Take a story about a boy’s bond
with his dog. Turn the dog into a wild
animal the boy needs to tame. Turn the
wild animal into a mystical species the boy’s family is at war with. Make the family a tribe of Vikings, the
species dragons, and the boy the mediator for the two groups to finally end
their differences, and you got the core construct to How to Train Your Dragon.
Not bad right? Sounds like a cool, action-packed story. Well, how about we go further and mix in some
dramatic flair alongside consequences to the violence. Hmm, sounds like it could be overly grim—let’s
add some effective comedy in as well—a mix of over-the-top satire and
fish-out-of-water humor to keep the tone from tipping too much one way. Of course, it’s vital there’s some character
development, preferably surrounding the relationship between the boy and his
dragon. Something really touching that
will tug at one’s heartstrings. Since
the film will be animated, why not go all out in ensuring success? Make the taming scenes so stunningly
gorgeous and breathtaking that they will forever be engrained into the
audience’s mind, then hire someone to craft a soundtrack that not only ideally
fits the setting but magnifies each scene’s mood tenfold. And voila!
How to Train Your Dragon can now soar above and beyond your
average story into one of the best-animated films and films in general of
the decade.
Very loosely based on a book series
of the same name, How to Train Your Dragon focuses on the remote island
of Berk, home to a mighty tribe of over-the-top Vikings. The Vikings are constantly plagued by the
likes of dragons, coming to, ironically, burn and pillage their home. The film embraces Viking stereotypes (as much
as a PG rating would allow) and uses them as part of the film's comedic
value. The Berk tribe treat the
dangerous dragon assault as nothing more than an everyday annoyance, one where
they can prove themselves to be as rough and ruthless as their reputation leads
on. They greet each other with a
cheerfully loud war cry and "morning!" as chaos erupts around them. The tribe’s chieftain Stoick the Vast (Gerard
Butler), refers to the suicidal idea of sailing their ships to search for the Dragons' Den as an "occupational hazard".
While Hiccup embodies this offset fish-out-of-water
approach, his fellow teenage Vikings, while tougher than Hiccup, likewise
follow suit—several also being voiced by Frat Pack actors. Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is a
walking encyclopedia Viking nerd known for giving overly detailed descriptions
of the various documented dragons in their world. Jonah Hill voices the jockish Snotlout who
will often try (and fail) at flirting with the ace teenage Viking Astrid (America
Ferrera) throughout dangerous situations:
Snotlout: [to Astrid while
fighting a dragon] So, anyway I'm moving into my parents' basement. You should
come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out!
Contrary to his voice and
appearance, Hiccup is an adventurous teenager with a vast curiosity for the
world around him. Where he lacks in
brawn, Hiccup makes up for in brains—being a keen strategist and inventor. His skills aren’t looked on fondly within his
tribe, yet Hiccup plans to sway their views by capturing the most dangerous and
elusive of dragons—a deadly Night Fury—with his crafted bola launcher. The device actually succeeds in snagging a
far-off Night Fury, though no one is around to see Hiccup’s achievement, save
for a Monstrous Nightmare—a large, horned dragon that can light itself on fire:
Hiccup: Oh, I hit it! YES! I
HIT IT! Did anybody see that?
[A Monstrous Nightmare shows up and
crushes Hiccup's bola launcher.]
Hiccup: (completely deadpan) Except
for you.
The shrill screams from Hiccup as
he runs away catches his father’s attention, who proceeds to go help in the
most over-the-top, badass manner by beating the large dragon with his bare
hands and scaring it off.
Hiccup desires to impress Stoick,
yet his father views his petite son as incredibly frail and is very overprotective
of him. After a discussion with his
close friend, Berk’s blacksmith, and trainee of the Viking teens Gobber (Craig
Ferguson), Stoick ultimately decides to allow Hiccup to participate in the dragon-fighting
classes to prepare him for the harsh world.
The film has an array of spectacular dragon designs—all distinct from
one another in appearance and deadly ability. There's a scene where Hiccup reads from Berk’s
dragon manual, a book displaying awesome primitive sketches of the various
deadly beasts (which the surprisingly well-made TV show expansion dives more in-depth
with), giving the animators a way to showcase the gruesome manner they can murder Vikings while still getting away with a PG rating. One of my personal favorite designs is the Zippleback—a
two-headed dragon with one head spraying out a green chemical gas while the
other one fires a spark to ignite the gas into an explosive burst of fire (splendidly
displayed in the opening as the heads slither around a house like a pair of
snakes).
