How to Train Your Dragon 2

Starring: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler
Directed by: Dean DeBlois (“How to Train Your Dragon”)
Written by: Dean DeBlois (“How to Train Your Dragon”)

It’s refreshing when an animation studio knows it has something special besides an easy way to package Happy Meal toys and video games. Sure, all that’s probably going to come along with “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” but when a kid’s film can actually prove it has a reason, in addition to raking in boatloads of cash, to peddle things like action figures and lunchboxes, it’s for the better.

Merchandising aside, “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” the follow-up to the 2010 animated Oscar nominee, has a reason and it’s a good one. Besides being just as funny, creative and exhilarating as its predecessor, the sequel also takes on some darker and more adult themes that steer this franchise in a meaningful way. Yes, there are still plenty of dragons as cute as a bowlful of puppies, but as the lead character in the series begins to mature into the man everyone knew he could become (despite his voice still cracking like a high school freshman), the narrative kicks the emotion and adventure to another level.

Based on the books by author Cressida Cowell, “How to Train Your Dragon 2” has less “training” to do and more beloved characters to establish and expand. Vikings and dragons have learned to live in harmony, but their happy days are numbered when all the dragons of the land are seriously threatened.

In the film, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), a young Viking who befriends a rare dragon he names Toothless in the original movie, is still living in his village with his scaly companion, various Viking friends, girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera) and father Stoick (Gerard Butler), the latter of whom wants to start prepping Hiccup to take over for him as chief. The future of his village’s dragons, however, is in danger of being stolen by the villainous Drago (Djimon Hounsou), who wants to create his own dragon army. Along the way, Hiccup is reunited with someone from his past, all while attempting to talk some sense into Drago before he starts plucking more and more dragons from the sky.

Beautifully rendered dragon characters and flight sequences make up the most exciting parts of this second trip with Hiccup and Toothless. As in the first, DreamWorks Animation really takes advantage of the 3-D imagery, something most animated films use to suck a couple more dollars out of patrons’ pockets. Here, the 3-D works miracles, especially when the dragons are the high-flying attraction. Director Dean DeBlois, who co-directed the first film with Chris Sanders but is going solo on this one, captures the wonderment of these fictional winged creatures and does so without surrendering any of its personality. Everyone knows sequels, especially animated ones, are basically made if the first one hit box-office gold. It’s nice to see another example of one that challenges itself to build on its clever storyline and actually come out with its head above the clouds.

Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders – How to Train Your Dragon

If filmmaker Dean DeBlois had his own dragon to do as he pleased, he admits he might do a little damage midair.

“That’s every kid’s dream,” said DeBlois, whose animated movie “How to Train Your Dragon” opens March 26. “To get on the back of something that could take flight like that would be unbelievable. I would crush every mountain I could find!”

Co-director/co-writer Chris Sanders interjects with his plans as if he had thought about it many times before.

“I would bypass traffic,” Sanders said gleefully, “and torment my enemies!”

As veterans in the animation industry, there hasn’t been much time for destruction as there has for creating new and fantastic worlds and characters. The last time DeBlois, 39, and Sanders, 50, directed and wrote the same movie was for 2002’s “Lilo & Stitch,” a film that also featured Sanders as the voice of the troublesome title alien.

In late 2008, the duo reunited for “Dragon,” a story about scrawny Viking named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) who captures and befriends a rare dragon he calls Toothless. As he becomes familiar with the mysterious beast, Hiccup realizes they are not the destructive creatures everyone thought they were. The film is based on a British children’s novel by Cressida Cowell.

During an interview with me, DeBlois and Sanders talked about why they were brought onto the project, how much input they had on the design of the dragons, and how they were able to put a unique twist on a mythological subject that has been featured on the big screen before.

I read the two of you were named as directors late into the process. How was your role explained to you coming onto a film that was already in production?

Dean DeBlois: When I first came onto the movie in 2008, they had already spent a couple of years adapting the book rather faithfully. They discovered the story didn’t really lend itself to a 90-minute feature film. We were in charge of aging up the project a little, bringing it to an epic scale, and trying to make more of a fantasy adventure out of the elements.

Did that mean you had to start from scratch?

Chris Sanders: We took the story back to scratch. The environments and the characters almost all had been built already. It became a little bit of a puzzle because we had to use those existing elements. It was more about getting back to the basis of the story. We make some very big editorial decisions. In the book there are elements of dragons and Vikings at war. There are also elements of dragons and Vikings being cooperative with each other. We had to decide and go one way or the other. We went with Vikings and dragons as mortal enemies. That was good for Hiccup’s character because that meant when he befriended the dragon he was taking the greatest risk he could take.

