This HTTYD Ripoff Is TERRIBLE... 

Visit manscaped.com/tcs to learn more about how to check yourself, or make a donation to @tcsociety today to save lives (and balls!) So have any of you watched Dragon Rider before? Because I was booooored

Unfun fact: Cornelia Funke, the author of the book this was "based on", disowned this movie and had no creative control over it. The sad part is that she wrote the book because she was hoping it would be turned into an animated series, she even drew her own character designs and everything, only for them to throw all of her cool concepts and sketches out the window for this abomination. Her original designs for the silver moon dragons were great, heck, the book covers were great. Why they felt the need to turn Lung/Firedrake from an elegant mix of western and eastern dragons to Barney the light grey dinosaur voiced by Julian Bam (in the German dub) is beyond me.

That's not hiccup and toothless. That's belch and toothy

I still remember the book this movie was "based' off of. The book deserves SO much better.

I just want to point out that Brownies (broonie in Scottish folklore and brundaidh in Irish folklore) are an actual mythical creature. They're basically non-malicious hobgoblins. They wait for you to fall asleep and then come out to do odd chores that weren't done during the previous day, although sometimes they would rearrange the room slightly as a joke. You could leave cream and bread out for them, but if you ever made them a little suit they'd disappear forever.

I hate this movie so much more than most people just because I read the book this movie was “based” on in middle school and loved it. I haven’t read the book in years, and even I can tell that they’ve butchered all the characters arcs. Twigleg’s arc especially was butchered. He went from a reluctant spy who was struggling with his growing attachment to Ben and the gang and the fear of his master killing him if he betrayed them. And also Nettlebrand being an actually intimidating villain is replaced with jokes about him making a social media profile, which is both stupid and makes absolutely no sense because he’s freaking metal dragon!

I read the book twice and I remember everything the movie completely ignored. Firedrake couldn't fly unless he was in full moonlight, because he's a silver dragon. He CAN breathe fire, it's blue and has healing abilities. Ben wasn't a jerk at all, he was an alright kid and his previous identity as the Dragon Rider was interesting. Nettlebrand only followed Firedrake and friends undetected until the very end of the book, and he never used a submarine to travel underwater because he could already swim. And how did they get directions to the Rim of Heaven? From a talking rat in the city, I think I remember his name was Gilbert Greytail. Nettlebrand was a lot more menacing than how the movie showed him to be. And how he died, was that Firedrake finds a female silver dragon named Maia and they melted Nettlebrand with their fire into a giant puddle of molten gold.

The fact this movie even TRIES to connect itself to the Dragon Rider book should be considered a crime. I loved that book as a kid, this isn’t even slightly similar to it. The character designs are so utterly butchered it’s unreal. How do you mess up THIS bad?!?

The book this was based off of was great, but the changes they made for the movie and the character designs just aren't good at all.

When I read the original _Dragon Rider_ years ago, I was like, "Wow, why hasn't anyone made a movie of this yet?!" Now I know why.

I had no idea this film existed, but as soon as I saw the characters on the thumbnail I went "Don't tell me they made a shitty Drachenreiter adaptation..."

Oh, for crying out loud. I loved this book as a kid and I'm disappointed to see this is the direction they went with it. Cornelia Funke's books were such a staple in my childhood, and if I remember correctly, her most well-known book, Inkheart, also received a crappy movie adaptation. Her stories deserve better.

1:15 WHAT THE LIVING HELL IS THAT IN THE BACKGROUND?! DID BLUD PAY 50K FOR THIS?!

Browny is actually the name of a type of Faery in old English and Celtic lore.

As soon as I heard the name Sorral, my heart sank. It's THAT book? They adapted it?? And it's so bad?? I'm actually heartbroken. I love that book. Was one of the few things they could get me to read back in school. I have it still in storage. Haven't read it in years.

I know a lot of people are disappointed with Ben or Firedrake, but personally I find how they handled Twigleg to be heartbreaking. Twigleg was my favorite character from the book as a kid- not only did he introduce me to the idea of a homunculus in the first place (which, given their classical description as miniature humans grown by alchemists, he actually is quite accurate to!), he was a fascinating character, morally grey but extremely clever and quick witted and very slow to trust due to the mistreatment he faced at the hands of Nettlebrand and his alchemist creator, and a MAJOR CHARACTER to boot, and what did they do to him? Turned him into a snivelly, annoying little cowardly gag character who catfishes his boss during the final battle. A huge waste of a fascinating and complex character.

