Thursday, February 1, 2024

How to Train Your Dragon - Series Retrospective (DreamWorks Animation Retrospective #4)

Welcome back to another installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s series of retrospectives on the numerous animated films produced by DreamWorks Animation. As my way of not having to do a massive singular post covering the 45+ films that the studio has produced since 1998, I’ve been dividing its filmography up into multiple parts, starting with their biggest franchises. And today, we’ve finally come to the DreamWorks franchise that I’ve been anticipating covering the most. Sure, Shrek may have been the franchise that made DreamWorks the household name that it is today, but if you want to talk about the franchise that almost single-handedly reshaped the idea of what a DreamWorks Animation film could be, look no further than the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy. Loosely based on the best-selling book series by author Cressida Cowell, this is a franchise that has yielded some of the most critically acclaimed animated films from the past decade and a half and has widely been cited as the prime example of how DreamWorks has very much come a long way since the days when their filmography was seen by many as being nothing more than a bunch of pop-culture dependent kiddie flicks. And on a personal level, today I finally get to rectify the fact… that I’ve never seen any of these films before. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know; to make a long story short, the first How to Train Your Dragon had the unfortunate distinction of being the first DreamWorks film that I didn’t see in theaters since anything that came out before Shrek, and seeing how it’s only 1% away from having the mythical perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s safe to say that I clearly missed out on something special. But now I’m finally ready to see why this series has become such a beloved staple of the current pop cultural zeitgeist; thus, without further ado, it’s time to take a journey to the magical land of Berk as we look at the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy.

(Disclaimer: *Insert your standard ‘I’m only covering the films’ ground rule here. Please refer to previous DreamWorks Retrospectives for further instructions*)

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2010)

In 2003, author Cressida Cowell published How to Train Your Dragon, a children’s novel that expanded upon the world from Hiccup the Viking Who Was Seasick, a picture book that she wrote in 2000. Set in a world full of Vikings and the mythical dragons that many of them own, it followed the previous book’s titular protagonist Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third as he looked to prove himself to both his father, Stoick the Vast, and their village of Berk along with his dragon companion Toothless. Upon its release, the book would go on to spawn Cowell’s first official franchise of novels as an author, with eleven subsequent novels published up until 2015 that have collectively sold over 7 million copies worldwide. Just one year after the original novel’s release, the series caught the attention of DreamWorks Animation, with animation veteran Bonnie Arnold spearheading the potential film adaptation as its main producer. While the original script for the film was a largely faithful adaptation of its source material, this would change under the direction of the duo of Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, who had made their mark in the industry back in 2002 with the most successful release of Disney Animation’s post-Renaissance era, Lilo and Stitch. Instead of the original premise of Vikings living in harmony with dragons, which Sanders and DeBlois found to be overly whimsical and geared too heavily towards younger audiences, the film reimagines the plot into one where the Vikings have been hunting dragons for years. Thus, instead of just simply looking to prove himself to his doubtful father and peers, Hiccup also finds himself having to undo years of animosity between humans and dragons after befriending the rarest dragon of all, a Night Fury, which he names Toothless.

Upon its release, How to Train Your Dragon quickly became one of DreamWorks’ biggest hits of all time. It earned over $494 million worldwide, with a $217 million domestic haul that made it the highest-grossing DreamWorks film in the U.S. outside of the Shrek series, a record that it still holds today. But perhaps most importantly, the film was a runaway success with critics, securing a near-perfect 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the best score that any DreamWorks film has ever secured on that site. And yet, as I noted in the intro, this was the first DreamWorks film that I had missed out on seeing in theaters in about a decade… and boy, did I miss out! How to Train Your Dragon is very much an animated masterpiece with some of the best animation to ever come out of a DreamWorks film up to that point. Part of this is thanks to the filmmakers utilizing the assistance of legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins as a visual consultant to, as they put it, give the film a uniquely live-action feel, which is certainly on display throughout, especially in the spectacular flying sequences that many have argued are on par with and possibly even better than the flying sequences from what was quickly becoming the biggest film of all-time, Avatar. In previous DreamWorks Retrospectives, I noted that I didn’t see a lot of the studio’s films at this time in 3-D even though many have said that they were amongst the best in the industry to utilize the format at a time when the market was getting oversaturated with films that were both hastily and poorly converted into 3-D. Case in point, How to Train Your Dragon may just be the most prominently lauded of them all when it comes to its use of the 3-D format.