All these elements have been well
and good so far, but the true meat of the story has yet to come. After all, Hiccup successfully brought down a
Night Fury, the rarest and most dangerous of dragons. Finding the downed beast and killing it will
bring him fame, popularity, romance, and respect from his dad—and finds him
Hiccup does deep within the woods. Hiccup
preps himself to finish the dragon off; “I'm going to kill you, dragon. I'm
gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a Viking. I am a VIKING!” And yet looking at the helpless, captured
creature, Hiccup instead feels immense guilt at harming another being. In his heart, Hiccup is a passive,
sweet-natured boy who doesn’t want to harm others, even those who’ve attacked
his village.
Hiccup ultimately cuts the ropes
binding the dragon, who immediately pounces onto the Viking—yet rather than
kill Hiccup, the dragon simply roars angrily and flies off. This puzzles hiccup, who has been taught that
dragons always go for the kill. Hiccup
later follows the dragon's trail to a ravine where the Night Fury has gotten itself
trapped—the bola launcher having permanently damaged the dragon’s tail, making
it unable to fly on its own anymore. One
of the unique aspects of the How to Train Your Dragon series is how violence
can and will result in lasting injuries.
Characters don’t just brush off wounds or receive healable injuries as
what usually occurs in family-based stories.
Hiccup’s actions have resulted in a permanent handicap for the Night
Fury, one they will have to deal with for the remainder of the series.
Growing ever so curious about the
creature, Hiccup goes into the "lion’s den" despite the possible
dangers—bringing a fish offering for appeasement. The Night Fury approaches Hiccup, cautious
about the Viking yet hungry for the fish.
The Night Fury humorously gestures for Hiccup to discard his pocketed knife
into the nearby pond before going full kitty-cat passive—eyes growing large as
he gazes at the fish hungrily. Out of
all the dragons, the Night Fury is the best designed by far. The Night Fury has what I call a Pokémon
design—a fantastic mix between cute and cool (amusingly, the 8th
generation of Pokémon just came out with a creature that looks similar to a Night Fury). The Night Fury is very cat-like in design,
having slitted eyes that become forebodingly reptilian when feeling endangered
and/or threatened, yet grow wide-eyed and dopey when passive and/or happy. It has a short pair of horns and some very
floppy ears that complement its droopy, wagging tail.
The Night Fury devours Hiccups fish
offering before regurgitating half in a friendly gesture for Hiccup to partake. The teenager begrudgingly obliges as not to
be rude, eating the raw regurgitated fish and swallowing once the Night Fury
makes a cute ingesting motion with its throat.
Hiccup notices that the Night Fury has retractable teeth, opting to call
him Toothless as a result. Toothless is
a curious little critter, just like Hiccup, observing the Viking and mimicking
his behaviors such as trying to smile and even attempting to draw with a large branch. Toothless turns in circles before lying down,
just like a dog, using its fire breath to heat up the floor below him. He also hangs upside down at times, mimicking
a resting bat complete with his wings covering himself. Toothless even adorably chases flickering lights
around similar to a cat.
Arguably, the film’s most iconic imagery
comes from these early bonding scenes between Hiccup and Toothless. After having drawn his masterpiece of
scribbles around Hiccup, the Viking notices Toothless becoming agitated every
time he steps onto a part of the drawing—amusingly going from growling to passive the
moment Hiccup takes his foot on and off the drawing. Hiccup proceeds to try getting out of the scribble
maze without stepping on it, leading him right into the dragon. Hiccup takes a chance and reaches out to pet Toothless's face, yet notices the dragon showing hesitancy towards
the gesture. To prove his gesture
innocuous, Hiccup looks away from Toothless while leaving his arm
outstretched. There's another moment of
hesitancy from Toothless, before he meets Hiccup halfway and plants his face onto
the boy's outstretched palm.
The soundtrack that plays during this
scene is called Forbidden Friendship,
and it does wonders with crafting a downright magical atmosphere for it—truly ingraining it as a great scene not just for the film, not just for the franchise, not just for animation, but for cinema in general. It's an all-around beautiful moment, full of
joy and childlike wonder. I really love
how, outside the soundtrack, the scene is entirely wordless—the only sounds
being the grunts from Toothless. It’s a
powerful display of visual and sound, showcasing that despite the film being a
gold mine for future toylines and commercial products, the filmmakers put artistic
merit and storytelling at the forefront of crafting this story.
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