I have never heard of this film, but when I find out that Constantine Films was involved, I was not surprised by this. This is the same company that butchered every. Single. Fantastic Four movies ever (including the unreleased Roger Corman one) before FOX was bought by Disney.

THERE IS NO WAY THE RUINED MY FAVORITE BOOK SERIES. Dragon Rider is the reasons I like dragons so much. I have so many memories reading the book late at night when I was supposed to be sleeping imagining what the different places and things that happened. It was so unique because it was a true journey there was almost to no battles if I remember correctly and when there was IT WAS INTENSE Also Dragon Rider was written a good bit before how to train your dragon. Like almost 20 years

I remember watching Dragon Rider and I turned it off 5 minutes in 🤦‍♀️

I have that book (Dragon Rider) and its quite good (i haven't finished it yet). Is so sad that that this film should give it a bad reputation. When it's even older than the HTTYD books.

The original book isn't a HTTYD ripoff, but as someone who enjoyed the novel, I can confirm that the movie looks like shit, as unfortunately is the case with most book to movie adaptations

The dragon on the book cover has a much more appealing design than what they went with for the movie ...

The verlabase parody with you and miss heed at 1:12 is absolute insanity.

Well, a Brownie is an established creature in fantasy lore, and I think even real life people who believe fairies really exist have categorized them as “real” things. The first fantasy creature that is revealed in The Spiderwick Chronicles is a Brownie.

I've looked up the original german version of the book, just out of curiosity. And in the German Firedrake was actually called Lung and he was a Silverdragon, with Nettlebrand being a Golddragon. And the fox-deer-sidekick is described as a Kobold. I know nothing of the book, but I just think it's an interesting fact. And I would love a Lost in Adaptation-style video now

If anyone feels compelled to read the book, I highly recommend it. Most of the things that seem nonsensical in the movie are thoroughly explained in the novel. Every character is much more likable (Barnabas Wiesengrund is basically the same but older). Lung (Firedrake’s untranslated name) is more of a gentle giant, stoic, curious, and a total sweetheart. Ben actively, rather than hesitantly, joins the fantastic creatures so he won’t be lonely as an orphan boy anymore, and he’s very noble from the start. If you liked Sorrel in the movie, you’ll love her in the book. She has a shitty attitude and hates everything. Also Saber, you do know that she’s a minor, right?

So...the only saving grace is that this movie has... a deer girl?

I thought you were gonna say it looks suspiciously like Pete’s Dragon for a second there.

Cornelia! She wrote my favorite childrens (YA? idk) trilogy Inkheart, Inkspell and Inkheath!

The book was my favourite book when I was a child (I'm from Germany, just like the author and book, I really enjoyed a lot of her books), but what they did with this _movie_ ?! Like. Why not just take this amazing story and turn it into something on it's own?!! Ehy make it a rip off 😭😭😭

Dragon Rider, the book, is something I read when I was a kid. And the movie has VERY little to do with it. The book is a pretty classic hero's journey and it's really good! The movie is.... disappointing on so many levels. They changed everything, including the names! In the book, "Firedrake" is called Lung and he eats moonlight. "Sorrel" is called Sulfur Fur and she's a Kobold. The book is about the dragons having to flee from the humans invading more and more on them. Lung, Sulfur Fur and Ben all go on a journey to find the ... edge of the sky, I think? Nettlebrand is actually not a dragon but a horrid monster without wings who eats dragons, he's the reason the dragons have fled and hidden away from him at the edge of the sky. It's a very good story in my opinion and was one of my favourite books growing up. Cornelia Funke is an accomplished author, probably most well known for the Inkheart trilogy. She just seems unlucky with movie adaptations because Inkheart had one as well and it's also kinda bad... It's sad to see.

