Then it would have been perfect, with some actually useful message for a change. But noooooo, Disney just had to attach all that "family values" douchery at the end. Spoiled an otherwise pretty decent kids' flick.
shareI agree. He seemed to have had a pretty good life out there with Elliot, and to see him leave his good friend and guardian of 6 years for these people he just met was not much of a desirable outcome, although certainly the realistic one (but then realism has very little to do with the story to begin with).
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Sad story. You got a smoke?
What useful message? Both Pete and Elliot were living far from their respective communities, without having chosen it (we don't know why Elliot was there, but multiple times it was implied that he was stranded far from home, and at the end it was confirmed).
They were essentially homeless, and Pete had needs Elliot couldn't ever fulfill (and probably vice versa). Pete didn't run away from home, he was the product of a tragedy. And we see he started craving human companionship as soon as he met Grace and Natalie. He said it out loud: he needed them, he needed a mother, other children his age, a proper home, everything he had lost. By living in the woods with Elliot he would be forever prevented from developing his intelligence, from falling in love, everything. And for what? Some pseudo-romantic idea about freedom? Who would ever wish for their kid to spend his whole life alone with, essentially, a dog?
And why wish for Elliot to never reconnect with his kind? That's just cruelty under the guise of idealism.
I agree. I would have liked the movie a lot more if that is how it ended.
Instead, like I expected, Pete stayed with the family. He had been happy with Eliot in the wild and to leave that was disappointing.
Pete's happiness was based on ignorance though - once he saw/remembered what he was missing by not being with other humans, he wanted that interaction.
Eliot, on the other hand, obviously yearned to be with his own kind but stayed as Pete's guardian at the cost of his own dreams.
No tears please, it's a waste of good suffering.share
I agree with you. I loved the movie, but even after four viewings the ending still nags at me.
Having Pete just leave and go North with Elliot would certainly have been a controversial way to end it, but it would have been elegant in its simplicity. What happened next would be open to interpretation, but that's part of the fun.
Of course, Disney would probably be hassled by parents for sending what could be perceived as an irresponsible message.
The ending makes sense to me. The beginning story talked about a dragon that went South and got lost.
shareI was expecting it to end with Pete flying away on the dragon. But there would have been a mystery that wouldn't have got resolved had it finished at that point.
share