Disney Releases New Look At Pete's Dragon

Walt Disney Pictures has released (via Empire) a new image of Pete's fuzzy dragon, Elliott.

Elliott from the 1977 film was a cartoon dragon with lime green skin, a goofy-grin, tiny pink wings, and a mop of pink colored hair. For the upcoming reboot, as you can see in the image above, Elliott underwent a dramatic makeover.

So, why the fur? "When I went to pitch the movie to Disney, I said 'I want him to be a furry dragon'. Pete is supposed to be cuddling up with the dragon, so let's make him furry," director David Lowery told Empire. "I wanted him to feel not like a Game Of Thrones or Harry Potter dragon."

"A lot of [Elliott] is a dog, because people relate to dogs, but I'm a big cat person," he added. "There's a seagull in there, and a tiger. Ultimately, it comes down to trying to make a 20 foot tall pet."

For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete's descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham's stories. With the help of Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon.

Disney's Pete's Dragon opens in U.S. theaters on August 12, 2016.