I remember this book. It was actually really good. Too bad the movie turned out the way it did

Movie: There’s an anthro fox girl in it Saber: Makes a video on it Me: Oooooooh noooooo… e621: *BRRRRRR*

"Dragon fine... human bad" this can apply to any situation.. .. what? im not biased

1:12 didn’t know spark had 50K to spend💀 Edit:wow! This is the first time a UTTP bot has attacked me! I feel honored. Anyway bro, I’d like to talk to you about Minecraft. Last year, I raided the mc live discord. Wanna help me do it again?

WERE STILL LOOKIN FOR THAT 50K ANTIMATION 1:16

I do agree that the film’s poster and marketing does make it feel similar to _How to Train Your Dragon_ but it’s actually based on a book by Cornelia Funke. As for the movie, it was alright, but nothing Fantastic and it doesn’t help that the Rat Characters who help out our heroes including Lola Graytail, were entirely written out in the film so it’s best to just stick with the original book.

holy sh- something inside of me just broke while watching this video lol - 10-year-old me probably build their whole personality around the Dragonrider book - I was obsessed with it. I now remember why I never wanted to watch this movie and it seems to be even worse than I thought omg. To cope, here are some plot facts from the book, that make the story 1000 times more compelling: Firedrakes name in (at least the original German version of the book) is Lung and he is described as this really majestic silver dragon living on moonlight, breathing blue fire and only being able to fly at night. The furry sidekick is called Schwefelfell, which I would translate to brimstone-fur (?) and she is a Kobold, which are these tiny, furry, and probably quite smelly, cranky creatures that live with dragons and love to forage for stinky mushrooms and complain. I think its suuper weird how curvy/girly her design is in the movie- she is supposed to be a tough little creature, you know? The city in which they crash is Venice in the books and there are some cool scenes about sneaking through the canals at night. Ben is a homeless orphan who decided to join the other two on their journey because he admires the dragon and would love to help (he is like this really pure and adventurous type of guy that learns to stand up for protecting the magical wildlife) Nettlebrand and Twigleg are both homunculi in the books, there were all created by some evil alchemist to hunt dragons / serve Nettlebrand (and there were some nice hero/villain parallels between the silver dragon and the evil ginormous artificial golden dragon). Who was one of the most intimidating villains of my childhood btw. Arghhh. this movie robbed everyone of so many great arcs and scenes and characters. There was this whole infiltration/spy thing going on with Twigleg and an Aviator-Rat, who rode a tiny biplane. The explorer and his family they meet in the desert were actually well written and had some really nice takes on protecting (magical) wildlife and giving Ben a new family in the end. There were more dragons in the Himalayas at the end (yes, Lung gets a love-interest + baby dragons in the sequel) And the finale had some awesome creative takes on how to defeat the indestructible golden dragon (because Lung could spit fire the whole time, Nettlebrands Scales were just too tough) gosh, I love this book and its two sequels an unnormal amount and I wish they had done them justice because they would have made a great movie-adaptation.

I know I already posted this in the Shorts, but I'm gonna say it again. I remember my dad read the book to us when my sisters and I were kids, and I reread it again years later when I was in a “xenofiction journey story” phase due to writing my own. I reread it and really enjoyed it. I never saw the movie, but I heard from the author, Cornelia Funke herself, that it was awful, and she had zero creative control over what they did to her story. They couldn’t even get the Pakistanis right and just turned them into offensive stereotypes. I hate Firedrake’s design here. He looks nothing like the majestic silver dragon on the cover and instead looks like one of those Dino (pronounced as "dee-noh") toys. He wasn't a pathetic loser who couldn't breathe fire at all, he *was* able to breathe fire, and BLUE fire at that, in the book and he was only able to fly at night under a full moon because he was a silver dragon. They did Nettlebrand dirty and turned him into a joke, and Ben was (if I recall correctly) a lot younger in the book, and he wasn't this selfish jackass who wanted money. Also, why is it even set in modern times? Why do they all have smart phones and IPads? The book was set seeimingly around the same year the book was published. Twigleg was able to communicate with his master by magic images in water if I recall correctly. And where the eff are the rat characters Lola and Greytail? The dragons never went to war with the humans, they hid themselves and waited for Firedrake to return. Lola was the rat who warned the dragons that the humans were coming, while Gilbert Greytail provided our heroes with a map to the Himalayas where the Rim of Heaven was. It sucks because book-to-movie adaptations are rare. When you’re a writer, chances are very slim of your comics, graphic novels, or books getting a film or TV show adaptation, and a faithful one at that, since most people working in the film industry nowadays, whether in Hollywood or streaming services, don't care about respecting the fans and the vision of the original creators, apparently. I imagine it's every writer’s dream to see one of their books or comics, a piece of art that they’ve slaved over for years, get adapted to film or TV. So as an aspiring writer myself who may not ever get to see one of my WIPs adapted to screen (if I ever finish and publish them), it pisses me off whenever a talented or world-beloved writer or novelist gets their book adapted to a movie or TV show, only for the people or studio to lack any respect for their creativity and vision. Instead, they shit all over the source material and change everything about the characters, from physical appearances to personalities and/or backstories, they change the lore, the worldbuilding, the messages, and just do whatever the hell they want because “It’s OUR movie, not YOUR book”. Um, okay, then what’s the point of making a film adaptation of a book if you’re just going to write your own crap instead?? Ugh. Some artistic creative liberties may be necessary for formatting a book or comic to a different visual medium, but not to the point when the characters and world, themes, messages, and story end up resembling the source material *in name only.*

