Tag: cartoons

“Don’t laugh Toothless. You’re above that.”

First, since the teaser trailer for the live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon has released, I do have some thoughts.  They’re a mixed bag.  On the one hand, as was commented to me, “more How to Train Your Dragons is good.”  And it’s good that they have the original director at the helm and the original composer (my comment to the last was if they didn’t hire John Powell back, it was a sin.)

On the other hand, the trailer itself is almost shot for shot from the first movie.  And if it’s simply a shot for shot remake, then what is the point?  The characters look a bit weird; Hiccup and Astrid look very real, but the other are caricatures.  The oversized Viking helmets work in animation, not real life.  Gerad Butler doesn’t look like Stoick; it’s easy to see that the actor playing Fishlegs is wearing a puffy suit.  And that can be done realistically, as evidence by the Hobbit.  And Hiccup is wearing a sweatshirt – you can tell by the seaming.  I’m not convinced that Toothless is cute and cuddly.  Will I take a look at material as it becomes available?  Yes, because I am curious.  Will I pay money to see this in theatre?  Most likely, unless something occurs that convinces me it’s a bad idea.

If they’re going to do a live-action movie, then run with it.  Don’t just rehash the beloved animated version.  Keep to the general storyline, but really dig into these are human Vikings.  Still make it colorful and fun; no need to go gritty and dark.  But, have some respect for the feelings of the people who love this series

Enough of that; let’s continue with something funnier, Season Two of Race to the Edge:

Hiccup and Astrid are patrolling at the beginning of Team Astrid, and have words to say to the twins about playing with the Night Terrors.  The small dragons are an integral part of the security of Dragon’s Edge; they’re a warning system in case Dagur or anyone else lands.  So far, Dagur does not know where the Edge is, but there’s no guarantee it will stay that way.  Hiccup receives Terror Mail from Berk; there’s been an attack.  The gang finds out it was a hit and run attack, just a single ship, most likely done by Dagur.  Hiccup gives orders for members to go searching for Dagur.  Astird’s house was hit, but her parents are okay.  The riders collectively agree to sleep at the academy with Astrid (and look how Hiccup sleeps on Toothless).  Astrid can’t sleep and eventually goes patrolling.  She meets up with Stoick.  He understands what she’s feeling; they’re both warriors.

Come morning, Astrid tells the other riders she’s staying on Berk; she won’t leave the island defenseless.  She will also train a set of auxiliary riders for just such attacks.  Hiccup figures he’ll fight her decision later and sends the other riders out searching again.  They miss the ships and we see that this was all part of Dagur’s plan in order to work out where Dragon’s Edge is located.  Hiccup watches Astrid train several of the secondary characters we have seen, including Spitelout, Snotlout’s father, and Gustav.  Hiccup is impressed with some of the crazy stunts, but Astrid keeps pushing the auxiliary team.  He eventually talks to her; she wants them to fail, because then she will have to stay on Berk.  (They also both enjoy seeing Spitelout do some pushups simply because he’s Snotlout’s dad.) 

Hiccup then has to check on the rest of the riders and comes to the Edge to find Dagur attacking.  Not aided by the fact that the Night Terror were not at their post to give advance warning.  He gives the other teens a rousing speech on holding their new home.  He quickly sends a message back to Berk.  Astrid joins Stoick and orders the auxiliary riders to remain at Berk; they’re not ready.  But the auxiliary riders come to the rescue while the others attack Dagur.  Dagur shouts that they’re cheaters, but he’s sent sailing away.  Astrid has also come to a new decision; she will remain at the Edge with the other riders.  She leaves Gustav in charge of the auxiliary since he has the most experience (it finally pays off!).  Hiccup calls them the A-Team; Astrid’s team.

Astrid then enjoys her early morning flight in the first part of Night of the Hunters.  She then goes to investigate when she hears a dragon in distress.  She comes across a group of men with colors she doesn’t recognize, but she does recognize the insignia from The Reaper; these are Dragon Hunters.  The Hunters are led by a big guy named Ryker.  Astrid sets off to warn Hiccup, but Stormfly is hit by an arrow and is taken down and captured.  Astrid ends up in the ocean and left behind by the Ryker and the Hunters.

Hiccup is worried when Astrid doesn’t return by dusk.  As he tells Fishlegs, she’s never been gone all day.  And there is a storm coming in.  He gathers everyone to go searching.  Snotlout is disappointed that Hiccup won’t let him take south, since that is Astrid’s favorite direction to fly.  We see Astrid hold on all day, but eventually falls beneath the surface of the water and starts to sink.  But a shape dives in after her, Hiccup.  Toothless pulls both of them out and they return to Dragon’s Edge.

When she wakes, Astrid insists they go after the Hunters and retrieve Stormfly.  She rides with Hiccup back to where Stormfly was shot.  Fishlegs (in a totally dumb move) licks an arrow and determines it is refined dragon root, which will disorient a dragon so they can’t fly.  So the riders head back to The Reaper to find clues about these Hunters.  They come across another Dragon Eye lens and it’s Tuffnut who figures out they need a Changewing to see through it.  And it’s Tuff who manages to capture one on Changewing Island, though its acid ends up in Snotlout’s helmet.  They get a map and figure out a plan.  Fishlegs and Meatlug allow themselves to be caught, though the attack reveals that they have a Night Fury, which catches Ryker’s attention.  Astrid falls during the attack and is captured, but she frees Stormfly.  The other riders end up hit as well, except Toothless.  He catches Hookfang and Snotlout and they retreat.  The parting shot reveals that Dagur and Heather have reunited and are working with the Hunters.

The second part of Night of the Hunters starts with Heather taking Astrid to speak to Ryker.  When Astrid returns, she mentions that she told Ryker that the Dragon Eye is back at the Edge with the rest of the Riders.  That was just a ploy in order to buy time to figure out an escape.  Ryker also shows the riders how their dragons are being treated; Stormfly is being harvested for her spines, Barf and Belch are being fattened up in order to sell their hide, and Meatlug is being forced to belch up Gronkle Iron.  All of this is dependent upon how the riders cooperate with Ryker.

Meanwhile, Hookfang, Snotlout, Toothless, and Hiccup try to come up with a new plan.  Hiccup decides to head to Whispering Death Island and use the scales to make armor.  They come face to face with the Screaming Death, who doesn’t quite remember they were the ones to reunite it with its mother, but the mother remembers and the boys are able to complete their task.  And it’s actually Snotlout who is the better stitcher.

It’s Ruffnut who is the one to help everyone escape, despite being ignored.  She snuck a key off a guard while pleading for her dragon’s life.  The riders break out, though the twins set off a trap.  Astrid faces off with Heather, though we don’t actually see the fight.  We also learn that there is another Hunter in play, named Viggo.  Fishlegs manages to get the recipe for Gronkle Iron while escaping.  When Toothless and Hookfang swoop in, the rest are able to escape, though Astrid faces off with Heather again.  Ryker admits, as they fly away, that he may have underestimated the riders, despite Dagur’s warning.  Though they’re one step closer to the Dragon Eye and will report such to Viggo.  The riders are also aware that this is not the last they have seen of the Hunters.

Tuff gets a strange bite on his arm in Bad Moon Rising; a more light-hearted episode after the up in ante in the previous two episodes.  Gobber happens to be at the Edge and decides to share the legend of the Lycanwing, where at the full moon, a bitten human will transform into a dragon with a thirst for blood.  Snotlout eggs on the symptoms listed and Tuff starts to believe he will transform into a Lycanwing.  He locks himself in a cage with Chicken, despite everyone now trying to talk him out of it.  Tuff even nominates Hiccup to be Ruffnut’s new twin brother.  Ruffnut is mad at Snotlout, so she drags him across the island to determine what actually bit Tuff.  Her brother is the most important thing in the world to her.  Not everything agrees with Snotlout, but Ruff is not sympathetic.

Hiccup comes across a new lens for the Dragon Eye, which in the moonlight, shows the image of a human/dragon creature.  So he and Fishlegs head out to find out more.  There is the image of a Lycanwing in a cave, but the eyes are actually Dragon Eye lenses and the myth was created to protect them.  They arrive back at the Edge to talk Tuff out of jumping off a cliff in order to fly.  When he falls, Toothless grabs him.  Snotlout finally shows up with what actually bit Tuffnut, a wolf.  That then escapes.

Spitelout visits the Edge with news that there is to be a union between House Jorgensen and House Hofferson.  Snotlout is bring the ceremonial axe.  Astrid is also to attend, as is Hiccup.  While they’re gone, Fishlegs decides to educate the twins on Viking marriage ceremonies.

Snotlout manages to drop the axe, where an Armorwing finds it.  To get it back, Snotlout lures Smothering Smokebreaths to grab the metal.  However, depriving the Armorwing of metal leaves the dragon defenseless since it has no scales.  So the trio have to drive the Smothering Smokebreaths away and leaves some metal for the dragon.  Snotlout retrieves the axe, but when they reach the site, there is no wedding.  He admits his fault to his father, but the wedding was called off before after a brawl broke out at the rehearsal.  Spitelout tells Snotlout “nice work, I knew I could count on you.”

Back at the Edge, while doing a practice marriage ceremony, Tuffnut reveals that he trained with the village officiator.  So Ruffnut and Fishlegs are now married.  When the trio return, they point out that Tuffnut didn’t finish the course, so he can’t actually marry anyone.  Thus making the union between Ruff and Fishlegs dissolved.

The riders are working on a new watchtower to guard the norther waterway in The Zippleback Experience.  Snotlout has a different idea, but Hiccup retorts “since when do we go blasting people into oblivion?”  The twins start an avalanche.  Hiccup and Toothless save Barf and Belch and end up with the Zippleback following Hiccup around.  The initial rescue broke Hiccup’s metal leg, but he carries a spare.  When Barf and Belch kidnap Hiccup, he breaks the spare, but he has another one.  Tuff remarks that their fearless leader is on his last leg.  Hiccup is not amused.  Gobber stops by to help and also explain that the Zippleback is carrying out a life debt.  This just encourages the twins to try to put Hiccup’s life in danger so Barf and Belch will rescue him and go back to the twins. 

Meanwhile, without the watchtower in place, there have been scouts landing.  They intend to kidnap Hiccup, once he’s away from two protective dragons.

The twins eventually get Snotlout involved.  He gleefully punches and calls Hiccup a coward in order to antagonize the young man.  Hiccup warns Snotlout, but ends up punching the heavier teen and knocks him down [it’s grand!]  Hiccup calls a stop to the shenanigans and goes to think by himself.  This is when he gets grabbed by the Hunters, though he thinks it’s Barf and Belch.  Ryker and Dagur intend to extract dragon knowledge from the Hooligan tribe heir.  Barf and Belch witnessed the kidnapping, so they go to save Hiccup.  He even uses an axe handily against some of the guards.  The other riders also fly in.  When the twins come in on Toothless, they crash, causing Barf and Belch to fall into the water.  The twins also fall and help their dragon escape a net.  Toothless catches his rider and helps blow up the Hunter ship.

Toothless and Hiccup are working on a practice run against “hunters” (the other riders with some paint), wearing meatal armor in Snow Way Out.  It starts breaking off, so Hiccup recommends to Fishlegs they go thinner, which should make it lighter and more flexible.  Hiccup wants to be prepared.  Astrid comes with news from Johann that the Hunters are gathering cold weather gear.  Hiccup figures they’re going after a Snowwraith, to get a tooth key to use on the Dragon Eye.  Snotlout points out as they land that they are protecting a dragon that tried to kill them from Hunters who also try to kill them whenever possible.

Astrid and Heather go to face off again, but hug instead and sneak away.  They’ve been working together; Heather is on the Dragon Riders’ side.  Meaning, when the screen faded to black during their first fight, they weren’t actually fighting, they were planning.  Ryker doesn’t trust anyone and Dagur is paranoid.  The girls’ plan is to have Hiccup search for the Snowwraith and keep Ryker away.  Astrid wants to tell Hiccup the truth, but Heather figures it’s better to try to take the Hunters out from the inside.  Besides, Hiccup cares too much and that will keep Heather from getting to Viggo.  Ryker obviously has his own thoughts, so the riders have to hurry.  The Hunters corner the Riders and Hiccup agrees to talk to Ryker: “if there’s one chance to settle this without bloodshed, I have to try.”

When the two finally face each other, Ryker tells the riders’ leader, “Dagur was right, you don’t look like much.”  Hiccup quips back, “Astrid was right, you look like a psycho.”  [Not the best way to get these guys on your side, but we love him for being sarcastic.]  Ryker wants to barter for the Dragon Eye.  Hiccup refuses and warns the bigger guy “leave now and your men won’t have to find out what burning flesh smells like.”  [Hiccup’s not afraid to play dirty.]  Heather has to reveal the trap to save Hiccup, then defends her actions to Ryker that Hiccup is more valuable to them alive.  Ryker orders the cave closed in.  The riders then have to drive the Snowwraiths out so they hopefully escape.

Except Ryker was waiting for them and captures the dragons.  The riders chase after the Hunters and Astrid has to tell Hiccup the truth about Heather before he blasts her.  He’s disgruntled, because he’s supposed to be a team with Astrid.  The parting words are from Dagur, warning Heather that everyone is scared of Viggo Grimborn, even his older brother, Ryker.  The leader of the Dragon Hunters lives in the shadows.

The storyline picks up in the two-part Edge of Disaster episodes.  Astrid is annoyed by the dummies the twins have placed at the watchtower.  Hiccup doesn’t let it phase him: “because then there would be two crazy people in this conversation and we probably wouldn’t resolve anything.”  Their debate is interrupted by news that Johann is being attacked by Dragon Hunters.  Fishlegs and Snotlout accompany Hiccup; Hookfang and Toothless are the only two dragons with armor and Meatlug is immune to the dragon root arrows.  That leaves Astrid with the twins to defend the Edge.  Astrid is not happy with the arrangements and makes it known to the twins.  Ruffnut calls out Astrid for her attitude; she has no respect for anyone but Hiccup and is never kind.  Admittedly, the twins do spout knowledge from time to time, but they are also very chaotic.

Later in the day, Chicken brings word that Ruffnut has been captured by Hunters, who are right off the coast.  Astrid sends for help, but knows it’s down to her and Tuffnut to defend the Edge.  Tuff wants to trick the Hunters into thinking there are more of them.  Astrid prefers strategic thinking.  She lets Tuff carry on with his ideas by himself.

Ryker orders his men to destroy all in their path on the way to the Dragon Eye.  Dagur is secretly planning on getting rid of Ryker once they have the Dragon Eye.  Ryker ominously tells his younger partner “You feel the air?  That’s fear.  Soon, it’ll be death.”  [A little grim for a show that’s geared towards kids and teens.]

The attack starts in the second part.  Astrid still refuses to listen to Tuffnut, but he goes along with her ideas.  Ruffnut is able to knock out Heather and take Windshear, with some help from Heather, and takes off in the opposite direction.

While all of this is going on the three other riders are trapped by a herd of wild dragons that don’t trust humans after their interaction with hunters.  Hiccup eventually uses his flight suit to show the dragons he has wings in order for them to trust him.

Once Astrid’s plans run out, Tuffnut gets to show her what he’s though of.  The dummies will make the Hunters think there are more riders on the Edge.  Some are filled with Zippleback gas that they set off.  The spread Nightmare gel down ropes in order to stop Hunters from climbing.  Dagur eventually figures out that Hiccup is not on the island by the absence of the Night Fury.  Ryker is able to hit the lead Night Terror, Smidvarg, but Stormly scatters the rest of the Night Terrors.  Astrid takes on Dagur and Tuffnut attempts to fight Ryker.  The calvary arrives (to epic theme music!) with Ruffnutt, Hiccup, Snotlout, and Fishlegs, along with the other wild dragons.  They wreak havoc on the Hunters.  Heather keeps her cover and all Hiccup can do is glare at Ryker.  In the aftermath, Astrid admits to the teamwork between herself and Tuffnut and apologizes to the twins.

We get a lighter episode with Shock and Awe. The twins are busy pranking the other riders for Loki Day.  Fishlegs ends up blocking in a new creature to the bay.  They figure out it’s a Seashocker dragon.  But they do best out in deep water, so they have to set it free.  Except they’ve attracted the attention of Scauldrons, who are the natural enemies of Seashockers.  Hiccup makes the twins be the distraction and lure in a Giant Zapping Eel (admittedly, they were supposed to get small ones), and give the Seashocker a chance to escape.  Fishlegs also jumps in the water to save the new dragon at the last minute.  He gets shocked again for his trouble, but it works.  Other Seashockers come to help and they return to their normal habitat.  The other riders also get the twins back for their pranks, culminating in Astrid picking their hut up and leaving it on a sea stack.

An earthquake and lightning storm wakes the Skrill at the beginning of A Time to Skrill.  The Riders investigate and find the Outcasts run off their island and familiar scorch marks.  Berk is in the direction of the storm.  They rush back and find the auxiliary riders out and Toothless goes after the Skrill.  Hiccup gets to use his flight suit again and lands with his father this time.  Spitelout takes a bolt and Snotlout has to translate for his father (and of course, it’s not entirely accurate).  They find out that the chief’s house was the only one hit.  This was a targeted attack [and proves that dragons are not stupid]; the Skrill is looking for Hiccup.  Hiccup is confident that they can handle the situation; they’ve done it before, they can do it again.  Spitelout wants revenge.

The riders make a deeper tunnel, but when Toothless leads the Skrill, it won’t go in, instead trying to capture the Night Fury and his rider instead.  They escape, but Toothless’s tail is damaged.  The duo lands on one of the graveyard ships and uses the sail to repair the tail.  His new plan is to lead the Skrill to the Hunters, allow them to bring it down, but rescue it to keep it out of Dagur’s hands.  Dagur is thrilled and they do bring down the Skrill.  Hiccup’s sword is shot out of his hand and he can’t rescue the Skrill.

He admits his mistakes to the other riders and Astrid takes charge saying that they will all work together to figure out a new plan.  She encourages their leader, that everything he’s done is to protect the riders and to protect dragons in general.  They go to rescue the Skrill, but get surrounded.  Hiccup’s new plan goes along the line of “the enemy of my enemy might be able to help.”  He tips the cage back to get the Skrill out of the water so it can direct lightning at the Hunters.  He even stands in front of an arrow aimed at the Skrill, which Toothless saves him from.  Once the Hunters are taken care of, Spitelout shoots the Skrill for revenge.

When the riders go to put the Skrill back in ice, Hiccup stops them and frees the Skrill.  The Skrill saved them and risked itself to do so.  If they trap it again, they’re no better than the Hunters.  The Skrill bows to Hiccup and Toothless, and they lower their heads in return.  A shot from the Skrill brings Spitelout’s speech back and Snotlout better run.

Another two-part episode ends the season, Maces and Talons.  The Riders are battling the Hunters and freeing the dragons.  Dagur is mad that Ryker keeps underestimating the riders.  Ryker figures there has to be a traitor in their midst, feeding the riders information.  Astrid takes down Heather to keep her cover.  Orders come from Viggo for the Hunters to meet him. 

On funnier terms, Snotlout and Tuffnut bond over helping each other out in the battle and name each other “official best friends.”  Astrid talks to Hiccup about getting Heather out of the Hunters.  Hiccup wanted to do so weeks ago since it’s always been too dangerous, but Astrid talked him into leaving well enough alone.  He also trusts Heather to take care of herself, and Windshear will look after her rider.

