4:23 AM
Wikipedia
The story takes place in a mythical Viking world where a young Viking teenager named Hiccup aspires to follow his tribe's tradition of becoming a dragon slayer. After finally capturing his first dragon, and with his chance at finally gaining the tribe's acceptance, he finds that he no longer has the desire to kill it and instead befriends it. The film was released March 26, 2010,[2] to positive reviews. The film grossed half a billion dollars and became DreamWorks Animation's fifth most successful film in the United States and Canada (behind the Shrek film series).
Plot
Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) is the son of the chief Viking, Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler), on the island of Berk. The Vikings have been plagued by attacks of dragons raiding their livestock and destroying their homes; their lair has remained elusive from Stoick's searches. Hiccup, scrawny and destructively clumsy compared to others in his community, attempts to compensate by building contraptions to kill dragons, specifically the most dangerous dragon known, the mysterious Night Fury, whom no one has ever fought and survived, to earn some respect, most importantly with Astrid (voiced by America Ferrera), a competently aggressive girl of his age intent on joining the Viking ranks.
After the latest dragon attack, Stoick organizes yet another search for the dragons' nest, while signing Hiccup up for dragon killing lessons with other children under the tutelage of Gobber (voiced by Craig Ferguson), the local blacksmith. Between lessons, Hiccup explores the nearby woods and finds that one of his inventions has indeed trapped a Night Fury, damaging its tailwing. Hiccup tries to kill it but cannot bring himself to do so, and instead cuts the dragon free. The dragon pins him down and roars at him but then disappears. Hiccup returns later to find the dragon cannot fly away from a small depressed glade due to the condition of its tail. Hiccup becomes friendly to the dragon, and over time he learns what actions please or distress the Night Fury. In understanding how he can make the Night Fury react, Hiccup is able to transfer this knowledge to his dragon training classes and "defeats" the foes Gobber sets on the class through pacification, becoming renowned in his community as a formidable warrior, much to Astrid's dismay. Due to the dragon's retractable teeth, Hiccup names the Night Fury "Toothless".
Hiccup secretly fashions a make-shift prosthetic tail and riding assembly, allowing him to guide Toothless in free flight. Hiccup and Toothless develop a close bond over time, and Hiccup finds that other dragons can be similarly domesticated. One day, Hiccup finds Astrid spying on them; worried that Astrid will reveal this to the rest of the village, Hiccup has Toothless bring Astrid aboard, then shows Astrid the joys of flying. However, while soaring, Toothless finds himself lured along with a flock of dragons returning with stolen livestock, heading towards a volcanic island. Inside, they find the dragons fearfully serve a gargantuan dragon (a Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus) living inside the island, feeding it the stolen livestock to avoid being eaten themselves. Hiccup, Astrid, and Toothless escape and return to Berk. By this time, Stoick and the fleet have returned, having failed to find the lair themselves.
The next day, Hiccup is put to the final test, and when he refuses to kill the offered dragon and instead tries to pacify it, Stoick attempts to end the fight, scaring the dragon and putting Hiccup's life in danger. Toothless hears Hiccup's screams and saves his life from the other dragon, but is soon caught by the other Vikings. Hiccup is forced to reveal his training and the lair, and Stoick, after disowning his son, sets out with another fleet, using a chained-up Toothless to guide them. Left alone, Astrid helps the aggrieved Hiccup come to a personal epiphany that his empathy and daring inventiveness with Toothless are in fact strengths of a worthy warrior. Thus inspired, he convinces Astrid and the other teenagers to pacify and mount the other training dragons to set off to try to stop the Viking fleet, yet unaware of the giant dragon awaiting them.
The children are too late to prevent the Vikings from rousing the monstrous dragon against them, but they are able to delay it long enough for the Vikings to retreat safely, and for Hiccup and Stoick to free Toothless. Hiccup and Toothless lead the giant dragon on a dangerous flight, eventually into a direct descent to the ground. As the giant dragon nearly devours them, Toothless turns around and ignites the dragon's breath; the dragon cannot stop and collides into the ground, killing it and releasing a giant fireball. Hiccup falls out of his saddle and blacks out, but as he falls towards the flames, Toothless saves his boy and protects him from the flames with his wings, much to Stoick, Astrid, and the other Vikings' relief.
