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The Reluctant Dragon (film)
Encyclopedia
The Reluctant Dragon is a 1941 American combined live action and animated film produced by Walt Disney
, directed by Alfred Werker, and released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 20, 1941. Essentially a tour
of the then-new Walt Disney Studios
facility in Burbank, California
, the film stars radio comedian Robert Benchley
and many Disney staffers such as Ward Kimball
, Fred Moore, Norman Ferguson
, Clarence Nash
, and Walt Disney
, all as themselves.
The first third of the film is in black-and-white
, the remaining two-thirds are in Technicolor
. Most of the film is live-action, with four short animated
segments inserted into the running time: a black-and-white segment featuring Casey Junior from Dumbo
; and three Technicolor cartoons: Baby Weems, Goofy
's How to Ride a Horse, and the extended-length short The Reluctant Dragon, based upon Kenneth Grahame
's book of the same name
. The total length of all animated parts is 40 minutes.
. Dodging an overly officious studio guide named Humphrey (played by Buddy Pepper), Benchley stumbles upon a number of the Disney studio operations and learns about the traditional animation
process, some of the facets of which are explained by a staff employee named Doris (Frances Gifford).
s and bloodthirsty dragon
s, is introduced. His father comes rushing by, claiming to have seen a monster. The Boy reassures his father that it was only a dragon, to which the father panics and runs to the village in fear.
The Boy then goes to the Dragon's lair, where he is confronted not by a ferocious beast, but a shy, poetry spouting creature. The Boy, though surprised at seeing what a nice creature the Dragon is, befriends him. When he arrives back at the village, the Boy discovers that Sir Giles the Dragon slayer has arrived. He runs to tell the Dragon that he should fight him, only to be left disappointed when the Dragon announces that he never fights. The Boy visits Sir Giles (not St. George as in the original story), and it is revealed that Sir Giles is an old man. The Boy tells Sir Giles that the Dragon will never fight and they decide to visit him.
Sir Giles and the Boy visit the Dragon while he is having a picnic. It turns out that Sir Giles also loves to make up poetry, so The Dragon and Sir Giles serenade each other. The Boy then asks if he could recite a poem of his own. From this, he uses his chance to get a word in edgewise to shout at them to arrange the fight. The Dragon leaves but is persuaded back out of his cave when he is flattered by Sir Giles. Sir Giles and the Dragon eventually decide to fight, but as Sir Giles and the Boy leave, the Dragon realizes in shock that he has accidentally agreed to a fight and tries to tell sir Giles and the boy that he changed his mind, but they ignore him and the dragon mutters to himself "Oh, why can't i just keep my big mouth shut?!". The next day, the villagers have gathered to watch the fight. Sir Giles arrives waiting for the Dragon.
Inside his cave, the Dragon is too scared to fight and cannot breathe fire.The Boy calling the Dragon a "Punk Poet" leads to the Dragon getting angry and eventually spitting flames. The Dragon jumps for joy as he is now ferocious. The fight ensues, with Sir Giles chasing the Dragon around with his sword and into the cave, where they drink tea and make noises to make it seem they are fighting. Out in the open, they charge at each other, creating an enormous cloud. Inside they dance, and Sir Giles reveals that it is time for the Dragon to be slain, but only for pretend, to which the Dragon gets excited. Sir Giles places his lance under the Dragon's arm, then the Dragon jumps out of the cloud and performs a dramatic death scene. The story ends with the Dragon being accepted into society, to which the Dragon recites a poem:
Sir Giles is drawn by the animators to somewhat resemble Don Quixote.
of 1941. Strikers picketed the film's premiere with signs that attacked Disney for unfair business practices, low pay, lack of recognition, and favoritism. At one theater, sympathizers paraded down the street wearing a "dragon costume bearing the legend 'The Reluctant Disney'". Critics and audiences were put off by the fact that the film was not a new Disney animated feature in the vein of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
or Pinocchio
, but essentially a collection of four short cartoons and various live-action vignettes. The Reluctant Dragon cost $600,000 to make, but only returned $400,000 from the box office
.
in 1987 as part of the Walt Disney Mini-Classics series, along with the short Morris the Midget Moose
. The full feature was released on VHS in an edition sold only at Disney Store
s.
