascinating with the film, in that it feels almost like a throwback to family films of the 1980s, very safe and personal in its presentation. You’ll finish this movie feeling like you’ve seen something special and different, something that isn’t just another big budget Hollywood blockbuster, and that’s a very good thing. It’s heartwarming and sincere, and evokes the sensation of reading a great book that stays with you.

A large portion of the movie rests on the shoulders of Oakes Fegley’s performance as young Pete, and he doesn’t disappoint, capturing the pure qualities of a child inexperienced with the ways of the world. He’s got that sort of feral disconnected demeanor of someone who has lived alone in the forest for many years, but still has shades of his former family child self underneath. It’s one of the best and most effective child performances ever to be seen in a film like this. Oona Laurence continues to impress after wowing audiences in SOUTHPAW, playing the young girl who must tame young Pete in order for him to re-acclimate to society. Bryce Dallas Howard and Wes Bentley also do a fine job playing the concerned couple who want to make sure Pete is okay, with Howard coming across the most sincere, perhaps drawing on her real life experience as a mother. Robert Redford give a nice and quite subtle performance as the wise old voice of reason in the story, and just having him in the film elevates the overall feel of the production to give it a more “instant classic” quality. And Karl Urban does a great job playing the antagonist of the story who thankfully never goes too hard into cartoony bad guy territory.

But perhaps the biggest star of the film is the sparingly-used Elliott, a dragon with domesticated dog-like qualities, never once letting his enormous size get in the way of his playful nature. The look and feel of the creature is a brilliant hybrid of soft features you’ll fall in love with, and an otherworldly design that makes him look quite special and ethereal. It’s as if the filmmakers wanted to take the friendly features of the original film’s hero and mix it in with something that was much more grounded in reality, and it really works well. The new version of PETE’S DRAGON may not be the most exciting film of the year, or even one of the most attractive family films to hit cinemas in a while, but it’s quite a special treat for those looking for something different and fun for all ages. While I’m not a parent, if I had kids I would genuinely look forward to having them experience this movie with me, and it already has the makings of a family treat you’ll want to revisit often as the years go by. If nothing else, it made me feel like a kid again just by watching it.

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