Heather and Dagur meet Viggo, who speaks of a Viking game ‘Maces and Talons’ [no, it’s not a real Viking game, but it’s very similar to chess].  In the game, and echoed in life, the line between good and evil is unclear.  He takes Heather on a walk and asks for her help in finding the traitor in their midst.  Perhaps it’s Ryker, unhappy with the status quo, being ruled by his younger brother.  Perhaps it’s Dagur who’s a bit of a loose cannon.

Heather meets with Astrid and Hiccup and tells them about her success with Viggo.  They will be searching for the Flightmare, which Heather can lead Viggo to.  So the riders will need to ambush them.  However, Viggo is at least one step ahead of our heroes and it’s actually an ambush for the riders.  Heather is captured by Viggo, but when Hiccup lands, Viggo is gone.  When the riders retreat, Hiccup admits that they are going to have to outthink and outsmart Viggo.

In the second part, the riders return to Dragon’s Edge to find it raided.  The Hunters were searching for the Dragon Eye.  Luckily, the twins had hid it from it’s original hiding spot.  They all try to come up with a plan and Hiccup shoots down their typical “go in dragons’ blazing” routine.  He admits they are a smart group.  “We’re fast, we’re fearless, and we ride dragons.”  But Viggo was able to manipulate them; they have to be careful or Heather will be killed.

They find Viggo’s base, but only find a Maces and Talons board left behind.  Viggo is taunting Hiccup.  This will force Hiccup’s hand to save Heather.  Dagur is upset with Heather for the betrayal; the siblings still don’t fully trust each other.  But the wheels start turning in Dagur’s head when Viggo remarks that everyone is expendable, using Maces and Talons as an example.  A leader must be willing to sacrifice all their pieces.  Dagur asks Ryker later why the big guy doesn’t take out his younger brother.  Ryker admits his younger brother annoys him and he could easily be rid of him, but he won’t because they’re brothers.  Besides, Dagur is just to follow orders.

Viggo uses Typhomerangs to guard his base.  Hiccup has the crazy idea to go straight through the fire, a move the twins have actually accomplished.  This way they don’t go around and play into Viggo’s hands.  But when Hiccup thinks he’s found Heather, he instead is frozen by the Flightmare.  This allows Viggo to grab the Dragon Eye from Hiccup’s pouch.  Viggo later uses the Flightmare to burn the Dragon Eye; its glow bypasses the need for a Snowwraith key.  The Night Fury symbol is illuminated as we leave the Hunters.  Dagur sets Heather free and Hiccup screams in frustration.

Again, this season shows the characters continuing to grow up.  Hiccup again demonstrates his skills as a leader.  He gives orders to the riders in front of his father, since he knows the best tasks to set them to.  It was nice to see Astrid have to work with the twins.  And the twins get their chances to shine.  Heck, Hiccup even acknowledges that the twins sometimes have good ideas.  Snotlout gets to shine a bit as well, showing off his skills at sewing and even tries to come up with ideas when Hiccup’s out.  Though when he tells Hiccup “you should listen to me more often,” Hiccup just says “nah.”  That’s because his ideas are not always best. 

But Hiccup is now shown to be fallible.  We have a new antagonist to contend with.  I love Viggo as a villain.  He’s a smart villain.  He respects an intelligent opponent.  He’s all about the worthy opponent and wants to extract the best out of Hiccup.  He’s bored by predictability, but also very used to being the smartest person in the room.

I think we’re glad that Heather is not actually a villain, but she still differs from the riders.  She doesn’t trust Hiccup the way that Astrid does and is still determined to do things herself.  We also seem the friendship between Hiccup and Astrid develop.  He’s very worried when Astrid goes missing and places himself as the one to find her.  He comments that they work as a team and Astrid is the one to bolster his confidence when Hiccup makes a mistake.  Astrid still wants to prove herself as a warrior, and has a specific mindset on how that is accomplished, as showcased by her training of the A-Team.  Hiccup allows more creativity.

Up Next: A bit of a break for the holidays, then on to Season Three

“I see nothing has changed.” “Yup, same story, different year.”

Dawn of the Dragon Riders

This was released as a short with the second movie, but takes place between the end of Defenders of Berk and Race to the Edge.  The riders are catching sheep and then start discussing how Dragon Racing was started [which spoilers, opens the second film].  They all wear face paint and Astrid comments to Hiccup that “red is your color,” but is speaking more to Toothless [note how Hiccup wears a red tunic in Race to the Edge].  Snotlout’s sheep catapult apparently took 32 attempts to perfect and thus he argues that he created the sport.

What really happened is that Stoick had the teens help Silent Sven gather up his sheep, and as the other riders tend to do, they made a competition out of it.  Stoick then has to go on business to Loki Island for wood for their fleet and leaves Hiccup as ‘acting chief,’ and with strict instructions to begin preparations for the annual regatta.  Hiccup remarks how the regatta comprises of boats sailing slowly across the harbor, arguing that they could start a new, exciting tradition.  Stoick holds to the regatta; their clan has been doing it for ages as a way to blow off steam instead of fighting each other.

Fishlegs is the only one really excited for the regatta.  Meanwhile, Hiccup walks in on Tuffnut planning on catching more sheep.  When he tries to put a stop to it, explaining that they need to work on the regatta, Snotlout, in all his brilliance, retorts “Who made you acting chief?”  “Stoick.”  “Well, who made Stoick chief?” and everyone gives him a look.  Hiccup asks Astrid for back up, then has to face the village when they excitedly cheer on the riders chasing sheep; one even remarking “this is better than the regatta!”  So, Hiccup allows one more race to settle everyone down, though he works on making teams and baskets, then figures they’ll all be ready for regatta work afterwards.

Snotlout crashes into Astrid and hurts her arm.  Hiccup finally talks Fishlegs into joining him when they find out that Meatlug is seasick and sinks their boat.  However, Stoick returns early.  Seeing how excited the village is, he decides to switch to dragon racing and adds some more ideas, such as the face paint to give it a warrior feel.  Astrid will be the referee and keeps an eye on the riders.  It comes to a tie breaker, involving the black sheep.  Fishlegs and Hiccup find one in the well, but Snotlout has returned with one.  Tuffnut rubs his face on the sheep, revealing it was painted, so the results are overturn to crown Hiccup and Fishlegs as the winners.

So, Tuffnut argues he invented the game, well, definitely the cheating.  Hiccup insists they all invented it to keep peace, though it was Snotlout who made the sheep launcher.

Race to the Edge: Season 1

This show was developed by Netflix (though I have them on DVD in case of no Internet connection, or Netflix ever drops it) and was actually done after the second movie, but chronologically takes place before.  It features an entirely new intro and utilizes music from the second movie.  The series starts with the two-parter Eye of the Beholder, which sets the stage three years after the showdown with Dagur (making our main characters all around eighteen). Indeed, Dagur actually ends up escaping the Outcast prison and is bent on revenge on Hiccup.

Meanwhile, Hiccup is still doing stunts with Toothless and remarks he needs his own set of wings when they end up separating and plummeting for a minute.  The narration of “this is Berk,” is back, explaining the time jump and showcasing the new parts of Berk.  The riders have moved on to new tasks; the twins pledging to cause all the chaos they can in the name of Loki.  Snotlout is a weapons’ tester, and Fishlegs is educating the children, talking about Hiccup and Toothless as the new heroes of Berk.  Astrid catches up to Hiccup, who is eager to do more exploring; except they’ve covered the area directly surrounding Berk, more than once.  Hiccup says “this can’t be all there is.”  Astrid tells Hiccup she has joined the Berk Guard, so all of his friends have moved on to new jobs.  But Hiccup still yearns to explore.  He says as much to his father that evening.

Their evening is interrupted by news from Johann that Dagur has escaped and he is more berserk than ever.  He also holds a map to Johann’s graveyard of ships, where he hides all his treasures.  He warns the Berkians of the “Reaper” ship, which is full of booby traps.  The other riders eagerly join Hiccup to head off Dagur; they plan to steal the treasures first so Dagur can’t use them to purchase a new armada.  Their way is impeded by giant eels, which chase most of the dragons off.  While they wait for them to return, they separate to gather treasure.  The twins find jewels, Fishlegs finds maps, charts, and books, and Snotlout finds a chest of blond hair [which was actually prized by Vikings.]  Hiccup heads over to the “Reaper,” determined that the most valuable items will be there.  And if the ship is that booby trapped, it must be hiding something important.  He jokes of the benefit of a metal leg when a trap springs around it and he prefers Toothless’s plan of simply blasting the door open.  They also discover a dragon skeleton aboard the ship; so this place was no friend of dragons.  Hiccup takes an object from the captain’s room because it must be dangerous to dragons and thus really cannot fall into Dagur’s hands.  A giant axe falling makes sure they rush back to the deck of the ship, only to find that Dagur has captured the other riders.

Dagur is certainly more unhinged after three years in prison, attempting to flirt with his brother.  But he’s busy with an army to build and revenge to plot.  Astrid sends Hiccup after Dagur, but Dagur was expecting that, so he arranges for the ship to be sunk, causing Hiccup to have to choose between going after Dagur and the strange new item, or saving his friends.

Part Two immediately picks up with the riders’ predicament.  And a new challenge is that the cage is made of dragon-proof metal.  And the giant eels are back.  They manage to escape and their dragons come to the recuse, so Hiccup chases after Dagur and gets the strange item back.  Gobber tries to help the teens figure out what the item is, which Hiccup has named the Dragon Eye, though Tuffnut bears the brunt of the mistakes.  While they’re at Gothi’s she recognizes a mark on the item that came from a Snow Wraith dragon.  Hiccup persuades Gothi (who may have scribbled something not kind about him, but Gobber wouldn’t translate since Hiccup is the chief’s son) to go with them to get the tooth they need to unlock the Dragon Eye, saying that didn’t she once want to see what is out there and find answers to questions not thought of yet.

The Snow Wraith attacks during snowstorms, able to sense heat signatures, which the teens do try to use to their advantage.  Luckily, when it attacks Gothi at one point, she makes to get a tooth stuck in her staff.  Hiccup is now able to unlock the Dragon Eye.  And it doesn’t do much to start, until it catches the light of a dragon’s fire, then it presents images on the wall.  “This changes everything,” Hiccup remarks (and this line is used in the new intro.)

Hiccup excitedly shows the riders his discovery in Imperfect Harmony, explaining that much of it is in a different language and the maps show areas beyond the boundaries of their archipelago.  Next, Hiccup goes to the council, pleading that he wants to explore the new areas.  Spitelout brings up that they have been at peace for several years and they shouldn’t go looking for trouble.  It’s more important to hunt for Dagur, than new dragons.  Stoick agrees that peace is important, but dragons are important to Hiccup and what would any of them do for something like that?  How far would they go to get it, what would they risk?  Besides, they couldn’t stop the boy if they tried, he might as well have their support.  The council agrees and Stoick sends his son off to find what is pulling on him.  And when he’s done, Berk will be waiting for him.  He also tells Toothless, “take care of my boy.”

The other riders again join in, shouting “into the great beyond!”  They get discouraged after a while and Hiccup encourages them by saying “nothing that’s worth anything comes easy.”  They have to fly though a bit of a storm, but the cloud covers break and they see new islands below them.  A strange sound comes to them and their dragons head down to an island.  It’s idyllic, but come morning, all the dragons are gone.  While searching, Toothless comes across the riders and quickly pulls Hiccup’s leg to follow.  The prosthetic leg.  Which comes off, but Hiccup appreciates Toothless’s enthusiasm.

A Thunderdrum comes along while Toothless and Hiccup are flying and screams at the other teens.  Hiccup comes back to chase the dragon off and tries to say he is going back up, but everyone shouts “no,” and Snotlout adds “I will take your other leg!”  So they all go together and find a pile of dragon bones, then find pieces of amber, and finally, dragons trapped in the amber.  A large shrieking dragon makes an appearance, which they name the Death Song.  Its cry draws dragons in, then it spits amber at them to trap them, then eats them later.  Toothless tries to take on the Death Song, but he’s soon trapped, as are the other riders, though Astrid pushes Hiccup out of the way.

He comes across the Thunderdrum again and manages to get it to trust him.  They return to Hiccup’s friends, where he has an idea to spread Monstrous Nightmare gel on the cocoons, then make a spark so they break open.  They also free a baby Thunderdrum, which why the adult one had stuck around.  All the dragons work together to relocate the Death Song to a cave.  The riders eagerly continue on their adventure; it’s the most fun they’ve had in years.  They will try to find an island of their own to make into a base of operations.  Into the great beyond!

That search continues in When Darkness Falls.  Apparently, they keep coming across an island full of boars and once, Snotlout even tries to use Hiccup’s leg as a weapon, though they’re rescued by their dragons in time.  Eventually, they come across a perfect looking island.  The riders start planning what their outpost is going to look like; Hiccup just wants them to set up camp for the night.  Astrid wants it defensible, Snotlout wants an “S,” Fishlegs wants it to be zen, and the twins wants a boar pit.  They sleep next to their dragons that night and Tuffnut wakes to an odd sound.  He does come across a chicken, but also a large dragon.  The rest of the riders don’t immediately believe him, mainly since he shouts “chicken roar!” to warn them along with his phrase “I am hurt, I am very much hurt!” (first appeared in the first movie).  Tuffnut goes looking for the dragon again, and Ruffnut accompanies him, ready to declare herself the winner of the “Thorston challenge” if Tuffnut is making it up.  Hiccup pleads to go with them to get away from the others arguing about the outpost.

The giant dragon indeed shows up, though they realize it’s a lot of little dragons.  The twins capture the light-colored leader.  Hiccup allows Tuffnut to name it “Smidvarg,” though they call the rest of them Night Terrors.  But Changewings soon move in and harass the other Night Terrors.  The riders figure out that the small dragons work together to look like a large version in order to scare off predators and all work together to chase off the Changewings.  The riders befriend the Night Terrors and Hiccup comes up with a single idea for the outpost, incorporating everyone’s wants.  Everyone has their own spot and then there’s a clubhouse in the center, along with a training arena and stables.  He calls it Dragon’s Edge.

The riders return to Berk at Stoick’s request to relocate a Scauldron, but the plan goes awry in Big Man on Berk.  Fishlegs is now possibly allergic to Meatlug.  Gothi determines that they should hypnotize him in order to get him over the allergy.  Snotlout takes it as an opportunity to suggest a new personality to Fishlegs.  When he wakes, he ignores Meatlug and is now all about heroics and being a super Viking named ‘Thor Bonecrusher.’  Snotlout gets a crush on him, but Fishlegs is fairly dismissive.  The other riders want Fishlegs back, but since he broke Gothi’s staff, they have to figure out another way. 

Fishlegs goes after the Scauldron, with Snotlout and Hookfang.  Meatlug ends up saving Fishlegs, but then the Scauldron chases Meatlug.  That fear snaps Thor back to Fishlegs.  The riders end up being successful in their job to relocate the dragon.  And unfortunately relocate Stoick’s new axe, which ‘Thor’ had taken.  Turns out, Fishlegs was allergic to the new wax Gobber was using on the saddles (his earwax, everyone is suitable disgusted).  Snotlout gives a kiss to Fishlegs, saying ‘Thor’ broke his heart.

Gustav Larson, now sixteen, shows up at Dragon’s Edge in Gone, Gustav, Gone, ready to join the Dragon Riders.  Hiccup is busy checking out the Dragon Eye and so the other riders pass the teen around (he also has a crush on Astrid) and he causes chaos.  He eventually comes across the Dragon Eye and thinks it’s a treasure map, taking it in order to find the treasure and prove his worth to the other riders.  Hiccup finds him before he gets killed on an unstable island and explains that the rules are different out at the Edge.  They’re far from Berk and other help, so they can’t be reckless.  And to Hiccup, Gustav has just proven he’s not responsible enough to stay at the Edge.  He’ll talk to the teen more in the morning.  But Gustav takes off and gets captured by the Berserkers.  He promises information to Dagur in return for a hot meal.  He also promises the Berserker chief the Dragon Eye and a treasure.  Hiccup arrives and trades the Eye for Gustav, but Gustav stays with Dagur, citing better treatment.  Hiccup understood what Gustav was doing and has the other riders meet him at the island in order to save Gustav and the Dragon Eye.

The episode ends well, with Hiccup promising that Gustav will be ready to join the riders, someday.  Gustav also needs to get back to Berk before his mom worries too much.  Hiccup also managed to find the treasure chest on the island they had been looking for amongst the chaos and discovers another lens for the Dragon Eye.  Meaning there are more out there.

The Dragon’s Edge census is interrupted by the Reign of Fireworms, with a possible migration of the fire starters hitting the island.  But the teens can’t focus fully on the problem because the twins discover a “namey rock;” a claim stone that Stoick and Gobber verify as authentic and states that the twins are the direct Thorston descendants of the founder of the island, making Dragon’s Edge their island.  The twins are thrilled and have ridiculous plans for the island.  Hiccup just wants to make sure it doesn’t burn down.  He figures that they should play along and let the twins try to rule and when they discover it’s harder than it looks, they’ll be begging for help.  Which they ultimately do when the island is almost engulfed in fire.  Before the others will help, Hiccup enforces that the island will be equally claimed by everyone, they’re all equal rulers. 

The Night Terrors help out by forming a Fireworm Queen and Hiccup helps lead them away from Dragon’s Edge.  And the claim stone matter is settled when Meatlug eats the rock, so everyone dances while chanting “it’s our island!”

The teens deal with a new dragon problem in Crushing It.  A Rumblehorn has been causing destruction and they haven’t managed to capture it yet.  Gobber comes to the Edge with news from Berk; Stoick is as ornery as a dragon and driving everyone crazy.  Hiccup heads back to talk to his father, and Gobber will help fortify the base.  He ultimately builds a defensive wall.  Hiccup finds Stoick by “following the sound of the angry Viking,” and even Gothi writes some choice words about the chief, which Hiccup can’t repeat.  Hiccup finds his father shining Thornado’s saddle and realizes his father is missing his dragon friend.  So he invites him back to Dragon’s Edge to help with the Rumblehorn.

They arrive after the Rumblehorn has passed through and toppled a tower onto Gobber, making the one-armed, peg-legged Viking rather loopy.  Stoick witnesses his son issue orders (like a chief in the making) and agrees that this wild dragon is fast, smart, and elusive.  He’s a worthy adversary, the chief declares and helps his son search for the beast.  They do make an attempt at capturing the dragon, but the Rumblehorn takes off, with Stoick hanging on to a rope.  Toothless catches the falling chief.

Stoick and Hiccup note that the dragon is an excellent tracker, yet also doesn’t hurt anyone.  Stoick feels that the dragon is trying to tell them something.  He manages to get back on the Rumblehorn and rides the dragon out to sea, to discover a giant wave is coming right for the base.  The teens reinforce Gobber’s wall, and the Rumblehorn helps Stoick topple a sea stack to protect everyone.  Due to how well the Rumblehorn tracks, they name the new class the Tracker class and Stoick names the dragon Skullcrusher since he’s a protector, a leader, and hard-headed; a lot like Stoick.  He’s gained a new companion and reminds his son that while he may miss Thornado, he also misses Hiccup.