But aside from all its visual splendor, the film is also buoyed by its thoroughly charming underdog story led by an endearing main protagonist in Hiccup, excellently voiced by Jay Baruchel, and his lovable dragon pal Toothless. That said, it is interesting to note that one of the biggest deviations from the book was the portrayal of Toothless since, in the book, Toothless was a more narcissistic and abrasive character rather than the adorably loyal kitty cat-like companion that he is in the films. They’re then joined by a top-notch supporting cast that includes Gerard Butler as Hiccup’s over-demanding father Stoick, America Ferrara as Hiccup’s training rival turned love interest Astrid, and Craig Ferguson as Stoick’s best friend (and dragon-hunting teacher) Gobber, along with the likes of Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Kristen Wiig as Hiccup and Astrid’s fellow dragon-hunting trainees. And so, with all this in mind, it’s easy to see why the first How to Train Your Dragon went on to become one of the most acclaimed films that DreamWorks Animation had ever made up to that point. Rather than the unabashedly irreverent comedic endeavors that they were long known for at the time, this film appropriately goes for a more dramatic narrative approach that, nevertheless, still delivers a bunch of great comedic moments amidst its solid emotional and character beats. In short, even if this was the same year that Pixar’s Toy Story 3 became only the third animated film in history to garner a Best Picture nomination along with its expected Best Animated Feature win, How to Train Your Dragon genuinely gives it a run for its money as one of the best films of 2010.

Rating: 5/5!

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (2014)

Given the immense success of the original How to Train Your Dragon, it’s no surprise that a sequel was immediately announced just one month after its release. It would ultimately come out in 2014 and retained most of its predecessor’s core cast and crew members; the only major loss in that regard was co-director Chris Sanders due to his commitment to DreamWorks’ 2013 release The Croods. Thankfully, though, he stuck around as an executive producer while his co-director Dean DeBlois officially took over as the franchise’s main director. Set five years after the events of the first film, How to Train Your Dragon 2 sees Hiccup, Toothless, and their friends confronted by their most dangerous adversary yet; Drago Bludvist (voiced by Djimon Hounsou), a vicious dragon-hunting warlord who seeks to assemble a dragon army and take over the world. And if that wasn’t enough, Hiccup also ends up reuniting with his long-lost mother Valka (voiced by Cate Blanchett), who has been protecting dragons from Drago for years. Upon its release, How to Train Your Dragon 2 did even better than its predecessor at the box office, earning over $621 million worldwide, currently standing as the 7th highest-grossing DreamWorks film of all-time and the franchise’s highest-grossing installment. And while it lost that year’s Oscar for Best Animated Feature to Disney’s Big Hero 6, it gamely followed in its predecessor’s footsteps by maintaining a strong critical reception.

Sure enough, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is exactly the kind of excellent sequel that you’d want to see in the sense that it naturally improves upon its already fantastic predecessor in plenty of ways. Once again utilizing the assistance of Roger Deakins (who, at this point, had also served as a visual consultant on other DreamWorks films such as Puss in Boots and Rise of the Guardians), this film boasts even greater visuals and action sequences than its predecessor, arguably thanks in large part to a brighter color palette that’s used to its fullest effect. And sure, maybe the film’s main antagonist Drago isn’t as strong of a villain as he could’ve been in part due to a limited screentime, but the addition of Hiccup’s mother Valka (and her subsequent reunion with both her son and her husband Stoick) provides a strong emotional hook that carries throughout the entire film. Add in some other strong emotional beats such as the devastating death of one of the main characters and the continued efforts to strengthen the bond between Hiccup and Toothless and it’s easy to see why director Dean DeBlois cited The Empire Strikes Back as a primary source of inspiration for this sequel. Just like that film, How to Train Your Dragon 2 effectively raises the narrative stakes in a thematically darker film (which, admittedly, was a source of contention amongst some audiences) that nevertheless doesn’t lose sight of its family-friendly appeal, its endearing main protagonists, and its penchant for spectacular visuals.

Rating: 5/5!

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (2019)

Before we conclude today’s retrospective, I’d like to point out an interesting bit of trivia about this series that I ended up coming across while working on this post, and that is the fact that the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy has the unique distinction of having every installment released under a different distributor. The original How to Train Your Dragon, released in 2010, came out near the tail-end of DreamWorks’ almost decade-long distribution deal with Paramount that had started back in 2006. After that, DreamWorks signed a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, with 2014’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 being the studio’s most commercially successful release of that era. Finally, the trilogy’s grand finale, 2019’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, had the honor of being the first DreamWorks film to be released through their current distributor, Universal. As the title suggests, the film sees Hiccup and company embark on a journey to try and find the mythical ‘Hidden World’, the perfect sanctuary for dragons, when they realize that Berk is no longer safe for their dragon companions due to the increasing number of dragon hunters that have come after them such as their latest foe Grimmel (voiced by F. Murray Abraham), who has singlehandedly killed nearly every Night Fury in the world except for Toothless. And yet, at the same time, Toothless finally comes across one of his own when he meets and falls in love with a female counterpart AKA a ‘Light Fury’.

