<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $10 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $36--39.6 million </Td> </Tr> <P> 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 It is based on an unpublished short story of the same name, written by classical Hollywood writer Seton I. Miller . It stars Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, and Charlie Callas . It revolves around an orphaned boy raised by an abusive hillbilly family who is friends with a dragon named Elliott . </P> <P> Upon release, the film was a moderate success, grossing $39 million over a $10 million budget . Its reviews were mixed . 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 . </P>

When was the original pete's dragon made