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Description
Lets continue our DreamWorks marathon with the tale of a young Viking boy who befriends a dragon.

The Viking village of Berk, located on a remote island, is attacked frequently by Dragons, which take livestock, damage property and endanger lives. Hiccup, the awkward fifteen-year-old son of the village chieftain, Stoick the Vast, is deemed too scrawny and weak to fight the dragons, so he instead creates mechanical devices under his apprenticeship with Gobber, the village blacksmith, though Hiccup's inventions often backfire. During one attack, Hiccup uses a bolas launcher to shoot down a Night Fury, a dangerous and rare dragon of which little is known, but no one believes him, so he searches for the fallen dragon on his own. He finds the dragon in the forest, tangled in his net, but cannot bring himself to kill him, and instead sets him free. Stoick assembles a fleet to find the dragons' nest, and enters Hiccup in a dragon-fighting class taught by Gobber with the other teenagers, Fishlegs, Snotlout, twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Astrid, a tough Viking girl on whom Hiccup has a crush, to train while he is away. Hiccup returns to the forest and finds the Night Fury still there, trapped in a cove and unable to fly because Hiccup's bolas accidentally tore off half of his tail fin. Hiccup befriends the dragon by offering fish and giving him the name 'Toothless', after his retractable teeth. Feeling guilty for crippling Toothless, Hiccup designs a harness rig and a prosthetic fin that allows the dragon to fly, but only with Hiccup riding, controlling the prosthetic. Hiccup learns about dragon behavior as he works with Toothless, and is able to subtly and nonviolently subdue the captive dragons during training, earning him the admiration of his peers but causing Astrid to become increasingly jealous and suspicious of his behavior. Meanwhile, Stoick's fleet arrives home unsuccessful, though Stoick is cheered by Hiccup's unexpected success in dragon training. Hiccup is judged the winner of his training class, and must kill a dragon for his final exam. He tries to run away with Toothless, but Astrid ambushes him in the forest and discovers the dragon. Hiccup takes Astrid for a sunset flight to demonstrate that Toothless is friendly. When Astrid reminds Hiccup of the exam, Toothless unexpectedly takes the pair to the dragons' nest, where they discover a gargantuan dragon named the Red Death. The smaller dragons continuously feed it live food in lieu of being eaten themselves; the two realize that the dragons have been attacking Berk under duress. Astrid wishes to tell the village about their discovery, but Hiccup advises against it to protect Toothless. Back at the village the next day, Hiccup faces a captive Monstrous Nightmare dragon in his final exam. Instead of killing him, however, he tries to subdue him in an attempt to prove that dragons can be peaceful. When Stoick inadvertently angers the dragon into attacking, Toothless escapes the cove to protect Hiccup, but is captured by the Vikings in the process. Hiccup accidentally reveals to Stoick that Toothless knows the location of the dragons' nest. Stoick disowns his son, and sets off for the nest with Toothless chained to the lead ship as a guide. After the Vikings have left, Hiccup is devastated, but Astrid prompts him to come to the realization that he spared Toothless out of compassion and empathy, not weakness. Hiccup then regains his confidence to go after Toothless and save him along with Astrid and the other teens, and shows them how to befriend the training dragons and get to the nest in time before all-out war between the Vikings and the dragons breaks out.

Pros:
1. Hiccup is a very likeable protagonist.
2. Toothless is a great secondary character, and has a very cute design.
3. Great supporting characters like Astrid, Stoick, Gobber, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut.
4. The Red Death dragon is a pretty intimidating antagonist.
5. Some pretty well handled comedy.
6. Plenty of heartwarming and charming moments.
7. Pretty neat action scenes.
8. Spectacular flying scenes.
9. The voice acting is very well done.
10. John Powell delivers an amazing and wonderous score.
11. Great chemistry between the characters, especially Hiccup and Toothless.
12. Absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking animation.
13. Awesome and unique designs for the dragons.
14. The story is very well written, and it uses old tropes and clichés and twists them to make them feel fresh again.

Cons:
1. It does get a bit predictable at times.

Overall:
Due to the amount of clichés and tropes used in this, I was prepared to not like this film that much, but much like Kung Fu Panda, it delivers a very well told and heartwarming movie. This is a must watch for any fan of animation.