On December 3, 2002, it was released on DVD
in its original theatrical form (with the live-action studio tours) as Walt Disney Treasures: Behind the Scenes at the Disney Studio
. This is the only way to own the original theatrical version with the live-action segments on home video.
In 2007, it was again released as a segment-only release on DVD, this time as a Disney Movie Club exclusive DVD, available only to club members for mail or online ordering. Shortly afterward, this DVD was also made available in the Disney Movie Rewards program along with some of the other Movie Club exclusives.
It is the main attraction, along with three other cartoon shorts, on the Disney Animation Collection Volume 6 DVD, which was released in America on May 19, 2009. The other films bundled with it were Ferdinand the Bull, Goliath II
and Johnny Appleseed
.
In the UK, The Reluctant Dragon segment was paired with Mickey and the Beanstalk and released during 2004 on DVD as Disney Fables Volume 6.
. The Reluctant Dragon also makes brief cameos in Disney's House of Mouse
, most notably in the start of the intro. In the online-distributed musical, A Very Potter Musical
, The Reluctant Dragon is briefly shown as one of the four dragons that must be fought in a wizard tournament.Draco Malfoy
said that he had to lure it out to fight it, and chopped off its head with his Fruit by the Foot
.
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
, directed by Alfred Werker, and released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 20, 1941. Essentially a tour
Tour guide
A tour guide provides assistance, information and cultural, historical and contemporary heritage interpretation to people on organized tours, individual clients, educational establishments, at religious and historical sites, museums, and at venues of other significant interest...
of the then-new Walt Disney Studios
Walt Disney Studios (Burbank)
The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, United States, serve as the international headquarters for media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Studio's house offices for each of the company's divisions along with creative spaces designed for movie production. The Walt Disney...
facility in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, the film stars radio comedian Robert Benchley
Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor...
and many Disney staffers such as Ward Kimball
Ward Kimball
Ward Walrath Kimball was an animator for the Walt Disney Studios. He was one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as Disney's Nine Old Men.-Career:...
, Fred Moore, Norman Ferguson
Norman Ferguson
William Norman "Norm" Ferguson was an animator for Walt Disney Studios and a central contributor to the studio's stylistic development in the 1930s. He is most frequently noted for his contribution to the creation of Pluto, one of the studio's best-known and most enduring characters, and is the...
, Clarence Nash
Clarence Nash
Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash was an American voice actor, best known for providing the voice of Donald Duck for the Walt Disney Studios...
, and Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
, all as themselves.
The first third of the film is in black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
, the remaining two-thirds are in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
. Most of the film is live-action, with four short animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
segments inserted into the running time: a black-and-white segment featuring Casey Junior from Dumbo
Dumbo
Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a...
; and three Technicolor cartoons: Baby Weems, Goofy
Goofy
Goofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
's How to Ride a Horse, and the extended-length short The Reluctant Dragon, based upon Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame was a Scottish writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows , one of the classics of children's literature. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon; both books were later adapted into Disney films....
's book of the same name
The Reluctant Dragon
The Reluctant Dragon is an 1898 children's story by Kenneth Grahame , which served as the key element to the 1941 feature film with the same name from Walt Disney Productions. The story has also been set to music as a children's operetta by John Rutter, with words by David Grant...
. The total length of all animated parts is 40 minutes.
Studio operations toured by Benchley in the film
The loose plot of the film features Robert Benchley trying to find (or, rather, avoid finding) Walt Disney so that he can, at the insistence of his wife, pitch to him the idea of making an animated version of the book by Kenneth GrahameKenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame was a Scottish writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows , one of the classics of children's literature. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon; both books were later adapted into Disney films....
. Dodging an overly officious studio guide named Humphrey (played by Buddy Pepper), Benchley stumbles upon a number of the Disney studio operations and learns about the traditional animation
Traditional animation
Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
process, some of the facets of which are explained by a staff employee named Doris (Frances Gifford).
- The life drawing classroom, where animators learn to caricatureCaricatureA caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
people and animals by observing the real thing. - A film scoreFilm scoreA film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
and voice recording session featuring Clarence NashClarence NashClarence Charles "Ducky" Nash was an American voice actor, best known for providing the voice of Donald Duck for the Walt Disney Studios...
