Day 766: How to Train Your Dragon

There have been multiple occasions in my life when I've heard the following words:

"We need to find a Non-Animated Disney Movie that you love."

Now, much as you might not think so, I actually DO watch Non-Disney Movies. I know, shocker, but let's be real. In a world dominated by the film industry, while we all have our favorites, in order to accurately understand and rate each film, you have to realize the competition. I have a few friends who love to watch all of the Oscar nominated Best Picture films before the Oscars themselves, and trust me, if I had the time to do that, I definitely would. Film is one of my absolute favorite things, and having now created a band trip video that reached for the Hollywood Stars (at least that's what my friends have all told me...we'll see what the band thinks in a week!), I find myself 100% immersed in the world of film-making and the absolute talent and hard work it takes to create some of the masterpieces premiering all over the world today.

And that means that I do, indeed, have some favorite Non-Disney animated movies, which I'll get to in just a second. The film that actually inspired this blog post is not, unfortunately, on my favorites list. My favorites lists are extremely difficult to get on, whether because I hold such high standards, because I have a lack of time to watch, read or listen to everything, or because my interests range from literature to music to art and back to filmography, and that means that a spot on those lists is coveted.

One of my good college friends, Jessica, is absolutely in love with the How To Train Your Dragon films. Now, I won't deny that they're good films (or at least the first one is...I'm watching the second soon), because they are just that: good films. I am a huge fan of the music in them, specifically, and I think Toothless is an absolutely adorable character who almost anyone will fall in love with (or maybe it's just because I own a cat and have a growing love for the Disney equivalent of Stitch). However, HTTYD is not on my favorites list. But since I'm sure you're wondering at this point what IS on this list, I won't make you wait any longer.

Basically, when I consider a Non-Disney movie, and often times even a Disney film, I take several things into consideration. First, did it keep me entertained the first time I saw it? Was it solid enough for me to walk out of the theater and tweet that I really enjoyed it, or, if I'm sitting at home, for me to tweet more than once about the film? Second, do I want to watch it again. I think Despicable Me is a great example of this one because while I enjoyed it the first time I saw it, I've never, ever had the the real want to sit down and watch it again. The following movies are different. I've watched many of these over and over again...because they're really good.

When I think about my favorite Non-Disney animated movies, for some reason, Bee Movie has always stuck out to me. I do believe it classifies as my FAVORITE of the Non-Disney animated films, and honestly, I have no idea why. Maybe it's just the right combination of hilariousness, star-studded cameos and absolute insanity to make it entertaining every time I watch it, or maybe it's because we have lots of honey around our house. Here are some other favorites that have made the cut: 

Other than that, I can't really think of anything. I think the only other one might be the original Shrek, but I've found that over time, it's just grown to fall off the list, probably more due to the absolute popularity than anything else. Of course, there are other great films out there, but these are the ones that deserve their spots on my list of favorites...and as you can tell, that's definitely a difficult thing to accomplish.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on February 19, 2015).