Like its two predecessors, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World was a bona fide success with both critics and audiences. While it may not have matched How to Train Your Dragon 2’s franchise-best run at the box office, it did achieve the franchise’s second-best worldwide total as it grossed over $525 million worldwide. And even when faced with the inevitably intense expectations of being a threequel given the typically mixed reception that most franchise threequels tend to get (which is something that DreamWorks is quite familiar with), the film was yet another runaway hit with critics. However, even with that said, it seems like this one ended up being a bit more polarizing amongst fans of the franchise specifically because of its ending. Now, for the sake of those who haven’t yet seen these films, I won’t spoil the full details of this ending, but to make a long story short, some felt that it went against a lot of the key themes that the franchise had established over its run and the whole premise of Hiccup and company’s efforts to prove that humans and dragons can peacefully co-exist with each other. And yet, while I do genuinely see where they’re coming from in some cases, the way that this film concludes its saga of humans and dragons is done in a way where, despite the devastating decision that’s made and what it means for both parties, it still presents a positive outlook on the potential of the two of them living in harmony without any sort of threat to the latter.

In other words, from a narrative standpoint, I do believe that The Hidden World is a top-notch conclusion to this phenomenal trilogy… especially since I’d argue that this is one of the rare instances of a trilogy where each subsequent installment is better than the last. First, to get the obvious superlatives out of the way, because of all the technical improvements that have come with each new film (case in point, it has been well-documented that DreamWorks had to update a lot of their animation software to achieve all their visual aspirations for this film), The Hidden World boasts the franchise’s most stunning visuals and epically thrilling action sequences. And whereas the previous film’s antagonist Drago was an admittedly lackluster villain, The Hidden World features the series’ best antagonist in Grimmel, excellently voiced by F. Murray Abraham and an all-around sinister foe who’s properly established as a legitimate threat to our heroes right from the beginning. Finally, given its status as a, well, ‘finale’, it goes without saying that this film delivers the franchise’s best emotional beats, such as whenever it focuses on the blissfully sweet budding romance between Toothless and the Light Fury or, as I noted earlier, its powerful gut-punch of an ending that, like it or not, does feel emotionally justified. In short, what more can I say about this franchise that I haven’t already said here today? While all three films are phenomenal in their own way, The Hidden World ultimately stands out amongst them all as it sends off this beloved franchise on the best note possible, firmly asserting its status as a trilogy that has always matched its grand visual splendor with its wholly heartfelt storytelling.

Rating: 5/5!

And that concludes the latest installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s series of DreamWorks Retrospectives. Simply put, it was a lot of fun to finally see what this franchise was all about after years of never getting around to seeing these films despite being fully aware of how beloved they were. And while The Hidden World may have marked the end of the franchise in terms of animated films, that doesn’t mean that this is the end of Hiccup and Toothless’ adventures as a live-action adaptation of the first film is currently in the works for a June 2025 release. Sure, this announcement undoubtedly frustrated those who, just like all the recent live-action remakes of Disney’s animated classics, question the need to make a live-action version of an animated masterpiece, but at the very least, this new film will benefit from the return of series director Dean DeBlois in the director’s chair. As for its casting, Mason Thames, breakout star of Scott Derrickson’s 2022 hit The Black Phone, headlines the film as Hiccup while Nico Parker, fresh off her acclaimed turn as Joel’s daughter Sarah in the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us, will star as Astrid. Edgar Wright regular Nick Frost takes on the role of Gobber while Gerard Butler returns to reprise his role from the animated films as Hiccup’s father Stoick. And if that wasn’t enough, 2025 will be a big year for the franchise in general as it’s set to serve as one of the five lands in Universal Orlando Resort’s upcoming fourth theme park, Epic Universe.

As for our next endeavor in the DreamWorks Retrospective series, this is where things get interesting. As I’ve said before, my goal with this series was to start out by tackling DreamWorks’ biggest franchises; more specifically, any franchise that has elicited, at the very least, a trilogy of films. With that in mind, when I first started this series back in 2022, How to Train Your Dragon was the most recent DreamWorks franchise to achieve this feat; thus, my plan at the time was to then do a quick detour and tackle the studio’s brief foray into traditionally animated features before moving on to the rest of their filmography. However, by the time that this post has been published, another DreamWorks franchise has recently achieved the trilogy mark. And so, for our next DreamWorks Retrospective, we’ll be tackling what has arguably become DreamWorks’ flagship franchise as of late, the Trolls franchise.