, the voice of Donald DuckDonald DuckDonald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
, and Florence GillFlorence GillFlorence Gill was an English voice actress. She provided the voices of Walt Disney's Clara Cluck and The Wise Little Hen. Her interment was located at Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles, California....
, the voice of Clara Cluck. - A foleyFoley-Places:United States*Foley, Alabama*Foley, Minnesota*Foley, Missouri*Foley Field, baseball stadium in Athens, Georgia*Foley Square in ManhattanCanada*Foley Island, NunavutNorthern Ireland*Foley, County Armagh, a townland in County Armagh-People:...
session for a cartoon featuring Casey Junior from DumboDumboDumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a...
. Doris demonstrates the sonovoxTalk boxA talk box is an effects unit that allows a musician to modify the sound of a musical instrument. The musician controls the modification by lip syncing, or by changing the shape of the mouth...
in this scene, which was used to create the train's voice. - The cameraCameraA camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
room, featuring a demonstration of the multiplane camera. Upon Benchley's entering the camera room, the film turns from black-and-white to Technicolor (a la The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1939 film)The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
), prompting the droll Benchley to (breaking the fourth wallFourth wallThe fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
) examine his now redRedRed is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
-and-blueBlueBlue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
tie and his yellowYellowYellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
copy of the Reluctant Dragon storybook and comment, "Ahh...Technicolor!" When Doris arrives to show him around the camera room, she asks Benchley if he remembers her. His answer: "Yes, but you look so much different in Technicolor!" Donald Duck appears on the camera stand to help explain the mechanics of animation and animation photography. - The ink-and-paint department, including a Technicolor-showcasing montage of the paintPaintPaint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
-making process. Doris presents a completed cel of the titular character from Bambi. - The maquetteMaquetteA maquette is a small scale model or rough draft of an unfinished architectural work or a sculpture...
-making department, which makes maquettes (small statueStatueA statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
s) to help the animators envision a character from all sides. Some of the maquettes on display included Aunt Sarah, Si, and Am from Lady and the TrampLady and the TrampLady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...
and Captain HookCaptain HookCaptain James Hook is the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up and its various adaptations. The character is a villainous pirate captain of the Jolly Roger brig, and lord of the pirate village/harbour in Neverland, where he is widely feared. Most...
and TinkerbellTinkerbellTinker Bell , is a fictional character from J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and its 1911 novelization Peter and Wendy. She has appeared in multiple film and television adaptations of the Peter Pan stories, in particular the 1953 animated Walt Disney picture Peter Pan...
from Peter PanPeter Pan (1953 film)Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie. It is the fourteenth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and was originally released on February 5, 1953 by RKO Pictures...
; both films were in development at this time, but would be delayed by World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and not completed until the 1950s. Also on display is a black centaurCentaurIn Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
ette from FantasiaFantasia (film)Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
, which Benchley steals. The employee on duty makes Benchley a maquette of himself, which many years later was purchased and owned by Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
director Chuck JonesChuck JonesCharles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
. - The storyboardStoryboardStoryboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
department, where a group of storymen (one of whom is portrayed by Alan LaddAlan Ladd-Early life:Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh Ladd and Alan Ladd, Sr. He was of English ancestry. His father died when he was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter...
) test their idea for a new short on Benchley: Baby Weems. The story is shown to the audience in the form of an animatic, or a story reel, using limited animationLimited animationLimited animation is a process of making animated cartoons that does not redraw entire frames but variably reuses common parts between frames. One of its major trademarks is the stylized design in all forms and shapes, which in the early days was referred to as modern design...
, and is considered among the Disney studio's best (if unsung) works. Alfred Werker, loaned out by 20th Century Fox20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
to direct this film, later became the first outside film director to use the storyboard, which the Disney staff had developed from predecessive illustrated scripts during the early-1930s. - The room of animators Ward KimballWard KimballWard Walrath Kimball was an animator for the Walt Disney Studios. He was one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as Disney's Nine Old Men.-Career:...
