Films are something that we all look towards for escapism – the action, the humour, the romance, the animation. Sometimes these can hold so much more meaning then just an image on a screen and create narratives and memories in our own lives. Welcome to the sister article to Music Memories where we take a look at some of these personal stories attached to films.

Film: How To Train Your Dragon 2
Original Release Date: 2014

I remember when I watched How To Train Your Dragon – it took me a while as I am not the biggest fan of mythical things like Dragons but I eventually got around to it and I think it was when it first came out on DVD.

I really liked it, the relationship between Toothless and Hiccup really made it a great watch. Toothless was a fantastic character and one of the best things in the film. You only need to see the excitement around him again when the live action version came out earlier this year.

When I saw How To Train Your Dragon 2 it was when it was first added to Netflix, I cannot remember when but it was quite a few years ago. I was really happy as I had something to watch and relax to that I knew that I would enjoy.

Boy, I was wrong.

My night of escapism and enjoyment was disturbed as the film turned into a storyline that was horrible. I even cried through it. I think I cried more to it then I did Toy Story 4 and that is saying something. I rewatched one of the scenes on Youtube whilst writing this to see if I was imaging things and nope – still as miserable as I remember. It is a shame I have never watched it again, I am sure I will again at some point but I won’t ever forget the first time I did.

Facts about How To Train Your Dragon 2

• Djimon Hounsou would often do vocal exercises to prepare for his voice acting. One of these was a loud, terrible scream. Dean DeBlois liked it so much that he decided to use it as Drago’s cry to summon his dragons.
• The first DreamWorks Animation film to win a Golden Globe award for Best Animated Film.
• Hiccup is left-handed.
• Some of the animators and designers spent a week touring Norway to give them inspiration for the locations.

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