Puff the Magic Dragon (1978)

An animated feature based on the hit song by Peter Paul and Mary. A shy withdrawn boy named Jackie Draper learns the value of courage from his beloved companion Puff the Magic Dragon.System Requirements:Run Time: 71 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: NR UPC: 796019796217 Manufacturer No: 79621 Product Description

A childhood favorite

I grew up with Peter Paul & Mary. Puff the Magic Dragon and Stewball were two of the first songs I learned. My dad would play his guitar and I would sing. When I was probably about 3 or 4, this movie came on tv and my parents recorded it for me. I LOVED it. I watched it until the tape barely worked anymore. I came across this dvd over the weekend and bought it for my daughter (22 months old). Watching it with her made me feel like a little kid again. I could remember exactly what I was thinking and feeling when I watched it twenty-some years ago. Probably a lot of my love for this movie is nostalgia, but my daughter seemed to enjoy it too. It kept her attention and she danced to most of the music. There are good morals included too, like honesty and facing your fears. Definitely worth the price. August 26, 2008

Super movie!

We had read the book in class and the students loved following up with the video! June 29, 2008

A dragon-sized disappointment

I was so excited to see this again after having remembered it fondly from my childhood (although since I'm only in my early twenties, even then it wasn't exactly new). But although, then and now, I enjoyed Jackie Paper's psychological journey, the ending blows, literally.

A lot of people will point out that in the lyrics to Peter Yarrow's original song, it is heartbreaking because Jackie leaves Puff and never comes back, leaving the dragon to crawl, sad and lonely without the friend who made him brave, back into his cave. In this version, Jackie's hardly gone for two seconds before coming back and creating a tacked-on happy ending, thereby stripping this version of all the emotional impact of the original song.

But actually, the most disturbing part about this movie, I ultimately realized, is not HOW the movie ends. It's rather that, because of the way Puff himself is characterized from the beginning, the ending, the way Yarrow originally wrote it, is made utterly irrelevant. As it's written, the character's dialog, combined with Burgess Meredith's voice work, results in a portrayal of Puff as a wise, grandfatherly spiritual guide for Jackie, one who is all-knowing and can do no wrong. By the time the story gets around to Jackie leaving, the story's already written itself into a corner - the Puff in this version is not the vulnerable, childlike Puff of the song (the lyrics refer to them as "lifelong" friends), the Puff who, and here's the key, NEEDS JACKIE AS MUCH AS JACKIE NEEDS HIM. And because the writers know this, they sweep that ending the rug, knowing it will ring false. It would be unnatural for the wise, invulnerable Puff they've created to mourn for his friend. Given that Puff, as Yarrow created him, should be a symbol and a vehicle for the fragility of childhood imagination, which only holds its tremendous power so long as children use it (see: "Pirate ships would low'r their flag when Puff roared out his name...Puff could not be brave") the result is an ending that is not only treacly but cowardly and rhetorically weak. If you want your child to experience the power of the real message of this story, play him or her the song and use your imagination to make up the rest -- that's what Yarrow and Puff, the real Puff, would have wanted. June 17, 2008

Making new memories, bringing back old ones

I remember Puff from my own childhood. I recently picked it up at the library and am now purchasing it. My boys, ages 2 and 4, love it and we watch it over and over again. I don't remember there being any messages when I watched it as a child, but as a parent I am seeing great things. My four-year-old is afraid of a lot of things and I have been able to talk to him using Puff examples and I think it is helping. Great movie!!! March 10, 2008

Not for sensitive kids

My daughter loves Puff the Magic Dragon. The song is on the cd my kids listen to as they fall asleep, an instrumental version, and she's always loved it. For Christmas, she so badly wanted this movie and was soooooo happy when Santa brought it. I watched parts with her, but not the whole thing and remembered it somewhat from when I was a kid. My daughter ended up hysterical crying and asking me to turn it off as it upset her too much. My daughter does happen to be a very sensitive kid, but I wasn't expecting such a reaction from a movie she'd been looking so forward to seeing for months. She still loves Puff and adores the Puff the Magic Dragon book with cd her aunt gave her (I'd highly recommend that!). She still says it's her "favorite song in the whole wide world." She would like to try watching this again when she's older, she says. I'd just be wary of buying this if you have a very sensitive kid, like mine. I wish I'd watched it first, but after all the good reviews I wasn't worried. January 23, 2008

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