I’ve never been big on award shows, nor do I consider myself a movie buff. I admit that I have made bets on Oscar ballots, but I would be willing to bet on anything, as long as I can make it a competition among my family or friends. This year, however, I plan on following the Academy Awards with as much passion as I bring to family-night Scattergories. How to Train Your Dragon, reeling from its defeat at the Golden Globes, will most likely go head to head with Toy Story 3 for Best Animated Film. Benefitting greatly from the legacy of its predecessors, Toy Story 3, the finale of Disney-Pixar’s magnum opus trilogy, is a brilliant end to a beloved story. It does not, however, stand up as a classic on its own. Though I concede that Toy Story 3 was great, How to Train Your Dragon was better.
Though I’m sure that How to Train Your Dragon will not receive its proper recognition, I am equally sure that it deserves to win Best Animated Feature, if not Best Picture. Its G rating belies its wit and surprising depth. It may be marketed as a children’s movie, but it develops themes more profound than any other children’s movie I have ever seen, Toy Story 3 included.
What struck me initially about How to Train Your Dragon were its 3-D effects. The scenes in which the protagonist Hiccup flies with his newly befriended dragon are extraordinary and rival any 3-D scenes to date. If Avatar had an original story and heart, it would be How to Train Your Dragon.
It was only toward the end of, however, that I realized just how powerful the movie actually was. The story focuses on the atypically heroic and aptly named Hiccup, a pacifist who, after befriending the most feared dragon in his town, refuses the tradition of killing a dragon as a rite of passage. He is ostracized as he continues to forge his friendship with Toothless, the benign dragon.
As it turns out, all dragons but one are benign, and eventually Hiccup’s talent for training dragons garners him respect and vindication. The pivotal scene of the movie comes after the battle in which the town defeats the one dragon still threatening them. Hiccup, having finally proven his heroism in battle, steps out of bed. He looks down, and he sees a prosthetic leg, added after the injuries he sustained in battle. There is a moment’s hesitation before he looks up, undaunted by the magnitude of his sacrifice, and tries to walk outside to the townspeople whose lives he had saved.
Hiccup’s physical sacrifice is what defines him as a bona fide hero and separates the movie from Toy Story 3. Hiccup can never escape the price of his heroism. The tragedy of his sacrifice will continue to haunt him and the town that vilified him. The notion of heroism, and the price one must pay are not watered down, as they often are in Pixar movies. The audience cannot feel sadness for Woody when he loses his hat if they have seen Hiccup lose his leg. Hiccup is comparable to The Lion King’s Simba, who also must prove his strength in the face of loss and tragedy.
Though the ending of Toy Story 3 is poignant, all parties are for the better. Andy goes off to college, and the toys will bring unlimited happiness to another child. Buzz and Woody are saved from every mishap and escape unscathed. It is one-dimensional, and ends almost exactly as anyone who has followed the Toy Story trilogy would expect it to. There’s nothing to keep you thinking after the credits roll, while I found myself wondering about Hiccup’s fate with his tragically acquired disability.
How to Train Your Dragon gracefully merges excitement and depth, while Toy Story 3 lacks the latter. Unfortunately, I think the Academy will discredit How to Train Your Dragon because of its fantastical premise and special effects, while Toy Story 3 will float to victory because of the greatness of the trilogy, and Pixar’s unimpeachable movie record.
I’ll be watching the Academy Awards this year, and for the first time, not to ensure my prognosticating superiority over my siblings. I’ll be watching for vindication. How to Train Your Dragon, like Hiccup himself, is an underdog, discounted and pushed aside by popular opinion despite its greatness. Inspired by Hiccup, I may even be willing to guess against Toy Story 3, sacrificing my Oscar ballot bet for what I think is right.
This is great and so true. How To Train Your Dragon really is the underdog and probably won’t win because well, Pixar is Pixar and no one looks past them for a good animated film, but How To Train Your Dragon really did give me the depth that I love in animated movies and rarely get. The character were great and need I even get started on the lovely crafted relationship between Hiccup and Toothless?
But, regardless, enough people love and cherish this movie to know that it is the real winner outside the blind “Pixar is always the best” outlook at these award shows.