Rating:
9.5/10 (Amazing to Perfect)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. The book series by Cressida Cowell began coming to attention to the executives at DreamWorks Animation in 2004. Coming off her success in Over the Hedge, producer Bonnie Arnold shortly became interested in the newly acquired property. She kept focusing on the project as time went on, and when DreamWorks Animation co-president of production Bill Damaschke asked her what she wanted to work on next, she chose "How to Train Your Dragon".
2. During initial development, the plot followed the original novel closely, but about halfway through production Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, previously the writers & directors of Disney's Lilo & Stitch, took over as co-directors and it was altered. The original plot was described as, "heavily loyal to the book", but was regarded as being too "sweet" and "whimsical" as well as geared towards a too-young demographic, according to Baruchel. In the novel, Hiccup's dragon, Toothless, is a Common or Garden Dragon, a small breed. In the film, Toothless is an injured Night Fury, the rarest species of all dragons, far faster, aerodynamic and more powerful than the other species, and is large enough to serve as a flying mount for both Hiccup and Astrid. The filmmakers hired cinematographer Roger Deakins (known for frequently collaborating with the Coen brothers) as a visual consultant to help them with lighting and overall look of the film and to "add a live-action feel". Extensive research was done to depict both flight, as the directors knew they would be the biggest draw of the film's 3D effects, and fire, given animation could break away from the limitations seen in live-action films, where propane flames are usual due to being easier to extinguish. The dragons' design made sure to create animals that were comical and also innovative compared to other dragon fiction. Toothless in particular tried to combine various dragon traits in a black panther-inspired design, that also had large ears and eyes to convey emotion better.
3. The directors made sure to cash in the improvisation abilities of the secondary cast—Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig and T.J Miller—by frequently bringing them together in the recording sessions.
4. A video game based on the film was released for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo DS gaming consoles.
5. A TV series based on the film titled DreamWorks Dragons, premiered on Cartoon Network in 2012, and would air on the channel until 2014 after the second season. The show's third through sixth seasons would air on Netflix from 2015 to 2018. The series takes place between the first two films.

Description
Lets continue our DreamWorks marathon with the tale of a young Viking boy who befriends a dragon.

The Viking village of Berk, located on a remote island, is attacked frequently by Dragons, which take livestock, damage property and endanger lives. Hiccup, the awkward fifteen-year-old son of the village chieftain, Stoick the Vast, is deemed too scrawny and weak to fight the dragons, so he instead creates mechanical devices under his apprenticeship with Gobber, the village blacksmith, though Hiccup's inventions often backfire. During one attack, Hiccup uses a bolas launcher to shoot down a Night Fury, a dangerous and rare dragon of which little is known, but no one believes him, so he searches for the fallen dragon on his own. He finds the dragon in the forest, tangled in his net, but cannot bring himself to kill him, and instead sets him free. Stoick assembles a fleet to find the dragons' nest, and enters Hiccup in a dragon-fighting class taught by Gobber with the other teenagers, Fishlegs, Snotlout, twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Astrid, a tough Viking girl on whom Hiccup has a crush, to train while he is away. Hiccup returns to the forest and finds the Night Fury still there, trapped in a cove and unable to fly because Hiccup's bolas accidentally tore off half of his tail fin. Hiccup befriends the dragon by offering fish and giving him the name 'Toothless', after his retractable teeth. Feeling guilty for crippling Toothless, Hiccup designs a harness rig and a prosthetic fin that allows the dragon to fly, but only with Hiccup riding, controlling the prosthetic. Hiccup learns about dragon behavior as he works with Toothless, and is able to subtly and nonviolently subdue the captive dragons during training, earning him the admiration of his peers but causing Astrid to become increasingly jealous and suspicious of his behavior. Meanwhile, Stoick's fleet arrives home unsuccessful, though Stoick is cheered by Hiccup's unexpected success in dragon training. Hiccup is judged the winner of his training class, and must kill a dragon for his final exam. He tries to run away with Toothless, but Astrid ambushes him in the forest and discovers the dragon. Hiccup takes Astrid for a sunset flight to demonstrate that Toothless is friendly. When Astrid reminds Hiccup of the exam, Toothless unexpectedly takes the pair to the dragons' nest, where they discover a gargantuan dragon named the Red Death. The smaller dragons continuously feed it live food in lieu of being eaten themselves; the two realize that the dragons have been attacking Berk under duress. Astrid wishes to tell the village about their discovery, but Hiccup advises against it to protect Toothless. Back at the village the next day, Hiccup faces a captive Monstrous Nightmare dragon in his final exam. Instead of killing him, however, he tries to subdue him in an attempt to prove that dragons can be peaceful. When Stoick inadvertently angers the dragon into attacking, Toothless escapes the cove to protect Hiccup, but is captured by the Vikings in the process. Hiccup accidentally reveals to Stoick that Toothless knows the location of the dragons' nest. Stoick disowns his son, and sets off for the nest with Toothless chained to the lead ship as a guide. After the Vikings have left, Hiccup is devastated, but Astrid prompts him to come to the realization that he spared Toothless out of compassion and empathy, not weakness. Hiccup then regains his confidence to go after Toothless and save him along with Astrid and the other teens, and shows them how to befriend the training dragons and get to the nest in time before all-out war between the Vikings and the dragons breaks out.