It’s Fishlegs’ turn to check out the Dragon Eye and he comes across information about Dark Deep, the ancestral home of the Gronkles in Quake, Rattle, and Roll.  Hiccup agrees to go with Fishlegs in case he would need help.  When they find the rocky island, there are few Gronkles about.  They’re chased by a boulder that turns out to be a gigantic dragon: a Catastrophic Quaken.  It’s been chasing the Gronkles away, and they’ve moved to the Edge.  The teens know they can’t stay, but Hiccup isn’t sure how to get rid of the Catastrophic Quaken and maybe, that’s just the natural order of things.  Snotlout instead suggests fighting dirty and when Fishlegs doesn’t like Hiccup’s answer, he agrees to lessons from Snotlout.

He stands up to Hiccup, arguing that they do need to go back to Dark Deep.  He gets Snotlout to go with him, but Snotlout is freaked out by the size of the giant dragon.  Luckily, Hiccup and Astrid followed.  Fishlegs uses his new courage to stand up to the Catastrophic Quaken.  Turns out, the giant dragon was scared and defensive, which is why it scared off the other Gronkles.  But when they realize it just wants friends, they return.  Fishlegs is also reminded that he is not Snotlout and doesn’t have to act like the other rider.

There is a mysterious rider and dragon that have been attacking ships in the two-part Have Dragon, Will Travel.  The riders are back on Berk, stocking up on necessities when Stoick gets the news.  Hiccup insists it wasn’t them, so they go to investigate.  They figure out from the barbs its left that the dragon is a Sharp Class, like Stormfly.  They use the fire from Stormfly to discover more information and conclude that it’s a Razorwhip they’re looking for.  They do find the campsite and the mysterious rider manages to capture the other riders until Hiccup and Toothless chase them, discovering that it’s Heather.  She’s been living on her own for years and came across an injured Razorwhip that she nursed back to health and named Windshear.  Hiccup offers their help; at the very least, she should come back to their base.  Astrid likes how intense Heather has gotten and remarks that they’ve all grown up.

Hiccup also tries to talk to Heather about the ships that she and Windshear are attacking, arguing that there has to be another way.  That night, Hiccup follows Heather when she leaves.  She visits Trader Johan and Hiccup wrangles the information out of the long-winded man (even threatening trade sanctions, two words that the trader dislikes).  He finds out that Heather’s village and family were decimated and Heather has vowed revenge.  She goes after Dagur and his new dragon-proof chains wrap around her and Windshear and start pulling her in.  The episode breaks at that point.

And immediately picks right back up in the second part.  Hiccup and Toothless manage to save Heather and Windshear, though Dagur shouts something about a family reunion, since his so-called “brother” is there.  On the way back to the Edge, Hiccup once again tries to talk sense into Heather; her mission is suicide, and while she may be comfortable doing whatever it takes, is she willing to sacrifice Windshear?  Heather claims she is destined to be alone.  The parents she knew, that were killed by Berserkers, where her adoptive parents; she was separated from her birth family as a child.  She has vague memories of her father, and a horn to remember him by.  They arrive back at the Edge and Toothless manages to get the other dragons to leave Windshear alone.  Astrid takes Heather out from some girl time to compare their axes.  It’s Heather who brings up the question to Astrid whether she’s a thing with Hiccup. Astrid insists she is only friends with Hiccup.  Well, Heather notes, Hiccup is cute.  Astrid admits yeah, if you like that “unassuming, heroic, dragon rider type.”  Meanwhile, Heather admits she likes Fishlegs; Snotlout is off-putting.

While girl talk is happening, Hiccup gets a look at Heather’s horn.  It bears Stoick’s crest.  He flies back to Berk.  Meanwhile, Heather goes back to Trader Johan, with Astrid’s company, and gets information on where to find Dagur.  Heather plans to go after him again and asks for the riders’ help.  Astrid insists it must be a capture mission, not killing.  They’ll leave a map for Hiccup to find them.  Back on Berk, Hiccup explains the situation and point blank asks his father, “is Heather my sister?”  He arrives to stop Heather from killing Dagur and explains what he found out.  The horn bears Stoick’s chief seal because it was a gift to the child of another chief, Oswald the Agreeable.  Heather is Oswald’s daughter, making her Dagur’s sister [this is something Dagur had to have known; hence the “family reunion” quip].  He gets free in the confusion and while the other riders get ready to leave, he asks Heather to stay.  She eventually flies off, but Dagur seems pleased with the idea of Heather joining him one day.  Astrid asks Heather to stay, but the other girl needs to work things out.  Hiccup apologizes to Astrid; he’s sorry she’s losing a friend.  Astrid still has him though, she points out.

Hiccup shows off his latest invention in The Next Big Sting, the Dragonfly One, his own set of wings.  Useful, if he ever gets separated from Toothless in the air.  There’s an updraft at the cliff he’s standing on and figures it will help him with gliding.  He gets three tries in before he wrecks the contraption and Toothless is not wholly pleased to continually rescue his rider.  Astrid even insists he’s done.  The riders then find an injured, young Speed Stinger.  They splint its leg, then decide to take it back to the Edge to recuperate.  Snotlout is not pleased.  Fishlegs manages to work and rehabilitate the Speed Stinger, but it gets agitated when the other riders show up.  They also discover that this pack of Speed Stingers have evolved to have webbing between their toes so they can cross water (and we see the larger pack doing such).  Astrid then threatens to lock Hiccup up if his new project is “Dragonfly Two.”

Snotlout and Ruffnut decide to take the Speed Stinger back, but end up crashing, then getting surrounded by the pack.  The Speed Stinger protects them, considering them to be its new pack.  They hold off the main pack long enough and Snotlout even bonds with the Speed Stinger.  But Hiccup insists its best to let the Speed Stinger go back to its pack.  In the scuffle, Hiccup does in fact show off a new glider, using the idea of webbing.

The riders turn a new drill into a competition, as they always do, in Total Nightmare.  Toothless and Hiccup work on beating a closing dome and are successful, due to the Night Fury’s speed [accompanied by theme music].  The twins live for the drama.  Snotlout takes his turn, but Hookfang gets distracted and fights Snotlout.  He puts Hookfang in a pen overnight, but Hookfang gets out.  Snotlout finds him and discovers he’s visiting a female Monstrous Nightmare.  Fishlegs also ponders if Hookfang could be going feral, considering Hookfang won’t leave the female.

The other riders round up other Monstruous Nightmares to tempt Snotlout back to riding, but he refuses, and there are no other dragons he wants to try.  If he can’t fly Hookfang, he doesn’t want to fly any other dragon (and the other riders feel the same way).  So Snotlout quits and plans to return to Berk.  When he goes to say goodbye to Hookfang, he finds his friend injured.  He also finds eggs in the cave behind the female Monstrous Nightmare.  Worse, there’s a Titanwing Monstrous Nightmare.  Toothless manages to scare it off, but Snotlout knows that it will have to be Hookfang that beats the Titanwing in order to protect the female.  “He’s crazy!” Astrid exclaims.  “He’s Snotlout,” Hiccup retorts.  Snotlout goes to beat the dome, but purposefully loses, getting trapped with the Titanwing.  The enclosed area works to Hookfang’s advantage and they tire the Titanwing out.

Thus end the first season of adventures for the dragon riders.  I love this series.  I love seeing the characters older and taking on adult responsibilities.  This series does an excellent job of fleshing out the characters; we’re already seeing some of the other teens take center stage for an episode.  We witness Hiccup growing into a leader and Astrid becoming his second, clearly shown in Dawn of the Dragon Racers.  Snotlout is even maturing, showing that he truly cares about Hookfang and won’t ride another dragon.  The twins are as crazy as ever, with Tuffnut adopting the chicken as a pet…the chicken is not amused at Hiccup’s attempts with Dragonfly One.  I adore the humor of the series.

There’s the twist with Heather being Dagur’s sister.  That was not something I originally saw coming and the writers did well to tie back in to Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk.  I did think for a minute, the first time watching the episode, that they were going to make Heather Hiccup’s long-lost sister, following the steps of many fanfictions.  So I’m glad they made her Dagur’s sister instead and that will be something that comes into play in later seasons.

Up Next: Season Two

“You will kiss this boot!”

Defenders of Berk

The second season of the cartoon, though is lumped under “Dreamworks Dragons” in imbd.  It’s not quite specified how much time has passed between the end of Riders and now, though it’s not long; I’d say less than a year.  I think that Hiccup’s hair is depicted just a smidge longer.  And it should be noted that the tone has changed just a bit; they’re now the “defenders” of Berk, rather than just riders.

This comes through even in the first episode, Live and Let Fly.  Hiccup is having the riders practice what they should do if ever captured by Alvin – say your name and where you live and that is it.  Fishlegs is not the best under pressure; he doesn’t like the dark.  Then Stoick comes along and grounds all the dragons and puts a ban on flying.  No patrols, no training.  The riders complain to Hiccup and he resolutely says he will never call the chief ridiculous; it’s just Stoick being an overprotective father.  Hiccup does argue with Stoick that they only way they will be able to fight back against Alvin is on top dragons.  Stoick insists he won’t rick the teens.  His son argues that the safest place for him is on Toothless.

What do all teens do when told not to do something?  Go behind the adults’ backs and do it anyway.  Hiccup created “Flight Club,” and the first rule of Flight Club is there is no flight club (which just confuses the twins).  They have to keep their skills sharp in order to defend Berk.  Hiccup’s even added features to his shield.  Meanwhile, Stoick has Gobber make him a new saddle because the ban on flying obviously does not apply to the chief.  Then the two groups eventually meet in the air as Alvin attacks Berk.  Stoick readily coordinates with Hiccup to take on the ship.  Which is really just a distraction for Mildew to sneak ashore with a few Outcasts to plant Whispering Death eggs.

The teens continue to be an important part of the defense against Alvin in The Iron Gronkle.  During patrols, Fishlegs routinely falls behind the rest of the riders.  One day, they stay behind on the beach and Meatlug eats a bunch of different rocks.  Fishlegs has to tickle her with a feather to get her to regurgitate when she gets sick.  The lava cools into a remarkable metal that makes light and strong weapons.  Hiccup even adds it to his shield.  Now, Fishlegs and Meatlug are busy in the village with Gobber.  Until they run out of the wonderous “Gronkle Iron.”  The other teens also discover that Fishlegs played a role in their patrols, like keeping track of where they’ve been.  They all learn a lesson and the secret recipe of Gronkle Iron remains a secret (since Fishlegs can’t remember the proper combination of rocks to recreate it.)  They manage to drive away an Outcast ship (that was sneaking in to check on the eggs, including an exceptionally large one.)

Astrid arranges a training mission on Dragon Island during The Night and the Fury, where the riders are to camp out without their dragons in order to work on stealth and defense.  Tuffnut ends up being elected to remain with the dragons.  Hiccup soon finds out that the Berk riders are not alone on the island; Dagur has been camping out, searching for the Night Fury after Hiccup “rescued” him during its attack on Berk.  So, great idea, Dagur wants to search for the elusive dragon with Hiccup, whom he now calls “brother.”  The dragons escape from Tuffnut and Dagur and Hiccup also start coming across the other teens.  They eventually spot the Night Fury and Hiccup uses his shield (it transforms into a crossbow!) to take out Dagur in order to save his friends and also ends up revealing that they don’t hunt dragons anymore on Berk, they rider them.  Dagur goes on about the “trappers’ trap can trap the trapper” (this will pop up throughout the rest of the seasons) and reveals that he is not alone either; the Berserker armada has been offshore.  Dagur demands of his men that no one else hurts Hiccup; that is reserved for Dagur.  Our riders escape, but Dagur just laughs maniacally behind them.

Tunnell Vision starts funny, with the riders and Stoick attempting to catch Gobber so he can be bathed.  It takes a dramatic turn when they discover that Berk’s wells have run dry.  Hiccup goes down in order to investigate and finds there are tunnels now crisscrossing beneath the village.  He then comes across the eggshells of the Whispering Deaths and the Outcast crate and deduces what has happened.  Then the dragons start terrorizing the town, though they get chased away pretty quickly.  Only for a giant white dragon to emerge, a Screaming Death they term.  The scream disorients the riders’ dragons, but Hiccup insists on taking it on.  Stoick is able to help with Thornado, but Hiccup continues to put himself in the most dangerous spot.  He and Toothless manage fancy flying and get the Screaming Death to smash into a rock stack.  The Whispering Death siblings come to help their large counterpart.  Hiccup lets them go.  Luckily, the wells refill, but Hiccup knows what Alvin’s plan was and knows that they haven’t seen the last of the Screaming Death (that last shot of the dragon attacking the screen as the episode ends is a little creepy).

Snotlout is determined to train longer and harder than the other riders in Race to Fireworm Island, which ends up with Hookfang becoming exhausted and losing his flame.  Spitelout is not the most comforting, suggesting that Snotlout should just get a “new sword,” or replace Hookfang if he’s no use.  But Snotlout actually cares for his dragon and will do anything to save him.  The riders end up gathering small fireworm dragons and use them to find their home island, where their queen and nursery resides.  Snotlout risks the wrath of the queen and steals one of the cells, thinking Hookfang needs it.  Hookfang, pasty grey by this point, summons up enough strength to save Snotlout and the queen stings him in order to restore his flame.  Snotlout is now determined to allow Hookfang enough rest to recover and keep him safe.

We learn a bit more about Astrid’s family’s history in Fright of Passage.  Every so many years, Aurvandil’s Fire (the aurora borealis) shines in the sky, signaling the return of the Frightmare dragon that glows and causes people to freeze.  Astrid’s uncle was once known as Fearless Finn Hofferson, until he went up against the Frightmare, thus tarnishing the Hofferson name.  Astrid is determined when the Frightmare returns this year that she will take it on and regain her family’s honor.  Hiccup is a little hesitant to take it on, telling her “no one loves a new and terrifying dragon more than me,” but maybe they should think about how they should take it on.  Astrid calls his bluff that he doesn’t want to learn about the dragon and possibly train it, retorting that he should tell her with a straight face that he thinks about more than dragons.  So they follow the path and discover that the lights in the sky illuminate glowing algae that the Frightmare eats, which causes it to glow, as well as any other dragon.  Also, it’s mist paralyzes people temporarily.  They figure out they need to cut a new path to the river to send the Frightmare out to sea instead of through the village.  (The twins and Snotlout deal with an emergency bunker while the other riders deal with the dragon, and Hiccup starts having to cut off bad words from his friends).

Fishlegs and Snotlout butt heads in Worst in Show, determined that everything is a competition and they have to outdo the other.  In order to figure out who is the best dragon trainer, all the riders will train a Terrible Terror; whoever performs the best wins.  Hiccup keeps insisting that it is not a competition but none of his friends listen to him.  While Fishlegs is busy training his new dragon, he ignores Meatlug.  Hiccups’s Terror is Sharpshot and excels at target shooting.  Astrid’s Stealth is indeed stealthy, while the twins simply butt heads (hence naming them Head and Butt).  Snotlout’s just likes to bite, which Fishlegs’ Iggy is good at retrieving.  But the Outcasts have also snuck into Berk and almost get away with Meatlug.  The Terrors help get her back and Fishlegs spends quality time with her afterwards.  Hiccup and Toothless destroy the Outcast ship.

The riders attempt to track dragons to their respective islands in Appetite for Destruction, but they soon start showing up on the same island.  They discover that the original islands are now gone or severely destroyed.  The Screaming Death is back and making a path of destruction towards Berk.  The riders wrangle the wild dragons to make a stand and drive the Screaming Death away.  Gronkles stabilize Dragon Island, but Hiccup continues to be wary that the large dragon will come back to Berk someday.

Gobber sets the riders to dismantling dragon traps around Berk in Zippleback Down.  The twins don’t pay attention so Tuffnut ends up trapped in a net in a tree.  Ruffnut is bad at directions and takes forever to get back to the village.  In the meantime, the weather is dry and Stoick warns the teens against stray sparks from their dragons, it may start a fire.  Which is of course what happens.  A Typhomerang comes across Tuffnut and they manage to bond since Tuffnut just roars back at the dragon.  Barf and Belch have already had their fun by bumping the teen around in the net.  Hiccup and Toothless finds Tuffnut and realizes that the friendly Typhomerang is Scorch from last year.  Everyone manages to escape the wild fire and Scorch even spins the fire out.  It takes the twins the rest of the evening to get Tuffnut out of the net.

We then come to the two-parter A View to a Skrill, where the riders discover the Berserkers are attempting to free a Skrill dragon from an ice encasement.  The Skrill is the symbol of the Berserkers and is a dangerous lightning dragon that is a match for a Night Fury.  Of course, Snotlout and the twins manage to free the Skrill.  Snotlout gets hit by lighting from the dragon for his trouble and babbles for the next day.  Now they have to keep this dragon away from Dagur who will surely use it against Berk.  Of course, the Berserkers manage to attack at that point.  Toothless and Hiccup take on the Skrill; it gets sent into the water, and the twins see Alvin retrieve the dragon.  They follow the Outcast back to his island, where Hiccup tracks them down.  They see that Alvin and Dagur plan an alliance in order to defeat Berk, but each side plans to double cross each other.  Alvin won’t let Dagur have the Skrill until Berk is defeated.  Dagur intends to dispose of Alvin in order to take his Skrill, and also destroy Berk.  Tuffnut manages to sneak in and get this information and the three come up with the plan that if there is no Skrill, there is no alliance and thus no invasion of Berk.

So, Hiccup and Toothless free the Skrill.  Except Dagur manages to get the Skrill and attacks the Outcasts and fires on Alvin, laughing all the while.  Savage joins Dagur.  Again, Hiccup and his Night Fury go against Dagur and the Skrill.  They get Dagur into the water and when the Skrill fires, he’s electrocuted.  The riders manage to trap and refreeze the Skrill.

The Flight Stuff is lighter-hearted.  True, Snotlout thinks he may be dying for part of the episode, but no one else believes him.  He insists on training Gustav as his replacement.  Gustav finds another Monstrous Nightmare that he names Fanghook (wherever could he have come up with a name like that, we wonder).  Snotlout teaches Gustav what he knows and the boys struggles a bit, but it’s rather funny.  And Hookfang demonstrates who is really in charge of that partnership.  Hiccup is more concerned about Dagur and gets word that the Berserker is planning on test firing a new weapon.  This turns out to be a trap, but Snotlout talks confidence into Gustav so they can save Hiccup and Toothless.  “You want experience, this is how you get it.”  “You can do it and you will do it.”  Shows some more depth to Snotlout.  And turns out it was the twins pranking Snotlout into believing he’s been seeing the give sign posts of Valhalla.  The riders agree that Gustav will be their junior apprentice backup replacement rider.  He’s to send Fanghook away until he’s better trained, which Gustav does, but we see the dragon return once the other riders have left.

Ruffnut manages to befriend a trapped Scauldron in Free Scauldy.  The Scauldron is trapped on Changewing Island with the run rising and drying it out.  Scauldy likes the smell of the fish oil in Ruffnut’s braids, so she keeps him calm while Hiccup, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs free his wing.  Then they attempt to splint it while Changewings move in.  Ruffnut cuts her braids to be the last piece of rope so she can save Scauldy.  While those four are having an adventure, Snotlout bugs Astrid, so she gives him a taste of his own medicine and flirts back, which just scares the young man.

