I’ve discussed many different topics on Steemit. My book, video games, anime, music. But here is something different and new, a format of review I’ve wanted to delve into and now, going to attempt! I’m here to talk about why I believe How to Train Your Dragon is one of the best animated trilogies to date! This is after seeing How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World… twice!
Nearing my twenties, many kids’ movies I grew up with are still vivid in my mind. Many of the movies are recognized as some of the best in their genres. What makes them timeless is their appeal to kids and even adults, speaking good messages, plus having relatable stories and characters. These movies have proven their worth by smashing the box office and having amazing reviews.
I grew up with several animated movies that continued to grow beyond what was expected of them: Toy Story, Ice Age, Shrek, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Aladdin, The Lion King, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda are just a few names, there are many more movies I saw that never got (or needed) sequels. Many of these franchises stayed consistently good and the movies are even fantastic to watch today (Toy Story, Kung Fu Panda etc.). While others go progressively worse upon sequels.
Here are some of my opinions on these movies, just because I wish to get them off my chest.
Shrek: the first one was great, 2 had its highlights, 3 and 4 spoiled the pot though.
Ice Age: the first movie is memorable, however as the sequels moved away from the original trio, it became a shadow of its former self. I didn’t mind the inclusion of Ellie and Shira, but still, not fantastic movies today. However, it’s remained successful with 5 movies (that’s right, 5!) because with every release, it’s been able to appeal to the younger generation of that time.
Alvin and the Chipmunks (the one featuring Jason Lee from My Name is Earl): I as a kid, enjoyed the first movie, but it doesn’t really hold up today and its sequels are not that noteworthy either.
Aladdin: This trilogy is actually rather good, but is quite difficult to even find as 2 and 3 were straight to video sequels.
The Lion King: 1 and 2 were extremely good in my opinion! I love them both to death! Then 3 (or more commonly known as 1/2) was very, very poor. Hopefully the live action is good!
Madagascar: Like Ice Age, Madagascar tried to appeal to the young generation at the time of the sequel’s releases. They were all okay, but nowhere near as good as the first.
NOW! With that all out of the way, I am here to talk about How to Train Your Dragon. Just a warning, The Hidden World was released in Australia a whole month before America, so beware of spoilers for it and the first two movies!
The first How to Train Your Dragon movie was released in 2010. The animation for its time, and even compared to modern animated kids films today, holds up really well! The movie establishes the world well with the opening dialog, making the world clear and understandable for everyone along with slices of comedy. The plot is creative, funny, touching and from what I understand, unique! Which is difficult in modern movie plots.
The series enables kids to relate to the main character, Hiccup, by making him one of the only characters with an average accent in the Viking based world, while everyone else has retains a thick mixture of Viking/Scottish. I would just like to add though, when Hiccup impersonates his father, Jay Baruchel (voice character for Hiccup) does an amazing Viking accent. For the past 8 years, all voice actors have played their roles well, the comedy blends well with the story and most characters having the Viking/Scottish accent really adds to the atmosphere of the world of Berk.
The designs of every dragon are unique and distinguishable. The designs of the Vikings are what you would expect for Vikings, but fantastic regardless. The scenery and world is beautifully made, from the Island of Berk, to the Dragon’s Nest, to every single scene in the sky. The directors of Dean BeBlois and Chris Sanders were smart in making every shot of a dragon flying show off the wondering animation and scenery of the world of Berk.
The story has many different elements involved, but my favourite element involves Hiccup’s father, Stoick, starting off hating dragons, then learning that they aren’t all bad thanks to his son’s friendship with Toothless (the Nightfury and main dragon of the show). Watching his progression, as well as Hiccup’s attachment to Toothless influencing his change of heart, creates the idea that Stoick might even be willing to look after Toothless for his for his son at the end of the movie when everyone believes Hiccup isn't alive. Until Toothless unfurls his wings and reveals Hiccup is safe.
My favourite part of the first movie is the soundtrack! It is amazing! The Music from the Motion Picture was composed by John Powell, who also composed for Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and Bolt. It has received wide acclaim from professional music critics and two tracks were nominated for the Film Music Composition of the Year. One of them, ‘Forbidden Friendship’, is so unique to the movie and beautifully made! It fits well with the scene of Hiccup and Toothless bonding and getting used to each other’s presence. Here is that particular clip, uploading on YouTube in 4K. Watch till the end to get a full understanding of how the score makes this moment that much more special.