In a future video, I'd love to see you cover shows that were cancelled despite having good ratings. Cartoon Network is littered with them with Megas XLR, and Sym-Bionic Titan.

6:06 The bad dragon line killed me 🤣

As someone who writes and who loves animation, something that I am genuinely afraid of is that one day all my dreams might come true, and I'll write a book that gets adapted into a film...only to then have my intellectual property stolen from me and turned into complete garbage by greedy people who value profit over good storytelling. I know it might seem arrogant of me to think this could happen at all. Realistically I'll be lucky if over a handful of people even read any of my writing. But in the dream/nightmare scenario it's really terrifying and I think that regardless of how successful any of us ever actually become, it's a thought that stops a lot of creatives. We all want to be successful, but we're afraid of becoming too successful because there are a lot of companies that don't actually value artistic vision and who will take something that someone is really passionate about and turn it into something nobody cares about. Or even worse, something everyone hates. And it's so sad, because so many book adaptations that get butchered come from books that are very good.

There was a dark fantasy animated film called “Dragon Riders” (also called ‘Battle Oasis’) made by the guy who also made the 2020 Asylum film “Homeward” and the 2023 animated “Little Mermaid” abomination.

This movie is the only reason I can't honesty call Raya & The Last Dragon the worst animated dragon movie of 2020

If i had a nickel when spark made a DreamWorks ripoff movie video like a httyd shameless ripoff, i would have 2 nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice

Bad Dragon, e6... My man's just giving in to the allegations now, huh?

I honestly don't know why movie makers do this to book authors. Like why the heck would you take something than make a movie whinny about another more successful series? Lessons to be learn here if you a author. Do your research of movie companies asking to do your book. Be part of it and if they say no to you. tell them to buzz off.

To be clear, the book was great! I loved it as a kid and this movie is an absolute disgrace to the book. Infact, the "can't breathe fire or fly" thing just straight up wasn't in the book at all. I imagine it was just added in because the writers knew there was no reason for firedrake to car about the human boy in this bastardized plot

Could Somone get rid of the bots that say “My FaRtS are bEtTeR ThAn SabErspArkS,” and, “my cOnteNt is bEtTeR.” It’s annoying af.

"How to Tame a Dragon" was the Dutch title of "How to Train Your Dragon".

Wait… I read this book as a child and they made a terrible movie out of it?!

I remember reading Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. Around 2005 I think. I don't remember the plot, but the cover art was gorgeous enough to leave an impression. Funke also wrote the Inkheart series.

If I had a nickel for every time a great book about dragon riders got a bad adaptation, I'd have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice!

The book is good, and it's sad to see how it got butchered. Nettlebrand's origin story was much better, too - iirc, he was created by a sorceror/alchemist to kill dragons because their body parts made extremely potent magical ingredients, and he hunted them to near extinction (he might have killed his creator, too, or just outlived him). I don't think the dragons were all "Let's go to war with the humans!" either, more "eh, they can't find us, and even if they do, we can deal with it" and Firedrake was the only one willing to actually leave to search for the Rim of Heaven. I think Ben was just straight up a street orphan, and he went with Firedrake and Sorrel because he also wanted to find someplace he could call home.

