Elliott is the titular deuteragonist of Disney's 1977 film Pete's Dragon. He is a large green dragon, who is best friends with a young orphan named Pete.
Background[]
Development[]
The film's animators opted to make Elliott look more like an eastern, rather than western, dragon because oriental ones are usually associated with good. The film is the first involving animation in which none of the Nine Old Men (Disney's original team of animators) were involved. One technique used in the film involved compositing, whereby up to three scenes might be composited together - for example, a live foreground, a live background, and an animated middle ground containing Elliott. Ken Anderson, who created him, explained that he thought it would be appropriate to make him "a little paunchy" and not always particularly graceful when it comes to flying. Don Hahn, who was assistant director to Don Bluth on the film, gained some experience working with a combination of live-action and animation before later going on to work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Personality[]
Elliott is a dragon with the ability to become invisible. He is depicted as a benevolent character who assists children in need, like Pete. He is shown to be fairly clumsy, even when flying. He is also shown to be very protective of Pete.
Elliott is apparently a guardian of children, coming and going, seeking those who are in need of a friend, at least until they have a family who can be there for them or helps those he befriends until their problems are all resolved, and he hates it when some nasty abusive adult abuses children. Once a child has no further need of him, he sadly moves on and never sees them again, so it's possible he is really a guardian spirit whose purpose is to protect and help children.
Elliott can be a bit of a mischief-maker intentionally or not, as he caused various instances of property damage, and Pete was blamed due to him being invisible ― although he never means any real harm to anyone.
Physical appearance[]
In the original film, Elliott was created and designed by Ken Anderson. In one of the promotional posters, he is said to be "20 feet tall" and "40 feet long", but in the actual film, he appears to be closer to roughly 12 feet in height. And according to the song, "It's Not Easy", he has a camel's head, a crocodile's neck, a cow's ears, and is half-fish and half-mammal.
Elliott himself is a fairly tall obese dragon with a very prominent chin and a large stomach big enough for Pete to sit on as a cushion. He has emerald-green scales, a mint-green segmented underbelly, and forest-green spots of varying sizes along his body. He has bubblegum-pink hair in a style similar to a pixie-cut on his head and at the end of his tail, which acts as a third arm. He has purple spikes running down his spine, and small pink bat-like wings with a lighter pink webbing on his back which, despite their size, are still able to let him fly, albeit a little awkwardly.
Throughout most of the original film, Elliott's eyes are the typical cartoony style; having no visible irises. However, at certain points in the film, his eyes tend to change color. For instance, when Elliott gets scared by his own shadow and sneezes in Pete's face, his eyes become light shades of blue and green, when he belches out fire after drinking Hoagy's liquor and loses his temper when informed of Pete caught by the Gogans again, his eyes become a fiery shade of red as the "irises" somehow enlarge through his whole eyes, and when he makes a couple of scary faces to scare Dr. Terminus and hoagy, his eyes appear the same green color as his scales. However, when Elliott grows flustered as Nora kisses him, it is shown (or at least implied) that Elliott has blue eyes, meaning that his eyes most likely change color to match his emotions.
Appearances[]
Pete's Dragon[]
Elliott is initially shown as an unseen force that prevents the abusive Gogans from capturing Pete, who is running away from them. His true form is revealed the next morning when they have breakfast and Pete sits on Elliott's belly. He invisibly follows Pete into the town of Passamaquoddy, where his clumsy antics cause Pete to be labeled as a source of bad luck. Elliott reveals himself to Lampie, the lighthouse keeper before he and Pete escape to a seaside cave. When Pete is taken in by Nora, Lampie's daughter, Elliott remains invisible, leading her to believe he is merely an imaginary friend. He later accompanies Pete to school, causing more antics. This leads to Dr. Terminus, a medical showman, plotting to capture him, as dragons supposedly have many medical uses.
At some point, Elliott locates Paul, Nora's lost boyfriend, though she fails to believe it at the time. The night that Paul plans to return home, Elliott is captured by Dr. Terminus, while Pete is done so by the Gogans. Elliott is able to free himself and Pete and they return home to Passamaquoddy Light. By this time, a storm has broken out, causing the light to go out. Despite being cramped in the narrow staircase, Elliott uses his fire breath to relight it, revealing himself to Nora and Lampie. The next morning, Elliott is praised for his help, while Nora is reunited with Paul. Pete is given a safe home with them. This leads Elliott to leave in search of another child to help. After saying goodbye to Pete, he flies away.