Berk goes through their worst freeze in Frozen.  Hiccup is going nuts inside and when Stoick informs him that Johann is lost at sea, he begs his father, “if you care for me as your son, let me leave.”  Hiccup quickly takes off on Toothless and they notice that the sea has frozen all the way to Berk.  Johann is stuck on his ship in the ice.  When they fly back to Berk, the village is deserted.  Well, Fishlegs scares them.  He stayed because Meatlug was frozen on his roof.  The ice bridge has let Speed Stingers onto Berk, who are small, flightless dragons, but incredibly fast and their tails are able to paralyze Vikings temporarily.  The rest of the village takes refuge in the cove where Toothless and Hiccup bonded.  Stoick was paralyzed while protecting the food supply.  The riders, with Snotlout aided by Gustav, plan to capture the leader of the Speed Stingers and lead the herd away from Berk.  Toothless is fast enough to dodge the little dragons and Hiccup’s metal leg comes in handy, as well as his shield.  Stormfly is stung during their escape, so Barf and Belch are to keep watch while Hiccup takes the Stingers.  They burn the ice bridge to keep them from coming back.

Astrid and Snotlout argue during a Screaming Death attack drill, which causes damage in the village.  Stoick orders the riders to get Mildew’s cabbage field ready for planting in Tale of Two Dragons.  The two continue to argue during this task and worse, Stormfly and Hookfang get involved.  Even Toothless joins in their fight, Hiccup pulling back on his friend, remarking “you’re supposed to be breaking up the fight, not winning it.”  Hiccup goes to Stoick for advice on how to settle things between Astrid and Snotlout.  The chief advises tricking the two into working together; the alternative is letting them beat each other into submission.  It starts off fine, until the dragons attack each other again.  Hiccup has the two switch dragons.  Both Snotlout and Astrid learn some strengths of their temporary companions.  When they try to work together again, they stand in front of their dragons to keep them from attacking.  Fishlegs figures out there is dragon root in the field, which Meatlug is immune to, but it makes the other dragons aggressive.  Astrid and Snotlout work together while Fishlegs removes the root.  They learned things but are happy to switch back to their dragons.

There is an outbreak of eel pox on Berk in The Eel Effect.  The teens are tasked, since Stoick is sick, with getting the ingredients for the cure.  Unfortunately, it involves an eel, which most dragons hate.  Hiccup volunteers him and Toothless to get the eel.  Toothless has to dive into the water and eat an eel in order to save Hiccup.  Which in turns makes Toothless sick and increases his shot limit.  Hiccup tries to reason with his friend, but Toothless runs off, though he does show concern after he knocks Hiccup out.  Fishlegs is sent after Hiccup and helps capture Toothless while wild Typhomerangs move in.  The rest of the riders get sick on Berk, with the twins conducting science experiments and Snotlout starts demanding dragon rights.  Fishlegs and Hiccup make the remedy for Toothless, which makes him barf up the eel and seems to cure him.  They return to Berk with the remedy.

Trader Johann brings a shipment of scrap metal to Berk for Gobber in Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, along with a mace that Tuffnut falls in love with.  Except, metal starts disappearing overnight in Berk.  There is an odd smoke and it tries to carry Hiccup off.  This clues the riders in to the fact that they now have a nest of Smothering Smokebreaths from Breakneck Bog on Berk.  With their weapons carried off, Stoick fears an attack.  Which proves right when Dagur arrives with an armada.  Hiccup and the riders set a trap for the dragons and lead them over Dagur’s armada, dropping the metal and the dragons also take all the metal on the boats, including the nails, destroying the fleet just in time.  Dagur calls out to Hiccup at the start of the battle “pucker up Hiccup, you’re about to kiss my boots!”   Then shouts at the end of the battle “You will kiss this boot!”  [Yup, still obsessed with his “brother.”]  Hiccup makes Johann take the metal back to Breakneck Bog.

The riders have to deal with three adolescent Thunderdrums in Bing! Bam! Boom!  They cause mayhem in the village and only Thornado is able to make them obey.  But Stoick has him busy with chief business.  The teens struggle to train the young dragons.  Stoick then orders them to find a new home for the Thunderdrums.  When they finally get them left on an island, the other wild dragons move in.  Stoick realizes he has to leave Thornado behind in order to let the adult dragon protect the youngsters.  He does what any father or chief would do, though he will miss his companion.

The season ends with another two-parter: Cast Out.  The riders are continuing their training, this time with Gobber helping out.  Hiccup calls for a retreat, but Snotlout won’t listen.  He causes a catapult shot to go wild and hit Astrid.  Hiccup manages to catch her before she’s really hurt, though she wants to punch Snotlout.  Hiccup has had it with the flippant rider, so he suspends Snotlout from the academy.  They can’t count on him.  Hiccup once again asks his father for advice, while they both have ice blocks to their head.  Stoick points out “someday you will be chief” and he can’t always be a leader and a friend.   Snotlout has flown off and manages to find a wrecked Outcast ship.  Along with the Screaming Death.  Snotlout ends up rescued by Alvin the Treacherous, who flies the lad back to Berk, only to be imprisoned.  When Hiccup visits Alvin, the man offers the teen a proposal.  He’s willing to change and help Berk take on the Berserkers. 

In the meantime, Dagur puts dragon root in the dragon academy and lets the dragons out.  Guards try to surround Hiccup and Dagur demands the Night Fury.  Stoick comes to the aid of his son and Alvin comes to help Stoick (let out by Snotlout).  Dagur manages to capture Stoick and makes off with the chief.  Alvin now acts as advisor to Hiccup, warning the backing Dagur into a corner will not end well.  With Stoick in enemy hands, Hiccup is now the acting chief, backed up by Astrid.  Gobber even helps Hiccup and explains how Alvin and Stoick used to be friends, until Stoick became chief and Alvin didn’t agree with how he was doing things.  Alvin disobeyed an order and so Stoick cast him out.  Their relationship is similar to the one Hiccup has with Snotlout. 

Fishlegs then brings word that the Screaming Death is on its way.  Hiccup orders the riders to take care of the Screaming Death while Hiccup will go after his father.  Alvin will show him a secret way on to Outcast Island, helped by Mildew.  Hiccup realizes that the Whispering Death Mildew is taking care of is the mother of the ones from Berk, including the Screaming Death.  He sends word back to Berk.  The riders will lure the Screaming Death to Outcast Island with dragon root. 

Toothless ends up captured, but Alvin and Hiccup work together to free him.  The arena begins to collapse; Toothless saves Hiccup and the riders arrive.  Dagur realizes what Hiccup intends to do and tries to hold the mother Whispering Death hostage.  Snotlout fires the right shot and frees the mother to reunite with her offspring.  They roar at Hiccup, but leave.  The exit narration returns for the first time this season, with Hiccup summing up that sometimes being reckless is courageous.  Alvin and Stoick make peace and Alvin takes Dagur to the prison on Outcast Island.  Hiccup and his friends will continue to train, learn, and protect dragons.

This season we see the teenaged characters come into their own more.  Snotlout does actually care about his dragon and he even cares about Stormfly when he rides her.  We peek beneath Astrid’s warrior exterior and see her as a small child.  We also see her support Hiccup.  The twins are still primarily comic relief, but they also start to branch out.  Tuffnut bonds with Scorch, mainly cause he’s willing to roar back and even talks to Barf, the head his sister tends to ride, so they may form a bond as well.  When they’re sick they do proper science experiments, though they still want to throw each other off a cliff.  Fishlegs is the one who keeps them organized and is incredibly knowledgeable about dragons.  He helps develop Gronkle Iron, even if it’s not perfected yet.  Whenever there is dragon root, Fishlegs takes charge.

Hiccup grows as a leader.  The village starts seeing him as a leader of his peers.  When Stoick is concerned about fire weather, he passes responsibility of the riders to Hiccup to keep in line.  Stoick gives him the chance to train adolescent Thunderdrums, and ends up allowing Hiccup to run attack drills with the riders that involve the village.  He straight up tells Hiccup he will be chief one day and during airborne attacks, follows Hiccup’s lead.  Hiccup also asks and accepts advice from his father and other adults.  He doesn’t dismiss Alvin’s warnings once his father is captured by Dagur.  We know he already listens to Gobber and sees him as a mentor.

Even the antagonists are fleshed out.  Savage actually has ideas, though he will cower and let whoever is in command take credit.  While Dagur is certainly deranged, he has actual goals (that we don’t want accomplished) and sees Hiccup as an actual adversary rather than a nuisance or target practice.  Alvin even is redeemed.  He’s not a perfect man, but he comes to see a better way to accomplish his goals.  It’s better to ally with Berk than with Dagur.  He saved Snotlout and could have easily left the young man to be eaten.

I love the depth this show demonstrates.  These are more than one dimensional characters.  We see teenagers start to become adults and work towards a future.  They are leading the way in showing that humans benefit from having dragons in their lives.

Next Time: We dive into Race to the Edge

“It’s a great day for lugging sheep!”

Riders of Berk

The first season that continues the story of the How to Train Your Dragon movies.  Dragons are now on Berk.  And Vikings have to learn to live with them.  This is not something solved overnight, as Hiccup as the other teens discover.  Most of the teens’ voices are back, though Ruffnut and Snotlout have new actors, as do Gobber and Stoick.  Tim Conway (from the Carol Burnett Show) voices one of the villagers, Mulch and David Tennant does continue to voice Spitelout when he appears.

Since it is now a television cartoon, the animation quality is lower (and really noticeable at times).  All of the episodes also echo Hiccups opening and closing narration from the movie; usually highlighting what the lesson that is to be learned (make your own call on how cheesy they are).  As Hiccup lays out in the first episode How to Start a Dragon Academy, Vikings now have to learn to not battle dragons and learn to take the good with the bad.  He starts with his friends riding dragons and training them.  They do a little trick competition.  We continue to learn that the twins get very excited about nearly dying.  Astrid is the second-best rider after Hiccup.

One villager staunchly dislikes dragons being on Berk, Mildew (and he is as pleasant as his name and is constantly accompanied by a sheep…best description of him is why did they bother to spend a week digging him out of a snowbank).  He’s able to stir up crowds and loudly demands that the dragons need to be put in cages, or better yet, off Berk completely.  Hiccup volunteers to help solve the problem of dragons being in the Vikings’ business.  It’s his chance to prove himself a man (at fifteen).  Mayhem ensues and Stoick sides with the villagers and order the dragons off the island.  Hiccup realizes they need to work with the dragons’ natural instincts…like using their poo as fertilizer.  In response, Stoick grants Hiccup and the teens the right to use the former kill ring as a new dragon training academy.

Another consequence of no longer fighting dragons is that Gobber finds himself without much of a job.  There is not as much need for weapons and he struggles to find purpose in Viking for Hire.  He even tries to help Stoick out one day, but he makes a poor chief, such as naming a baby girl Magnus.  Eventually, Hiccup tries to have Gobber build the other teens saddles, but they’re filled with weapons and not the most useful.  However, it’s Gobber who takes on Hookfang, Snotlout’s Monstrous Nightmare, who’s going berserk.  Turns out, he had a bad tooth and Gobber extracts it.  He turns his attention to dragon dentistry.

It becomes dragons versus animals in Animal House; the animals on Berk, such as the chickens and yaks, are not used to the dragons being around constantly.  It puts them off milk production and egg laying.  Hiccup tries to show the animals that dragons aren’t so bad…it doesn’t go as well as he hopes.  A big snowstorm rolls in.  The teens are tasked with bringing the last animals in, but they bolt.  Their dragons follow them into the snow and end up cocooning them in the wild weather, even the animals.  (They had shown this protective instinct earlier in the episode when Astrid and Hiccup get stuck in an avalanche after sledding.)  Trust is gained.

Terrible Twos introduces a new dragon to the teens, who are practicing evasive maneuvers (and Hookfang doesn’t like to listen to Snotlout).  It’s at first equated to a flaming squirrel, but they eventually name it a Typhomerang for how it spins and fires up.  Toothless dislikes the new addition to the house, particularly when Torch steals his dinner.  Toothless is also the first to realize that Torch is a baby and the mother is looking for him.  But Hiccup doesn’t understand what Toothless is pointing out, until he sees the parent for himself and realizes his mistake.  He vows to listen to his dragon more.

We continue to see Toothless direct the other dragons on Berk.  The riders go through trust exercises with their dragons and unfortunately crash into Mildew’s house in In Dragons We Trust.  Stoick orders Hiccup to rebuild the roof, without Toothless.  The chief explains to his son that all eyes are on Hiccup in regards to the dragons and his actions reflect on Stoick.  (In other words, keep the dragons under control.  Dragons, Hiccup can handle.  It’s the twins and Snotlout in the mix that chaos erupts.)  Overnight, dragon prints appear, seemingly Barf and Belch and they stole all the Vikings’ boots (an odd tradition [to an American] they have of leaving them outside overnight.)  So Hiccup starts a night patrol, named “DUMB” for “Dragon United Monitoring Brigade” (and yes, it is a rather dumb name, and is pointed out several times in the episode) so they can prevent more dragon accidents.  Except claw marks, possibly from Hookfang appear in the Great Hall.  Toothless goes to investigate a noise while Hiccup defends the dragons.  The armory explodes before Toothless can find his prey and he is instantly blamed, loudly by Mildew.  Which makes Hiccup suspicious.  But Stoick orders the dragons off the island to keep the peace.  Hiccup vows to return for Toothless.  While he is fixing Mildew’s roof later, he sneaks in and confirms his suspicions when he finds dragon props.  Except Mildew returns (Hiccup hides) and throws the evidence into ocean.

With the armory gone, Gobber points out to Stoick that this would be an extremely bad time for an attack, namely by someone called Alvin the Treacherous (voiced by Mark Hamill; he’s got a thing for bad guys) in Alvin and the Outcasts.  While the teens are searching the beach for the evidence to exonerate their dragons, Astrid and Hiccup spot an odd ship.  The Outcasts have arrived.  Hiccup sets off to retrieve the dragons, while the rest of the village take to the caves and woods.  Fishlegs comes across Alvin, who declares he is looking for the “dragon master.”  Fishlegs is tossed into the ocean for his trouble, but he comes back ashore and finds Hiccup.  Astrid keeps Alvin occupied, particularly when Mildew intends to give the boy away.  But Hiccup still steps out to protect his people, claiming to be the dragon master.  Alvin points out that the teen is “Stoick’s little embarrassment,” but Hiccup persists in his claims and manages to get Alvin to take him to Dragon Island.

Still on Berk, Stoick and Gobber handily take on the Outcasts they come across (despite no official weapons).  Stoick soon discovers why Alvin has come and worries for his son.  But on Dragon Island, Hiccup finds Toothless and sneakily gets his saddle on, then corrects Alvin.  He’s not a dragon master, he’s a dragon trainer.  Stoick and the other teens have come as reinforcements and the teens take to the sky to launch dragon attacks against the Outcast ship.  They work together to burn Alvin’s ship, but even in defeat, the Treacherous Outcast leader lets out a demented laugh, eager to get his hands on the boy again.  These episodes reinforce that Vikings and dragons can trust each other, especially the duo of Toothless and Hiccup.

Hiccup attempts to sway his dad from the traditional, hard Viking way and learn to do things the dragon way in How to Pick Your Dragon.  Stoick is stubborn, but Gobber manages to talk him round.  Stoick agrees to ride behind Hiccup on Toothless and witness cheifing from a dragon.  Now he’s eager for the idea and takes Toothless out the entire next day and exhausts the poor Night Fury.  So Hiccup has to find a dragon for his father.  They eventually come across a wild Thunderdrum that initially resists being trained and does not trust Stoick.  When the Vikings find out that this one is protecting an injured friend, Stoick stays behind to aid the Thunderdrum, finally gaining the dragon’s trust.  Stoick is slowly coming around to some of his son’s ideas.

Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man is self-explanatory.  There is a portrait being painted of the chief and his heir; a tradition going back generations.  Stoick is initially fine with Hiccup not looking as brawny as some others, but when the portrait is revealed to show Hiccup as a more typical Viking and Stoick loudly praises it, Hiccups is dejected.  Stoick points out that the picture is Hiccup, just bigger and stronger.  A villager openly remarks that it looks like the son of a chief.  The teens have found a treasure map that stumped even Gobber and Stoick back in the day.  After hearing everyone’s comments and pointing out that Viking tradition is to name the runt of the litter “hiccup,” the lad decides to try his hand at the treasure map.  They start finding pieces and Gobber and Stoick soon figure out what Hiccup and the teens are up to.  Gobber has to spell it out to Stoick that Hiccup is upset about the painting and then points out that the younger generation has gotten further in one afternoon than the two of them got in a month.

Eventually, Hiccup and Toothless fall into a cavern after getting the last piece of the puzzle.  They discover the treasure, but that cavern soon collapses, scaring his friends and father as they search for him.  He chose wisely and gets out and is greeted by a large hug from his father.  He admits he just wanted to prove to his father that he was his kind of Viking.  Stoick assures him he already was and orders the portrait redone.

Trader Johann is introduced in Dragon Flower, with the Vikings of Berk eagerly lining up to look at his exotic items.  This is how Hiccup gets squid ink, instead of his charcoal.  Mildew gets a strange order, but no one follows up immediately.  Until their dragons start getting ill.  Gothi, the village elder who scribbles in the sand since she is mute, determines the dragons are allergic to something new on the island. [The animation quality is particularly poor in the beach scene, where everyone throws things away.]  The teens eventually work out that the new flowers they’ve been seeing across the island is poisonous to their dragons.  Mildew claims innocence, but he is forced to come along to retrieve the antidote from a Scauldron.  As usual, the plan doesn’t go exactly as they figured (Gobber eventually has to go scream in the forest after witnessing Mildew’s bare backside), but they do get the antidote and save the dragons.  Stoick does not immediately jump anymore to wishing to be rid of the dragons; he’s even worried about his own dragon.

The first half of the season ends with a two-part episode: Heather Report.  Snotlout and Hookfang come across a young girl washed ashore from a shipwreck.  The rest of the teens are eager to help the girl, Heather (voiced by Mae Whitman, who voiced Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender), though Astrid is suspicious.  Heather is eager to learn about dragons and asks several questions, even inquiring about their Book of Dragons.  Again, Astrid doesn’t trust the newcomer and doesn’t think they should be sharing so many secrets with her.  It is also possible Astrid is a bit jealous.  She eventually witnesses Heather speaking to Alvin’s second-in-command, Savage, promising to get the Book of Dragons.  Afterward, Hiccup can’t find the book.  Heather has taken Stormfly and is off to Outcast Island.  The riders go after her, Astrid even fighting the other girl on the back of Stormfly.  Unfortunately, the book lands on the island.

In the second part of the episode, Heather is trying to break out of jail so she can return to Outcast Island.  Turns out, Alvin is holding her parents hostage.  The teens begin to prepare to go against the Outcasts.  Astrid dresses up as Heather in order to fool Alvin and get the book back.  She has to demonstrate what she “learned,” and eventually tries to escape.  The riders follow her and Heather successfully breaks out and follows on Stormfly.  Hiccup has faith that Astrid will take care of herself and goes through with the plan.  They’re briefly captured, but Heather arrives just in time, giving them the diversion to get free.  Of course, the episode ends happily, with Astrid and Heather putting aside their differences, and the Book of Dragons back on Berk.  But Alvin wants Hiccup even more now.

