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The Little Dragons
The Little Dragons
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Curtis Hanson
Written by	Harvey Applebaum; Louis G. Atlee; Rudolph Borchert; Alan Ormsby;
Produced by	Hannah Hempstead; Curtis Hanson;
Starring	Charles Lane; Ann Sothern; Chris Petersen; Pat Petersen; Sally Boyden;
Cinematography	Stephen Katz
Edited by	Ronald Sinclair
Music by	Ken Lauber
Production; company	Eastwind Productions
Distributed by	Aurora Film Corporation
Release date	July 18, 1980;
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Little Dragons (also known as Karate Kids U.S.A. or simply Karate Kids) is a 1980 American action adventure film^[1]^[2] about two young brothers who use their karate skills to rescue a friend after she is held captive for ransom. The film was directed and co-produced by Curtis Hanson. It stars Charles Lane, Ann Sothern, Chris Petersen and Pat Petersen.

Plot

The brothers Zack and Woody (portrayed by real-life brothers Chris and Pat Petersen) are young karate students who embark on a weekend camping trip with their grandfather J.J. (Charles Lane). Along the way they meet a new friend, Carol Forbinger (Sally Boyden) and her parents (Rick Lenz and Sharon Clark).

The Forbinger family encounters a tough-talking backwoods mother (Ann Sothern) and her two bumbling sons (Joe Spinell and John Davis Chandler). The backwoods family decides to hold Carol captive, in the belief that they can collect a sizeable ransom. The "karate kids" must find a way to use their martial arts skills to rescue the Forbinger girl with a little help from their grandfather and some new friends they meet along the way.

Cast

Charles Lane as J.J.
Ann Sothern as Angel
Chris Petersen as Zack
Pat Petersen as Woody
Sally Boyden as Carol Forbinger
Rick Lenz as Dick Forbinger
Sharon Clark as Ruth Forbinger
Joe Spinell as Yancey
John Davis Chandler as Carl
Clifford A. Pellow as Sheriff
Stephen Young as Lunsford
Pat E. Johnson as Karate Instructor
Bong Soo Han as Karate Master
Donnie Williams as Motorcycle Leader
Tony Bill as Niles
Brad Gorman as Deputy
Tom Kibbe as FBI Van Operator
Spencer Quinn as Hootenanny M.C.
Topo Swope as Stoned Girl
Scott Spencer as Stoned Guy
Rosemary Welden as Biker Girl
Jim Sherwood as Roadblock Cop
Robert Espinoza as Little Dragon
Eric Johnson as Little Dragon
Rachel Lawson as Little Dragon
Jason Sachs as Little Dragon
Elan Salberg as Little Dragon
Oryan Salberg as Little Dragon
Tim Speer as Little Dragon
Elliott Mason as Little Dragon
Sam Spira as Little Dragon
"Jigs" as Rufus

Production

Casting included Charles Lane, a "sharp-featured character actor... one of the most familiar faces in film... though he is one of those ubiquitous players, whose name is known to only a few."^[3]

Director Curtis Hanson was hired, in part of what he referred to as his "chequered early career."^[4]

As of October 1978, the film was scheduled for release "this Christmas."^[5] Copyright on the script was filed in May 1978.^[6]

Release

The film was released gradually, from 1980 to 1981, initially with a roadshow and later with mildly wider releases:

Arizona by July,^[7]
Missouri^[8] and Louisiana^[9] by August,
Texas^[10] and South Carolina by September.
October 1980: Connecticut,^[11]^[12] Massachusetts, New Hampshire^[13]
November 1980: Corpus Christi, Texas^[14]
May 1981: Tallahassee, Florida^[15]
June 1981: Indianapolis, Indiana^[16]
October 1981: Victoria, Texas^[17]

The film's original release advertising included the tagline "Karate Kids to the Rescue!!!"^[7]

The film stars the Petersen brothers, Chris (born in 1963),^[18] and Pat (born in 1966).^[19]

The film aired on American television, Showtime, and Canadian television by 1981.^[20] The film would eventually air on The Disney Channel.^[21]

The Little Dragons was released on Beta and VHS home video by Active Home Video,^[22] in 1984. As The Karate Kid was released in June 1984, the packaging continued to use the tag line: "The karate kids to the rescue!"^[23] The film was later re-released on VHS by Magnum Video in 1991, this time retitled as "Karate Kids U.S.A.".^[24] Subsequent DVD releases in the U.K. and the U.S. used shortened versions of both titles, retitled simply as "Dragons"^[25] and "Karate Kids" using the tag line: "Before the Karate Kid, there was The Karate Kids!";^[26] however, the most recent 2009 Music Video Distributors DVD has been released under the film's original title, "The Little Dragons" this time with the tag line: "Meet the REAL Karate Kids...".^[27]

