Disney’s Pete’s Dragon reboot gets a new trailer and poster

Flaming ‘eck, it’s a new Pete’s Dragon trailer. The Disney live-action yarn, boasting a fresh-faced cast and the latest in cutting-edge CG dragons, is landing with us later in the summer and will be trying to get it family audience all stirred up from now on in.

The story introduces us to wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford), who spins wild tales of a fierce dragon living in the depths of the Pacific Northwest's forests. His daughter Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) indulges his passion for storytelling only so far... At least until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley), a mysterious ten-year-old who claims to have no family and live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. Could Meacham's stories be closer to reality than Grace suspects?

The original Pete’s Dragon, released in 1977, was the goofiest part of Disney’s quirky late ’70s period. Experimenting with genre, especially sci-fi and fantasy, the studio turned out Return From Witch Mountain, The Black Hole and The Cat From Outer Space in quick succession. If you were a robot, small child or feline, it was a good time to be working.

Disney, of course, has a much clearer vision now of how it wants its movies to perform. It’ll be interesting to see how this old dragon performs with modern audiences, especially with a director with stalwart indie credentials, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’ David Lowery, behind the camera. Find out when it lands on August 12.