Friday, August 31, 2018

Dragons in Film and Television: Part One

Dragons in Film and Television: Part One

Christina Weigand


Dragons in film and television have for the most part followed the path of dragons in literature. See that post here. The fun thing about dragons in film is that we get to see them instead of imagining them. So I tried to find some of the dragons that have graced the screens over the years.

The earliest dragon that I found was an unnamed one in Die Nibelungen filmed in 1924. In this film, the dragon was an evil beast inspired by Fafnir. To portray him the filmmaker created a big puppet that took seventeen men to operate. Needless to say, the beast was a little awkward.


So now we jump forward to 1958 and the dragon in the Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. Again we encounter an evil dragon that must be destroyed by the hero Sinbad and his gang.


Our next installment is an animated dragon from 1959 named Maleficent. Maleficent was an evil queen that turns into a dragon for the final battle with a prince, who of course destroys her. Maleficent seems to have a staying power, as she appeared in a couple of more movies over the years.


In 1978 and 79 dragons become more benevolent as seen in Puff the Magic Dragon and Eliot in Pete’s Dragon. These two dragons are animated although Elliott will later go on to star in an animated/ real life picture made by Disney. Elliott and Puff are less lethal and friendlier. Both dragons befriend young boys and help them deal with issues in their lives. Elliot breathes fire and can turn invisible. We also see the advent of talking dragons.











Now we move into the 80’s. I’ll start with Vermithrax Pejorative from Dragonslayer. This is another Disney film with great effects guys. This is one of your hero stories, where virgins are sacrificed to keep the dragon happy and a young hero who smashes an amulet to save the virgin and the world.


The early 80’s brought us Dungeons & Dragons. The animated show featured the five-headed dragon Tiamet. Each of his five heads makes a different sound and breathes or spews different things. He is a frightening but benign dragon the fights the evil enemy.


Also brought to us in the early 80’s was Quetzalcaotl in Q: The Winged Serpent. Here we saw an Aztec deity ravaging Manhattan after being prayed into resurrection.


Children’s programming had their contributions in 1981 with Spike and Whimsey Weatherbe from My Little Pony.  Both were friendly, cute dragons that helped children navigate through life with some serious life lessons.











That brings us 1984 and Falkor in The Never Ending Story.  Falkor is a luck dragon that combines a dragon and a dog. He breathes blue fire and swims through the air. He is one friendly and fierce dragon. He is modeled after a Chinese dragon.


The next one I found was released in 1991. The film and the dragon were named Ghidora. Ghidora was a three-headed dragon from outer space that breathed gravity beams instead of fire. He was Godzilla’s biggest nemesis, coming from Earth’s Cretaceous period and then spending 130 million years in space before returning to terrorize Earth.


We can’t leave the 1900’s without taking a look at Draco from Dragonheart. Released in 1996, Draco was a talking dragon that interacted with humans for good. He was depicted as a wise, ancient race as opposed to a mindless monster.


There are many more dragons than I could cover in one post so I just highlighted the ones I felt were most important. Come back September 27 to see where dragons have gone in the 2000’s. Bensvelk Thurkear (good night in dragon) until we meet again.


To learn more about dragons go here.

 To read more about my books and me go to my
 Amazon Author Page: Amazon


To read some more about dragons check out Rebecca Tran's posts:

Click and browse our blog posts
https://asmallgangofauthors.blogspot.com/p/2018-gallery.html

COMMENTS


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Joanne Jaytanie via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
If you love dragons you won't want to miss this post. #OurAuthorGang
 
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Joanne Jaytanie

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
I''m fascinated wtih these dragon posts. Thanks Chris.
 
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Thank you I am having great fun writing and researching them.

Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Christina Weigand shares the dragons of the large and small screens in her latest series on #OurAuthorGang!!
 
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Ruth de Jauregui

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
I love your posts on dragons. This is fascinating. Thank you!
 
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Thank you I am having great fun writing and researching them.

Cindy Smith shared this via Google+

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Cindy Smith

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
dragons sure have come a long way through the years!
 
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Thank you I am having great fun writing and researching them.

Joe Bonadonna via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today on #OurAuthorGang, Christina Weigan begins her new series of articles: Dragons in Film and Television:
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Joe Bonadonna

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Ah, Chris. You captured my heart with this one -- dragons and movies and TVs, oorah!
 
 
Thank you I am having great fun writing and researching them.
 
+Chris Weigand -- I have them in my sci-fi novel, although they're hybrids of tow other species, genetically engineered. I gave them crests of feathers, lol!

Chris Weigand via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Dragons in Film and Television
 
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Nikki McDonagh shared this via Google+

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Nikki McDonagh

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Great and informative post, Christina. Like Toi, it brought back a lot of joyful memories about watching these films. Look forward to your next post.
 
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Thank you I am having great fun writing and researching them.

Grace Au

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
What a great post! Thanks for the research that went into telling us about dragons in film. Looking forward to the next in your series.
 
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Thank you I am having great fun writing and researching them.

Toi Thomas

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
What a great post! Aside from loving dragons, this post brings back my childhood. I was never in any danger of heartbreak over learning the truth about Santa, but finding out that Falkor wasn't real was tough.
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Thank you I am having great fun writing and researching them.

Toi Thomas via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today, Chris Weigand​ offers a bit of dragon movie history and, perhaps, a bit of nostalgia. #OurAuthorGang
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Erika M Szabo via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Love dragons?
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Erika M Szabo

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
I never been really interested in dragons, but your post series opened a whole new word for me. Thanks. Christina!
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Thank you I am having great fun writing and researching them.

Lorraine Carey via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Get to Know Your Dragons in Depth.#dragons #bloggers
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Lorraine Carey

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Once again, I have to say you really have done your dragon research! I never knew how extensive this was! I see we have quite a good balance with good and evil creatures here. Thank you, Chris.
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Thank you I am having great fun writing and researching them.
 
+Chris Weigand It shows! Carry on , lady!

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