What I Got From the How To Train Your Dragon Film Series

It's rare that a set of animated kid's movies, especially in modern film, can set off the kind of emotions that the HTTYD series does. The stories told can make you feel a sense of loss even when a villain dies, and make you bawl like a baby when a good guy dies. The series starts off as brash Hiccup somewhat stupidly tries to take down a dragon, and ends up becoming its friend and stopping the warring between humans and the scaly beasts. The second movie progresses as Hiccup begins growing up. He deals with being a teenager, disobeying his father and trying to stop a war between a power-hungry villain, ending up getting his father killed and almost his friends. The third one brings this message even closer to home when Hiccup must give up his dragon friend, and learn the lesson that Stoick the Vast told him as a child, "With love comes loss, but in the end, it's always worth it." Maybe the reason that I love this series so much is that Hiccup reflects me so well. As a kid, I always felt kind of left out because all of my friends went to school and I was homeschooled. I can't really explain it, but the way these fantasy films so clearly teach us a lesson about life is incredible. Now that the series has ended, it's sad. They show us to look forward to something, as almost all fantasy does. Somehow, fantasy, no matter if it's HTTYD, The Lord of the Rings, or The Green Ember, always ends looking forward to something, something that speaks to all of us. It speaks to some kind of inward sense inside of us. Humans really are trying to achieve perfection, and even if they don't realize it they are looking forward to Jesus coming when the world can be made free and perfect once again. All of creation, including us, is filled with a sense of loss and we are always trying to get rid of that loss. Fantasy has a way of somehow making that sense of loss all the deeper. Anyway, that is what I got from the HTTYD series. Now that it's concluded, I do feel like a masterpiece is ended. Good entertainment like HTTYD for kids is scarce, with most companies investing in moronic things like Boss Baby. I suggest that you give the films a watch, even if you are an adult. Trust me, it gets much better after the first one.