Re-Pete's Dragon

When I was a kid I loved the movie Pete's Dragon. My sister and I watched it all of the time. We had recorded it onto a VHS tape from the television as only you could in the early 80's. It was on the same tape as Grease, another favorite of ours, and right after Danny and Sandy fly off in their car the music changed over to the start of Pete's Dragon. We watched this double feature so often the tape began to wear.

I had not thought much about Pete's Dragon too often once I stopped watching it on repeat.

Amy had bought the DVD of our childhood movie recently. She thought her girls would like it, or perhaps she just hoped they would so she could get a break from High School Musical. My understanding is Amy liked it better than the girls.

Recently the boys have discovered Puff the Magic Dragon. Beth and Dave kindly bought Turner (and his brother's) a library full of wonderful children's books. Included in the selections was Puff, the story and audio CD. We read it once, then I sang it, then we played the CD. Instantly the boys were hooked and between their questions about Jackie Paper and what he is pointing to (the lighthouse) and why he stopped believing in Puff, they would sing the song and giggle.

On Sunday we went to Amy's house to celebrate Madden's 2nd Birthday. Since you can't get much past their perceptive eyes, and DVD's are amongst Ryder's favorite things to play with, it did not take long before they noticed a DVD with a dragon on it. He assumed it was Puff the Magic Dragon. I went on to explain how it was actually Pete's Dragon, Elliott, and though they seemed to get that it was a whole new dragon, they still insisted on watching it. And so, we borrowed Pete's Dragon from the Benjamin's. Much to my surprise they were not scared of any parts of the movie and much to my delight they love the movie. They insist on watching it any chance they get, and despite watching it way too many times in only five days, I personally love watching it again. With today's movies being computer animated and digitally enhanced, it is fun to watch an "old fashioned" children's fantasy movie with real actors and real songs. Once I watched Pete's Dragon again I realized how little I rememebered, but still loved it as if I was five.