How to Train Your Dragon


              I am of the firm belief that animated movies are not only for children.  If you really listen to them, a lot are very cleverly written and can be enjoyed by everyone.  How to Train Your Dragon is one such film.  It is well written along with being cute but not overly so. 
                Hiccup is a Viking.  At least he lives in a land among Vikings.  His skills do not quite measure up to those around him.  At first he wants to be like everyone else and be able to kill the dragons that attack his village.  His father, the head of the village, does not believe in Hiccup’s dragon slaying skills and commands him to stay home during an attack.  Hiccup sneaks out and ends up wounding the one type of dragon no one has ever been able to see.  Of course as no one has seen the dragon, nobody believes Hiccup when he tries to tell them what he did.  Hiccup eventually comes across the injured dragon in the forest and discovers two things: he is unable to kill the dragon and it does not desire to kill him.  This begins the lesson that everything he has been taught about dragons is wrong.
                Upon returning home, anxious to tell his father he no longer wants to kill dragons, he finds his father has news of his own.  Insisting his father go first, Hiccup learns he is to be enrolled in dragon killing classes.  Of course Hiccup protests, but he has to go anyways.  While taking his classes, Hiccup figures out how to split his day between school and helping the injured dragon he has named Toothless.  As Hiccup helps Toothless, they become great friends.  Hiccup also discovers many things about dragons that help him excel in school without hurting any creatures.
                Of course Hiccup’s secret friendship is eventually discovered.  He gets into an unpleasant situation and Toothless comes to his rescue.  Then an even worse situation arises, but Hiccup along with his classmates, strive to make everything right again and show dragons can be friends.
               

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