Some time later, Hiccup wakes up from the injuries and finds himself back in Berk. Toothless is in his home, and Hiccup finds out that he has lost his left foot, replaced with an artificial limb Gobber made. Whatever regrets he has are quickly forgotten when he exits the house to find that the Vikings and dragons are living together. Hiccup is celebrated as a hero by everyone, particularly Stoick and Astrid. Hiccup and Astrid race their dragons through the newly-reformed Berk, signifying a new beginning for both worlds.
[edit]Cast
- Jay Baruchel as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. The earnest, talkative, bright teenaged son of the Viking chief, Hiccup plans to become a Viking warrior. Unfortunately, in the crude world of the Vikings, Hiccup's sophisticated observations and sarcastic humor make him an outsider. He ultimately becomes the first Viking in history to ride a dragon, although no one knows about it until later in the movie. His dragon and best friend is Toothless, a Night Fury. (Night Furies are the fastest of the dragons. Their all-black bodies are sleek and almost flat, with four legs and large bat-like wings. They have cat-like eyes, retractable teeth, and armor plates on the back of their heads that act like ears, enabling others to determine their mood. They prefer to attack at night because their black skin and great speed makes them almost invisible. They prefer dive-bomb attacks, shooting purple fireballs from their mouths that strike their opponents with great force. They never miss their target, and have never been seen before.) Hiccup also has a crush on Astrid.[3]
- Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast: Stoick is the chieftain of the Viking tribe and Hiccup's father. Immensely strong, utterly fearless, and a fierce warrior, he embodies the traditional Viking virtues. He does not understand his son. They have little-in-common and are complete opposites. Hoping to bring out the man in him, Stoick sends Hiccup into dragon training. Upon learning of his son's friendship with a dragon, he disowns him, but has a profound change of heart in the climatic battle when he truly sees Hiccup's wisdom and courage as well as Toothless' unbreakable loyalty and love to his son.[3]
- Craig Ferguson as Gobber the Belch, a close friend of Stoick and the seasoned warrior appointed to drill the new recruits. He runs a blacksmith shop where Hiccup is his apprentice. Gobber believes in "learn on the job" training, and dispenses questionable advice. He is missing his right foot and his left hand, the latter of which he has replaced with a variety of specialized prosthetics. In the 'Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon', it is revealed that Gobber has been running from a dragon that the other Vikings don't believe exists. Apparently he is the only person to ever see the Boneknapper because his belt buckle (found in a treasure chest in the hands of a frozen Viking when he was Hiccup's age) is the final bone the Boneknapper needs to finish his coat of skeleton armor. By doing this, it is finally able to roar.[4]
- America Ferrera as Astrid Hofferson: Striking, energetic and tough, Astrid is a teenage embodiment of the Viking way. Her competitive, determined persona makes her difficult to impress, but Hiccup cannot help but try. When Hiccup begins to show the strain of leading his double life, Astrid is the first to be suspicious. Like all the other Vikings, Astrid at first dislikes Hiccup. After riding on Toothless with him, however, she befriends and begins to like and trust Hiccup, while also growing to see him as a powerful Viking warrior in his own way, eventually falling in love with him, which leads to them sharing a kiss. She rides a Deadly Nadder. (Nadders are bird-like dragons with colorful scales, two hind legs for walking, and they fire a stream of white-hot fire from their mouths. Their most notable blindspot is right in front of their beak/nose. They can use the spikes on their tails as projectiles by flicking them at an enemy.)
- Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs Ingerman: Hiccup's other friend, Fishlegs normally acts nervous and frightened, but is smart and expresses his knowledge in role-playing game terms. He has memorized the manual of dragons, (saying he has read it seven times) and is able to figure out the weak points of the giant Red Death in the end.[5] His dragon is a Gronckle. (Gronckles are tough, fairly aggressive creatures who fly using wings that are similar to hummingbirds. This enables them to hover in mid-air. They are capable of eating rocks, turning them into fireball shots. They cannot breathe fire if their heads are wet, and can only fire six shots before they need to 'reload'.)
- Jonah Hill as Snotlout Jorgenson: One of Hiccup's dragon-training classmates, Snotlout is brawny, boastful, and overconfident. Though he initially makes fun of Hiccup for being weak, by the end of the film he comes to respect Hiccup's intuition, wisdom and bravery. He also seems to have an interest in Astrid and makes several attempts to impress her, but eventually concedes to her relationship with Hiccup.[3]His dragon is a Monstrous Nightmare. (Nightmares are the one of the larger dragons and incredibly fierce. They are reddish in color and serpentine in appearance (much like the Zippleback), with long talons and prominent fangs. They breathe gouts of liquid fire, and have the ability to wreath their own bodies in flames).
- T. J. Miller and Kristen Wiig as Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston: Tuffnut the elder twin, a boy, and Ruffnut the younger twin, a girl, are fraternal twins. Both are thugs with ferocious intents and foul tempers, especially regarding each other. Despite their rancorous relationship, they eventually flourish as a dragon riding team, each riding a head of a Hideous Zippleback in tandem. (Zipplebacks are unique in that they have two heads. One head breathes an explosive gas from its mouth, the other head ignites it using sparks generated in its mouth. They are serpentine in appearance, with bulging eyes and narrow venomous fangs, and prefer ambush attacks to direct confrontation.)
- David Tennant as Spitelout: a Viking who is not named in the film, he appears to be Stoick's Second-in-Command, and bears a striking resemblance to Snotlout, implying that he is Snotlout's father. Tennant has previously narrated a series of Hiccup adventures on audio book.[6]
[edit]Production
[edit]Development
In initial development, the plot followed the original novel closely but was then altered. About halfway through production, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, the writer-directors of Disney's Lilo & Stitch, took over as co-directors. The original plot was "heavily loyal to the book", but was regarded as geared to a too-young demographic and too "sweet" and "whimsical", according to Baruchel.[7] In the novel, Hiccup's dragon, Toothless, is incredibly small for a dragon. In the film, Toothless is a Night Fury, the rarest of all dragons, 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 "add a live-action feel".[7]
[edit]Music
| How to Train Your Dragon: Music from the Motion Picture | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack by John Powell | |
| Released | March 23, 2010 |
| Recorded | 2010 |
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Length | 71:57 |
| Label | Varèse Sarabande |
How to Train Your Dragon: Music from the Motion Picture was released by DreamWorks on March 23, 2010. All themes composed by John Powell, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "This Is Berk" | 4:10 |
| 2. | "Dragon Battle" | 1:55 |
| 3. | "The Downed Dragon" | 4:16 |
| 4. | "Dragon Training" | 3:11 |
| 5. | "Wounded" | 1:25 |
| 6. | "The Dragon Book" | 2:22 |
| 7. | "Focus, Hiccup!" | 2:05 |
| 8. | "Forbidden Friendship" | 4:11 |
| 9. | "New Tail" | 2:48 |
| 10. | "See You Tomorrow" | 3:56 |
| 11. | "Test Drive" | 2:36 |
| 12. | "Not So Fireproof" | 1:12 |
| 13. | "This Time for Sure" | 0:44 |
| 14. | "Astrid Goes for a Spin" | 0:43 |
| 15. | "Romantic Flight" | 1:56 |
| 16. | "Dragon's Den" | 2:29 |
| 17. | "The Cove" | 1:11 |
| 18. | "The Kill Ring" | 4:29 |
| 19. | "Ready the Ships" | 5:14 |
| 20. | "Battling the Green Death" | 6:18 |
| 21. | "Counter Attack" | 3:05 |
| 22. | "Where's Hiccup?" | 2:44 |
| 23. | "Coming Back Around" | 2:51 |
| 24. | "Sticks & Stones" (Performed by Jónsi) | 4:06 |
| 25. | "The Vikings Have Their Tea" | 2:03 |
[edit]Marketing
The first trailer was shown in front of A Christmas Carol on November 6, 2009. A second 105-second trailer was shown before Avatar on December 18, 2009. A third trailer was shown before Alice in Wonderland on March 5, 2010, three weeks before the film's release. An advance screening resulted in a financial analyst projecting the film to be a major boost for the studio due to a strong marketing plan, merchandising opportunities and potential for sequels. The film was heavily promoted during the 2010 Winter Olympics prior to its release date of March 26, 2010.