Thawfest is a lighter episode, highlighting the ongoing animosity between Snotlout and Hiccup.  The Thawfest games have been going on for generations and the Jorgenson clan typically wins.  [Apparently, in the books, Snotlout and Hiccup are cousins and fandom has accepted this.  It doesn’t quite appose canon, though it’s never explicitly brought up.]  We also see the Jorgenson chant of “oi oi oi!” (it will come up through the rest of the series.)  Snotlout has won the past several years in a row, but this year, they’ve added dragon events, so Hiccup has a chance.  He loses at the sheep lug, log roll, and axe throwing, with Snotlout taking the honors once again.  But Hiccup excels at the dragon hurdles, freestyle event, and fly and shoot portion.  He’s ecstatic and gloating, but Astrid warns him that he’s being a sore winner, compared to a gracious loser.  It all comes down to an obstacle course and Hiccup has been modifying Toothless’ tail to increase their speed.  He falls behind in the rock-climbing portion, but soon catches up to Snotlout, who begins to panic at the pressure his father has put on him to win.  And Hiccup realizes he doesn’t want to win like this, so he purposefully crashes Hiccup.  Status quo remains, but Stoick passes along that he’s proud of Hiccup and Astrid even rewards him with a kiss for being the better Viking.

When Lighting Strikes is my favorite episode of this season.  Hiccup explains that life on Berk with dragons has its ups and downs.  He helps design metal perches for the dragons so they stop landing on houses and crushing them.  Then a lightning storm hits in the village, the first in many years.  Fires start and the villagers believe that Thor is angry.  Mildew instead blames the dragons, per usual, though this time, he targets Toothless directly.  A Night Fury is said to be the ‘unholy offspring of lightning and death itself,’ thus, that is what Thor is upset about.  Hiccup talks the villagers down for a minute and suggests a statue to Thor.  His friends help him out, though make it out of metal again [which makes sense on the one hand, since Hiccup is a skilled metal smith, though we in the twenty-first century have figured out what’s going on.]  Unfortunately, the lightning returns and strikes the statue, firing it at the metal perches that Toothless is hoping on.  Mildew works the crowd into a frenzy and Stoick tells Hiccup to hide Toothless.  Stoick doesn’t believe Toothless to be a threat and will now actively protect him.  However, for their safety, he does suggest his son leaves with his dragon, until everyone calms down.  They try to make it off the island, but the lightning in the sky hits the metal rigging on Toothless’ tail.  They crash and that allows the crowd to catch up with them and lock Toothless away.

They make preparations to ship Toothless off the island.  Except now they have to deal with the chief and Gobber, joined by Bucket and Mulch.  Hiccup has also worked out that the lightning is hitting the metal specifically and he’s got an idea.  Not a great idea, because it’s to stand at the top of a mast with a metal spear in his hand.  Lightning strikes before he can lash it, so it travels through Hiccup, sending him into the water.  Toothless breaks free and rescues his friend again.  This echoes the ending of the first movie, even with Hiccup waking up in his bed and Toothless waiting for him.  He looks down and dryly remarks “at least I didn’t lose another one,” regarding his legs.  Stoick happily hugs his son.  The villagers now believe that Thor is angry at the metal, so for now they take down the perches and the statue.  Well, the male riders carry the statue up to Mildew’s house (Stoick’s instructions had been a high point on the island and technically…)  The villagers apologize to Toothless and life goes on.  I like that Hiccup continues to prove that he will do anything for his dragon.  He used his analytical mind to solve the question, though some of his ideas are still a bit on the crazy, stupid side.

We’re introduced to another dragon in What Flies Beneath when large holes start appearing around Berk and animals are dropping away.  When the riders go to investigate, they hear a strange whispering before a massive dragon erupts from the ground, a Whispering Death.  Toothless orders the other dragons to back off and attacks the beast himself and won’t even let Hiccup help him.  That night, he leaves on his own to hunt down the Whispering Death.  Hiccup of course goes after him come morning and finds more holes, even jumping into one.  Yep, the home of the Whispering Death, but no Toothless.  Hiccup instead wants to attempt to train the beast.  Luckily, Toothless is to the rescue before the teen gets bitten.  Fishlegs and Hiccup have also discovered a bite mark on the tail of the Whispering Death, which matches the teeth pattern of a Night Fury; these dragons have a past and hold a grudge.

Hiccup knows that Toothless needs to be able to fly in order to really fight the Whispering Death, but Toothless continues to push him away.  So, another crazy idea, he walks off a cliff, praying that Toothless will save him.  Of course the beloved black dragon does, and now they can really fire away at the Whispering Death.  They realize that the enemy dragon dislikes sunlight and use that to their advantage so Toothless can pin and roar at his enemy.  The dragon slinks off.  Hiccup remarks in closing “I will always have Toothless’ back and he will always have mine.”

Twinsanity focuses more on Barf and Belch and the twins.  The riders are working on commands, and of course, Ruffnut and Tuffnut can’t agree on which signal to give their one dragon.  They get fed up and walk away from each other.  To throw a wrench into the works, a contingency from the Berserker tribe is coming to Berk to sign an annual peace treaty.  Since Stoick doesn’t believe that other Vikings will react well to dragons in the village, he orders the riders to hide their friends.  Only, Barf and Belch are still in the village when the visitors arrive.  Instead of Osvald the Agreeable, it is his son, Dagur, who know goes by the Deranged, who leads the Berserkers.  Hiccup’s not pleased because Dagur usually uses the skinny teen as target practice when he’s visited in the past.  Hiccup tries to get Barf and Belch away, but Dagur spots the dragon and eagerly declares they should kill it; one head for each chief.  Hiccup has to find the twins.  He finds out that they’re tired of sharing everything, though he urges them that other items can be replaced and duplicated, but not Barf and Belch. 

Stoick stalls Dagur, and the riders arrive just in time to prevent the chief from putting an end to the visiting Berserker.  The riders stage a dragon attack (using their hand signals) to drive the Berserkers away.  The tribes remain at peace.

Hiccup ends up working with Snotlout in Defiant One.  Snotlout dislikes having to take directions from Hiccup and attempts to go his own way in a search and rescue mission.  Hiccup doubles back to help him, and they get caught in a waterspout.  Hookfang goes flying and Toothless’ tail is damaged, again.  They land on an island and Hiccup sets to work replacing Toothless’ tail.  Snotlout is not much help, though he points out that Hiccup should be more prepared with proper provisions.  He also whines about how great everyone thinks Hiccup is now; he killed the Red Death, he trained the dragons, he’s got the metal leg.  When he steps in to ‘help’ with a connecting rod, he breaks it instead.  Now they’re truly stuck.  Hiccup eventually figures out they’re on Outcast Island…and Snotlout has left Hiccup’s satchel with the Berk crest lying around.  But to get off the island, they have to sneak into the blacksmith shop.  Hiccup is captured and Snotlout has to work with Toothless in order to rescue him.  Alvin still wants the boy to train his dragons, though when Snotlout gets Hiccup out, he groans “how does that ninety-pound boy repeatedly defeat an entire army of blood-thirsty savages?”  After this adventure, Snotlout and Hiccup begin to get along better.

Stoick sends the dragon riders out to search for Trader Johan, who is late.  Apparently, there is something important aboard for Stoick.  They eventually find the man adrift at sea, without his boat.  It was lost to the titular Breakneck Bog.  And the item aboard isn’t for Stoick, it’s for Hiccup, and further, it’s from his mother.  Well, that just means that Hiccup is more determined to find it.  Led by the twins and Snotlout, there is the tale that there is a fog monster within the bog that scrapes the skin from your bones.  Hiccup orders Snotlout and the twins to take Johan back to Berk; he, Astrid, and Fishlegs (who is now not eager to potentially run into a fog monster) will search for the boat.  They ultimately find it oddly in a tree.  Along the way, Fishlegs warns the others “you don’t go towards the weird, scary sound.”  Astrid points out, “yeah, we do.  We always do.”  But both will follow Hiccup on this important task. 

There’s a strange bone shower and the noises increase.  Turns out, it’s the twins and Snotlout, gleefully scaring Fishlegs and the others.  Astrid then gleefully beats Tuffnut with a bone for the scare.  They left Johan on a rock in the middle of the sea.  But Hiccup finds the chest and is ready to leave.  The boat falls out of the tree and then a strange fog rolls in.  It takes the box and doesn’t behave as typical fog.  That’s because they’re dragons, called Smothering Smokebreaths who steal metal to melt down to make their nests.  Hiccup of course wants the chest back, so Snotlout gets to be the distraction.  All the riders manage to make it out and back on Berk, Hiccup opens the chest.  It’s a stuffed dragon toy his mother made him as a child.  He was initially scared of it and accidentally dropped it in the water while fishing many years ago.  Hiccup is now happy to have it back.

Fishlegs leads the story in Gem of a Different Color; he skips out on hand-to-hand combat (most would want to avoid Snotlout in that training.  Hiccup is recommended to play dead when Astrid pins him) and ends up finding a glowing rock on his excursion.  Gobber claims it to be a stone of good fortune and the villagers clamor to touch it.  And Snotlout desperately wants it.  Stoick lays down the law that Fishlegs found it.  But Fishlegs doesn’t like all the attention, so he returns it overnight.  Except he finds more glowing rocks and determines they’re dragon eggs.  The eggs of an invisible dragon that spits acid; the Changewing.  Unbeknownst to Fishlegs, Snotlout followed him and has nothing against taking the eggs.  He auctions them off to the highest bidder, even getting a child Gustav Larsen in the deal.  Fishlegs demands that Snotlout takes the eggs back; he refuses.  The Changewings come to Berk to find their eggs, leaving destruction in their wake.  Fishlegs gathers the courage to properly confront Snotlout and gets the last egg.  Hiccup sums up the lesson: having courage isn’t the same as having no fear.  It’s being afraid and pushing forward anyway.

The two-part episode We Are Family ends the season.  Stoick has instructed the riders to put together a parade of dragons for their annual Bork Week celebration.  Bork was the man who compiled the Book of Dragons and is Gobber’s ancestor.  In order to gather all the dragons, the teens work on dragon calls.  It’s then pointed out that there are no other Night Furies nearby.  Hiccup’s a little sad about it, but Astrid points out that Toothless doesn’t seem to mind.  Hiccup is also granted all the notes from Bork in order to continue his own study of dragons.  In his reading, Hiccup finds there is a legendary Isle of Night, filled with Night Furies.  So the riders set out to find Bork’s cave for the map.  Snotlout hilariously gets taken by a Changewing and smacked against the pillar.  And Toothless demonstrates the ability to use echolocation to find his way in the dark.  On the map, Hiccup reads, Night Furies don’t get along with other dragons (bit odd, considering Toothless gets along fine with the rest of the dragon herd on Berk).  So, of course, he sets out on his own.  He thinks he’s found the island, but it’s soon apparent it’s a trap, set by Alvin to capture Hiccup, with Mildew’s help (he was too interested in those notes).

The second part of the episode has Hiccup breezily telling Alvin and his men that they don’t understand the dragons they have.  Alvin locks up Toothless and Hiccup separately until Hiccup agrees to train their dragons.  Mildew’s put in the next cage because Alvin is Treacherous.  The other riders and Stoick follow Hiccup’s path and discover he was taken, determining that it was by the Outcasts.  Meanwhile, both Toothless and Hiccup separately get free, Mildew even ‘helping’ Hiccup.  In return, Hiccup shows Mildew how to gain a dragon’s trust.  Reinforcements arrive and Hiccup’s new friend helps them out when Alvin releases the wild dragons.  Hiccup does ultimately escape with Toothless, but Mildew gets left behind.  And that was all part of the plan.  Mildew now has tricks to teach the Outcasts.

Hiccup flies with Toothless in the parade and realizes they are each other’s family.  Family is also the friends who stand by you.  Sadly, we’re left with Alvin gaining the trust of a Whispering Death (of all the dragons to befriend!) and his maniacal laughter.

Overall, it’s a good continuation from the movie.  Not as high of a quality, but it has its moments.  Hiccup struggles to learn how to cope with being the dragon expert and melding Viking and dragon in one new way of life.  Stoick in turns has to learn how to trust his son and comes around to being more supportive and even gains his own mount.  The teens’ characters are further developed: Fishlegs supports Hiccup in knowledge, though is more scared than one would think for his size.  Astrid is an excellent second-in-command.  The twins love to goof off and Snotlout struggles a bit fitting in with a new Viking way, since he rarely wants to listen to Hiccup.  We get some villains that are a credible threat to Berk: Alvin and Dagur.  Mildew is annoying, but every village has that cranky old geezer who wants everything done the old way and complains about everything, constantly. 

We also see Toothless take a leading role with the other dragons and also seems to love being with Hiccup.  It is a kids’ cartoon, but it’s something that the whole family can watch.  The narration doesn’t beat the lesson over your head too hard.  Overall, well-rounded.

Next Time: Defenders of Berk

“Where were you?” “Oh, just out saving the world.”

Batman Beyond: Season Two

Season Two opens with introducing a friend of Terry’s, Maxine Gibson (voiced by Cree Summer, who has provided voices for hundreds of shows and games, including Susie Carmichael in Rugrats and All Grown Up, Valerie Grey in Danny Phantom, and Princess Kida in Disney’s Atlantis movies).  In Splicers, Terry faces off against Dr. Cuvier, who leads the splicing movement in Gotham; splicing animal DNA in humans.  DA Young stands against the movement, understanding its dangers.  Even Terry agrees with him, though his friends are piqued by the teen craze.  When Batman investigates the Chimera Institute (Reborn to be Wild), he’s electrocuted and captured.  Cuvier injects bat DNA into Batman, but Batman escapes, in time to help stop an attack against Sam Young.  Barb has to stop Batman from killing one of the henchmen (even calling him Terry in the process); the invading DNA is starting to take over.  Barb calls Bruce to warn him and Terry steps out of the shadow; he’s now half man, half bat.  He attacks Bruce, but the old man is a few steps ahead and already has a mutagen antidote ready.  Terry is cured and takes Ace to help him track down Cuvier “you find, me stop.”  Cuvier spends part of the fight as “a true Chimera,” injecting himself with multiple animals’ DNA.  Then Batman overloads him and he gets real creepy.  Ace leaps to Batman’s rescue and Batman returns the favor “don’t touch my dog.”  The factory ends up going up in flames and Barb speaks to Terry afterwards; he can’t live a life of narrow escapes.  It’s a thankless existence with few rewards.  To Terry, the small rewards are the best, like now being friends with Ace.

Earth Mover is a bit creepy.  Terry is studying with a classmate, Jackie, and they feel something watching them.  Terry chases after a blob, which throws him around a bit (and he gets right back up), but it disintegrates into dirt.  Later, there is an earthquake at a field where Terry is with Dana, Jackie, and her stepfather.  Radioactive goo spills out and they all run.  Batman swings in to the rescue.  The truth comes out that Jackie’s birth father worked for Bill, until there was an accident illegally dumping chemical waste.  Tony was believed dead and Bill adopted Jackie.  Turns out Tony’s DNA was scrambled with the earth thanks to the waste and he’s now trying to contact Jackie and get revenge on Bill.  Batman helps saves the pair and Tony finally dies.  (Terry does have to point out to Bruce that ten years ago, when some of this went on, he was only seven so no, he didn’t read the news.)

A few Jokerz find a new government vehicle abandoned (because it was going to overheat) and take it for a Joyride.  They terrorize Gotham with it and Batman has to work with the woman who developed it to get it shut down before the nuclear core blows.  Of course, Batman saves the day and another teen realizes he does not want to join the Jokerz.  Lost Soul is also a bit creepy; a businessman from the past who had his mind stored in a computer decides that when he’s woken up he’s going to take over his grandson’s body.  He manages to take control of the Batsuit and attempts to drown Terry before Bruce uses the kill switch.  The suit escapes the Batcave and Terry decides he’s going after it.  Bruce tries to stop him; that suit is very powerful and just punched through a stone wall.  Terry brings up “is Batman just the suit, or the man inside?”  Bruce gives Terry one of his old utility belts and Terry uses Nightwing’s mask.  The actual suits won’t do much good since they have bullet holes and cuts in them.  Using his wits and gymnastic moves he already possesses, Terry faces off against the controlled suit and runs a spike plugged into a magnet to shut it down.  At the end, Terry says he’ll be glad for a few nights off for Bruce to reprogram the suit.  Bruce quips, it’s the suit that’s out of commission, not Batman.

Max is running a program in Hidden Agenda to discover Batman’s true identity; she’s brilliant and bored.  Terry is fearful that she’ll find out his secret, but first he has to protect her from a band of Jokerz out to hurt her.  They’re led by a classmate angry that Max beat his test score.  For a while, Max believes Terry is one of the Jokerz, but quickly realizes the truth.  She’s eager to help Batman, going after the female Joker when Batman tells her to run.  “Not what I meant,” he quips.  Max points out to Terry at the end that her knowing his secret can be good; she can cover for him with Dana when he as to cancel dates.

Batman gains a Stalker in Blood Sport.  Stalker is a poacher who is now hunting Batman as the ultimate prey.  He bears a scar down his back from an encounter with a panther; the scar now gives him enhanced strength and other abilities.  Stalker also believes that the bat spirit is an ageless soul that inhabits the strongest warrior in each generation.  Terry doesn’t realize he’s been marked after his first encounter with Stalker and ends up leading the man to his younger brother while he’s babysitting.  So Batman swoops in to rescue Matt (which Matt finds thrilling).  Matt even quips to his brother that Batman is super cool, unlike Terry.  To which Terry responds, “we can’t all be Batman.”  Ten is back in Once Burned, stealing from a high-stakes poker game to pay the Jokerz ransom to get her family back.  Turns out, it was all a test by her family to prove her loyalty.  Melanie stays with Terry while she’s in Gotham and really wants to get back together with him.  But she goes on the run after breaking with her family and Terry decides to not read the note she left with Batman for him.

Max pressures Terry to let her help Batman in Hooked Up.  He ends up agreeing when clues from comatose runaways lead to the Virtual Reality gaming room.  Max is approached, but Terry is hesitant and suspicious.  She goes without him and comes under the thrall of Spellbinder, who is using virtual reality to give people their dreams, in exchange for money.  They steal when they run out and when they get too much of their dreams, it puts them in a coma state.  Max likes the dream world because she’s alone at home and in the dream, her family surrounds her.  She does ultimately help take out Spellbinder, but she’s beginning to learn what Batman’s world is really like. 

Rats is another creepy episode (this season has several).  As you can guess, rats feature heavily in the episode.  Dana is mad at Terry for breaking another date, but decides to give him another chance when she finds a white rose.  However, Terry ends up late for the date anyway (keeping Mad Stan from blowing everything up).  And when Dana goes to leave before he arrives, she finds another rose, then is chased by large rats.  She wakes up in an underground lair of Patrick, the rat boy.  He collects unwanted things and has been spying on Dana, realizing that Terry’s been letting her down, so he’s brought her to him.  She plays along to get Patrick to leave, then attempts to escape on her own (you go girl!).  She gets away for a while, but ends up lost and stuck; Patrick finds her.  Batman is also searching desperately for Dana when her father reveals to Terry that Dana never came home.  He discovers the giant rats at their meeting place and follows them back to Patrick.  While Batman fights Patrick, who has decided that Dana needs to die since she won’t stay with him and teases him like others have (he’s done this before…you might not want to think about that), Dana fights off the rats and starts a fire.  Gotham’s underground seems riddled with chemical waste and a pool of it explodes while Batman flies Dana to safety.  It’s Terry who meets her above ground and she has him take her home.

