I love that you mentioned the brilliance of the cinematography (arguably the best of any animated film), and the music. As for the symmetry, there's actually another great line that is repeated: "I did this" - First said by Hiccup, feeling remorseful that he'd ensnared Toothless in his trap, then said by Stoick at the end when he believes Hiccup had died. I thought that was a brilliant touch. Great video, keep it up!
Also, I know that this was mentioned (albeit briefly) but my lord the SCORE!!!! I’m learning Sebastian Wolff’s version of Test Drive right now and whenever I hear it, it never fails to bring me to tears. Also, ThePandaTooth, I love your music so much and I’ve been subscribed for around 2 years now, so please continue making music for all the scores I love so much
@@The0GamingHero I have not seen this video in so long because I was rewatching Defenders of Berk for so long... That Imma just agree with whatever you just said....
yess!!! I love how all the lessons got to use in the final fight "A flightless dragon is a dead dragon" "dragons are not fireproof from the inside" etc. These really make the movie feel like it build up and that you get to use what you learned in life
The line development of “Gestured to all of me...” or why it was delivered was fantastic Gobber and Stoick pointing out that Hiccup needs to stop *gestures to Hiccup* this Then at the end of the film Stoick saying “Turns out we all needed was a little worth of *gestures to Hiccup* this”. And Hiccup always replied with, “You just gestured to all of me.”
i completely agree. Dreamworks' movies are usually seen as second grade animations, compared to disney and pixar. But how to train your dragon is a gem. it's a great movie, i loved it so much. there are so many details in the world, the story, the characters. it's greatly done. it's beautiful, funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking... and i love the second and third parts as well. although they are not as strong as the first one.
before watching this, hp was the only film that made me want to enter its universe and experience everything, but after watching it when it released it definitely made a big part on my love for movies and even made me want to enter the universe myself, and it broke my heart knowing pt. 3 was the last movie that it made me not to rewatch it whenever im having a movie marathon
I hate how people disregard this movie and look at it no more than just a, “kids movie”. People usually laugh at me when I say this is one of the most beautiful and underrated movies, and when I say the soundtrack is amazing.
I adore this movie so much oh my god, great video! I think that shot of hiccup and toothless walking towards the door together at the end of the movie is a subtle but clever way of showing both hiccup and toothless have lost a limb (idk if a wing really counts as a limb but imma go with it?). they reference it aloud in the sequels, but for this movie I like that they didn't say anything. they just let the audience sit with it.
1:53 Was about to comment on your channel's phenomenal quality but I don't think I can support a cat hater... Jokes aside, this video is freaking awesome man. I was expecting to see multiple hundreds of thousands of subscribers and was disappointed when I didn't. Criminally underrated.
What's great about it is that Hiccup's worldview is fully changed at the half of the film because of Toothless while Stoick and the entire citizens of Berk's worldview are fully changed at the end of the film because of Hiccup & Toothless.
How to train your dragon is one of my all time favorite trilogies. The story, the music, it's all so fantastic. I've grown up on this franchise, and it's nice to see people appreciate it as much as i do.
My only two complaints about this film: The outdated CGI is much harsher on this realistic style than in a one about literally plastic characters. The kids aren't Scottish.
I think the only cgi that looks kinda wonky now is the people in the movie, but since DreamWorks never goes for very realistic styles for humans I can get over it pretty quick. All of the nature, backgrounds, etc still look fantastic in my eyes.
Actually the creators wanted to separate the teens from the Vikings, this stimulates a subconscious conclusion that they’re not the same. The accents of the older characters show their old ways of thinking and doing. While having the teens have an American accent shows that they aren’t their parents nor are they sticking to tradition. It’s a subtle difference I didn’t pick up on when I was younger but as I get older, I realize that they did that to push the idea that the teens are the new age of berk not only literally but figuratively.
@Harry Willmore Personally I feel the CGI still holds up rather well, but I’m also curious as to why you said ‘two’ complaints and then only mention one thing about the CGI?
The kids don't have an accent because the filmmakers wanted to differentiate them from the adult vikings. That sort of thing is done a lot in movies, actually.
As long as the internet exists, it will be here. And I actually just got back on RU-vid and starting making more videos. I'd love for you to check them out!
Hiccup’s character arc throughout the trilogy deserves a whole other video for itself and why it improves the series so much. And his relationships with Astrid and Stoick too
Kirsten Huber him growing up and realizing that his dream would never work, and how it hurts more people than it helps, just breaks my heart every time i think about it. His father was murdered by Toothless, but instead of considering that dragons and vikings might not be the best pairing, he just pushes this idea further and INSISTS that they live together until he almost loses everything. Then he has to let go, but he doesn’t let go completely. He tells his children about his childhood, and inspires them to create a better world than the one he lived in so that the dragons will return.