, Fred Moore, and Norm FergusonNorm FergusonNorman Gerard Ferguson is a Canadian former ice hockey player.Ferguson was a forward who played in either centre or right wing and played in the National Hockey League with the Oakland / California Seals. Ferguson holds the Seals single-season record for goals; he scored 34 during the 1968-1969...
. Benchley watches Kimball animating GoofyGoofyGoofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
, and Ferguson animating Pluto. He and the audiences are also treated to a preview of a new Goofy cartoon, How to Ride a Horse, the first of the many how-toHow-toA how-to or a how to is an informal, often short, description of how to accomplish some specific task. A how-to is usually meant to help non-experts, may leave out details that are only important to experts, and may also be greatly simplified from an overall discussion of the topic...
parodiesParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
in the Goofy series. RKO reissued How to Ride a Horse as a stand-alone short on February 24, 1950. - Humphrey, who has been one step behind Benchley the entire film, finally apprehends him and delivers him in person to Walt DisneyWalt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
, who is in the studio projection room about to screen a newly completed film. Disney invites Benchley to join them; to Benchley's slight embarrassment yet relief, the film they screen is a two-reel (twenty-minute) short based upon the very book Benchley wanted Walt to adapt, The Reluctant Dragon.
The Reluctant Dragon segment
The cartoon starts with an introduction by the narrator of the story. One of the main characters, The Boy, who is reading a book about knightKnight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s and bloodthirsty dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s, is introduced. His father comes rushing by, claiming to have seen a monster. The Boy reassures his father that it was only a dragon, to which the father panics and runs to the village in fear.
The Boy then goes to the Dragon's lair, where he is confronted not by a ferocious beast, but a shy, poetry spouting creature. The Boy, though surprised at seeing what a nice creature the Dragon is, befriends him. When he arrives back at the village, the Boy discovers that Sir Giles the Dragon slayer has arrived. He runs to tell the Dragon that he should fight him, only to be left disappointed when the Dragon announces that he never fights. The Boy visits Sir Giles (not St. George as in the original story), and it is revealed that Sir Giles is an old man. The Boy tells Sir Giles that the Dragon will never fight and they decide to visit him.
Sir Giles and the Boy visit the Dragon while he is having a picnic. It turns out that Sir Giles also loves to make up poetry, so The Dragon and Sir Giles serenade each other. The Boy then asks if he could recite a poem of his own. From this, he uses his chance to get a word in edgewise to shout at them to arrange the fight. The Dragon leaves but is persuaded back out of his cave when he is flattered by Sir Giles. Sir Giles and the Dragon eventually decide to fight, but as Sir Giles and the Boy leave, the Dragon realizes in shock that he has accidentally agreed to a fight and tries to tell sir Giles and the boy that he changed his mind, but they ignore him and the dragon mutters to himself "Oh, why can't i just keep my big mouth shut?!". The next day, the villagers have gathered to watch the fight. Sir Giles arrives waiting for the Dragon.
Inside his cave, the Dragon is too scared to fight and cannot breathe fire.The Boy calling the Dragon a "Punk Poet" leads to the Dragon getting angry and eventually spitting flames. The Dragon jumps for joy as he is now ferocious. The fight ensues, with Sir Giles chasing the Dragon around with his sword and into the cave, where they drink tea and make noises to make it seem they are fighting. Out in the open, they charge at each other, creating an enormous cloud. Inside they dance, and Sir Giles reveals that it is time for the Dragon to be slain, but only for pretend, to which the Dragon gets excited. Sir Giles places his lance under the Dragon's arm, then the Dragon jumps out of the cloud and performs a dramatic death scene. The story ends with the Dragon being accepted into society, to which the Dragon recites a poem:
- "I promise not to rant or roar, and scourge the countryside anymore!"
Sir Giles is drawn by the animators to somewhat resemble Don Quixote.
Initial release and reaction
The film was released in the middle of the Disney animators' strikeDisney animators' strike
The Disney animators' strike was a labor strike by the animators of Walt Disney Studios in 1941.-History:The 1930s led to a rise of labor unions in motion pictures as in other industries such as The Screen Actors Guild which was formed in 1933. Animators of Fleischer Studios went on strike in 1937...
of 1941. Strikers picketed the film's premiere with signs that attacked Disney for unfair business practices, low pay, lack of recognition, and favoritism. At one theater, sympathizers paraded down the street wearing a "dragon costume bearing the legend 'The Reluctant Disney'". Critics and audiences were put off by the fact that the film was not a new Disney animated feature in the vein of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
or Pinocchio
Pinocchio (1940 film)
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the story The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It is the second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, and it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by...
