BC Beat Kids

This article was written by Movie Girl

Well this week's selection for the kid's movies is probably one of the best series ever for kids to watch and believe it or not it is still one of my all time favorites even at my age now and I am glad that they finally added a third one last year.

How to Train Your Dragon is a 2010 American computer-animated action fantasy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures loosely based on the 2003 book of the same name by Cressida Cowell. The film was directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois from a screenplay by Will Davies, Sanders, and DeBlois, and stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, and Kristen Wiig. 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, a Night Fury, and with his chance at last of gaining the tribe's acceptance, he finds that he no longer wants to kill the dragon and instead befriends it.

How to Train Your Dragon premiered at the Gibson Amphitheater on March 21, 2010, and was released in the United States five days later on March 26. The film was a commercial success, earning nearly $500 million worldwide. It was also critically acclaimed, being praised for its animation, voice acting, writing, musical score, and 3D sequences. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score at the 83rd Academy Awards, but lost to Toy Story 3 and The Social Network, respectively. How to Train Your Dragon also won ten Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature.

Plot

The Viking village of Berk, located on a remote island, is attacked frequently by dragons, which take livestock, damage property and endanger lives. Hiccup, the awkward fifteen-year-old son of the village chieftain, Stoick the Vast, is deemed too scrawny and weak to fight the dragons, so he instead creates mechanical devices under his apprenticeship with Gobber, the village blacksmith, though Hiccup's inventions often backfire. During one attack, Hiccup uses a bolas launcher to shoot down a Night Fury, a dangerous and rare dragon of which little is known, but no one believes him, so he searches for the fallen dragon on his own. He finds the dragon in the forest, tangled in his net, but cannot bring himself to kill him, and instead sets him free.

Stoick assembles a fleet to find the dragons' nest, and enters Hiccup in a dragon-fighting class taught by Gobber with the other teenagers, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Astrid, a tough Viking girl on whom Hiccup has a crush, to train while he is away. Hiccup returns to the forest and finds the Night Fury still there, unable to fly because Hiccup's bolas accidentally tore off half of his tail fin. Hiccup befriends the dragon by offering fish and giving him the name 'Toothless', after his retractable teeth. Feeling guilty for crippling Toothless, Hiccup designs a harness rig and a prosthetic fin that allows the dragon to fly, but only with Hiccup riding, controlling the prosthetic.

Hiccup learns about dragon behavior as he works with Toothless, and is able to subtly and nonviolently subdue the captive dragons during training, earning him the admiration of his peers but causing Astrid to become increasingly jealous and suspicious of his behavior. Meanwhile, Stoick's fleet arrives home unsuccessful, though Stoick is cheered by Hiccup's unexpected success in dragon training. Hiccup is judged the winner of his training class, and must kill a dragon for his final exam. He tries to run away with Toothless, only to be followed by Astrid in the forest. Hiccup takes Astrid for a flight to demonstrate that the dragon is friendly. When Astrid reminds Hiccup of the exam, Toothless unexpectedly takes the pair to the dragons' nest, where they discover a gargantuan dragon named the Red Death. The smaller dragons continuously feed it live food in lieu of being eaten themselves; the two realize that the dragons have been attacking Berk under duress. Astrid wishes to tell the village about their discovery, but Hiccup advises against it to protect Toothless.

Back at the village the next day, Hiccup faces a captive Monstrous Nightmare dragon in his final exam. Instead of killing him, however, he tries to subdue him in an attempt to prove that dragons can be peaceful. When Stoick inadvertently angers the dragon into attacking, Toothless arrives to protect Hiccup, but is captured by the Vikings in the process. Hiccup accidentally reveals to Stoick that Toothless knows the location of the dragons' nest. Stoick disowns his son, and sets off for the nest with Toothless chained to the lead ship as a guide. After the Vikings have left, Hiccup is devastated, but Astrid prompts him to come to the realization that he spared Toothless out of compassion and empathy, not weakness. Hiccup then regains his confidence to go after Toothless and save him along with Astrid and the other teens.

