The Reluctant Dragon (1977)
"A fun and energetic fantasy" - New York Times, December 1st 1977
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What eventually became "The Reluctant Dragon" started life in the 1940s, when the Walt Disney Studio was undergoing an economic turmoil due to both "Robin Hood" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" becoming box office bombs and the 1941 Animator's Strike. To quickly re-coup the losses of both films, it was decided that a quick cash-grab film showcasing the ins and outs of the Walt Disney Studio would be produced, culminating in an animated featurette. While choosing the subject for said featurette, Walt came across Kenneth Grahame's "The Reluctant Dragon". While having considered to be the source material for this new "feature film", Walt dismissed both this and "The Wind in the Willows", another Grahame novel. Walt claimed that both works were too corny for his tastes. "The Wind in the Willows" eventually became a part of "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad", while an adaptation of "The Emperor's New Clothes" starring Mickey Mouse and company was produced as part of the "feature film", appropriately titled "The Emperor's New Groove".
In 1957, Walt had plans to re-visit "The Reluctant Dragon", this time it would be produced as a feature length animation/live-action hybrid similar to how "Encanto: The Adventures of the Little Prince" and "Strange World" were. Walt hired screenwriter Seton I. Miller to write the script, which Miller based off an unpublished dragon script that he had written earlier (1). Walt had Kevin Corcoran from "Old Yeller" in mind when he first considered the cast for the film, but by 1958, the script was too short and uneventful for Walt to consider changing "The Reluctant Dragon" into a special episode of the Disneyland anthology program. Corcoran was re-casted as John Darling in 1961's "Peter Pan". Eventually "The Reluctant Dragon" ended back on the shelf until 1968, well after Walt's death. Even in 1968, the project went nowhere and continued to stay in development hell.
It wasn't until 1975 when "The Reluctant Dragon" was formally put back into production. Producer Jerome Courtland re-discovered both the 1941 and 1957 drafts of "The Reluctant Dragon", he soon hired Malcolm Marmorstein to draft up a script. The final script was changed and re-written so much that it might as well have been an original film that was loosely based off Grahame's original novel. For one, the stakes were raised higher and the dragon was given a name: Elliott (2). Taking cues from the 1957 version, Elliott the dragon would be animated, which would help him stick out compared to the rest of the cast, which were all real life actors. There was one more thing notable about "The Reluctant Dragon": None of the Nine Old Men participated in animation work for this film, Elliott was animated by a whole new generation of animators. Don Hahn most notably gained experience from working on this film before later working on "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".
The film starts with a flashback of ancient times, where dragons and humans fought against each other brutally (This scene was noted to be somewhat analogous to "Raya and the Last Dragon"). Eventually the dragons retreated and centuries pass by, each generation anticipating another great war between the two species. A young boy named Bob (3) reads a book about ancient dragons and knights when his father rushes to warn the townsfolk about a monster, Bob re-assures that it was only a dragon, to which his father panicks and runs away in fear. Bob ventures into the dragon's lair himself and finds a shy and timid dragon named Elliott. Discovering Elliott's love for books and literature, Bob befriends Elliott. Meanwhile the dragon slayer Sir Giles arrives to take out the dragon, but Bob re-assures Giles that Elliott is friendly and wouldn't fight. To fool the townsfolk, Sir Giles and Elliott play pretend and stage a fight where Sir Giles "slays" Elliott to death. Their ploy is discovered and Elliott is banished from the town. However when the ferocious dragons return to destroy the town, Bob and Sir Giles have to find Elliott and save everyone before the dragons set them all on fire.
"The Reluctant Dragon" was met with praise and a generally positive reception. While most of the live-action scenes were considered as filler and dull, the animated Elliott and the performances of Sir Giles and Bob really carried the film. "The Reluctant Dragon" was well received enough for a live-action remake to be produced and released in 2016. Today, "The Reluctant Dragon" is seen as Disney's better live-action/animation hybrids.
Release Date: November 3rd 1977
Live Action Cast:
Sean Marshall (Bob)
Gene Wilder (Sir Giles)
Cal Bartlett (Bob's Father)
Animated Cast:
Paul Winchell (Elliott)
(1) What OTL's "Pete's Dragon" was based off
(2) The same name given to the titular dragon from "Pete's Dragon"
(3) Taken from Robert Benchley as he had starred in OTL's Reluctant Dragon
Notes: This took quite some time for me to think of a suitable plot for, considering how OTL's Reluctant Dragon was a feaurette and how I needed to convert it to a live-action/animation hybrid. I am looking forward the the 80s though so except more updates soon. And I'm also trying out this new template and hopefully it looks better.