5 thoughts we have about the new “Pete’s Dragon” image

My sister and I have what seems like infinite memories from our childhood. One specific memory that doesn’t involve her holding me down and tickling me until I cry is the countless times we watched Pete’s Dragon. It was the first movie that evoked serious emotion for us. Like, ugly cry emotion — because Pete and Elliott were such good friends, and Nora loved them both so much — it was all so beautiful and overwhelming for our little hearts.

Now, almost 40 years after its 1977 release, all of those emotions are resurfacing because Disney has remade the classic movie, and it’s set to be released on August 12th. So naturally, I (probably along with every other Pete’s Dragon fan) am feeling all sorts of nostalgic about it.

Disney just released the first up close photo of the 2016 version of Elliott the dragon (via Entertainment Weekly), and he’s… well… different from the VHS version we’re used to.

Considering most people can’t even see Elliott (because he’s invisible, duh), we should all feel fortunate to have this close up look. But after seeing this new photo, and after re-watching the trailer Disney released back in February, I also feel other things about it, because change is hard.

1. He’s gigantic

Don’t get me wrong, original Elliott was huge — he’s a dragon, so it makes sense. But new Elliott is like twice the size of the original Elliott, which seems like it would make it hard for Pete to sit on his belly and cuddle without getting lost in fur. But the new 20-foot Elliott will be able to reach even higher apples, so that’s a plus. His whole self doesn’t even fit in the photo.

2. Will he even need to chew apples?

Elliott had a way of making apples seem more enticing than dessert. Apples were basically their own character in the original movie. But new Elliott is so big, eating an apple will be like swallowing a pill for him. A juicy, delicious pill. Will we even care about the apples? Ugh. I hope so.

3. He has fur

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Elliott is way furrier than I remember him. He almost looks like a dog. A green, super oversized dog. With wings. Perhaps the fur will make him even more endearing, if that’s even possible.

4. I’m mourning the loss of his pink wings

Original Elliott’s pink wings were part of his friendly, clumsy personality. But pink didn’t fit with foliage in the new movie’s photo-real terrain. “We explored pink, just to see what would happen,” director David Lowry told EW. “From the get-go, the aesthetic was always to make everything feel as handmade as possible, including effects. To really have it feel like a blur between a very grounded realistic world and a world in which a big green dragon that can turn invisible can exist.”

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5. Is he still as friendly?

Elliott’s facial expression doesn’t seem as kind. But that would change the entire plot of the movie, so I’m going to just assume he has a slight case of RBF.

Even with the differences in Elliott, I’m super excited to see the new movie. But I’m still legit concerned about the apple situation.