Although I can't recall ever having seen this in the video store, it
became a part of out video library years ago when my aunt taped it for
us (along with Puff, the Magic Dragon, which I reviewed earlier).
I'm not sure who produced this movie, and I rather doubt that it ever
hit the theaters, though I do not know that for a fact. The Dragon That Wasn't (Or Was He?)
is a cute cartoon complete with songs and an all-animal cast. (At one
point in the movie, when the tumult over having a dragon in town has
died down, a news reporter notes that dragons do indeed exist, unlike
such mythical creatures as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and humans.)
The main character is a stately bear named Ollie who, amused by his
butler Yost's fear of thunderstorms as a time for dragon breeding, reads
an incantation from a book inviting a dragon to pay a visit to his
estate. Yost is mortified, but his master laughs it off and goes to bed.
He is befuddled but unpertubed the next morning when he discovers what
appears to be a beach ball with brightly colored spots and a mind of its
own. He decides to make it a gift to his lady friend, a squirrel whom
he intends to invite to his dinner party as a special guest. His plans
are averted, however, when the "beach ball" hatches, revealing a tiny,
scaly green creature.
Infinitely adoring of his new son, whom
he dubs Dexter, the bumbling bear does not see that the new member of
his household is a dragon capable of great destruction when angered or
frightened. Although he is cute and cuddly most of the time -- and,
indeed, whenever his "father" sees him -- his occasional spurts cause
him to grow enormous and fearsome. In the midst of this, he falls in
with a no-good duo comparable to Honest John and his side-kick in Pinocchio.
Under their tutelage, he becomes an accomplice in an extensive crime
spree. Only Yost and the bears' friend and neighbor Miss Kitty know what
must be done, and only Dexter's father has the power to do it. But
Ollie refuses to consider the thought of returning his son to the land
of the dragons, and it looks like turmoil for the whole town if
something isn't done soon...
This entertaining movie is filled
with endearing characters, from the bumbling hero to the paranoid Yost
and practical Kitty, from the drunken duck to the Irish police dog, from
the giddy squirrel to the gallumphing elephant. And of course there is
Dexter, the sweet little dragon who only wants to please his father but
keeps winding up in trouble. Although the songs are pretty forgettable
and the movie seems to drag on a little at times, The Dragon That Wasn't (Or Was He?) is nonetheless a cute, action-packed cartoon which, like Free Willy,
shows that love is not limited to members of the same species, even if
the member of the other species is seen as a monster. And sometimes,
love must also mean being willing to let go.
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