[edit]Release
[edit]Competition for 3D screens
In February 2010, according to insider reports, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg protested Warner Bros.' decision to convert Clash of the Titans from 2D to 3D, then to release it one week after How to Train Your Dragon.[8] Entertainment reporter Kim Masters described the 3D release schedule around March 2010 as a "traffic jam", and speculated that the lack of 3D screen availability could hurt Katzenberg's prospects despite his support of the 3D format.[9]
In March 2010, theater industry executives accused Paramount of using high-pressure tactics to coerce theaters to screen How to Train Your Dragon rather than the competing 3D releases, Clash of the Titans and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. As theater multiplexes often had just one 3D screen, theaters were unable to accommodate more than one 3D presentation at a time.[10]
[edit]Box office
How to Train Your Dragon topped the North American box office with an estimated $43.3 million in its first weekend of release.[11] This relatively low gross for an animated feature with 3D presentation was initially considered a disappointment by box office analysts compared to its DreamWorks predecessor, Monsters vs. Aliens and the other DreamWorks films released after Shrek 2, and DreamWorks' stock fell in reaction. The film presumably regained the top box office spot on its fourth week of release, and did so conclusively in its fifth—a very rare occurrence in the modern North American theatrical film market. How to Train Your Dragon currently holds the fifth-highest opening weekend for an animated film in 2010, after Toy Story 3 with $110,307,189, Shrek Forever After with $70,838,207, Despicable Me with $56,397,125, and Megamind with $46,016,833, and currently fourteenth overall for 2010. The film grossed $217,581,231 in the United States and Canada and $275,602,689 in foreign countries with a worldwide total of $493,183,920.[1] How to Train Your Dragon is Dreamworks Animation's highest-grossing film in the American and Canadian box office other than a Shrek film. It is the fourth highest-grossing animated film in 2010 with $494.8 million, behind Toy Story 3 with $1,063.4 million, Shrek Forever After with $747.8 million and Despicable Me with $541.5 million and the 9th highest-grossing movie of 2010.[12]
[edit]Critical reception
The film received broad critical acclaim. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 98% of 150 professional critics have given the film a positive review with an overall rating average of 8.0 out of 10.[13] Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs,[14] the film holds an overall approval rating of 93%, based on a sample of 27 reviews.[15] The site's general consensus is that "Boasting dazzling animation, a script with surprising dramatic depth, and thrilling 3-D sequences, How to Train Your Dragon soars."[13] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 0–100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 74 based on 33 reviews.[16] CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend revealed the average grade cinemagoers gave How to Train Your Dragon was A on an A+ to F scale.[17]
Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 stars out of 4, stating that: "It devotes a great deal of time to aerial battles between tamed dragons and evil ones, and not much to character or story development. But it's bright, good-looking, and has high energy".[18] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars, saying "It's a thrilling action-adventure saga with exhilarating 3-D animation, a clever comedy with witty dialogue, a coming-of-age tale with surprising depth and a sweetly poignant tale of friendship between man and animal."[19] Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers praised the film, giving it three out of four stars and in his print review wrote, "[The film] works enough miracles of 3-D animation to charm your socks off."[20] Mark Sells of The Oregon Herald gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, concluding that it was "a visually stimulating, but slightly inconsequential "how to" tale." [21] Roger Moore of The Orlando Sentinel, who gave the film 2½ stars out of 4, wrote a mixed review describing the film as a "more coming-of-age dramedy or 'everything about your world view is wrong' message movie than it is a comedy. And that seems like a waste of a funny book, some very funny actors and some darned witty animation." [22] Kyle Smithof The New York Post gave the film 2/4 stars labeling the film as "Avatar for simpletons. But that title is already taken, by Avatar".