Honestly after Sir Patrick Stewart was the poop emoji.....I assumed nothing was off the table for roles he would take.

OFC they made the furry sidekick THICC for some reason (we all know the reason).

I loved the book as a kid, so when I found this… thing on Netflix, a part of me died. Seriously, Cornelia Funke's writing is so good, this movie doesn't deserve to be connected to it. God, what did they do to my boy Lung! Though I do have to agree that Nettlebrand's design is quite well done. Why did they give him an Ipad though…

I swear. Patrick Stewart is on a job to be in as many movies he is overqualified for as possible. He is to animation what Tim Curry was to live action.

I'm here to stop anyone from saying the "bro fell off" joke.

Man I haven't seen Desolation of Smaug in years. Forgot how cool Benedict Cumberbatch was in that movie.

This movie adaptation... is TERRIBLE! It is an insult to the book, which was very good! I hate every bit of this movie! And actually, the dragon in the book was called Lung, not Firedrake. And Nettlebrand... He wasn't a dragon made of rusty metal. He was a wingless dragon with golden scales! I say, read the book and ignore the movie. This is the best you can do! Sorrow... is avtually named Sulphur Fur (I go with the german names, I don't know how they are named in english) and she is a goblin, not a brownie. All in all, the characters are so out of character, it hurts! There is so much wrong with this movie, god I am ranting again...

Me: Mommmm I want to watch HTTYD Mom: We have HTTYD at home HTTYD at home:

Ngl, the brownie looks cute!

8:45 Brownies are in fact a thing in mythology. According to google they come from Scottish and English folklore. They are creatures who reside in barns or houses and well, were like little housekeepers who did chores in secrecy to humans. Their appearance varies from my understanding, sometimes they look like little hobgoblins, but in some illustrations I've seen they do in fact look like furry animal like humanoids. Mythology experts correct me If I'm wrong.

I'm glad so many people appreciate the original book. I still have my signed hardcore. I got into Funke's books in my twenties. The Inkheart trilogy is my favorite, of course. I feel so bad for her that her great book was turned into this crap fest of a movie. At least with the Inkheart movie, Cornelia was heavily involved. So even though it's not a perfect adaptation of the book, it's still incredibly fun with a great cast. My fiance has never read the book, but he really likes the movie. For anyone interested, another decent film adaptation of one of her books is The Thief Lord. Definitely read the book, though.

10:57: The Wyvern from Sonic Frontiers isn’t exactly a dragon, but it’s way more badass

Having very fond memories of listening to the amazing audiobook by Cornelia Funke as a wee lad, this one hurts my soul

This movie honestly is a falier in every way. Including art direction. Way did they make Firedrake so darn round? He has no spines, the riders are just going to get ripped off his back with the littlest amount of wind. They actually bring up the fact that Ben and Sorral have to tie themselves to Firedrake's spines so they don't full off. Also making Firedrake basically a child. Firedrake is a young dragon. But he is not a child. He is smart and confident, but also quiet and contemplative. He is naive of the world, and the other magical creatures within it. But he is not childish. Ben is a orphan that fate brought together with Firedrake and Sorral. He willingly helps them out, and even trys to buy them time when the building they are hiding in is about to be demolished. But Firedrake can not bring himself to abandon the boy, and so scares the construction workers off. From there Firedrake gives Ben the choice to join them if he truely has no one that will miss him. And from that point on Ben is in it to help his friends. Including putting himself on the line to ask the Dijin about the location of the Rim of Haven. As the other two could not ask being other magical creatures. Sorral is amazing and hilarious in the book. She is a grump who loves her mushrooms, and eating in general. She hates hights and flying but she loves Firedrake, so goes with him to help him on his silly quest. And she plays an important role in bringing down Nettlebrand.

The redeeming quality of this movie adaptatation based on a 1997 novel was that Cosgrove-Hall stalwart, Jimmy Hibbert voices Twigleg.

They look so derpy. It makes me chuckle.

To be fair the og HTTYD is absolutely *nothing* like the HTTYD books, the storyline isn't even close to the books

Cornelia Funk was my fave childhood author! Still is since I still really like her books just I haven't re-read them in a long while. I feel like I heard of this one but I read Inkheart, Inkspell, (there's a third one Inkdeath but I haven't read it yet), and the thief lord. Her writing is very good and I suggest anyone to pick up her books.

