Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/739236
12 cgw s e p t e m b e r . o c t o b e r 2 0 1 6 C ould an enormous, somewhat clumsy, furry green dragon survive unnoticed in a forest? Robert Redford's character Meacham in Disney's Pete's Dragon thinks so. But to a child named Pete, there's no question. When a car crash killed five-year- old Pete's parents and threw him into the forest, the dragon adopted him. Pete (actor Oakes Fegley) and the dragon he named Elliot lived an undiscovered and idyllic life together in the forest for five years until… one day… a girl Pete's age spotted him. Natalie, the girl, doesn't see Elliot – the magical dragon can become invisible. But once Pete and Natalie become friends, Pete introduces her to Elliot. And the adventure begins, one in which Pete and Elliot become separated, Elliot is threatened, and that's where the spoilers end. Pete's Dragon has its roots in Disney's 1977 animated film of the same name, but for this film, the story changed from an enter- taining musical to a gentle, family-friendly action adventure. Making the story work and making the always-CG dragon believable in a live-action film was a daunting task. But, with the help of the talented Weta Digital artists who created and animated the dragon, and with actors Redford, Fegley, Oona Laurence (Natalie), and others who performed with a dragon stand-in on set, Director David Lowery and his crew created a film that has received critical acclaim – 87 percent approval on the review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes. Filmed in the forests of New Zealand and in bare canyons shot in New Zealand but forested at Weta Digital, the fantasy film incorporated approximately 700 visual effects shots, nearly all of which include the CG dragon. We see Elliot in close-up shots with tiny Pete, we see him disappear into the forest, we see him fly above the forest with Pete on his back, and we see him in places no dragon should ever venture. Weta Digital's Eric Saindon led a crew of artists that grew to approximately 200 who created Elliot and, when needed, digital environments. Animation Supervisor Mike Cozens supervised the team that gave Elliot the ability to fly and to carry on quiet conver- sations with Pete without relying on dialog: Elliot doesn't speak; he is not anthropomor- phic. Compositing Supervisor Ben Roberts led the team who fit Elliot into the live-action plates and made Elliot invisible. D R A G O N O N T H E S E T In addition to supervising the postproduction at Weta Digital, Saindon was the on-set digital effects supervisor. To help animators later and the production crew during filming, Fegley had ARTISTS AT WETA DIGITAL CREATE A GIGANTIC, BELIEVABLE FURRY GREEN CHARACTER FOR DISNEY'S PETE'S DRAGON BY BARBARA ROBERTSON HIDDEN TRUTHS