History Film / PetesDragon1977

* PapaWolf: Elliot to Pete. At least half of the devastation he leaves behind is because of the havoc he brings upon those who try to hurt the kid (the other half is because he's a giant freaking dragon, and a bumbling one at that).

* HappilyAdopted: Pete by the end, by Nora, Lampie and her boyfriend.

* MamaBear: Nora. She constantly interrupts the Gogan's second VillainSong with threats toward them if they even think of hurting Pete.

* PapaWolf: Elliot to Pete. At least half of the devastation he leaves behind is because of the havok he brings upon those who try to hurt the kid (the other half is because he's a giant freaking dragon, and a bumbling one at that).

-->'''Teacher:''' No no no, this is irregular, irregular, irregular!\\

* TheUnintelligible: Elliot, who communicates with grunts, clicks and scatting, leaving Pete to translate for him when needed.

* BlatantLies: Doc Terminus' establishing song number, "Passamaquoddy", is loaded with them. To give one example: the potion he claimed to be from the far Orient before the song begins, he claims (with notable hesitation of trying to think something up quick to prevent the townspeople from kicking him out) he got all the way from France.

* CorruptHick: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nmV_QZxbuU Gogan family]] establish their credentials by singing a happy little bluegrass song asking Pete to come back to be their adopted slave and so they can kill him horribly.

* MainliningTheMonster: Doctor Terminus wants to get his hands on Elliot (the titular dragon) to be made into medicines.

* VillainSong: "[[BlatantLies The Happiest Home in These Hills]]" and "We Got a Bill of Sale Right Here" for the Gogans, and "Passamaquoddy" and "Every Little Piece" for Dr. Terminus and Hoagy.
* VillainTeamUp: The Gogans team up with Dr. Terminus and Hoagy.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair:
** One of Terminus' toxins gives a person pink hair.
** Elliot also has pink hair.

** Doc Terminus and Hoagie are left in a rather embarrassing situation by Elliot, who also obviously declines the offer to do business with them, but otherwise are free to extricate themselves and head for the hills, since nobody appears to have sicced the law on anybody involved. Keep in mind that one of the things they did to try capturing Elliot was ''kidnapping Pete''.

* KarmaHoudini: What comeuppance does the Gogan clan get for everything they've done? Aside from a lot of public humiliation, not much. The only "punishment" they got, if you can call it that, is going through all this trouble to get Pete back and having to go home empty-handed. And the brothers will have to "pick up the slack" on the chores now that they don't have Pete anymore to do most (if not all) of the work. Even that seems doubtful, since according to their verses in the opening song, they were going to kill him anyway.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Terminus keeps getting the town's name wrong. Hoagy would correct him.

* CorruptHick: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nmV_QZxbuU Gogan family]] establish their credentials by singing a happy little bluegrass song asking Elliot to come back to be their adopted slave and so they can kill him horribly.

* LyricalDissonance: "The Happiest Home On These Hills" is a quirky and cheery bluegrass song about how the Gogans want Elliot back to use as a slave [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath and murder in horrifying ways]].

* ReCut: The original 128-minute version was cut several times, doing stuff like changing "Candle In the Water" into a music-only version, removing "The Happiest Home On These Hills" (and trimming down "We Got a Bill of Sale") and taking out some other scenes.

* ShutUpHannibal: Nora does this ''repeatedly'' during the Gogan's second VillainSong; unfortunately, they ''won't'' shut up, requiring Elliot to deliver a far-more ''unsubtle'' one that capsizes their boat. He delivers a ''much'' more threatening one in the climax, incinerating their bill of sale when they try to threaten him with it, sending them fleeing out of town.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/petes_dragon_4067.jpg]]

It stars Sean Marshall as Pete, Helen Reddy as Nora, Creator/MickeyRooney as Lampie, Creator/JimDale as Doc Terminus, Creator/RedButtons as his sidekick Hoagy, and Jim Backus as the mayor of Passamaquoddy.

It is the early 20th century, and HeartwarmingOrphan Pete is on the run from the cruel Gogans, a backwoods family that bought him to be their slave. He has but one friend - Elliot, a friendly dragon. Elliot doesn't speak English, but he can fly, breathe fire, and turn himself invisible; most of all, he's got Pete's back. Together they arrive in the town of Passamaquoddy, Maine.

No one here believes in dragons, of course, and because Elliot's usually invisible, his faithfully following Pete around causes a lot of problems for the kid - which are sometimes exacerbated when Elliot tries to protect him from unjust punishment. Still, Pete is taken in by Nora, a lighthouse keeper's daughter (her dad, Lampie, is the one person in town who has seen Elliot, but no one believes him because he's the town drunk), and Elliot hides out in a nearby cave.

* TheShill: Hoagy, who disguises himself as people who pretend to be cured by Doc Terminus's miracle tonics.

* PaintingTheMedium: Closed captions (in the VHS-version anyway) had Elliot's dialogue, or at least mentions of his grunts, in green-colored font.

* ReCut: The original 128-minute version was cut several times, doing stuff like changing "Candle In The Water" into a music-only version, removing "The Happiest Home On These Hills" (and trimming down "We Got A Bill Of Sale") and taking out some other scenes.

It stars Sean Marshall as Pete, Helen Reddy as Nora, Creator/MickeyRooney as Lampie, Creator/JimDale as Doc Terminus, with Red Buttons as his sidekick Hoagy, and Jim Backus as the mayor of Passamaquoddy.

* StockScream: Dr. Terminus lets out a Goofy holler.

* ABoyAndHisX: Pete (boy) and Elliot (dragon). By the end of the film, Elliot deems that Pete has learnt enough of how to be himself (as well as found a loving adoptive family) [[ButNowIMustGo and doesn't needs him anymore]].

-->'''Doc:''' "The existence of a dragon would have an impact of gigantic proportions. Mythology and legend would become history and science. ''[to himself]'' One would make a quick buck with it."

* ListSong: "Passamaquoddy", Doc Terminus's cheerful recitation of the New England towns he's visited and illnesses he's cured ... a recitation that comes to a stammering halt when he tries to pronounce his current stop. Also, "Every Little Piece" has Terminus and Hoagy talking excitedly about many parts of a dragon's anatomy and how they could be used on fanciful remedies (and thus how they intend to gut Elliot into absolutely nothing and make a buck out of it).

* ObviouslyEvil: The Gogans are so obviously evil hicks that it's a wonder nobody thought of making them ''more'' evil, like being Confederate sympathizers (then again, one of them wears an old gray army soldier cap...)