A psychic girl, Tamara, contacts Batman to save her in Mind Games.  The Brain Trust told her parents she was going to a gifted school, but when they try to contact them, they get nothing.  With Tamara’s help, Batman is able to track them down and rescue the little girl.  Max pops up in the episode, helping Terry study while on patrol (all presidents are boring, according to Terry), and accompanying him to a swanky hotel to find the girl.  There is a supposed ghost haunting Hamilton Hill High in Revenant.  Strange accidents have been happening around school, so a few girls hold a séance to contact the ghost (at home, Matt wants to hold one to contact his father).  Nelson interrupts them and the “ghost” attacks.  Batman has to begrudgingly save Nelson.  But Bruce doesn’t believe it’s an actual ghost; not because he doesn’t believe in ghosts.  He’s seen actual magic, but this stunt seems “so high school.”  Terry puts together some of the clues and visits Willie Watt in Juvie.  Willie has retained his powers and is responsible.  He escapes and goes after Nelson, then fights Batman.  Willie is locked up again and cannot access his powers.  At home, Terry reminds Matt of the good memories they have of their father.

When animals start going nuts in Babel, Bruce and Terry realize that Shriek is back.  And Shriek plans to use sound to his advantage and terrorize Gotham; he’ll drive them all mad unless Batman hands himself over at midnight.  Barbara tells him “you’re out of your mind” on the phone; Shriek answers “duh.”  Barbara calls Bruce and he is the first to offer himself up as Batman.  But he’s not the Batman people know now.  And Bruce won’t hand Terry over so easily; while he may trust Barbara, he doesn’t trust the others around her.  “That kid’s done a lot for the city; it’s time for the city to do something for him.”  Max cautions Terry that he has friends and family that would miss him if he handed himself over.  And the public isn’t going to do anything to protect their vigilante hero.  But Terry still shows up at the Batcave in his suit; it’s not his first plan to just hand himself over, but he also remembers why he became Batman.  And he figures out where Shriek is hiding.  They fight and Shriek is buried in a pile of rubble.  Back in the cave, Bruce thanks Terry for reminding him why he started his crusade.  This is one of my favorite episodes because it’s about Terry as a person, not in the suit.  He has to decide that he’s the kind of guy to put others ahead of himself.  And I love Bruce standing up for him.

Terry’s Friend Dates a Robot is exactly what it says on the tin.  Terry’s friend Howard is trying to be popular.  When he accompanies Terry on an errand to a synthoid factory for Bruce (he has Terry run simulations against the classic villains as training), he discovers a man running a side-gig, hooking men up with…let’s say female companions.  Howard orders himself a hot and loyal girlfriend.  And it works to get people to come to his party.  But “Cynthia” attacks Nelson when he makes fun of Howard.  And she tries to go after Chelsea when she flirts with Howard; Terry manages to stop that.  And at the party, when Howard tries to hook up with Chelsea, Cynthia goes berserk.  Max buys some time for Batman to swoop in; and Howard does nothing to help when he utters “can we still be friends?”  As Batman points out, that is never the right thing to say.  Cynthia self-destructs and Howard now has to deal with irate parents.

While Barbara won’t hand Batman over to Shriek, she will believe that he killed Mad Stan in Eyewitness.  To be fair, it’s not entirely her fault.  Spellbinder is behind it; and Batman interrupted an undercover sting.  But Terry has to go on the run for a while after he finds cops at his home asking to see him.  Bruce luckily believes him and works to clear up the video recording of the last fight between Batman and Mad Stan.  Barbara reminds Bruce that Terry has a record; he knows.  Terry spent three month is juvie, but Bruce argues, the teen is still learning.  And if Barbara takes Batman in and reveals Terry’s secret, she reveals a lot of other secrets too.  Bruce is able to give Terry the clue to reveal Spellbinder.  Barbara makes it up to Terry by giving him a student award to cover for the police looking for him.

Curaré is back in Final Cut.  She’s taking out the rest of the Society of Assassins.  The last member comes to Batman for protection (voiced by Tim Curry, a most excellent Cardinal Richelieu in Three Musketeers with Chris O’Donnell [who plays Robin in Batman Forever and Batman and Robin]).  He’s planted a bomb in Gotham that will go off if he doesn’t input a code every twelve hours.  Batman needs to stop Curaré, or a lot more people will die.  Max again tries to help Batman, but Terry warns her off.  She doesn’t listen and is almost killed by Curaré.  Batman saves her (and warns her not to call him “Terry”) and the assassin dies.  Now it’s a race to find the bomb and disarm it.  And fight off Curaré.  The latter task is Batman’s and Max has to deal with the bomb.

Dr. Wheeler has set up a ranch for troubled teens in The Last Resort.  But his methods aren’t the best.  Busloads of kids are being sent to the ranch for minor things, apparently due to a new parental liability law.  Luckily, Terry is not sent, but Batman investigates because what kind of ranch would take his friend Chelsea alongside a legitimate threat like Sean Miller.  Wheeler’s methods run alongside those use to brainwash prisoners of war; and he’s using it on kids.  Terry heads in as himself to speak to Chelsea; he has to sneak past the guards to get the truth and ends up running into Sean Miller.  Wheeler catches him and throws him in a cell.  If no one comes looking for him, he’s to be terminated.  Terry works with Sean to escape and Batman swoops in to finish the job.  The kids run free and Batman has to stop Sean from killing Wheeler.

Terry’s friend Jared shows up again in Armoury.  His stepfather throws him a lavish birthday party, then ends up laid off.  As a weapons’ developer, his skills are just not called for now and he struggles to find a new job.  An old buddy suggests some illegal methods and the man takes them so he can maintain appearances.  That means stealing from Wayne-Powers and Batman gets involved.  Jared figures out the truth of what his stepfather is doing and the partner is not happy.  Batman shows up and the partner tries to kill him, but the stepfather saves him.

Batman’s identity is almost revealed in Sneak Peek.  A nosy journalist, Ian Peek, has found a way to get exclusive dirt on celebrities.  Turns out, he has a belt that allows him to go intangible and sneak through walls.  When Ian gets in a spot of trouble, he finds the Batmobile and sneaks a recorder inside.  He captures an image of Terry unmasking in the Batcave and Bruce alongside him.  He plans to reveal the exclusive on television.  Terry attempts to tell his mother, but she laughs him off.  He goes as Batman to Ian to persuade him to not reveal Bruce; he’s done too much good for the city.  Ian is his usual reporter self.  Batman flies away.  Then Ian needs Bruce’s help; he can’t control the intangibility, he needs Bruce’s company to save him; after all, the original scientist worked for him.  Oh yeah, he killed the scientist.  Bruce isn’t happy and walks away.  Ian attacks and luckily, Batman is nearby.  When he begins to sink through the floor, Batman tries to save him, but gravity is the only thing that works on him now.

Eggbaby actually won an Emmy award for the show and it is a fairly funny episode.  It’s a classic family studies episode, which Terry is failing.  So he has to take care of a baby simulator, an egg.  While being Batman and facing Ma Mayhem and her boys from stealing rubies.  Bruce is not happy that Terry takes the egg on patrol (for a second he thinks there is an actual baby and does Terry have something he needs to tell Bruce?), but he also won’t watch the egg.  Through various mishaps, Terry has to get the egg back.  And all the excitement is apparently good for his grade because he’s the only one to pass since he gave it positive stimulation.

There’s a synthoid on the loose in Zeta (which ended up being the backdoor opener to a new series that no, I did not watch).  It first masquerades as a teacher at Hamilton High, then the feds show up and start shooting (not the smartest of ideas).  Zeta was a deep cover operator for the NSA, whose purpose was to infiltrate, interrogate, and dispose of terrorists.  Now it’s gone off target.  Max gets involved and Batman goes to save her.  Turns out, Zeta doesn’t want to kill anymore.  Max persuades Batman to help and when Zeta resists killing an NSA agent, he does help Zeta disappear.  The NSA shows up in the next episode, Plague, when they’ve hired Stalker to track down False Face, who is helping the terrorist organization Kobra spread a super virus through Gotham on credit cards.  Batman and Stalker have to work together and their styles do not wholly mix.  They stop the virus, but False Face gets away.

Batman faces a gang of thieves who have metal accessories in their bodies in April Moon, thanks to a specialized doctor.  He gave the gang their powers hoping to save his kidnapped wife.  When Batman does further investigating, it turns out that she was in on the operation, which breaks the doctor’s heart.  Batman is able to defeat the gang, though the leader escapes.  He goes to the doctor at the end of the episode, not knowing that the doctor knows the truth now (that can only spell bad things).  Luckily, the next episode is a bit funnier, and a bit of a spoof on Star Wars.  Sentries of the Last Cosmos is an elaborate series of video games.  One of Terry’s friends excels at the game and is invited to the home of its creator.  Who believes the story he has spun, that he is a Wise One and uses the kids on sentries to destroy his enemies, like the Dark Regent is on Earth.  They attack a hall of records and Batman investigates afterwards (dissing Jar Jar at the same time).  Batman is able to reach “the Dark Regent” first, who is actually the original writer of the game series, the other man was the producer, but wanted more of the profits, so he cut the writer out.  His charade falls apart and the kids leave him.  They turn up on the writer’s doorstep and ask their questions.  “It began a long time ago, in a cosmos far from Earth…”

There is a masked man attacking people who disrespect kids in Gotham, named Payback.  Bruce figures out the connection between the kids; they all attend youth counseling.  Terry goes in and has a convincing story about being overworked and underappreciated by his boss.  Batman goes after the wrong man first and gets in an argument with Bruce (proving his point).  We do get this exchange (this episode has some of my favorite quotes from the show):

“Ow!”  “Why weren’t you watching your back?”  “I was too busy watching my front.  Am I supposed to have eyes everywhere?”  “Only if you want to live to a ripe old age.”  “You don’t make it sound too inviting.” 

They attend a fancy dinner and Payback attacks…as planned.  Payback goes after Bruce. 

“You’re a mean old man, you know that?”  “Mm-hmm.  And what are you?”  “Your worst nightmare!”  “You have no idea what my nightmares are like.” 

Of course, Batman saves Bruce and Payback is revealed to be the counselor’s son, hoping that taking out the kids’ problems would allow his father more time to spend with him.

Terry leaves a date with Dana, Max, and Howard, then ends up following a guy in the subway.  The next day, he’s not at school and Bruce can’t hail him.  Max decides to help Bruce find Where’s Terry?  Batman wakes up in rubble.  There’s a runaway kid there who wants Batman out of his domain.  He’ll lead him topside.  Batman thought he recognized someone.  He did; Shriek is behind it.  But the tunnels make aiming bad for him.  Batman sends the kid on for help, but Shriek strikes again, releasing the river into the tunnels.  Batman can now escape and goes to help the kid.  Meanwhile, Bruce and Max track down Terry’s backpack and Bruce uses Max as a decoy so he can find Terry.  A well-aimed strike with his can puts Shriek out of commission and the kid decides to run back home.  Luckily for Terry, his mother doesn’t suspect anything; she just now thinks that he makes his bed in the morning.

We discover Ace’s background in Ace in the Hole.  His previous owner had him in dog fights.  He managed to run away during a police raid and found Bruce while he was paying his respects to the spot his parents were murdered.  They save each other from a clown and Bruce takes Ace home.  Now the previous owner is back and Ace chases after him.  Batman searches and even goes undercover as Terry.  Ace finds the bandages with Terry’s scent and Batman discovers that the owner is making serostone growth hormones to use on the dogs.  Batman has to face one of the huge mutant dogs, but Ace breaks free in time to help him.  It’s a happy ending, with Bruce and Ace reunited.

I like the character development we see in this season.  Bruce genuinely cares for Terry, even if he is sarcastic about it.  He doesn’t want to see Terry hurt.  And Terry cares for Bruce.  When his mentor wears the powered Bat-armor, he’s fearful of the effect it will have on the elderly man.  This season also shows Terry coming into his own as Batman.  He doesn’t always need the suit and he’s developing his own deductive sense.  Though, could the bad guys please stop electrocuting Batman?  That’s got to have some consequences for Terry down the road.

Next Time: Season Three

“I Sent the Swarm, I Sent the Hoard, Thus Said the Lord”

Prince of Egypt

I probably should have included this around my Disney section since it’s an animated film; but I had forgotten. Besides, the soundtrack is phenomenal. One of the first full length films produced by DreamWorks (same company who would later create one of my favorites: How to Train Your Dragon, and did you know that Steven Spielberg is one of the founders?). Includes a stellar cast: Val Kilmer voices Moses, Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort) voices Rameses, Michelle Pfeiffer is Moses’ wife, Tzipporah, Sandra Bullock is Hebrew Miriam and her brother Aaron is voiced by Jeff Goldblum. Danny Glover is Tzipporah’s father, Jethro and Patrick Stewart is Rameses’ father, Seti, with his queen voiced by Helen Mirren. Steve Martin and Martin Short are the priests, Hotep and Huy. Hans Zimmer composed the score and Stephen Schwartz ( he also wrote for Disney’s Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ella Enchanted, and Wicked) wrote the lyrics.

It tells the story of Moses and the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. The film opens with Deliver Us, illustrating the plight of Hebrews as slaves in Egypt. Seti, the pharaoh, has just issued the order to slaughter newborn Hebrew boys. Moses’ mother and her older children sneak to the river, put baby Moses in a basket and set him adrift, praying her son will have a better life. Her young daughter follows the basket, making sure he arrives safely, to the pharaoh’s wife (biblically, his daughter instead).

The film jumps to two young men, Moses, and his older brother, Rameses, racing cartsprinces of egypt through their father’s buildings. They cause mayhem and are chastised by Seti afterwards. He expects a lot from Rameses, who will succeed him as Pharaoh. Moses pleads for his father to not blame Rameses and suggests that his older brother only needs an opportunity to prove himself. Rameses is granted that opportunity at a banquet that night; Rameses in turn elevates Moses’ position. Priests Hotep and Huy are told to give the princes a gift; they have captured a foreign young woman. Moses is not the kindest to her upon meeting, but that night, he distracts guards to let her escape. He follows her to the slave quarters where he encounters Miriam and Aaron. Miriam thinks her brother has knowingly come, but he is unaware of his true heritage. Aaron pleads for mercy, but it’s not until Miriam repeats their mother’s lullaby that Moses realizes the woman speaks truth when she declares “I know who you are, and you are not a prince of Egypt.” She suggests he asks the man he calls father.

Moses runs back to the palace, trying to take comfort in All I Ever Wanted. He knows his history, it’s etched on every wall. So he investigates. And finds proof of what Miriam said, playing out as animated drawings on the walls. Seti attempts to comfort his son; Moses begging his father, “tell me you didn’t do this.” Seti considers it a sacrifice for the greater good, his parting words “they were only slaves.” (That just sounds so wrong coming from Patrick Stewart).  The Queen does a bit better, but she counsels that Moses should simply ignore the truth; “when the gods send you a blessing, you don’t ask why it was sent.” It does show that his family have never looked down on him for being adopted; Rameses may have been young enough he doesn’t even remembering his mother finding his baby brother.

Yet Moses wanders confused the next day. He accidentally kills an overseer who was beating an elderly Hebrew. He flees; Rameses attempts to stop him, telling his brother he can absolve him of his crime; “you will be what I say you are.” If Rameses wants the truth, Moses instructs him to “ask the man I once called father.” Moses still leaves. Eventually, he removes all pieces of his old life, aside from the ring his brother gifted him. A camel comes across him and he is dragged to a watering hole. He saves three young girls, then promptly passes out into a well. Their older sister, the same woman Moses freed comes to help, though she remembers the prince and lets him drop back into the well. Their tribe takes Moses in; the priest happy to thank a strange young man for saving his daughters. Moses quietly tells the boisterous man he has done nothing worth honoring; which the woman, Tzipporah finds odd, but her father explains a better mindset to Moses. People on earth cannot see their true worth; they should look at their lives Through Heaven’s Eyes (I love this song).

Moses becomes a part of the tribe, becoming a shepherd and eventually marrying Tzipporah. One morning, while tending his flock, one sheep wanders off. He goes after it and comes across the Burning Bush. God speaks to him and tells Moses to go before Pharaoh and free the Hebrews. Moses is unsure, but God promises to be with him and instructs Moses to take his staff, with it, he will do God’s wonders. Tzipporah is initially unsure, but Moses wants the same freedom that her family has for his people. She tells her husband she will go with him back to Egypt.

Rameses is now Pharaoh, so the brothers share a joyful reunion, until Moses tells his brother why he has come. As much as Moses wishes in his heart, things cannot be as they were. Pharaoh must release the Hebrew slaves. To demonstrate God’s power, Moses has his staff turn into a snake. To prove that their gods are just as great, Hotep and Huy mock that Moses is Playing with the Big Boys and they too turn staves into snakes (with smoke, and in the background Moses’ snake devours theirs). After the demonstration, Rameses and Moses speak privately. They’re brothers for a brief moment, recalling that while Moses got Rameses into trouble, he also got him out. (Ralph Fiennes commented behind the scenes “when brothers are enemies, they don’t stop being brothers.”) But life has made them different people and Moses return’s his brother’s ring. Rameses doubles the Hebrew’s workload in retaliation. The Hebrews disparage Moses, but he continues with his mission, with some kind words from Miriam; God saved Moses, he should not give up on the Hebrews. Moses approaches the river and turns it to blood for Pharaoh. The priests imitate the phenomenon, but Moses warns Rameses that matters will only get worse.

The Plagues descend upon Egypt. Frogs, then bugs and flies infest Egypt. The livestock die. Locusts blot out the sun. Egyptians are covered in boils. Fire rains down, then darkness. While a choir chants in the background, Moses cries that it pains him to see what has happened to his home. But he blames Rameses for “all the innocent who suffer for your stubbornness and pride.” Rameses (this is Ralph Fiennes singing; several of the other characters’ singing voices were dubbed) will let his heart be hardened, “I will never let your people go.” The last plague is the death of the first born; Moses instructs the Hebrews to mark their doors with lamb’s blood, and the angel of death will pass over their house. Rameses young son is killed. Moses meets with Rameses; Pharaoh will let the Hebrews leave. But Moses mourns for his brother’s loss and his own.

when you believe

Miriam cheers the people, “there can be miracles, When You Believe.” The song becomes more joyful by the time the children beginning singing in Hebrew (I sang this song as a child in church choir, probably the first time I ever sang in another language…actually, I think the same director taught it to my junior high choir as well). Then they come to the Red Sea. And Pharaoh has decided he will not let the Hebrews go and chases after them. Moses parts the sea with his staff; God has sent down a pillar of fire to bar the Egyptians. Once they’re almost through, the fire dissipates and the Egyptians charge. But the parted sea returns to its home, destroying the army. Moses has succeeded in his mission. The ending of the film shows him descending from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments.

