Pete's Dragon is a 1977 American live-action animated musical fantasy comedy film directed by Don Chaffey, produced by Jerome Courtland and Ron Miller, and written by Malcolm Marmorstein. It stars Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, and Sean Marshall. It revolves around an orphaned boy raised by an abusive hillbilly family who is friends with a dragon named Elliot.
Upon release, the film was a moderate success, grossing $39 million over a $10 million budget but receiving polarizing reviews. The song "Candle on the Water" received an Academy Award nomination, but lost to "You Light Up My Life" from the film of the same name. Reddy's recording (with a different arrangement than the one her character sings in the film) was released as a single by Capitol Records, reaching #27 on the Adult Contemporary charts. Pete's Dragon also received a nomination for Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score, losing to A Little Night Music.
