You know you’re a full-blown parent when you get excited about the premiere of a new kid’s movie. It might be just me, but long gone are the days of intense cryptic adult-themed plots that require over-thinking and analysis – hello Disney, or Pixar, or Dreamworks, or whoever is going to bring me my next animated feel-good flick!
My girls (aged 7 and 10) and I were lucky to catch a preview screening of Disney’s Pete’s Dragon at the weekend and to say it was great would be an understatement. We each experienced every emotion a movie could present – from heart-exploding joy and happiness, to sadness and despair. I’ll admit right here among friends that, under the cover of darkness at our local Event Cinema, I might have even ‘ugly’ cried with happiness to the point where I had to get Miss 10 to check the state of my eyeliner as we exited the theatre.
Pete’s Dragon follows the adventure of an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend Elliott – who just happens to be a dragon. For years, old woodcarver 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, Elliott 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 (PG) opens in cinemas on September 15. And here’s my hot tip: take your tissues!
To celebrate the release of the beautiful new family film Disney’s “Pete’s Dragon” which releases in cinemas on September 15 – you have the chance to win one of 10 special Disney’s ‘Pete’s Dragon’ prize packs each containing a ‘Pete’s Dragon’ puzzle, 2-in-1 travel blanket and pillow, and a family pass (admit 4) to see the film in 3D. Valued at $100.00 each. Competition closes September 11, 2016.
This competition has now closed.