Although intended to be a "family film", by the time of the first VHS release in 1984, some of the language used by the children in the film was deemed inappropriate for a young audience, and was "cleaned up" for the 1984 Active Home Video VHS release.^[28] The Petersen brothers having grown too old to re-dub their childhood voices, the decision was made to simply remove the "offending" dialogue altogether, resulting in the actors' mouths moving, but without the audio.^[28]

Reception

A critic at the Abilene Reporter-News preferred the demonstration of a local karate school to the film itself. She shared that it held the attention of few kids in the theatre, with "stilted acting," saving most of the "good stuff" until the end. "The adult actors and actresses act in the same listless manner," as the child actors. "Even veteran actress Ann Southern, the only big name in the movie, looks bored as she sleepwalks through a role as a fat, sloppy-looking moll."^[29]

Variety wrote "A rather lackadaisical, if amiable, suspenser clearly intended a palatable antidote to more violent action fare, The Little Dragons might be more at home on the tube than on theatre screens... a stronger script and deeper characterizations could have broadened its audience."^[30] A book from the same publication dubbed it "a watered-down Deliverance, with moppets but sans river, a chipper yet hopelessly dated story."^[4]

References

^ "The Little Dragons". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
^ "The Little Dragons (1979)". www.allmovie.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
^ Leonard Maltin; Spencer Green; Luke Sader (1994). "Lane, Charles" (Internet Archive). Leonard Maltin's movie encyclopedia. New York NY: Dutton. p. 496. ISBN 0525936351.
^ ^a ^b Cockrell, Eddie (2001). Variety international film guide 2002 (Internet Archive). London UK: Faber. ISBN 0571209629.
^ "Stars cast, cameras rolls in Adirondacks" (Newspapers.com). The Post-Star Glens Falls. Glen Falls NY. 16 October 1978. p. 37.
^ Library of Congress Copyright Office (1978). Catalog of Copyright Entries, 1978 Performing Arts July-Sept Fourth Series Vol 1 Part 3. United States Government Printing Office. p. 542.
^ ^a ^b "Advertisement". Tucson Citizen. Tucson AZ. 17 July 1980. p. 25.
^ "Advertisement" (Newspapers.com). Springfield Leader and Press. Springfield MO. 17 August 1980. p. 71.
^ "Advertisement" (Newspapers.com). The Daily Advertiser. Lafayette LA. 10 August 1980. p. 19.
^ "Advertisement" (Newspapers.com). Abilene Reporter-News. Abilene TX. 5 September 1980. p. 15.
^ "Advertisement" (Newspapers.com). Hartford Courant. Hartford CT. 2 October 1980. p. 47.
^ "Advertisement" (Newspapers.com). The Day. New London CT. 3 October 1980. p. 20.
^ "Advertisement" (Newspapers.com). The Boston Globe. Boston MA. 2 October 1980. p. 64.
^ "Movie Time Clock" (Newspapers.com). Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Corpus Christi TX. 2 November 1980. p. 37.
^ "Advertisements" (Newspapers.com). Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee FL. 9 May 1981. p. 14.
^ "Advertisement" (Newspapers.com). The Indianapolis News. Indianapolis IN. 12 June 1981. p. 12.
^ "What's Showing at the Movies" (Newspapers.com). Victoria Advocate. Victoria TX. 30 October 1981. p. 19.
^ "Christopher P. Petersen - California Births". Family Tree Legends. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
^ "Patrick J. Petersen - California Births". Family Tree Legends. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
^ "Teletheatre movie fare" (Newspapers.com). The Leader-Post. Regina SK. 24 December 1981. p. 19.
^ "What's On: The Disney Channel Lineup for April 1 - May 10". Disney Channel Magazine. The Walt Disney Company. 1 April 1986. p. 29.
^ The Kodak video tape & disc guide to home entertainment (Internet Archive). Syosset NY: Published for Kodak by National Video Clearinghouse. 1985. p. 284. ISBN 0935478272.
^ "'The Little Dragons' (VHS) 1984 Active Home Video". Amazon.com. 14 May 1998. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
^ "'Karate Kids U.S.A.' (VHS) 1991 Magnum Video". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
^ "'Dragons' (DVD) U.K. PAL release". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
^ "'Karate Kids' (DVD) U.S. NTSC release". iCollectMedia.com. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
^ "'The Little Dragons' (DVD) 2009 Music Video Dist". Amazon.com. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
^ ^a ^b The Little Dragons. Active Home Video VHS. Released 1984
^ Slupski, Janice (7 September 1980). "'Dragons' Doesn't Measure Up" (Newspapers.com). Abilene Reporter-News. Abilene TX. p. 29.
^ Schultz, Margie (1990). Ann Sothern : a bio-bibliography (Internet Archive). New York NY: Greenwood Press. p. 97. ISBN 0313264635.