How To Train Your Dragon
In anticipation of the release of How to Train Your Dragon 2, I thought maybe I should see the first How to Train Your Dragon. I headed to the Redbox website and reserved a copy to view. The movie was originally released in 2010 by DreamWorks Animation and can now be found on Blu-Ray and DVD
The story is set in a Viking village called the Island of Berk. The island is regularly attacked by dragons, and all Vikings strive to be great dragon killers…well, all except one. Hiccup, who has more brain than brawn, is happiest using his mind and hands to invent contraptions to catch the dragons. He strives to be a great Viking like his father, the chief of the village.
During an attack, by the dragons, Hiccup uses one of his inventions and actually nets one. The dragon is an elusive and quite mysterious Night Fury. Once Hiccup tracks down the place where the dragon fell from the sky, he finally has his opportunity to kill a dragon and prove himself to his father and the village. But alas, once he looks into the eyes of the dragon he can’t bring himself to kill it so he releases it from the net.
Hiccup ends up building a trust and friendship with the Night Fury, which he calls Toothless. (By the way, Toothless is anything BUT toothless.) The more Hiccup interacts and observes Toothless the more he realizes that different dragons have different likes and dislikes, the same as humans. He learns that becoming friends with dragons is as easy as learning the things they enjoy. However, trying to convince the other Vikings that they could be friends with the dragons is a whole other challenge.
This story teaches the importance of taking the time to learn about others. They may
become your good friends if you just take the time to get to know them.
I would like to give a warning to parents. If you have a sensitive child or one that worries about monsters, I would wait until they get a little older to see this movie. I originally thought this movie would not be good for a child under 5 years old but I discussed it with a good friend and fellow blogger, Crystal Paschal, author of Mom for Less. She has two boys ages 5 and 3. She said that both her boys had seen it (although not in a theater) and didn’t have any issues. My concerns came from the beginning of the movie when the dragons were attacking the village and the Vikings are trying to kill the dragons. I thought that could be scary and cause nightmares to a young child. Crystal suggested that boys might be less frightened by all the action. Then I remembered that my youngest daughter was watching Jurassic Park (at home with the lights on) when she was 3 years old so maybe I was being overly cautious.
Have your children seen How to Train Your Dragon? How old were they and did it give them nightmares? I would love to hear about your family’s experience and I’m sure others would too.
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