How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

Directors:

Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders

Writers:

William Davies (screenplay), Dean DeBlois (screenplay),

Stars:

Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson

Top 250 #167 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 32 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jay Baruchel	...	Hiccup (voice)
Gerard Butler	...	Stoick (voice)
Craig Ferguson	...	Gobber (voice)
America Ferrera	...	Astrid (voice)
Jonah Hill	...	Snotlout (voice)
Christopher Mintz-Plasse	...	Fishlegs (voice)
T.J. Miller	...	Tuffnut (voice)
Kristen Wiig	...	Ruffnut (voice)
Robin Atkin Downes	...	Ack (voice)
Philip McGrade	...	Starkard (voice)
Kieron Elliott	...	Hoark the Haggard (voice)
Ashley Jensen	...	Phlegma the Fierce (voice)
David Tennant	...	Spitelout (voice)

Storyline

Long ago up North on the Island of Berk, the young Viking, Hiccup, wants to join his town's fight against the dragons that continually raid their town. However, his macho father and village leader, Stoik the Vast, will not allow his small, clumsy, but inventive son to do so. Regardless, Hiccup ventures out into battle and downs a mysterious Night Fury dragon with his invention, but can't bring himself to kill it. Instead, Hiccup and the dragon, whom he dubs Toothless, begin a friendship that would open up both their worlds as the observant boy learns that his people have misjudged the species. But even as the two each take flight in their own way, they find that they must fight the destructive ignorance plaguing their world.

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Plot Keywords:

dragon | viking | ignorance | friendship | flight | 

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Taglines:

One adventure will change two worlds

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sequences of intense action and some scary images, and brief mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 March 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

How to Train Your Dragon: An IMAX 3D Experience

Box Office

Budget:

$165,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£4,846,532 (UK) (2 April 2010)

Gross:

£17,168,517 (UK) (23 July 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks Animation, Mad Hatter Entertainment, Vertigo Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sounds the Terrible Terrors make, including growling, are actually based upon a purebred Chihuahua named Paco from Cottage Grove, Oregon. Nia Hansen, a sound designer at Skywalker Sound, contacted his owners after seeing a video of Paco on YouTube, and Paco was paid $100 for his voice work.

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Goofs

The first prints of this movie showed Hiccup's drawing of a Night Fury with its tail intact, when the drawing was dropped onto the Dragon Book. This was a continuity error, since part of the tail fin on that drawing had been erased in a previous scene. Many digital theaters had a corrected version of the movie, showing that erased tail, by mid April 2010. (The DVD and Blu-Ray discs also have the corrected tail at the Dragon Book scene.)

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Quotes

[first lines]
Hiccup: [voice-over] This is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. My village. In a word? Sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes... We have...
[aloud, as he slams the door against an attacking Monstrous Nightmare]
Hiccup: ...

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening or title credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: Megamind (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Sticks and Stones"
Written by Jon Thor Birgisson (as Jónsi)
Performed by Jon Thor Birgisson (as Jónsi)
Produced and Mixed by Alex Somers & Jon Thor Birgisson (as Jónsi)
Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.

User Reviews

Will enamour kids and enthrall adults

With a somewhat unwieldy tile and the lack of the winning Pixar storyline that has dominated the Oscars for a decade, Dreamworks animations latest could have been a clunker. Not only is How to Train Your Dragon the best film of the year so far, but it even eclipses the quality of last years duel academy award winner Up.

The latest 3-D film to fly into theatres in so many weeks is also the best of its format (story wise), making Burton's overblown misfire Alice in Wonderland look even more pitiful. Dragon will no doubt enamour kids (excuse the cliché) of all ages while keeping parents not only awake but equally enthralled. This movie is sure to tug the hearts of anyone who has ever loved a pet and will undoubtedly draw tears from those who are so inclined.

The texture that can be created from today's CG technology never ceases to amaze. Consider a beautiful tracking shot of a downed dragon where the twisted wing that protrudes towards the screen is actually out of focus, as if you yourself were staring awestruck at the giant lizard that lay before you in real, tangible life. I did not have the pleasure to viewing How to Train Your Dragon in 3-D but I have heard great things and even without having paid a surcharge the film does in no way suffer as a result. The narrative, visuals, writing and voicework is ample reason to seek out Dragon and frankly is the real heart of the movie anyways.

On the Island of Berk, the Viking community that lives there does not fear a rival tribe, the weather or disease but rather a much more toothy threat: dragons. Nightly raids by the winged beasts have forged a great hatred upon the tribe and led by the aptly named Stoik the Vast (Gerard Butler) they wage war with the intent to rid themselves of dragons once and for all. This is not a feeling shared by Stoik's scrawny son Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) who favours non-lethal tactics as much as he does blacksmithing. Much to Hiccup's surprise, during one of the aforementioned raids he is able to down a dragon with one of his contraptions. Intent on proving his manhood to Stoik, he seeks out to find the dragon know as a Night Fury but finds himself unable to slay his scaly foe. So begins an unlikely and forbidden friendship with the later named Toothless that follows a time-tested but absolutely rewarding arc that is as enthralling as it is touching.

Joining Butler and Baruchel, both of whom give excellent performances (with Butler recapturing some of his 300 mojo), are the likes of Craig Fergusson as the Viking blacksmith, America Ferrera as the feisty object of Hiccup's affections and a whole slice of the Apatow gang including Kristen Wiig, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Jonah Hill as other young warriors. Much like WALL-E, Toothless exhibits oodles of personality and is endlessly endearing. To achieve this level of depth is perhaps even more impressive due to the fact that he never utters a word and must emote through non-verbal means.

Along with Kung Fu Panda this movie represents the highest ilk of the Dreamworks repertoire and that is not a backhanded compliment by any means. Like Panda, there are thrilling and well choreographed action sequences to compliment the heart, and plenty of humour to keep this from becoming too much of a dramatic slog for younger theatre goers. Teenager or adult, fan or animation or not if you like truly good cinema, you will not be unsatisfied by How to Train Your Dragon.

Read all my reviews at simonsaysmovies.blogspot.com