The Viking attackers locate and break open the dragon's nest, causing most of the dragons to fly out, but also awakening the Red Death, which soon overwhelms the Vikings. Hiccup, Astrid, and their fellow pupils fly in, riding Berk's captive training dragons, providing cover fire, and distracting the Red Death while Hiccup frees Toothless. Hiccup almost drowns while doing so, but Stoick saves them both, reconciling with his son. Toothless and Hiccup destroy the Red Death by puncturing its wing membranes and then tricking the beast into making a plunge from which it cannot pull up after shooting a fireball into its mouth. Hiccup is injured in the fight, losing his lower left leg. Hiccup awakens back on Berk, finding that Gobber has fashioned him a prosthesis, and he is now admired by his village, including Astrid, who kisses him. Berk begins a new era, with humans and dragons living in harmony.

Cast

Jay Baruchel as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the awkward son of Stoick the Vast.

America Ferrera as Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup's fellow student in dragon training and his love interest.

Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast, the chieftain of Berk and Hiccup's father.

Craig Ferguson as Gobber the Belch, Berk's blacksmith, a close friend of Stoick's and teacher of the tribe's young dragon-training recruits.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs Ingerman, an enthusiastic youth knowledgeable in dragon lore which he often relates in role-playing game style.

Jonah Hill as Snotlout Jorgenson, one of Hiccup's dragon-training classmates. Snotlout is brash, overconfident, and fairly unintelligent, but reliable.

T.J. Miller and Kristen Wiig as Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston, a pair of quarrelsome twins.

David Tennant as Spitelout, Snotlout's father.

Robin Atkin Downes as Ack, a blond-bearded Viking.

Philip McGrade as Starkard.

Kieron Elliott as Hoark the Haggard, a Viking with a knotted beard.

Ashley Jensen as Phlegma the Fierce, a female Viking who works as a botanist at the School of Dragons.

Movie Girl say's: Well what can I say about this movie that has never been said by anyone before. Like I said earlier this is one of my all time favorite movie series for kids and even still as an adult i watch even tho I don't have kids but I do have a significant other and it drive's her nuts when i put this series on. I would highly recommend this series for anyone who has a child or even if you don't and you just want to watch a great kid's movie. I will be giving this a 5 out of 5*'s.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a 2014 American computer-animated action fantasy film loosely based on the book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the sequel to the 2010 computer-animated film How to Train Your Dragon and the second installment in the trilogy. The film was written and directed by Dean DeBlois, and stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, and Kristen Wiig, along with Cate Blanchett, Djimon Hounsou, and Kit Harington joining the cast. The film takes place five years after the first film, featuring Hiccup and his friends as young adults as they meet Valka, Hiccup's long-lost mother, and Drago Bludvist, a madman who wants to conquer the world.

DeBlois, who co-directed the first film, agreed to return to direct the second film on the condition that he would be allowed to turn it into a trilogy. He cited The Empire Strikes Back and My Neighbor Totoro as his main inspirations, with the expanded scope of The Empire Strikes Back being particularly influential. The entire voice cast from the first film returned, and Cate Blanchett and Djimon Hounsou signed on to voice Valka and Drago, respectively. DeBlois and his creative team visited Norway and Svalbard to give them ideas for the setting. Composer John Powell returned to score the film. How to Train Your Dragon 2 benefited from advances in animation technology and was DreamWorks' first film to use scalable multicore processing and the studio's new animation and lighting software.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2014, and was released in the United States on June 13. The film received largely positive reviews for its animation, voice acting, musical score, action sequences, emotional depth, and darker, more serious tone compared to its predecessor. It grossed over $621 million worldwide, making it the 12th-highest-grossing film of 2014. It earned less than its predecessor at the US box office, but performed better internationally. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, losing to Big Hero 6. The film won six Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature.

Plot

Five years after the Viking villagers of Berk and the dragons made peace, they live together in harmony. Hiccup and his dragon, Toothless the Night Fury (presumably the last of his kind) discover and map unexplored lands. Now 20 years old, he is being pressed by his father, Stoick the Vast, to succeed him as chieftain, although Hiccup feels unsure he is ready.