[23] A. O. Scott of At The Movies felt the characters and the story were not strong points, but loved the cinematography and said, "that swooping and soaring, they are worth the price of a ticket, so go see it."[24] Village Voice film critic Ella Taylor panned the film describing it as an "adequate but unremarkable animated tale".[25] Film critic James Berardinelli of ReelViews praised the film and its story, giving it 3.5 out of 4 stars he wrote, "Technically proficient and featuring a witty, intelligent, surprisingly insightful script, How to Train Your Dragon comes close to the level of Pixar's recent output while easily exceeding the juvenilia Dreamworks has released in the last nine years."[26] Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman praised the film giving it an A- and wrote, "How to Train Your Dragon rouses you in conventional ways, but it's also the rare animated film that uses 3-D for its breathtaking spatial and emotional possibilities."[27]
[edit]Awards and nominations
| Award | Category/Recipient(s) | Result | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film | Best Animated Film | Won | |
| 68th Golden Globe Awards | Best Animated Feature Film | Nominated | |
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards | Best Animated Feature Film | Nominated | |
| 37th People's Choice Awards | Favorite Family Movie | Nominated | |
| Satellite Awards | Motion Picture (Animated or Mixed) | Nominated | [32] |
| Teen Choice Awards 2010 | Choice Movie: Animated Film | Nominated | |
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2010 | Best Animated Feature | Nominated | |
| BAFTA Film Awards | Original Music | Pending | |
| BAFTA Film Awards | Animated Film | Pending |
[edit]Home media
How to Train Your Dragon was released on single-disc DVD, 2-disc Double DVD Pack and Blu-ray/DVD combo pack in Canada and the United States on October 15, 2010. Among the features available in the 2-disc DVD edition is an original sequel short film, Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon. The short aired on October 14, 2010 at 8/7c on Cartoon Network.
In addition, Samsung has signed a deal with DreamWorks to gain exclusive distribution rights to a Blu-ray 3D version of the film. Beginning on and As of October 15, 2010, How to Train Your Dragon will appear alongside and replace Monsters vs. Aliens in the Samsung 3D Starter Kit which retails for $349.99, contains two pairs of active-shutter glasses, and offers a choice between either Monsters vs. Aliens or How to Train Your Dragon on Blu-ray 3D.
An action adventure video game released by Activision called "How to Train Your Dragon" was released for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 andNintendo DS gaming consoles.[37] It is loosely based on the film and was released on March 23, 2010. The events in the game take place a year after the movie timeline. As a form of celebration, the Vikings are holding a dragon tournament and all of the teenagers are encouraged to participate with the dragons that they've trained. Playing as either Astrid or Hiccup, the main human characters of the film, the player's main aim is to train their dragon, defeat all of the other opponents and eventually winning the dragon tournament and being named dragon-taming champion. The player can create and customize their own dragons and fight others in tournament. The game also has online features.
[edit]Sequels
On April 27, 2010, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told The Hollywood Reporter that they were planning a How to Train Your Dragon 2; DreamWorks is targeting a release date of the sequel sometime in the summer of 2013.[38]
On October 11, 2010, it was announced the voice cast—Baruchel, Ferguson, Ferrera, Hill, Mintz-Plasse, Miller, and Wiig—would return for the sequel.[39]
A third installment was announced on December 3, 2010.[40]
[edit]Television series
On October 12, 2010 it was announced that Cartoon Network had acquired worldwide broadcast rights to a weekly animated series based on the movie, scheduled to begin sometime in 2012.[41]
A live tour show is also in the planning stages.[38
Posted in: Top Movies Wiki
0 comments:
Post a Comment