The First HTTYD will always be my favorite. It was the most efficient and sincere with it's story-telling, and still holds up as the strongest narrative of the three films.
Agreed. While I personally love the whole trilogy, I find myself going back to the first one more. Probably because of nostalgia. There’s something about it, maybe the soundtrack, the plot or the character development and interactions. Another added bonus is the lack of an actual antagonist, because this movie wouldn’t exactly work if there was an actually antagonist.
Im surprised you didnt talk about the style of animation because its subconciously using round and spickey designs of charakter, dragons and various objects to tell us about their status between good and evil. For instance the scales of the dragons are first not that good visable but later you see the round shapes, especially good showed in the scene with Snotlout and Hookfangs first bonding. First you see all the fangs and wierd spike-things on hookfangs back but later you see the warm round red texture of the scales and feel deep down, besides the bodylanguage of hookfang, a binding as you experience Hookfangs bonding with Snotlout. Of course this mostly happens subconciously but I just wanted to point out that even the character designs play into the progression of their development and the viewers point of view. But besides that great video you did there, hope you talk about the third movie and what it did spark in you. English is not my first language so sry for spelling and grammar mistakes.
You're so right that I should've brought that up. For this one, I was really more focusing on the story but when I make videos on the sequels, I'll be sure to bring it up. Thanks!
I really adore the scene in the end where Toothless is helping Hiccup to walk With his new leg and the camera focuses on the floor (on Hiccup's feet) and there's a moment where Toothless' tail sways over Hiccup's feet, showing his Missing (tail Thing) and showing the parralel/connection of their Missing parts I also always loved How Hiccup's metal leg fits perfectly into Toothless' tail mecanism
Toothless lost his left tail fin because of Hiccup and Hiccup lost his his left leg (not really but kinda) because of Toothless. But they both learned how to deal with it because they helped each other. This movie is incredible.
Me too! I love the many ways Toothless and Hiccup are connected, their similar personalities, eye color, prostetics, and the most important...friendship.
Sir you forgot the "I did this" Toothless is shot down by Hiccup, Hiccup regrets his decision and says, "I did this." Stoick leans over Hiccup's body at the end and believes him to be dead, and says, "I did this."
Also the symmetry in Hiccup ending up crippled as a consequence of him crippling Toothless. I came out of the movie HATING the ending for a solid three days, and then that occurred to me. It was a beautiful, terrible symmetry. Something this movie did again and again and again in ways few people ever noticed.
Fun Fact: Toothless' hesitation before letting Hiccup touch him was actually due to a glitch in the animation software, but since it worked so well the animators left it in.
Same thing happened with the shot of the wing going over the eye :) Originally they wanted you to see the eye opening & instead they left it cut as it felt more impactful and stunning
Ugh it was NOT A GLITCH!! The animators specifically talk about this moment in the making of the movie! Every single frame is animated by hand, how would a computer glitch decide to self-animate a character into a specific movement? Doesn’t even make sense.
@@EstorilEm You do understand how digital programmes work right. I suggest looking at animation bloopers. Sometimes the programme hiccups, stalls, buffers, stutters. It does glitch out- animation done through programes with rigging and models can & will glitch at times.
@@EstorilEm 100% correct!!! It wasn't a glitch. That's how great the movie is! They did that on purpose to really give you that emotional feeling and impact.
I always knew HTTYD was a masterpiece, unlike any othet dreamworks movies, I felt so attached and commited to finding out more about the lore of this one, I've been playing the online game for 6 years now and im a HTTYD nerd, I love everything about its lore and universe its breath taking and the cinematography is so eye pleasing. Im glad they didn't use the typical dreamworks human models aswell but created their own for these movies. Ps: Not to mention the AMAZING so well fitting soundtrack... Im in love with these movies. Am I the only one who is amazed by these movies that it brings tears to their eyes?
Another thing to notice is how Hiccup's story ties in with the Hero's Journey but on the first act Hiccup believes his father is the Mentor and the dragons are the Antagonist but the story switches those two roles
Speaking of the parallel lines in this film, I didnt realize this the first few times I watched it but when Hiccup goes into the woods to kill Toothless and then cuts him free, and then Toothless pins him down the two actually switch places. And it's just so interesting how they emphasize the look of their eyes and expressions in those shots so later Astrid asks him "Why didn't you?" Hiccup more or less concludes what they both saw and felt probably (Toothless is constantly mimicking Hiccup's actions in the movie too. Like the fish, the smile, the drawing, their first act of mercy, and even tho it's not intentional, the fact they lose something at the end but gain it back through eachother speaks volumes of how tied together the two are).
