# How To Train Your Dragon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870 "2010-05-26T20:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/1 "2010-05-26T20:32:48Z")
I have been meaning to see this since before it came out, and since I got an unexpected day off in the middle of the week, I finally got around to it today. Well worth the wait! It is beautifully made, and if you suspend your sense of reality, you can \*believe \*that there are dragons! (and I want one!) I shed a tear or 2 at the end, too. I’ll be buying this one when it’s available, but I am so glad I saw it first in 3D on the big screen. Anyone else see it & enjoy it as much as I did? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/2 "2010-05-26T20:36:35Z")
Yeah, I liked it. At the end, I leaned over to one of my friends and said “why do the Vikings have Scottish accents?” ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/3 "2010-05-26T20:47:27Z")
A great time with my sons watching that in 3D! We adored it, and the funny moments were indeed quite funny. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/4 "2010-05-26T20:48:12Z")
I work in a zoo, and my perspective may be a bit skewed… but I thought the movie raised some interesting points about the methods of, and reasons for, domestication. The prosthetic tail thingy felt a bit like an easy way out, making the injured dragon obliged to work with/for its traditional enemy. The movie also glossed over how the rest of the gang managed to tame and train their uninjured dragons, and so quickly. Those dragons were pretty much big scaly cats, I would have liked to see some more avian or reptilian characteristics. Yeah, some odd criticism maybe 🙂 It was enjoyable anyway. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/5 "2010-05-26T21:44:26Z")
Heh… I wondered about the Scottish accents myself, but I just pushed all the questions out of my mind and allowed myself to get lost in the beautiful animation and enjoyable story. I notices a lot of feline traits too, but there were canine elements there as well, in Toothless’ snarl when the (ADORABLE) tiny dragons were stealing his fish. The little dragon that cuddled up to Hiccup was too, too cute for words!! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/6 "2010-05-26T22:05:31Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Yeah, I liked it. > > At the end, I leaned over to one of my friends and said “why do the Vikings have Scottish accents?” I was wondering why the kids had \*American \*accents! Very cute film. Toothless was just\*\* too cute\*\*! I’d recommend the audiobooks if you’re interested. There’s a whole series and the plot is \*completely \*different, but they are really fun! (And read by David Tennant!) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/7 "2010-05-26T22:17:09Z")
I liked it, although I didn’t like the look of the Vikings very much. Toothless reminded me of [Stitch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stitch_(character)), from Lilo & Stitch. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/8 "2010-05-26T22:25:23Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Those dragons were pretty much big scaly cats, I would have liked to see some more avian or reptilian characteristics. Yeah. Toothless looks just like my cat – all black with yellow glowy eyes. I loved this movie. I was dying from the cute. I thought it was extremely well done. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/9 "2010-05-26T23:30:52Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Toothless reminded me of [Stitch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stitch_(character)), from Lilo & Stitch. The director, Chris Sanders, also directed, voiced & created the design for Stitch, so it’s not surprising they look similar. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/10 "2010-05-27T00:35:24Z")
I thought it was fun, but not as good as **Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs** , which was made by the same people, and is probably my favorite non-Pixar CGI movie. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/11 "2010-05-27T02:48:27Z")
I loved the film. I kept pointing out to my friend- look he’s using SCIENCE to overcome his problems! ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/12 "2010-05-27T03:44:42Z")
I loved it too. Toothless really did remind me of my cat, though. Especially when it toasted the ground to make a warm spot to sleep on! ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/13 "2010-05-27T03:50:37Z")
Did they ever explain why the Dark Fury dragons never take animals like the other dragons do? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/14 "2010-05-27T05:57:51Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Yeah. Toothless looks just like my cat – all black with yellow glowy eyes. > > I loved this movie. I was dying from the cute. I thought it was extremely well done. I loved it, too, and Toothless looks like my black cat! They look similar and have similar mannerisms. Another thing I loved, I actually felt like I was flying on the dragon. The animation and 3d effects were great. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/15 "2010-05-27T10:36:48Z")
I had a lot of fun with it. I wasn’t sure why it got 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, because I didn’t think it was bettor or worse than others of a similar genre, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have fun. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/16 "2010-05-27T11:27:53Z")
Yeah, Toothless was pretty much a dragon version of our Olive. My boyfriend and I thought it was hilarious. The 3d effects were awesome and the whole movie just left me feeling satisfied at the end. Loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/17 "2010-05-27T12:03:41Z")
I have a blast watching it. Animation-wise it looks dated, but the storyline is well executed and the production quality is high. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/18 "2010-05-27T13:38:03Z")
> [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](#): > > I have a blast watching it. Animation-wise it looks dated, but the storyline is well executed and the production quality is high. I’m just curious… how do you feel that the animation looks dated? I thought the animation was simply beautiful! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/19 "2010-05-27T13:42:43Z")
Saw it with the family and we all liked it. The flying scenes are nothing less than thrilling. Great action scenes and a good moral at the end. I loved the voice of the protagonist - a classic world-weary teenage smartass, but in a good way. I’d listen to him read the phone book. His maybe-girlfriend reminded of a young Eowyn. And yes, I wondered about the Scottish Vikings, too. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870/20 "2010-05-27T13:54:15Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I had a lot of fun with it. I wasn’t sure why it got 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, because I didn’t think it was bettor or worse than others of a similar genre, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have fun. Rotten Tomatoes marks movies on a simple “positive” vs. "negative’ review scale. Movies that score high tend to be ones that are broadly likable. A high score does not necessarily mean it is a work of genius - in fact, works of real genius are likey to create strong reactions, and some of those negative - but rather, that very few positively _disliked_ it. A movie that almost everyone thought “fun” is perfect for getting a high score. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-train-your-dragon/540870.md?page=2)