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The Reluctant Dragon

The Reluctant Dragon

Animation · Family · Comedy · 1941

Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.

Movie details

The Reluctant Dragon

“The big feature show with a thousand surprises!”

1941 Animation · Family · Comedy 1h 14m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.7 / 10

4K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

100 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Reluctant Dragon?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Alfred L. Werker · Hamilton Luske

Written by

Larry Clemmons · Kenneth Grahame · Ted Sears · Al Perkins

Robert Benchley

Robert Benchley

Robert Benchley

Frances Gifford

Frances Gifford

Doris

B

Buddy Pepper

Humphrey

Nana Bryant

Nana Bryant

Mrs. Benchley

Claud Allister

Claud Allister

Sir Giles (segment "The Reluctant Dragon") (voice)

Barnett Parker

Barnett Parker

Dragon (segment "The Reluctant Dragon") (voice)

Billy Lee

Billy Lee

Boy (segment "The Reluctant Dragon") (voice)

Court is in session

Put The Reluctant Dragon on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.