, but essentially a collection of four short cartoons and various live-action vignettes. The Reluctant Dragon cost $600,000 to make, but only returned $400,000 from the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
.
Home media release
Disney released the animated "Reluctant Dragon" segment on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in 1987 as part of the Walt Disney Mini-Classics series, along with the short Morris the Midget Moose
Morris the Midget Moose
Morris the Midget Moose is a 8-minute 1950 Walt Disney cartoon, originally released to theaters on November 24, 1950 from The Walt Disney Studios, originally released by RKO Radio Pictures and then, Buena Vista Distribution Co. Ltd for its re-release...
. The full feature was released on VHS in an edition sold only at Disney Store
Disney Store
Disney Store is an international chain of specialty stores selling only Disney related items, many of them exclusive. Disney Store is a business unit of Disney Consumer Products. James Fielding serves as the President....
s.
On December 3, 2002, it was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in its original theatrical form (with the live-action studio tours) as Walt Disney Treasures: Behind the Scenes at the Disney Studio
Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Two
-Mickey Mouse in Black and White:This set displays a variety of Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts released in black and white.125,000 sets produced.-Disc one:1928*Steamboat Willie*The Gallopin' Gaucho*Plane Crazy1929*The Karnival Kid...
. This is the only way to own the original theatrical version with the live-action segments on home video.
In 2007, it was again released as a segment-only release on DVD, this time as a Disney Movie Club exclusive DVD, available only to club members for mail or online ordering. Shortly afterward, this DVD was also made available in the Disney Movie Rewards program along with some of the other Movie Club exclusives.
It is the main attraction, along with three other cartoon shorts, on the Disney Animation Collection Volume 6 DVD, which was released in America on May 19, 2009. The other films bundled with it were Ferdinand the Bull, Goliath II
Goliath II
Goliath II is an animated short film, produced by Walt Disney Productions and was released on January 21, 1960. It was the first time the Xerox process was used in a Disney cartoon. Sterling Holloway narrates this cartoon film, starring Kevin Corcoran. It was released to theaters in the U.S.,...
and Johnny Appleseed
Johnny Appleseed (film)
Johnny Appleseed is a bio-fiction animated feature from Walt Disney, using the nickname of Johnny Appleseed, a real-life American frontiersman born as John Chapman.-Synopsis:...
.
In the UK, The Reluctant Dragon segment was paired with Mickey and the Beanstalk and released during 2004 on DVD as Disney Fables Volume 6.
Other appearances
The Reluctant Dragon and Sir Giles make various cameos in Who Framed Roger RabbitWho Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy-comedy-noir film directed by Robert Zemeckis and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film combines live action and animation, and is based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which depicts a world in which cartoon characters...
. The Reluctant Dragon also makes brief cameos in Disney's House of Mouse
Disney's House of Mouse
Disney's House of Mouse is an American animated television series, produced by Walt Disney Television, that originally aired from 2001 to 2003-Premise:...
, most notably in the start of the intro. In the online-distributed musical, A Very Potter Musical
A Very Potter Musical
A Very Potter Musical is a musical with music and lyrics by Darren Criss and A.J. Holmes, and a book by Matt Lang, Nick Lang, and Brian Holden...
, The Reluctant Dragon is briefly shown as one of the four dragons that must be fought in a wizard tournament.Draco Malfoy
Draco Malfoy
Draco Malfoy is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. He is a Slytherin student in Harry Potter's year. He is frequently accompanied by his two accomplices, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who act as henchmen...
said that he had to lure it out to fight it, and chopped off its head with his Fruit by the Foot
Fruit by the Foot
Fruit by the Foot is a fruit snack made by Betty Crocker. Fruit by the Foot was introduced in 1991 and is still in production.Fruit by the Foot is very similar to Fruit Roll-Ups , in its presentation of being rolled up within itself, but differs in taste, dimension and consumption methods...
.