When it was originally released as a film, the Disney movie musical Pete’s Dragon was mostly dismissed by the critics. Many thought the film was too long (it does run 128 minutes) and many found Helen Reddy’s performance as the character “Nora” to be cold and detached (she isn’t the warmest of Disney characters), but her story is about a woman trying to be strong in the face of personal loss, who only begins to melt when a young orphan comes into her life. Seldom has a character in a Disney film been played with such complexity, and even if it does cast an icy pallor on the story, it is appropriate in telling “Nora’s” portion of the story. I have always had a deep affection for Pete’s Dragon and, considering how much I hear it maligned by critics and historians, I come in contact with a lot of people who also grew up loving this film.