EDIT (05/23/2022): I guess I should note that I don't love the entire trilogy. I left the THW theater feeling...weird, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I saw some videos from other people talking about it, and I completely understand why and now I really can't stand the movie. How to Train Your Dragon is my absolute favorite movie series, and brings me to tears every time I watch it. Kung Fu Panda is a close second.
Oh oh oh another little parallel is when Hiccup says "I did this" looking at Toothless after he's shot down, and is then said by his father when he thinks Hiccup is dead :)
I also often use HTTYD as my answer for "what's your favourite movie?" and I have never really been able to explain why, I just had a strong feeling. Your analysis made it clear to me why I love the second act so much, so thank you. And let's be honest - who could not love the scene without any dialogue when they are getting to know each other paired with the amazing piece of music
I'm here from Sideways but I was actually here before it seems because I've already liked this video and I remember your voice but it doesn't show up as viewed in my youtube
Grant - You didn't mention the parallelism in how both Hiccup and Toothless have lost similar body parts (Hiccup his left foot, Toothless his left tail wing). And how they're both walking the "left hand path" - they both are essentially the outsiders/oddballs of their tribes. And how they both come together in a yin/yang complimentary relationship to achieve goals (mainly, peace for both dragons and Vikings) that neither could have reached separately. (Think Toothless doesn't have goals? Notice how he was _not_ one of the dragons attacking Vikings nor stealing their sheep; he was mostly keeping back from the conflict, and he only used his breath blasts in non-lethal ways.) So that's just yet another factor in how well-crafted the script and characterization are for this film.
one of my favorite things about this series, other then the dragons of course, was seeing the animation improve over the years. All 3 of them got better and better and its so exciting and interesting to re-watch them and see all the little changes
I mean, you’re not wrong that it’s brilliant, but I do think you’ve almost missed why. It’s 95% because of the score. That’s basically it. It’s the best film score of this decade at least.
You're so right. The score is incredible. Unfortunately, it's the thing that RU-vid really tries to copyright claim too. But hey, when I make videos on the sequels, I'll be sure to bring it up more.
So you're going to chock up the reasons why this film franchise is great due to a score despite all other things literally looking you dead in the eye?
@@steeevealbright I'm impressively appalled. Whilst yes, the score was phenomenal, the series as a whole does a lot of things that many other rather overrated franchises do sloppily. The world is enriching and leaves the viewer with questions, the creatures(dragons) in question are PERFECT, the pacing is godly, and of course, we cannot forget about the animation's quality and semi-realism.
I just re-watched this movie, and I thought it was quite brilliant. The one problem I had with it is that there's always this beautiful wordless story telling, and then one of the characters spells out what just happened to us. Not reacting, but spewing exposition for something we'd just seen. I guess it's a way of keeping the kids up to speed. Still, I'd really like it if this movie had the balls to actually rely on these wordless sequences without spelling it out afterwards.
It´ s the ony film that makes me cry. I watched it in the cinema three times... and like five more in the next years. The scene of the "driving practice" when Toothless flies again is too much for me to hold my tears. It's so beautiful, so epic. I watched this film with some primary school groups. And they all loved it. I used to make questions about the characters. And something that called my attention is that at first, the boys used to say that Hicup was a coward because he was not able to kill a dragon... but at the end of the film they all agreed he is the bravest viking ever. I guess this film gave "permission" to some boys to be kind, and make them know that being kind and compassionate doesn't make them less "boys" or less "brave". (That was years ago, now things are different). A brilliant, touching film.
Well said. The movie's stellar in every aspect, but what really makes it impossible to get out of your head is the soundtrack. Test Drive, Romantic Flight, Forbidden Friendship and Once There Were Dragons have been looping in my head for the past week, lmao. Have you seen the next two movies? I'm curious to know your thoughts on them.
Well... no wonder the 2nd and 3rd movies have better animation... the 1st one used spreadsheets of data points in order to move the characters and camera's... the 2nd one used a new rendering engine which allowed frame by frame movement of a character and/or even motion capture.. and the 3rd one even uses a new render engine which allowed for the glowing and stealth effects (seriously.. 3 movies and 3 rendering engines... Maya, Apollo and Moonray)
Thank you. This movie has been my favorite ever since I was 10 years old. I'm 19 now. XD Honestly it stands out to me like no other movie ever has and I couldn't have explained it better than you did! ♥️ And while we're on the subject of HTTYD... *Who's stoked for the HTTYD: Homecoming short coming up? OwO*
I read the books when I was like five and loved them they were my favirote and when I heard of this movie I flipped. I grew up with these books and movies and I love them so damn much
Here from Sideways and glad I came to see it. I realize that it's been 9 months since you've made a video and you may no longer have the desire to do it; but know that if you do, I'll be there to see it.