Pros:
1. Hiccup is a very likeable protagonist.
2. Toothless is a great secondary character, and has a very cute design.
3. Great supporting characters like Astrid, Stoick, Gobber, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut.
4. The Red Death dragon is a pretty intimidating antagonist.
5. Some pretty well handled comedy.
6. Plenty of heartwarming and charming moments.
7. Pretty neat action scenes.
8. Spectacular flying scenes.
9. The voice acting is very well done.
10. John Powell delivers an amazing and wonderous score.
11. Great chemistry between the characters, especially Hiccup and Toothless.
12. Absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking animation.
13. Awesome and unique designs for the dragons.
14. The story is very well written, and it uses old tropes and clichés and twists them to make them feel fresh again.

Cons:
1. It does get a bit predictable at times.

Overall:
Due to the amount of clichés and tropes used in this, I was prepared to not like this film that much, but much like Kung Fu Panda, it delivers a very well told and heartwarming movie. This is a must watch for any fan of animation.

Rating:
9.5/10 (Amazing to Perfect)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. The book series by Cressida Cowell began coming to attention to the executives at DreamWorks Animation in 2004. Coming off her success in Over the Hedge, producer Bonnie Arnold shortly became interested in the newly acquired property. She kept focusing on the project as time went on, and when DreamWorks Animation co-president of production Bill Damaschke asked her what she wanted to work on next, she chose "How to Train Your Dragon".
2. During initial development, the plot followed the original novel closely, but about halfway through production Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, previously the writers & directors of Disney's Lilo & Stitch, took over as co-directors and it was altered. The original plot was described as, "heavily loyal to the book", but was regarded as being too "sweet" and "whimsical" as well as geared towards a too-young demographic, according to Baruchel. In the novel, Hiccup's dragon, Toothless, is a Common or Garden Dragon, a small breed. In the film, Toothless is an injured Night Fury, the rarest species of all dragons, far faster, aerodynamic and more powerful than the other species, and is large enough to serve as a flying mount for both Hiccup and Astrid. The filmmakers hired cinematographer Roger Deakins (known for frequently collaborating with the Coen brothers) as a visual consultant to help them with lighting and overall look of the film and to "add a live-action feel". Extensive research was done to depict both flight, as the directors knew they would be the biggest draw of the film's 3D effects, and fire, given animation could break away from the limitations seen in live-action films, where propane flames are usual due to being easier to extinguish. The dragons' design made sure to create animals that were comical and also innovative compared to other dragon fiction. Toothless in particular tried to combine various dragon traits in a black panther-inspired design, that also had large ears and eyes to convey emotion better.
3. The directors made sure to cash in the improvisation abilities of the secondary cast—Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig and T.J Miller—by frequently bringing them together in the recording sessions.
4. A video game based on the film was released for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo DS gaming consoles.
5. A TV series based on the film titled DreamWorks Dragons, premiered on Cartoon Network in 2012, and would air on the channel until 2014 after the second season. The show's third through sixth seasons would air on Netflix from 2015 to 2018. The series takes place between the first two films.