House of Mouse[]
Elliott was a common audience member at the club.
In "Max's Embarrassing Date", Elliott ended up getting flipped upside-down from the chaos of Goofy accidentally slipping on Lumiere's mother-in-law.
In "Mickey and Minnie's Big Vacation", he, along with Maleficent, Mushu, Madam Mim, and the Reluctant Dragon, caused a fire on the stage.
In "Ask Von Drake", he asked Ludwig what kind of day it was, and he replied by saying, "It's a brazzle-dazzle day, of course!"
Once Upon a Studio[]
Elliott is seen taking Cody on a nice flight similar to how Marahute did. He later appeared in the group photo outside of the studio while holding the Golden Harp and having Peter Pan sitting on his back.
Printed material[]
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (graphic novel)[]
In the graphic novel adaptation of Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Mickey fights the battle with thinner, and the dragon is accordingly crushed. However, once the fight is over, Mickey looks back at the dead robotic mass and comments that he'd seen "something familiar in that thing ― something good" (which implies Mickey recognized Elliott). In the ending, rather than being carried like a Chinese New Year dragon as in the game, he is turned into a musical float.
Video games[]
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two[]
Elliott in Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two.
A Blotworx version of Elliot was created by the Mad Doctor and resembles the Pete's Dragon float from the Main Street Electrical Parade. The Doctor has ordered him to guard of his underground laboratory. He serves as a boss battle; Mickey can either use magic paint to redeem the blotling that has been controlling the robotic Elliott, or destroy the creature entirely with magic thinner; in this case, the battle will be completed by leading the roof to collapse on the monster. In the fragment of ending resulting from the first option, Elliott, freed from the influence of the Blotling, wanders the streets of Mean Street. In the ending resulting from the latter option, the fragments of the robotic Elliott are carried by the citizens in the manner of a Chinese New Year dragon puppet during the parade.
The real Elliott's image was used for the pin awarded for defeating the robot with paint.
Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion[]
Elliott also made a cameo appearance among the framed pictures in the Caste of Illusion.
Disney Infinity[]
Elliott makes an appearance in Disney Infinity as a cameo. In the 3DS version, he would change all the adventures on the game board to Power Adventures.
Disney Emoji Blitz[]
In the game, Elliott makes an appearance his Main Street Electrical Parade appearance as a playable emoji. His normal appearance, however, does not appear.
Disney Parks[]
Main Street Electrical Parade[]
Elliott has appeared alongside Pete in every version of the Main Street Electrical Parade since the film’s release. He was originally added to promote the film when the parade was overhauled in 1977 and was set to be removed afterwards, but proved so popular that he has remained in the parade ever since.
The Magic of Disney Animation[]
Elliott also makes a brief cameo appearance in the Drawn to Animation presentation inside The Magic of Disney Animation at Disney's Hollywood Studios, where he is seen in a photograph with Mushu, who refers to him as his cousin.
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar[]
Elliott is alluded to in this bar via a letter sent from Lampy to the bar's proprietor Trader Sam.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Elliott makes a cameo in the Who Framed Roger Rabbit Special Edition DVD on one of the menus but does not appear in the film itself.
- In the original movie, Elliott was his actual name whereas, in the 2016 remake, he was named after a dog character named Elliott in Pete's favorite book.
The Treat Dragon
- Also, Elliott's name is spelled with two "t"s in the 1977 film, while in the 2016 remake, it's spelled with only one "t".
- At some point, it was originally intended for Elliott to be completely invisible for most of the film except for the part when Dr. Terminus attempted to chop him up for medicine. However, due to the belief that the audience would "lose patience", it was decided to have Elliott to be visible frequently in the final film.
- According to Ken Anderson, Elliott was named in honor of his old friend, American actor Elliott Gould, who was a frequent cast member of Hollywood films in the 1960s.
- In the 2013 remake of Castle of Illusion, the Treat Dragon boss looks like a recolored version of Elliott.
- Elliott is similar to Mary Poppins as both help children who are in trouble and at the end have to leave to find other children who are in trouble to help.
Variants[]
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