This film, which has since been adapted into a stage show,  came out when I was five or so and I still enjoy it to this day. Once again, the music is phenomenal (ooh, an adult church choir should really do The Plagues; that’d be cool) and the characters were well casted; though it wasn’t until I was older that I began recognizing the voices. The studio managed a good retelling of the Bible story (they consulted with many religious experts and even went to Egypt for research purposes) and made the royal Egyptian family sympathetic at times (it was banned in Egypt, however). I will say that the animation quality of DreamWorks has come a long way since this film (they have done a spectacular job with Dragons; their characters are so lifelike), but it is a different style than the classic Disney look. I highly recommend this film.

Up Next: A proper introduction to more traditional musicals

The Wonderful World of Disney

kissing mickey
My friend and I giving Mickey a kiss, during the band trip to Disney

I’m sure some of my readers have wondered how I would ultimately rank the Disney movies I reviewed.  And I am sure that everyone is aware, there are hundreds of these lists and hundreds of ways to rank favorite Disney movies; this is by no way a definitive guide, just my personal preference at the end of the day.

My Ranking of Disney Movies

Beauty and the Beast live action
Winnie the Pooh
Beauty and the Beast animated
Lion King
Cinderella live action
Robin Hood
Pocahontas
Brave
Mulan
Maleficent
Little Mermaid
Aladdin
Moana
Treasure Planet
Tangled
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Tarzan
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Frozen
Lilo and Stitch
Jungle Book animated
Aristocats
101 Dalmatians
Sleeping Beauty
Hercules
Jungle Book live action
Cinderella animated
Peter Pan
Emperor’s New Groove
Sword in the Stone
Snow White

So, the live action Beauty and the Beast tops the list; are we honestly surprised, lol?  I still love Winnie the Pooh, so not terribly surprising that I placed it second.  I’m more surprised at how high I placed Moana, considering I’ve watched it only twice.  But Moana is such an awesome protagonist.  And Tangled beat out Hunchback; again, due to it has a more pleasant storyline.  And of course, Snow White beats out any movie I decided to not review.  I know I have friends who have different opinions.  And that’s what makes it fun to debate!

A few other favorites:

Favorite Soundtrack: Lion King (mind you, if I’m listening to my Disney playlist, I will inevitably want to watch whatever movie I just heard part of the soundtrack for.  Listening to Mulan‘s score, I want to watch Mulan, etc.)
Favorite Princess: Belle (again, not a surprise, see my original post on the movie, lol)
Favorite Prince: I want Adam from the live action Beauty and the Beast, with his well rounded backstory.
Favorite Hero: Robin Hood (this version is the paragon of good)
Best Sidekick: Genie (he supported Aladdin so much, and Robin Williams was genius)

When we get to Best or Most Evil Villain, it becomes more of a discussion:

There’s the evil queen from Snow White; she wanted to kill a girl because she was prettier. Not really a villain in Sword in the Stone. Izma, I always found her more funny. Hook…well, if I had an annoying child taunting me for years, I’d challenge him to a duel. Doesn’t excuse attempting to drown Tiger Lily or blowing up the kids. Lady Tremaine is horrible and abusive to Cinderella. Shere Kahn, he’s a tiger, he’s most likely going to try to eat a boy. Hades, is hilarious. But still tries to take over the world; I don’t think we want a world ruled by Hades.

Maleficent, in the animated, wanted to kill a child because she was snubbed. Very much redeemed in the live action. Stephan was a jerk. Curella wants to murder innocent puppies. Edgar in Aristocats, not high on the “evil scale.” No one villain in Lilo and Stitch, they’re all redeemable.

Hans, let’s discuss. Think for a minute (if Disney would go so far), if his plan had gone through. Anna would have been married to someone who didn’t love her, who only wanted her for her throne (at the very least, she’d be ignored, quite possibly abused). He intended to kill her sister. (Once Upon a Time delves into his villainy a little further). Rourke was a typical villain. Wanted to kill a whole race of innocent people, all for money. Clayton was a jerk.

Frollo, very evil. Murdered an innocent woman, then wanted to drop a helpless baby down a well, in winter. Abuses the boy. Lusts after a gypsy woman. And uses religion as an excuse. Mother Gothel, again, abusive. Selfish. Silver from Treasure Planet is redeemable for his relationship with Jim. Can’t really count Te Kā as a villain in the end. Jafar is nasty. Ursula, well, I’d love to play that role because it would be fun. But she also wants Triton’s throne, is not above dirty dealing to get it, including hypnotizing a man into marriage. (That could go so badly).

Shan Yu does kill an entire village and probably would do that to every village. Mor’du, not exactly the main conflict in the movie. Ratcliffe needs punched. Willing to kill an entire village of people for his gold lust. Prince John is more laughable in this version of Robin Hood.

Still love Scar, and a lot of that has to do with Jeremy Irons. Played brilliantly. But, kills his brother, attempts to kill his nephew (more than once), turns on those who supported his power play and a few deleted scenes had him making moves on Nala. Gaston is the picture of arrogance. He makes it very clear that he wants Belle for his wife, whether she agrees or not (again, would not end well if he won).

Ultimate contenders are Lady Tremaine, the Evil Queen, Hans, Frollo, Shan Yu, Ratcliffe, or Scar.  Going to have to go with Frollo; he terrified me as a kid.

 

Again, if you have any questions, let me know!  Any other favorites you want to know?  Let me know your favorites!

Next Time: Enchanted

“That Voice Inside is Who You Are”

Moana

The movie exposes us to the ancient Polynesian culture (Polynesia incorporates Hawaii, Samoa, New Zealand, Tahiti and other Pacific Islands), exploring the “Long Pause” in Polynesian voyaging. Newcomer Auli’i Cravalho voices titular Moana (meaning “ocean”), Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson voices Maui, and Alan Tudyk (who was just Weasel) is Heihei the chicken. I heard the soundtrack (Lin-Manuel Miranda, famous for the Broadway hit Hamilton, co-wrote the songs) for months before I ever saw the movie thanks to the kids’ zone across from the store I work at. And I’m going to go ahead and apologize if I misspell anything.

The prologue introduces the legend of Te Fiti, the mother island emerging from the ocean. Her heart could create life and she shared it with the world. Years pass and the demi-god of the wind and sea, Maui; a trickster, a warrior, and shape-shifter, stole Te Fiti’s heart. “Without her heart, Te Fiti began to crumble, giving birth to a terrible darkness.” Te Kā, a demon of earth and fire, blocks Maui’s escape. He’s knocked from the sky, never to be seen; his magical fish hook, which gives him the power to shape-shift, was lost to the sea. The heart, a green stone, is also lost. Little Moana is intrigued by the story, while the other children are frightened. Her grandmother explains that the darkness has been spreading for a thousand years, draining the life from island after island. “But, one day, the heart will be found by someone who will journey far beyond our reef. Find Maui. Deliver him across the great ocean to restore Te Fiti’s heart and save us all.”

Moana’s father (the chief) enters and warns the children that no one goes beyond the reef. They are safe on their island. There are no monsters and no darkness, he soothes. His mother insists the legends are true. While they debate, little Moana wanders down to the shore. She finds a baby turtle stuck on shore and carries a leaf, so the baby will have shade and shoos away birds that would eat the morsel. In thanks, the ocean parts and plays with the small child. It gives Moana a green stone, but she drops is when her father plucks her from the water. “It’s time you knew the village of Motunui is all you need,” he tells his daughter, who will one day be chief. But she’s still called to the water and her father has to keep retrieving her, insisting she stays on the ground, “happiness is Where You Are.” He schools her on the traditions of their village; all they need is provided on the island. Yet his mother still dances next to the water and teaches her granddaughter that while she is her father’s daughter, stubborn and proud, a voice inside may give her a new direction. Moana must discover who she is.

Her father takes Moana to the top of a sacred mountain, showing her a stack of stones, one set down by every chief. When her time comes, she will place her own stone on top. She needs to be who the people need. Moana accepts her duty and starts advising people. Except their harvest is poor. Coconuts turn black. There are no fish; they’ve tried every spot. Moana suggests beyond the reef and the chief still refuses; no one goes beyond the reef. Her mother counsels Moana; her father is hard on her because he was her years ago. He ventured beyond the reef with his best friend, but they encountered a storm and the friend drowned. Her father can save Moana by keeping her on the island. “Sometimes who we wish we were, what we wish we could do, is just not meant to be.”

But, as hard as Moana tries, she’s always led back to the water, always longs to be there. “It calls me/ and no one knows/ how far it goes.” She can try to live in her role, but he ocean still calls. So she takes a canoe out, determined to see How Far I’ll Go; “there’s more beyond the reef.” However, her canoe capsizes in the rough water at the reef; Moana almost drowns. When she collapses back on shore, her grandmother is waiting. Moana claims that her father was right. Instead, her grandmother leads her to a covered cave to learn another legend of their people. Bang the drum, her grandmother instructs, and find out who you were meant to be. Inside, there are larger boats. Once the drum sounds, the sails tell the story of how Motunui was founded; We Know the Way, they said. “We were voyagers!” Moana exclaims. Her grandmother explains further; they stopped when boats stopped coming back, because of Maui and the spreading darkness. She shows Moana that the darkness has come to their island. Then reminds her of the legend that foretold someone would venture beyond the reef, find Maui, and restore the heart of Te Fiti. Grandma gives Moana the green stone, reminding her that the ocean chose her.

Moana rushes to the council meeting, insisting they can stop the darkness by finding Maui. They were once voyagers, they can be so again. The chief has had enough. He marches off to burn the boats. They’re called back to the village; his mother is dying. Grandma whispers to Moana “Go.” She rushes out, her mother helps her pack, and she loads one of the boats she discovered. The spirit of a sting ray (her grandmother had said she would come back as one and bore a tattoo of one) leads her over the reef and “soon I’ll know, How Far I’ll Go.”

screaming chickenThe next morning Moana discovers a stowaway, Heihei the chicken (and the funny scene of the screaming and coconut). The journey is not easy. Her boat turns over again in a storm and she asks the ocean for help. She wakes on a shore – the island where Maui has been marooned. Moana meets the demi-god who insists that he stole the heart to help mortals, he’s their hero. He brought them fire and the breeze and the sun. You’re Welcome. Then he traps Moana in a cave and tries to steal her boat. Moana escapes and the ocean puts her on the boat, even after Maui tries to throw her off a few times. The stone is a magnet for danger, he claims. And they’re soon set upon by the Kakamora (which look like evil coconut people). Moana further demonstrates her cleverness and her determination to see the mission through.

She persuades Maui to do his duty and return the heart; he’d be a hero again. Fine, they find his hook first, then they’ll return the heart. In the meantime, Moana asks Maui to teach her to sail. “It’s called way finding, princess,” Maui corrects. Moana states she’s the daughter of a chief, not a princess. “If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you are a princess.” (Leaning on the fourth wall, ey, Disney? While Moana is not in the “official” princess line-up, she is seen alongside the other princesses in clips from Wreck-It Ralph 2, and fits the same criteria as Pocahontas {daughter of the chief, with an animal sidekick, saves her people}, who is part of the “official” line-up. I just thought it was funny that they bring it up in the movie and call attention what everyone notices about Disney’s princesses.)

The pair must sail to Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters in order to retrieve Maui’s hook from Tamatoa, the collector crab. He enjoys talking about himself and how Shiny he is [I dislike this song, it doesn’t fit with the rest of the soundtrack; I understand why, but still, it’s weird.] Moana distracts the crab with a fake stone so she and Maui can escape. His shape shifting powers are on the fritz, though we do briefly see him transform into Sven. Maui tries to leave the mission again. He explains how he came to be a demi-god; he was born mortal, but his parents threw him into the sea. The gods found him and saved him, gifting the magical fish hook. He uses his powers to help mankind, hoping they’ll love him. But it was never enough. Now he’s not sure he’s worthy to be saved. Moana encourages him; the powers and the hook don’t make Maui, he does. Further encouraged by his mini-me tattoo, he gets his mojo back.

They finally reach Te Fiti and Maui goes to return the heart, but the demon, Te Kā throws fireballs and clashes with Maui’s hook. The boat is pushed back and Maui’s hook is cracked. “Without my hook, I am nothing!” Maui shouts, and leaves. Moana now believesi am moana that the mission is truly hopeless and begs the ocean to choose someone else. The spirit of her grandmother comforts her; she should have never put all the pressure on Moana. If she wants to return home, her grandmother will help. “The people you love will change you, the things you have learned will guide you,” does Moana know who she is? “I am a girl who loves my island, I am the girl who loves the sea, it calls me.” Spirits of the old voyagers appear around her. “And the call isn’t out there at all, it’s inside me…come what may, I know the way. I Am Moana!” [that song gives me goosebumps] She swims down to the stone and when she pops back up, the spirits have vanished. But she knows what to do. She repairs her boat and sets off for Te Fiti again.

She dodges Te Kā’s attacks, seems to go for one opening, then doubles back through the other. But a wave capsizes her again, yet Maui flies to the rescue. He’ll distract Te Kā, so Moana can get to Te Fiti. But when she stands on top of the one island, there’s only the outline of a woman below. Then she notices the swirl on her stone matches one on Te Kā’s chest. She shows the stone and asks the ocean to “let her come to me.” The ocean splits and Te Kā rushes to the small young woman. “I know your name/ they have stolen the heart from inside you/ but this does not define you/ this is not who you are/ you Know Who You Are.” Te Kā pauses in front of Moana. The woman places the heart in the center of the spiral. Greenery overtakes the lava stone and Te Fiti emerges. She smiles down at the little heroine. Moana and Maui are brought before her; Maui apologizes and he receives a new hook (the old one was destroyed while he fought Te Kā). Te Fiti gifts a new boat to Moana. The goddess then lays down and reverts back to a beautiful island.

te_fiti_&_moana

Moana offers that Maui could return with her to Motunui. He won’t, but she’ll see him around. He gains a new tattoo of her (he had earlier explained that he receives a new tattoo when he’s earned them). Moana returns home to her island and her pleased parents. Her father remarks that going past the reefs suits Moana and they pull out the old boats. Moana teaches what she’s learned of way finding and they set sail again (a shell sits on top the rock pile on the mountain).

I enjoyed this movie a lot; the story was different, it showcased another culture that I have developed an interest in (due to Hobbit and Lord of the Rings being filmed in New Zealand and the country and people showcased in the behind the scenes features, and starting to watch the rebooted Hawaii Five-0 series). Moana is an amazing character, well rounded and developed. While she loves the water and it calls to her, she is willing to do her duty and doesn’t complain. There is value in serving others and putting them ahead of yourself (or as Spock would say, “The good of the many outweigh the good of the few or the one.” Though there are times when that can be broken, as all rules are subject to). She goes on a physical journey as well as a personal journey. She stands up to demi-god Maui (not my favorite character, until we got deeper; he was very brash to start with, almost Gaston-like). The grandmother was sassy; I like sassy characters. Her death was sad, but did not leave me a sobbing mess.

I didn’t see the ending as a twist so much; Te Kā appeared more as a guardian to Te Fiti. But the scene was beautiful and how the goddess appeared as balancing elements. I enjoyed the bulk of the soundtrack, typically the songs that featured Moana. Not a huge fan of You’re Welcome, again because of the bragging, and Shiny was just weird.
So, that’s it! I’ll be moving on from animated Disney movies, after a wrap up blog next time. A few live action Disney films, mainly Pirates of the Caribbean, then onto some other action-adventure categories. But first, weigh in on what is your favorite Disney animated film (or live-action adaptation). And your favorite Disney hero/princess and villain (i.e., who do you love to hate, or who do you root for, or who do you think is the most well-developed). Heck, what’s your favorite Disney soundtrack?

Coming Soon: Enchanted (could count as a Disney princess movie; we’ll get into that during the post)

“You Can Fix This Fixer Upper Up With a Little Bit of Love.”

Frozen

That movie that everyone couldn’t stop talking about for months. Ranked as the highest-grossing animated film of all time (Lion King holds that distinction in traditional animation), ninth highest-grossing film of all time, highest-grossing film of 2013, and currently fourth highest-grossing Disney film, behind the new Star Wars movies and new Avengers movies. It won two Oscars, for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (Let It Go), a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature, and a BAFTA for Best Animated Film. On the one hand, I agree it has a story that departs from typical Disney. My (distant) cousin also designed young Anna. On the other hand, why did kids love this more than other movies? Why did everything go Frozen-crazy for so long?

Proceeding…the film is based on Hans Christian Anderson’s tale The Snow Queen, a darker story (aren’t they all?) with the titular Snow Queen as the villainess. The names of the four main characters are inspired by the storyteller’s name: Hans, Kristoff, Anna, Sven (read them quickly together). Kristen Bell (part of several television series, includng the titular Veronica Mars) voices Anna and Idina Menzel (she won acclaim for premiering the role of Elphaba for Wicked on Broadway) voices Elsa. Josh Gad is Olfa, Alan Tudyk (among some other voice acting roles, he’s in Knight’s Tale and the sci-fi show Firefly) is the Duke of Weaselton, sorry, Weselton, and Ciarán Hinds (an Irish actor who has appeared in several period pieces, and Game of Thrones) pops up as Pabbie the troll.

The opening music has a different tone than the rest of the soundtrack; inspired by Scandinavian culture and indigenous chanting (Fun fact: Cantus, the group that performs the piece, is all female). Then we’re into Frozen Heart as men cut ice, aided by a young Kristoff and Sven. My question is, why are they there? Is Kristoff’s father an ice cutter? And no one seems to be paying to this little boy. Then we come to young anna and elsathe palace and meet little princesses Elsa and Anna. Anna begs her older sister to “do the magic!” so they can play in snow. They sneak to a ballroom and Elsa freezes the floor. We briefly glimpse Olaf, who likes warm hugs. But Anna goes too fast jumping from snow mound to snow mound that Elsa creates. When Elsa trips, her shot goes too high and hits Anna. Their parents rush in from the commotion, their father demanding “Elsa, what have you done?” and they immediately head out of the capital, Elsa still trailing ice.

Kristoff and Sven spot the royal family on their venture to the mountain and look on. A collection of rocks turns out to be a troll community (whom promptly adopt the wayward boy and reindeer). The leader can cure Anna, this time; the head can be persuaded, but a shot to the heart is more dangerous. But Anna can no longer know about Elsa’s powers; her memories are changed to remove the magic – but keep the fun. Pabbi did ask if Elsa had been born or cursed with the powers – she had been born with them. Then he warns Elsa that while there is beauty in her powers, there is great danger as well. She must learn to control them, for fear will be her enemy. Her father’s response: lock her away and limit all human contact, even with her sister. I agree with most fans that this is just about the dumbest thing a parent can do. Bottle all your feelings, be scared of an integral part of yourself, and separate you from everyone else, including a beloved younger sibling. Not a smart move.

We watch the princesses grow up during Do You Wanna Build a Snowman? [I like about two songs from this film; this is not one of them]. Anna pleads with Elsa, “we used to be best buddies.” The whole time, Elsa grows more afraid of herself. Their parents eventually take a trip, and their ship is overpowered by a storm. Anna must attend the funeral alone. Afterwards, she sits outside her sister’s door; it’s just the two of them now. On the other side of the door, Elsa is in the same position, with her room looking like a snow blast went off.

