Hiccup is an unpopular teenage nerd who finds it hard to
fit in with the rest of the clan, the warlike Vikings whose world seems to
revolve around nothing but dragons. Being the son of the clan chief makes it harder
for the future hero to live up to his people’s expectations and, until the
fateful encounter with Toothless, has a well-earned reputation for making a
right royal mess of things. And that’s the point at which How
to Train your Dragon the movie departs from the
book it is based upon.
Here’s a brief overview of the differences and
similarities between the book and the movie.
How
to Train Your Dragon –
The Similarities
Everyone who’s read the book series and watched the movie
says that the only connection is that the storylines of both have to do with
Vikings and dragons and the complicated relationship between the two species. But
there’s a slight exaggeration here. While the book and the movie are quite
radically different, several important characters that appear in the book have
been retained in the movie version, albeit in a slightly tweaked form. Characters
such as Hiccup, Toothless, Stoick, Nadder and Gronckle appear inboth versions
and remain fundamentally unchanged.Also, the end result of all the action in How
to Train Your Dragon – book and movie – is quite similar. The Vikings
and the dragons eventually learn to overcome their mutual distrust and co-exist
in harmony.
How
to Train Your Dragon –
The Differences
Film adaptations of books often take great liberties with
the text and that’s particularly true in this case. The relationship between
the Vikings and the dragons is a case in point. The Vikings in the book treat
the dragons as hard-working pets that go out and hunt for their owners. Their
high intelligence makes them slightly uncooperative, difficult to control and
unwilling to obey their masters without a struggle. How to Train Your Dragon
the movie portrays the relationship between the two species as openly
antagonistic – Viking youth are trained to repel dragon attacks and hunt down
these fearsome fire-breathing creatures.
Besides, there are characters that appear for the first
time in the movie – Astrid and Ruffnut for instance. The romantic angle is
non-existent in the book, though Hiccup’s best friend is a sword fighter aptly
named Camicazi. Some of the major characters have been eliminated in the movie
– Hiccup’s mother Valhallarama and Snotlout’s sidekick Dogsbreath the Duhbrain.
All in all, the movie is a radical departure from the book series.
How
to Train Your Dragon –The
Verdict on the Movie
Audiences voted with their feet for this one, making the
movie a critical and commercial success, with a sequel How
to Train your Dragon 2 in the pipeline. The movie
was fantastic in terms of storyline and character development. Kids loved it
because it’s a story about how the power of friendship can replace unjust old
traditions with sensible and fair new ones – a sentiment most of us sympathize with.