While investigating a burnt forest, Hiccup and Astrid discover the remains of a fort encased in ice and meet a dangerous group of dragon-trappers. One of the trappers, Eret, blames the two for his fort's destruction and attempts to capture their dragons for the trappers' leader, Drago Bludvist, who plots to capture and brainwash all of the dragons and make them his soldiers. Hiccup and Astrid escape and warn Stoick about the dragon army Drago is amassing. Stoick orders the villagers to fortify the island and prepare for battle. Hiccup, however, refuses to believe war is inevitable, and flies off to talk to Drago. Stoick stops him, explaining that he once met Drago at a gathering of chiefs, where Drago had offered to protect them from dragons if they pledged to serve him; when they refused, he had his dragons attack them, with Stoick the sole survivor. Undeterred, Hiccup flies off with Toothless in search of Drago to try to reason with him.

They meet a dragon-rider named Valka, who is revealed to be Hiccup's long-lost mother. She explains that she, like her son, could not bring herself to kill dragons. After being carried off during a dragon raid, she spent 20 years rescuing dragons from Drago's traps and bringing them to an island nest created out of ice by a gigantic alpha dragon called a "Bewilderbeast", which is able to control smaller dragons. Stoick and his lieutenant Gobber track Hiccup to the nest, where Stoick discovers his wife is alive. Meanwhile, Astrid and the other riders force Eret to lead them to Drago, who captures them and, learning of Berk's dragons, sends his armada to attack the dragon nest. He also attempts to have Eret executed, but Astrid's dragon, Stormfly, flies in and saves him, getting herself captured in the process. A grateful Eret later helps her and the rest of the riders escape.

At the nest, a battle ensues between the dragon-riders, Valka's dragons, and Drago and his armada, during which Drago reveals he has his own Bewilderbeast to challenge the alpha. The two colossal dragons fight, ending with Drago's Bewilderbeast killing its opponent and becoming the new alpha. Drago's Bewilderbeast seizes control of all the adult dragons, which hypnotically obey. Hiccup tries to persuade Drago to end the violence, but Drago orders him killed. Toothless, under the Bewilderbeast's influence, approaches Hiccup and launches a plasma bolt toward him, but Stoick pushes Hiccup out of the away and is killed instead. The Bewilderbeast momentarily relinquishes control of Toothless, but Hiccup drives Toothless away in a fit of despair. Drago maroons Hiccup and the others on the island and rides Toothless, again under the control of the Bewilderbeast, to lead his army to conquer Berk. Stoick is given a Viking funeral and Hiccup, now having lost both his father and dragon, is unsure what to do. Valka encouragingly tells him he alone can unite humans and dragons. Inspired by her words and his father's, Hiccup returns to Berk to stop Drago.

The dragon-riders fly baby dragons, immune to the Bewilderbeast's control, back to Berk. They find that Drago has attacked the village and taken control of its dragons. Hiccup confronts Drago and the brainwashed Toothless while the other riders distract the Bewilderbeast. Hiccup frees Toothless from the Bewilderbeast's control, much to Drago's surprise. Hiccup and Toothless briefly separate Drago from the Bewilderbeast and confront Drago on the ground, but the Bewilderbeast attacks them, encasing them in ice. However, Toothless blasts away the ice, revealing that both Hiccup and he are unharmed. Toothless then challenges the Bewilderbeast, shooting it in the face repeatedly, which breaks its control over the other dragons, who side with Toothless as the new alpha. All the dragons repeatedly fire at the Bewilderbeast until Toothless fires a final massive blast, breaking its left tusk. Defeated, the Bewilderbeast retreats with Drago on his back, causing the latter to drown.

The Vikings and dragons celebrate their victory and Hiccup is made chieftain of Berk. Afterwards, Berk undergoes repairs, with Hiccup feeling secure that its dragons can defend it.

Cast

Cate Blanchett and Djimon Hounsou, who joined the cast as Valka and Drago Bludvist, respectively, attending the film's premiere at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival

Jay Baruchel as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the son of the Viking chief Stoick the Vast and Valka.

America Ferrera as Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup's fiancee.

Cate Blanchett as Valka, Stoick's wife, Hiccup's long-lost mother and a dragon rescuer.

Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast, chieftain of the Viking tribe of Berk, Hiccup's father and Valka's husband.

Craig Ferguson as Gobber the Belch, Stoick's closest friend and a seasoned warrior.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs Ingerman.