Were any of the characters changed once you came on board?

DD: Our character designer gave us a diverse range of different breeds of dragons and we were able to give them very specific personality traits. Toothless was redesigned so he could be a larger, more powerful, and more menacing.

Explain what directors do on the set of an animated film aside from working with the voice actors.

CS: It’s all about staying in touch with the story. As directors on this film we attended to the story. Whether it was working with someone who is lighting a scene or producing effects for the scene, it’s all about seeing that those things are contributing to the story in the right way. Because the story is constantly evolving it’s important that we are there for all the critical story moments.

There is some great voice work in this film. Talk about the talent you had and how you got those performances out of them.

DD: In this particular film, not only did we have the great ad lib talents of Jay Baruchel and Jonah Hill, we had the opportunity to get some of the actors to work together in the sound booth at the same time, which is sort of a rarity in animation. It didn’t feel cobbled together.

CS: We always encourage every actor to ad lib and build on what we’ve written. All of them were fantastic. It was critical to have them riff off one another. They just need to be as flavorful and as funny as possible.

How to Train Your Dragon

Starring: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler
Directed by: Dean DeBlois (“Lilo & Stich”) and Chris Sanders (“Lilo & Stitch”)
Written by: Dean DeBlois (“Lilo & Stich”) and Chris Sanders (“Lilo & Stitch”)

While most animation studios will probably be restless until June when Pixar unleashes the goliath that is “Toy Story 3,” that doesn’t mean any of them should raise their white flag just yet.

Sure, Pixar might still be considered the leader in its field (it’s picked up the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature the last three years in a row), but over the last few years other animation studios are getting the hint: no matter how spellbinding the computer-generated characters are, the narrative also has to be first-rate.

While DreamWorks Animation has had its ups and downs since branching off as its own entity in 2004,  the studio proved to have the talent necessary to deliver something as invigorating as 2008’s “Kung Fu Panda.” Of course, the “Shrek” franchise is still the studio’s moneymaker, so when something comes along like “How to Train Your Dragon,” a series of British children’s books that could possibly spawn a new string of movies, it’s not surprising that DreamWorks heads wanted to make sure they got the first one just right.

And to be quite honest, these fire-breathers definitely have some bite.

In “Dragon,” one of the books in a series written by Cressida Cowell, geek-for-hire Jay Baruchel (“She’s Out of My League”) lends his voice to the lead character, Hiccup, a scrawny little Viking who doesn’t look like his burly father Stoic (Gerard Butler) or any of the other savage warriors that make up his colony.

Hiccup might dream to one day slay a dragon (they’re apparently as rampant as roaches and destroy everything) but without the upper body strength to lift a sledgehammer or do anything else that makes a Viking a conquering force in medieval times, Hiccup is better left to tinker with his brainy inventions and teenage self-consciousness. He is, however, able to prove that enthusiasm is just as important as talent when he does the impossible and captures his own dragon.

Despite doing it in an unconventional way (and without anyone noticing his feat), Hiccup has done more that just bring down the beast; he has netted the most feared and mysterious dragons in all of the land: the Night Fury. This is one of the treats in “Dragon.” Not all of the dragons are designed in the same mold. Adapting Cowell’s story, directors/writers Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders give each breed of dragon their own distinct traits and personalities.

As Hiccup bonds with his new friend, who he names Toothless, he realizes dragon are not the horrible creatures Vikings thought they were. When the colony decides they should allow Hiccup his chance to demonstrate his warrior spirit by going through dragon training, which will later lead to making his first kill, he finds himself at a crossroad.

Now, with a deeper understanding of the species, Hiccup must find a way to make his father proud without bringing harm to the misunderstood dragons. With a team of misfit Viking peers training beside him, including love interest Astrid (America Ferrera), it’s only a matter of time before Hiccup’s secret becomes far too massive for him to keep silent.

While many of the elements are familiar, “Dragon” is a lively family action-comedy that shines especially when both Vikings and dragons share the screen. Whether it’s Hiccup and Toothless creating a friendship or the “Gladiator”-like sequences of fire-breathing dragons and risk-taking teenage Vikings fight it out on the battleground, “Dragon” is a neat adventure.

The 3-D animation also works in “Dragon” especially for those exhilarating scenes where Hiccup and his pet dragon sail across the infinite sky like the protagonists in “Avatar.” It’s a sight to behold for children and adults alike who are tired of unoriginal animation that barely flutters off the ground.