I definitely did take a sizable break from RU-vid haha. But I actually just uploaded a new video (and will hopefully be here to stay). I'd love for you to check it out!
A detail about hiccups leg, it can also be seen as something that connects him and toothless together. Toothless is missing a fin and hiccup lost a leg. The symmetry between them is brilliant
You’re absolutely right on every mark. You explained a lot of the reasons why I adore this movie so much, and wish it got more attention for its brilliance. I feel it’s been spoiled, particularly in its third movie, by its fan base that want nothing but fan service and don’t see the first film for its actual brilliance. One thing I think you neglected it notice is Stoic’s character arc in relation to Hiccup. Their relationship is the classic one of a parent and child failing to communicate and understand one another. Stoic and Hiccup are so different and Stoic is perplexed by Hiccup because he’s so different to how he is. This can be seen the most clearly in the scene in the first act where he speaks to Gobber. He’s struggling to understand his son and therefore to know how to parent him. Hiccup is struggling to be understood and listened to. Stoics arch is learning to accept his son and to see what incredible strengths his son actually has, although different from his own strengths. Their relationship arc and progression is an especially noteworthy part of the story.
This was awesome dude. I came to love How to Train Your Dragon from John Powell's works but later got hooked on the plot and the animation. You put everything I love about the movie in a ten-minute clip. Ta! Also, I did not notice the reoccurring line "So why didn't you?" or the one in the comments "I did this" and now I love the films even more.
When you were talking about the "Why didn't you?" parts, I realized the two major characters had the opportunity and motivation to kill each other. Kind of dark.
I’ve spent a solid $150 on all the DVDs for the movies and TV shows, amazingly worth it! I love seeing HTTYD getting some love like this, it’s not very common, so this is a nice change.
Brillantly said See what I did there, cuz this is a video calling a movie brilliant and I'm calling the video calling the movie brilliant brilliant No Just me? Ok
Wait, you hate cats?! Why?! They're super sweet. True, they can maybe be a bit lazy (because they're nocturnal), but they won't turn against you like some people say.
Truly the best movie of all time, and my favourite movie of all time with the best score of all time, and the best scenes of all time, plus the best pacing of all time. Let's not forget the best story of all time.
HTTYD is hands down my favorite franchise (along with one of the reasons for my lifelong love of all things dragon) and it’s great to see other people agree. Excellent video. ☺️
I love the fact that the way they take down the red death is discovered as a joke scene? and they don't even mention it in the movie as a "oh we can beat dragons by shooting the gas!" but as a throwaway line "not so fireproof on the inside are you?"
I kind of feel like since How to Train Your Dragon the dreamworks movies really come up in quality. I absolutely adored Rise of the Guardians, and OK Epic wasn't fabulous but Honestly I would not change a single thing about How to Train Your Dragon. And there are not a lot of movies I can say that about.
You also forgot to mention what a masterpiece the music is - each character has their own sort of tune which is a motif throughout the film because the intro was so good. John Powell was able to develop every character's tune in the intro (except for toothless, cuz he's an outsider) and do the same thing in the following movies for the existing and new characters. For example, when we first see Astrid, there is a particular tune that comes on, which is also heard again during the romantic flight with Hiccup. Hiccup's tune intertwines with toothless's when they first learn how to fly symbiotically. Also, toothless was first introduced using bagpipes to showcase unfamiliarity. This is done again in number two when hiccup discovers the new islands etc.
Thank you so much for explaining the points I have tried to make over and over again as to why this movie is so amazing, I absolutely love how to train your dragon, and I'm happy to see so many others that are just as enthusiastic about it.
Good to know that I'm not the only adult, who thinks HTTYD is the best movie of all time. Many of my friends were like, "what's that? Never heard of it." when I mentioned HTTYD
Amazing (and also my personal favorite film) with a very well made essay. Great working and looking forward to your next video no matter what that’ll end up being on
I absolutely love this video 💙 100% agree it’s probably one of the most underrated movies. Honestly I believe it’s one of the best animated movies of all time. Seriously the art is stunning. And the soundtrack and cinematography-beautiful. Dang it’s just so good