Jonah Hill as Snotlout Jorgenson

T.J. Miller and Kristen Wiig as Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston, fraternal twins.

Djimon Hounsou as Drago Bludvist, a ruthless warlord and dragon hunter who seeks to take over the world with a dragon army.

Kit Harington as Eret, a dragon trapper who sells captured dragons to Drago.

Movie Girl say's: Well what can I say it was another fantastic Dragon movie but in case some people thought that they were missing some of the story between #1 and #2 you probably were if you had never seen the series Dragon's riders of berk and Dragon's defenders of Berk as well as the Netflix series Dragon's race to the edge. Now the reason why I brought those up right now is because they do fill in the whole story from the first movie to the second. I would recommend this movie again to anyone with children or for themselves if they just want a great movie series to watch. Now I will be giving this one 41/2*'s out of 5*'s only cause there is one scene in this movie I don't like.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is a 2019 computer-animated fantasy film loosely based on the book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell, produced by DreamWorks Animation with Dentsu and Fuji Television, and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) and the third and final installment in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. Written and directed by Dean DeBlois, the film stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Craig Ferguson, and F. Murray Abraham. The film's plot follows Hiccup seeking a dragon utopia called "The Hidden World" while coming to terms with Toothless' new bond with a female Light Fury.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World was released on January 3, 2019, in Australia, and on February 22 in the United States. The film marks the first DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by Universal Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics for its animation, voice acting, and weight of the conclusion. It grossed over $521 million worldwide, becoming the fifth highest-grossing animated film of 2019, as well as Universal's highest-grossing animated film not to be produced by Illumination. At the 92nd Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Animated Feature, losing to Toy Story 4.

Plot

One year after the events of the previous film, Hiccup, Toothless and their fellow dragon-riders continue to rescue captured dragons in order to bring them to Berk and its bustling dragon and human utopia. Their efforts have resulted in the island becoming overpopulated with dragons. In response, Hiccup desires to find the "Hidden World", a dragon safe haven spoken of by his late father Stoick. Meanwhile, a white female Fury dragon, held captive by warlords, is given to infamous dragon hunter Grimmel the Grisly as bait for him to capture Toothless for the warlords' use as an alpha.

Toothless discovers the white Fury, (a new species which Astrid dubs a "Light Fury") in the woods, and the two become enchanted with each other until the Light Fury, sensing Hiccup's nearby presence, flees. Hiccup and Tuffnut later discover Grimmel's dragon traps in the area. Grimmel visits Hiccup that night demanding he hand over Toothless, but Hiccup has prepared an ambush for him; Grimmel escapes, burning down Hiccup's house and most of Berk in the process. Hiccup then rallies the citizens and dragons to leave Berk on a quest to find the Hidden World and safety from dragon hunters.

Mid-journey, the Berkians discover an island on which they initially plan simply to rest, but soon begin to settle there, dubbing it “New Berk”. Seeing Toothless' inability to fly solo hindering his growing relationship with the Light Fury, Hiccup rebuilds an automatic tail for him. Upon receiving it, Toothless flies off, meeting the Light Fury on his own and flying with her to an unknown land. Valka, on a scouting patrol, notices Grimmel's approaching army and reports back to Hiccup. Hiccup and the dragon riders head to capture Grimmel, but fall into his trap and barely escape. Ruffnut is captured, but irritates Grimmel until he lets her go and secretly follows her to the Berkians' new location.

Hiccup, Astrid and her dragon Stormfly, searching for Toothless, find the Hidden World and see Toothless and the Light Fury leading the dragons there as a happily mated couple. When the two humans are soon discovered, Toothless rescues them and returns them to the Berkians, with Hiccup realizing his people would be intruders and unsafe in the Hidden World. Suddenly, Grimmel appears and captures Toothless and the Light Fury (who followed Toothless). Toothless' alpha status allows Grimmel to capture the rest of Berk's dragons by threatening to kill the Light Fury if any dragon or Berkian attacks.

