Everyone is talking about it so I might as well add my two cents. They just put out the teaser trailer for this summer’s Pete’s Dragon remake. I have to be honest- I like the trailer. I think it looks kind of magical. Now I thought the Maleficent trailer looked promising and you see what that brought us…
I would certainly rather there be no remakes at all and get new and exciting content but that’s not happening any time soon. The best we can hope for is these remakes are more of the Cinderella vein and less Maleficent/Alice in Wonderland (and no the new Looking Glass trailer does nothing to excite me). I guess I’m more positive about Pete’s Dragon because I’m not super attached to the original; although, I do enjoy it.
What does seem cool about Pete’s Dragon is they are doing more of a reimagining than a remake, which begs the question- why call it Pete’s Dragon in the first place? Fair enough, but at least it isn’t like Maleficent where they restage our favorite scenes but ruin the characters and story. At least that doesn’t appear to be the case.
One thing I don’t understand in these remakes is why they shy away from the music? I understand not wanting to make everything a musical but why not have a soundtrack? Candle on the Water is a great Disney song and I feel it at least should be in the closing credits. You had no Bibbity Bobbity Boo in Cinderella. No Once Upon a Dream but in credits in Maleficent. That is so bizarre. Why not take full advantage of the properties you are remaking? It’s not like Oz where they don’t have the rights to the original music.
Either way, I thought it was an effective, enticing trailer that didn’t tell me too much but just gave a spirit of the film. This movie has been very hush-hush so I’m glad to see some images of the dragon and what the story is going for. The fact Pete is a feral boy living in the forest for 6 years is interesting and Robert Redford being in your movie never hurt anything.
So I’m hopeful. What say you? I know some people are very upset about it and I can see their points. Share in the comment section.