Sasha Stone on How to Train Your Dragon

I absolutely loved How to Train your Dragon. It was the first great movie of the year in my opinion. HTTYD beautifully told the story of two outsiders forming friendship, finding understanding, and bestowing sacrificial love. Since Toy Story 3 opened HTTYD has been largely overshadowed by the critically-acclaimed and publicly-loved Pixar giant. I agree that Toy Story 3 functions quite well as the closing of a triology of films most people my age grew up watching. I was quite satisfied with its ending, entertained by the funny and touched by the ending of an era. Although, I maintain that HTTYD is the best animated film of the year.

Sasha Stone @ awardsdaily.com sums up my feelings on HTTYD quite well:

I think I fell in love with this movie when Toothless decided not to eat Hiccup. That is the moment when the film becomes other than what you expected. But the most memorable of all was when Hiccup envisions, draws and eventually makes a tale for his dragon friend. The moment he finally takes flight we realize that this isn’t really a movie about dragons at all; it is a love story. More than that, it’s about fear and ignorance exposed. The film takes some heavy themes and fashions them into an entertaining film, but those themes exist throughout. How to Train Your Dragon remains the best animated film of 2010 — a stand-alone achievement with wonderful writing and cinematography, if you can call it that.