With Astrid's encouragement, Hiccup sets out with the dragon riders to stop Grimmel and his army. Gliding on wingsuits, they catch Grimmel's army off-guard, igniting a battle, and freeing the dragons. With help from Stormfly, Hiccup frees Toothless, while Grimmel drugs the Light Fury into obeying him. Hiccup and Toothless give chase, but Grimmel tranquilizes Toothless midair causing the dragon to fall helplessly. Hiccup, realizing he cannot rescue Toothless alone, frees the Light Fury and implores her to save Toothless. Hiccup is fully prepared to sacrifice himself in order to save Toothless as both he and Grimmel plummet toward the sea. The Light Fury, however, returns to save Hiccup, while Grimmel falls into his watery grave.

Back on the island, Toothless and Hiccup fully realize that dragons will never be safe in the human world. Hiccup bids an emotional farewell to Toothless as all the Berkians set their dragons free to live in the Hidden World, the Light Fury leading the dragons away and Toothless following them. Sometime later, Hiccup and Astrid marry and become the chieftains of New Berk.

Five years later, Toothless and the Light Fury have mated and given birth to three hybrid dragon fledglings named Night Lights. Hiccup, Astrid, and their two children sail across the sea to visit them at the edge of the Hidden World. After introducing his son and daughter to his old friend, Hiccup and Astrid take their children flying on Toothless and Stormfly, accompanied by the Light Fury and their offspring. Hiccup vows that until humankind is ready to coexist peacefully with dragons, the dragons will stay hidden while the Berkians guard their secret.

Voice cast

Jay Baruchel as Hiccup, the son of Stoick the Vast and Valka, the newly crowned Viking chief of Berk, and the one who initially trained the dragons.

A.J. Kane as young Hiccup.

America Ferrera as Astrid, an excellent fighter; she is Hiccup's betrothed fiancée.

F. Murray Abraham as Grimmel the Grisly, an infamous dragon hunter who is responsible for the near-extinction of the Night Furies.

Cate Blanchett as Valka, a dragon rescuer and Hiccup's mother, now living on Berk after twenty years of isolation.

Craig Ferguson as Gobber the Belch, a seasoned warrior, blacksmith and dragon dentist.

Jonah Hill as Snotlout Jorgenson, a brash, overconfident, and fairly unintelligent, but a reliable friend of Hiccup.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs Ingerman, an enthusiastic friend of Hiccup knowledgeable in dragon lore which he often relates in a role-playing game style.

Kristen Wiig as Ruffnut Thorston, Tuffnut's fraternal twin who is friends with Hiccup.

Justin Rupple as Tuffnut Thorston, Ruffnut's fraternal twin who is friends with Hiccup. He was previously voiced by T.J. Miller in the last two preceding movies and the TV series.

Kit Harington as Eret, a former dragon hunter who used to work for Drago Bludvist who has joined the dragon riders after the events of the second film.

Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast, the late father of Hiccup and Berk's previous chieftain, as seen in flashbacks.

Julia Emelin as Griselda the Grievous, an aggressive warlord who works with Grimmel.

Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Ragnar the Rock, an incompetent warlord who works with Grimmel.

James Sie as Chaghatai Khan, a less aggressive and stubborn warlord who works with Grimmel.

David Tennant as Ivar the Whitless, a dragon trapper who works for the Warlords.

Tennant also voices Spitelout Jorgenson, the father of Snotlout.

Robin Atkin Downes as Ack, a blond-bearded Viking.

Kieron Elliot as Hoark, a Viking with a knotted beard.

Ashley Jensen as Phlegma the Fierce, a female Viking who works as a botanist at the School of Dragons.

Gideon Emery as Trapper

Movie Girl say's: Well I guess this conclude my Dragon's post as this is the third movie to the series and even though I kind of think that there will be a fourth one but hey who know's. Now i have to admit like i have said before I am kinda a Dragon nerd cause there was not one thing about any of this series that i had problem with other than Stoick being killed in the second movie by Toothless. But the fact that they had him in the third movie as Hiccup remember's about what his dad said when he was younger about the Hidden World of Dragons was really kind of cool in my mind. Well I would highly recommend this movie just like I did all the others in this series. I would give this movie a 5 out of 5*'s. I would give this whole series including the other parts of the series that I mentioned in number 2 a 10 out of 10*'s in total if I really could.