Now, there is a fan theory floating around, and I honestly don’t remember which parts have been confirmed or not, but Frozen is connected to other Disney movies. It is tangled cameogenerally postulated that the queen of Arendelle and queen of Corona are sisters. And the king and queen of Arendelle were heading to Rapunzel and Eugene’s wedding when their ship went down. This is supported by Rapunzel and Eugene showing up at Elsa’s coronation (if you’re watching closely, it is distinctly them) and further supported by Frozen releasing three years after Tangled, and Elsa comes of age three years after her parents’ death. It is further theorized that the Arendelle ship is the shipwreck Ariel is exploring at the beginning of The Little Mermaid. This stems from the fact that both original fairytales were written by Hans Christen Anderson and there is a statue of a mermaid in Denmark, which lies along the route Anna and Elsa’s parents would have taken from Norway to Germany (Rapunzel being a German tale). Another option is that the Arendelle ship was blown way off course and ended up finally sinking off the coast of Africa and Anna and Elsa’s parents are in fact Tarzan’s parents, making Tarzan their brother. (Would that make him Rapunzel’s cousin as well?) I side more with the Tangled connection since we actually see the Corona couple at the coronation.

There is another backstory that has been created for Anna and Elsa’s mother. The first half of season four of Once Upon a Time involves characters from Frozen. Here, Elsa and Anna’s mother is named Gerda, and she has two older sisters, Ingrid and Helga. Ingrid has ice powers, which explains how Elsa has them. Without getting too into (and spoiling) the whole plot, events happen that cause Gerda to become queen. I liked the way Once Upon a Time handled Frozen, particularly examining Elsa’s bond with Anna and her new bonding with Emma.

ouat-frozen

Continuing on with the original animated movie: three years pass and Elsa is now of age to assume the crown. Time to open the gates For the First Time in Forever, after Anna is woken (looking like every other woman when she first wakes up). Anna is excited and wishes the gates would remain open; she’s also hoping to meet “the one,” which, considering she’s been left alone and possibly read dozens of romances, not a completely crazy dream (unrealistic, yes). Elsa is nervous, practicing removing the gloves that have been a protective layer for years, urging herself to be the good girl. While exploring outside, a horse knocks Anna into a boat, but she is gallantly rescued by a dashing prince, Hans of the Southern Isles. Anna is adorably awkward, then has to rush off to the coronation. Elsa manages to get through it without revealing her powers, though it was a near thing.

Later, at the ball, the sisters awkwardly stand next to each other. They no longer have the rapport they shared as youngsters. Though they share a love of chocolate. They start bonding, but Anna is soon swept off her feet by Prince Hans and the couple harmonizes that Love is an Open Door. At the end, they share the same crazy thought: “Hey, let’s get married!” They reenter the ballroom to ask for Elsa’s blessing. Elsa refuses, calling out Disney’s age-old cliché: “You can’t marry someone you just met.” Anna insists it’s true love and argues that Elsa wouldn’t know anything about that since she’s shut everyone out of her life. Anna pushes the issue with her sister, pulling off one of the gloves. In confusion and annoyance, Elsa sends a blast of ice. Weaselton, sorry, Weselton immediately declares sorcery and calls Elsa a monster. Elsa flees and is overwhelmed by the crowd outside. At first, they’re kind and adoring, but once she freezes a fountain, they turn on her. Elsa continues her flight, pausing for a moment at the fjord, but her powers allow her to freeze a path. She runs to the mountains, unknowingly leaving a path of ice that freezes the whole capital. Anna and Hans had followed her. Anna insists that she caused Elsa’s panic; her sister isn’t dangerous and would never hurt her, so she should be the one to go after the queen. Anna leaves Hans in charge.

Elsa is making her way up North Mountain and ponders everything that had brought her to this point. She finally had to let some of her emotions out, after trying for so long. “Don’t let them in/ don’t let them see/ be the good girl you always have to be/ conceal, elsa dressdon’t feel/ don’t let them know. Well now they know!” She Let[s] it Go. She’s able to use her power freely; and it’s beautiful. She creates a magnificent ice castle and to match her new mood, she creates a new (iconic) dress. The cold never bothered her, so she’s comfortable where she is. She’s never going back and tosses away her crown. According to Disney trivia, this song was the turning point the in the development of the film. At this point, the Snow Queen was not longer the villain. The song has also topped the Billboard list and that was the only song we heard on repeat for about a year, I think (Piano Guys did a beautiful crossover between this song and Vivaldi’s Winter; as I have often found, I prefer Piano Guys’ covers to the original). It was during this song that I figured out Idnia Menzel voiced Elsa, because the singing tone matches Defying Gravity from Wicked. I personally believe that the lyrics to this song are an aid to those who bottle up their emotions and worry about being themselves.

Meanwhile, Anna is still searching for her sister. Her horse bolts, leaving her freezing. She finds Oakens’ outpost and manages a costume change and meets ice deliverer Kristoff. After Kristoff is sent to sleep in the barn, Anna approaches him (with the supplies he needed) and requests/demands he take her to the North Mountain where the worst of the storm is, figuring that is where Elsa will be. Kristoff reluctantly agrees. He sides with Elsa, that you cannot marry some guy you’ve just met. Before their conversation can go much further, a pack of wolves attacks. Anna is helpful in chasing some of the pack away, but they’re still forced to jump a gorge, letting the sled fall. Anna understands if afterwards, Kristoff doesn’t want to help anymore. Sven persuades Kristoff, and they set off further up the mountain. Along the way, they encounter a talking snowman, Olaf, who likes warm hugs. Elsa made him, a reminder of her childhood with Anna. The little snowman dreams of what will happen to him during Summer. [Personally, I agree with Kristoff, let’s tell him what happens! I also find Olaf annoying; he’s the tagalong who never shuts up.]

Back in Arendelle, Hans is assisting the people when Anna’s horse returns without its rider. He wants to head out and calls for volunteers to help find the sisters. Weasel sends two of his burly guards, with instructions to put an end to winter (meaning, kill the queen. Buddy, that’s treason).

When Anna and Kristoff finally meet with Elsa, she still wants to be left alone. It’s for Anna’s protection, she doesn’t want to hurt her sister (again). However, she did not realize that she had caused eternal winter back in Arendelle. To her, this is just another reason why she should be alone and she hasn’t gained control of herself or her powers. Her emotions spiral and she shoots another blast, unknowingly hitting Anna. Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf leave, firmly persuaded by a new giant snowman. More like, chased off the mountain. Kristoff notices that Anna’s hair is turning more white and decides it’s time to introduce her to his love expert friends; they’ve had dealings with that sort of thing before. His love expert friends are the trolls who took him in. They’re so excited that Kristoff has brought a girl home, they at first don’t listen to the pair’s protestations, declaring that love is power and can help both Fixer Uppers. When Anna collapses, Pabbi comes out. But this time, the power struck her heart, only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. Both Anna and Kristoff figure a kiss from Hans will do the trick.

Hans and his volunteers find Elsa’s new castle and battle her giant guard. A few manage to duck, Weasel’s two guys aiming to kill. Elsa defends herself and almost kills both attackers. Hans urges her to not turn into the monster people believe she is, be better. He knocks a bolt out of the way, but it severs the chandelier, knocking Elsa out when she dives out of the way. She wakes up in a jail cell, chained, her hands manacled. Hans informs her that Anna hasn’t returned, but they all need her to unfreeze the capital. Elsa doesn’t know how.

Kristoff and Anna arrive at the castle; Kristoff stays outside and the servants take Anna to Hans. She begs for a kiss, explaining that Elsa froze her heart, by accident. A act of true love will thaw it. He makes her comfortable and leans in…only to say, “if only there was someone out there who loved you.” He extinguishes the candles and fire and reveals that it was all a ploy. As thirteenth in line for his own throne, the only way he would become a king was to marry. Nothing was known about Elsa, but Anna – young and eager, it was easy. He originally intended for an accident to befall Elsa after his marriage to Anna. Now, he will just have to kill her and that should bring back summer, making him a hero. He leaves Anna alone and informs the council that she is dead, only after they managed to say their vows, making him the ruler of Arendelle. His first act, execute Elsa for treason for murdering her sister.

In Elsa’s cell, ice spreads and she manages to break free. She sets off across the frozen fjord. A storm swirls around her. Sven is trying to persuade Kristoff to go back, for Anna. When he catches sight of the storm, they take off. Olaf makes his way through the castle and happens upon Anna’s room, lighting a fire to keep her warm. Anna urges him to stop, he’ll melt. “Some people are worth melting for.” He also figures that Kristoff is the one who loves Anna, not Hans. The blond man raced to get her to the castle, and sees that he is racing back. They escape the rapidly freezing palace (Anna slides like a lady, straightening her skirts after) and Anna makes her way to Kristoff. Hans finds Elsa, telling her that it was too late to save Anna; “she’s dead because of you.” Elsa collapses in grief, which freezes the center of the storm (snowflakes are frozen in place). Anna and Kristoff see each other and Kristoff races to Anna, but Anna hears a sword and turns to see Hans behind her sister, ready to strike. She makes a decision and steps between the two, stopping the sword as she freezes solid. Elsa turns around and sees the new statue of her sister and hugs her, crying, as Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf look on.

anna-save-elsa

Anna starts to slowly thaw. The sisters embrace, Elsa in disbelief that Anna would sacrifice herself for her. Anna simply responds “I love you.” Olaf realizes “an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart.” Love. That gives Elsa an idea. Armed with new knowledge and a reprise of the opening track playing, she unfreezes Arendelle. Luckily, the heroes were standing over a locked ship. Olaf starts melting, but Elsa gives him “my own personal flurry.” Hans gets up and Kristoff starts marching towards him. Anna stops him. She strides over to Hans, tells him “the only frozen heart around here is yours.” Turns, then turns back and punches him in the face. Brilliant!

Hans will be returned to the Lonely Isles to face his twelve older brothers. Weaselton will no longer be allowed to trade with Arendelle for his actions against the crown. Kristoff is the new official Ice Master for the capital and Anna gifts him a new sled (keeping her promise to replace the one that burned). He’s so happy, he could kiss Anna. May he? He may (they’re adorable together). Elsa makes a pond for everyone to skate on in their courtyard and she and Anna declare they are never closing the gates again.

A short, Frozen Fever was released in 2015 alongside the live action Cinderella film. A sequel to the full-length movie is due out this November.

I enjoyed the “Hans is actually the bad guy” twist; I believed he was good right until he betrayed Anna. While she was falling in love with Kristoff, I thought maybe Hans would pair with Elsa. But this made it a more complex story, which is good. Again, I appreciated both Elsa and Kristoff warning that one cannot marry someone they just met. The relationship between Kristoff and Anna was built on working together and accepting each other’s flaws. The relationship between Elsa and Anna was wonderfully done; they were adorable as kids and understandably awkward once they were in the same room again, having grown up separated. (And again, horrible decision on their parents. Anna could have helped Elsa so much). And I appreciated that the “act of true love,” was between sisters, because that is a very strong bond. Siblings give their loyalty to each other first. A partner may come and take their own place, but a sibling grew up with you and knows all your secrets.

Overall, not my favorite soundtrack; it’s cute and fun, but doesn’t have quite the depth that Disney has shown (Lion King for example). It is a fun movie, though it took me a while; I tend to not be eager to jump on band wagons. I resisted Harry Potter when the books first came out because I didn’t want to read what everyone else was reading just because everyone else was reading it. But it is a cute story and I certainly want to see more of Anna and Elsa.

As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments.  This is shockingly, my thirtieth blog (more like, how did I get this far?)  There’s still lots more to come!

Next Time: The last Disney animated film I’ll be blogging, Moana

Fanfic Recommendations:

Burning in the Fire of a Thousand Smiles by qqueenofhades is a modern Alternate Universe story involving the Once Upon a Time characters, pairing Emma with Killian and does include Elsa as one of Emma’s friends.

“Flyin’ by on the Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride”

Lilo and Stitch

A cute film from the early 2000s that spawned two sequels and a cartoon series. David Ogden Stiers voices Jumba (knew he sounded familiar; a lot of other voices sound familiar but I cannot place how exactly I would know them). Another sci-fi adventure, this time ending in Hawaii, which was novel to me as a pre-teen, not being familiar with that culture [I have recently started watching the rebooted Hawaii 5-0 series, but I would still not call myself terribly familiar].

The “prologue” essentially, since the title doesn’t appear until after the sequence, begins at a space trial, where mad scientist Jumba is accused of illegal genetic experimentation; their evidence: Experiment 626. The little blue creature was built for destruction and most deem him a monstrosity. The Grand Councilwoman asks for a sign of any sort of good in the creature; 626 does not cooperate. Jumba is jailed and 626 is sentenced to exile. Captain Gantu oversees the prisoner transport, and 626 brilliantly escapes, stealing another ship and crash landing on Hawaii. Earth has been deemed a protected wildlife preserve as a host of the mosquito (it makes sense later). Humans are simple, unintelligent creatures, but to protect them the Grand Councilwoman barters with Jumba; his freedom for 626’s capture.

Meanwhile, we meet Lilo, a young girl who is not like everyone else. She gives peanut butter sandwiches to a fish, who supposedly controls the weather. She’s creative and imaginative and does not fit in with her peers: she punches and bites one who calls her “crazy” during hula lessons. When the instructor says he’ll call her sister, she begs to be included: “I’ll be good. I just want to dance; I practiced.” A determined little girl, she walks home instead of waiting for her sister. Unfortunately, a new social worker is on his way to visit and discovers older sister Nani attempting to get into the house which Lilo has nailed shut. Mr. Cobra Bubbles is not a patient man and is not impressed by the situation Lilo appears to be in; he informs Nani she has three days to improve things.

Nani and Lilo are typical sisters who fight, compounded by the stress that Nani is now Lilo’s guardian as well. Once they have both cooled down from their yelling, Lilo admits that Nani makes a better sister than mom and Nani consoles Lilo that she does love her little sister; she’s just afraid that Lilo will be taken away. Lilo reveals that people treat her different since their parents die. They strike a deal to not fight and yell as much. A “falling star” streaks across the sky (actually, 626’s stolen spacecraft) and Lilo insists on making a wish. Nani overhears Lilo wish for a friend, someone who won’t run away, maybe the nicest angel. Next image is 626 leaping out of the wreckage (he is not an angel).

send me an angel

The next day, Nani takes Lilo to the dog shelter to adopt a dog. Lilo finds 626 (all of the other dogs are cowering because they don’t know what 626 is and he appeared dead earlier) and instantly likes him, to Nani’s chagrin. Lilo promptly names him Stitch and Stitch finds the arrangement convenient for the moment, since Jumba and Pleakley (an “expert” on Earth) are hunting for him. Stitch is disappointed to find out that there are no large cities for him to destroy on the Hawaiian island and Lilo figures out that his “badness level” is high. Later that evening we meet Nani’s friend, David; they both work at a luau for tourists, but an incident between Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley causes her to lose her job. Stitch’s behavior doesn’t improve once they get him home and Nani wants to take him back. Lilo insists that he is ohana; their father used to say “Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind, or forgotten.” Nani gives in and allows Stitch to stay. Stitch starts calming down when he discovers a book of fairy tales opened to The Ugly Duckling and starts pondering the idea of a family.

Cobra Bubbles stops by the next morning, displeased and further so when Stitch throws a book during their introduction. In order to train Stitch to be a “model citizen,” Lilo is inspired by Elvis and teaches Stitch his traits. He does pretty well, until the bright flashes of photographs cause him to go nuts. David stops by to cheer them up and takes the girlssurfing surfing. Stitch dislikes water but when he notices Lilo’s happiness with David and Nani, he eventually asks to be taken out. Unfortunately, Jumba decides to strike and pulls Lilo down along with Stitch. The adults act quickly and rescue Lilo and David goes back for Stitch. They’re all safe, but Mr. Bubbles saw the whole incident. He quietly tells Nani he will be back in the morning for Lilo. [I don’t remember crying the first time I watched this movie!] David seems to blame Stitch for everything getting messed up; I personally feel that’s unfair. There was no way to tell that the incident in the midst of surfing was Stitch’s fault and while he was not a well behaved “dog,” he made Lilo happy and was a sign that Nani was trying to settle Lilo.

stitchs_lost_momentThat evening, Lilo offers to Stitch that they could be his family; he could be their baby and they could raise him to be good. But if he wants to leave, he can. He does, taking the fairy tale book, stating he’s lost when he finds a clearing in the trees. Jumba, who has just been fired, comes upon Stitch and insists that his experiment will never belong, he has no family. Stitch runs, just missing Nani and David running by on their way to a job offer. He runs back to Lilo’s house, but Jumba follows. I find their fight hilarious: like Lilo calling Cobra Bubbles, and we can tell that Stitch is trying to protect Lilo (the line: “oh good, my dog found the chainsaw” hilarious; I almost made it the title of this blog, but that it could be misconstrued). But as an adult, I can also emphasize Nani’s horror at finding the house blown up and despair when Bubbles puts Lilo in the car.

Lilo runs off and discovers that Stitch is an alien; she’s mad that he ruined everything, she didn’t want to leave Nani. However, Captain Gantu returns, charged once again with capturing Stitch; he ends up capturing Lilo as well (not that he cares) and straps them to his ship. Nani sees Lilo disappear into the sky and confronts Stitch, who managed to escape, again. She finally breaks down, witnessing Jumba and Pleakley capturing Stitch. Stitch tells Nani Ohana, and bargains with Jumba to rescue Lilo. They do manage to rescue everyone, even Gantu when his ship blows up (though kids: do not drive a flammable truck into a volcano; Stitch can survive, humans cannot).

The Grand Councilwoman shows up in the aftermath to square everything away. Stitch quietly begins to board her ship, but politely asks to say good-bye. When the Grand Councilwoman asks “who are you?” Stitch replies: “This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It’s little and broken, but still good.” [Which is just about the most adorable thing ever and has been adopted by fandoms in general]. He continues to board the ship, but the Grand Councilwoman makes the decision for Stitch to serve out his exile on Earth (influenced by Cobra Bubbles pointing out that Lilo bought Stitch). As caretakers of Stitch, his family of Nani and Lilo are under the protection of the United Galactic Federation and cannot be separated. And Cobra Bubbles we discover, was once part of the CIA in 1973 and saved the planet in an incident in Roswell, convincing an alien race that mosquitoes were an endangered species.

stitch family

A happy ending all around. Jumba and Pleakely stay on Earth and help rebuild Lilo and Nani’s house. Cobra Bubbles seems to be an extended part of the family as well and there are snapshots of a happy domestic life for all. I don’t mind this happy ending because the alternative would be heart wrenching.  Lilo, Nani, and David are realistic characters and what makes them that, particularly the sisters, is that they are flawed.  Again, I find the surfing scene utterly adorable and I begin rooting for the little makeshift family; which makes the idea of them being separated so heartbreaking – Nani spending what little time she has left with her sister, just singing a lullaby.  David being patient and understanding; not a lot of guys would do that.

While I cannot sing along with the two main tracks from the soundtrack, I do enjoy them and their upbeat flair. I put this movie on par with Atlantis; a good story, a bit different, which is fine, but doesn’t quite match the splendor of Disney’s Renaissance hits.  However, the little clips that Disney made including Stitch in their other movies, were funny.

As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Up Next: Treasure Planet