Not very often does a animated film come along that I honestly feel like I can enjoy as much as my children do. How to Tame a Dragon is just that movie. So inspiring, open and hopeful, this is a movie that has positive role models for every child, boys and girls alike. Set in a mythical Viking village our young hero, Hiccup, is the geeky son of the village leader. Obviously not living up to the cultural standards of his peers, Hiccup spends his time apprenticing a blacksmith making weapons, sharpening swords and creating his own ingenious weapons to help rid their village of their primary foe, the dragons. When one of his inventions actually brings down one of the most elusive breeds he slowly befriends the creature and learns that his village has been going into their battle all wrong.
Everyone loves an underdog, every Disney film since Lion King tells us that. But what kid can’t identify with the feeling of not living up to their parent’s expectations? And doesn't every child know what it feels like to not be the best in the class? Hiccup is just enough of an outsider for us to identify with him. There are even strong female characters, a girl who can outrun and outfight the boys and is the class overachiever without being a goody-two shoes.
The end was inspiring enough to put me and my kids on the edge of our seats, cheering on Hiccup as if he were in the Super Bowl. Hiccup trains his dragon to an adorable cocker spaniel obedience, wins his cranky father’s approval, saves his village, and changes the way his community views their enemy, oh yeah, and wins the girl’s approval (it is a cartoon after all!). This was the first children’s animated movie I had seen in a long time that I felt gave my children a positive message they could comprehend in a format that they could appreciate. (“Up” may have won the Academy Award but it left my son and I in tears!)
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