It kind of reminds me of what happened with Carnosaur, Roger Corman's Jurassic Park ripoff. Carnosaur was (very loosely) based on a book that came out six years before the book version of Jurassic Park, but the movie adaptation was made purely as a Jurassic Park cash-in.

That joke is too late.Have you seen miss Kobe Ashley's dragon maid?They made that joke alreand we don't know i'm talking about that's an anime

Dragons animation be like

Funny thing is, in the back of the original book it says that the book was written to be a tv show, but the writer decided against it once she had finished

Shout out to the Chronicles of Eidolon for also ripping off Dragon Rider. Boy named Ben, dragon, cat with healing licks, and another fairy critter with "twig" in the name. Cornelia can't catch a break :(

I dunno when this movie came out but I saw it on TV last week and immediately thought "this is awful... why hasnt saber talked about this?" And here we are

And the number of R34 fanart for this movie immediately skyrockets. Thanks Saber.

I remember loving the "Dragon rider" book as a kid I was really dissapointed with the movie. Maybe its memory serving me wrong but I recall the story more magical, not full of the technology stuff in the movie, really caught me off gaurd. I also remember the trials with the jinn and creatures being big learning and bonding moments for the characters and I think Ben was younger in my mind so I forgave him for making so many mistakes and acting immature, the movie makes him look like a teenager though. It's a shame when adaptations make these changes that don't improve the source material in anyway, it could just be my memory being hazy since I read it so long ago but I'm 99% sure tinder wasn't in a childrens book XD

Dragons animation be like:

The book is Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. It’s pretty good. Too bad they didn’t stay true to it.

Patrick Stewart might want to switch agents. This is the second time I have seen him roped into a sub-bar kids animated movie.

"Humonculus" literally means "tiny human".

The book was better. Despite it being long and the format of the paragraphs being close together. This movie, despite me watching somewhat of it, took liberties for sure and shorten stuff from the book. Although I haven't seen thr full movie I didn't see the mouse plot and how they got the info to find the Himalayan to mountains. Or wasnit the Tibet Mountains...? Then there was the whole thing of there being an... archeologist dad... Yeah stuff was missing and this movie was an abridged version that became it's own thing. Just without the important things and became a... generic movie? Yeah. Movie-wise, I guess a rip-off? Book-wise it was its own thing.

Don't care how shameless this movie is, I ain't pulling out of Sorrel.

How the heck did they see that dragon on the cover of the book, and then end up with that goofy ass ugly shit of a dragon in the movie?!

Oh god, CONSTANTIN?! The same company that made all of the live action Resident Evil "adaptations"?!

The argument of "it's just a kid's movie" is fucking stupid. As if children don't deserve a good movie. Also, kids aren't (all) stupid, and won't all enjoy a bad movie just because of bright colors or dumb but 'cute' characters. Edit to add: and all the meta-jokes are not targeted at kids. They will likely not pick up on them in a vacuum.

This movie was basically the Eragon film all over again.

Two thing: 1. The poster also says "By Fireworks" 2. All the Human Characters look like they are from that Cryptoland Add or point of the mask is with little eyes

10:08 They look like the characters from _The Owl House_ when their pupils shrink.

this is so sad because I remember my dad reading the book to me as a kid, and I really liked it. I thought it was really cool, and remember it being different from this in certain ways. Seems like they really ruined it.

There is also a Rippof of How to Train Your Dragon called Dragons Rescue Riders.

This unlocked some long forgotten memory of Dragon Rider being one of my favorite books. I read it so many times as a kid. I loved it so much. Sad to see how much they butchered this movie. Loved Dragon Rider books and How to Train your Dragon books, but sad to see how much they butchered this movie.

1:53 Actually he was King Goobot in Jimmy Neutron movie, in case you forgot

I read that book in elementary school. This movie is sad...

SABER not you naming the Monosodium Glutamate site! GASP!!

It's implied in the book that Sorrel (the furry girl) and Ben (the human loser) have some hints of romantic feelings for each other. yeah...

The MSG reference at the end was just *Chef’s kiss*!