ANI-MOVIES, *How To Train Your Dragon

Cressida Cowell's How To Train Your Dragon book series was adapted into an animated motion picture by DreamWorks which went on to spawn an entire media empire which includes a pair of movie sequels, at least a trio of animation TV series, several specials, and as recently a live-action movie. There's even an amusement park at the Universal Orlando Resort dedicated to the franchise. Whereas Over The Hedge was based on a webcomic and brought them much success, DreamWorks was hungry for another property to acquire, so the Dragons library was an untapped gold mine. An adventure/fantasy from the point of view of teenagers is exactly the brand of YA material that made Harry Potter such a merchandising juggernaut.

Set during the Viking Age, Berk is a village on the coast that is constantly being ransacked by flying dragons, and its people have become expert dragon fighters. Their chief Stoick has trouble dealing with his scrawny son Hiccup who despite his small stature is clever and created a net launcher that brings down the rarest dragon, a Night Fury. Hiccup tracks him down later and befriends the dragon he calls Toothless because his teeth can be hidden, although Hiccup shot off part of Toothless' tail, so he creates a replacement one that works while he's riding him. All this is happening while Hiccup is going through training of his own as a dragon fighter, and all he learns about dragons while bonding with Hiccup and uses this to pass his training. Eventually, Hiccup's friend Astrid finds out about his hidden dragon and together they manage to locate the secret island where all the dragons come from. It turns out all the other dragons are collecting food for a much larger dragon called the Red Death, which Hiccup tries to explain to his father, but the stubborn Viking instead captures Toothless and leads a hunting party to slay the Red Death. Hiccup gets the other teens to take the leftover dragons and stop the Red Death, but this results in Hiccup losing a foot, even though this causes the fighting between dragons and the people of Berk to come to an end with the two now living in harmony.

How To Train Your Dragon was the launching pad for a new wave of young adult fantasy that hadn't been seen since Avatar: The Last Airbender, even though there doesn't seem to be as strong a fandom for the Dragons franchise that Avatar has endured, but much more profitable. The film features soaring scenes of flying that probably thrilled people when this first played in theaters, even though the CGI is still slightly rough around the edges. The casting was brilliant, especially Jay Baruchel as Hiccup, and the strange part is that DreamWorks managed to keep most of the cast together for the future productions like the TV series that was featured on Cartoon Network. The sequels took the premise of the original movie and made it more epic with grander reveals and a deeper exploration of the world. The final TV series actually takes place in modern day where dragons continue. This first movie is a timeless gem that set up a new otherworldly saga that still has room for further chronicles.