Interesting side note, did you know that the moment of hesitation shown by Toothless during the scene in which Hiccup places his hand upon his head, was actually a glitch in the animation studio, but the animators thought it fitted the scene so well, that they kept it in!
Now on to the second movie, appropriately titled How to Train Your Dragon 2. Released in 2014, the Dreamworks animation improved and of course, the movie looked stunning. The story and animation are so impressive, that it won the 2015 Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film, which is the first for Dreamworks!
The story, in my opinion, is a bit more straightforward, as it’s mainly about taking down the bad guy (Drago), but adding in the plot elements of Hiccup’s mother’s return and her Dragon Sanctuary, which kind of hints towards one of the main plot points of How to Train Your Dragon 3. One feature I picked up while watching the movies, is that the enemies kind of blurred together in some way. In the first movie, the only enemy was the large dragon known as the Red Death. In the second movie, the antagonist is a human known as Drago Bludvist and a large Bewilderbeast which he has trained, who becomes the alpha of all dragons so Drago can control them all. In the third movie, the enemy is simply a human known as Grimmel the Grisly, who can only control some dragons thanks to a particular dragon’s venom. More or less, the enemies become more dangerous but less menacing. It’s odd, but an interesting way to change the pace of enemies.
I’ve only seen How to Train Your Dragon 2 once but I enjoyed it immensely! Despite having a rather simple plot, the way it was written combined with some unique elements made it just as enjoyable as the first movie! It really shows that the directors, writers and Dreamworks itself knows what a goldmine they’ve created. It's obvious, seeing how they’ve expanded the franchise beyond movies. Now it contains 3 TV series (one having 6 seasons), 5 short films and several games.
My favourite part of the second movie is the bait and switch, introduction of Hiccup’s mother, Valka, and death of Hiccup’s father, Stoick! The emotional turmoil in this movie really tugs at the heartstrings and shows you just how hard hitting these movies can be. It’s upsetting, especially seeing how far Stoick came within two movies. And how the 2nd movie teased us with a big happy family, showing the reunion of Stoick and Valka getting along so well and how happy Hiccup was. One note that’s made on the How to Train Your Dragon wiki trivia is that ‘Hiccup and Stoick are separated from Valka for 20 years. They are only reunited for 20 minutes before Stoick dies.’
Now onto the movie that made me want to write this… How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World. In my opinion, the perfect ending to a fantastic trilogy. Released in January 2019 for Australia, but will be released in February for America. All the movies have a unique way at tugging at your heartstrings. The first movie was about showing the bond between Hiccup and Toothless. The second movie was about the return of Valka and the death of Stoick. While the third movie breaks apart the humans and their dragons, making an upsetting turn of events after everything they’ve been through. We do get to see Hiccup and Toothless reunite at the very end though, which creates a perfect ending.
Being able to watch the movie twice, I was able to understand the evolution of the series more and appreciate the hard work that went into making a cohesive and fantastic story to end the trilogy on. All the movies have emphasized in some way that Toothless is the last Nightfury. So, having an enemy whose sole purpose and backstory is eliminating Nightfury’s and revealing there is one more Nightfury alive (dubbed the Lightfury in the movie) makes for an interesting premise. Although I believe antagonist, Grimmel the Grisly, was a little bit more absent then he should’ve been. The movie makes a point that he loves hunting and drawing out prey, which works out in the end, but his presence could have been a major fear factor throughout the movie, instead it was just a known thing in the background. I understand why though, because the movie focused a lot on the bonding between Toothless and the Light Fury. Maybe a long run time could’ve solved this problem, but what is done is done. Hopefully the DVD/Blu-Ray release contains some deleted scenes involving Grimmel.
Of course, with the years it’s had to progress, the animation keeps getting better and better. One way they made it stand out in this movie, in my opinion, was the use of fire and sand. The display of Hiccup’s flame sword in the darker scenes showed the impressive lighting and animation, especially during his conflict with Grimmel. Now with the sand, there’s only one particular scene which is actually a call back to the first movie: Toothless drawing in the sand to impress the Lightfury, almost in the same way he drew for Hiccup in the first movie to test his trustworthiness. All the grains in the sand are detailed and specific, it is amazing to see!
All movies suit children, teenagers or adults. All are sprinkled with emotion, passion and style that appeals to several audiences. The How to Train Your Dragon movies are crafted with such care that each movie holds its place in animated history, each containing raw comedy, amazing visuals and entertaining stories.
Please take your family to see How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World while it's in cinemas. Check out the movies and I hope you enjoy them for what they are! Fantastic movies that have come full circle.
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