Day 816: #HTTYD2

Dragon trapping, the viking edition of a lightsaber, lots of flying and ice, and of course, more time with the cat-dragon, Toothless...oh yes, it must mean it's time for another blog post on a Non-Disney Animated Film. As you know very well, this doesn't happen often. After all, I barely have enough time to watch any movie, much less something that's non-Disney and not on my Epic Animated Disney Film Rewatch, but my friend Jessica has brought me to a room I previously didn't know existed on my college campus for an afternoon of dragon watching.

Even weirder in this scenario? I'm blogging while I watch. Sort of.

The simple fact is...blog posts that are written while trying to watch something generally end up to be one giant mess of a post, so instead I live tweeted the majority of the film, and I'll share just some of my favorite tweets with you now...or at least the ones that are important to this blog and the storyline.

Things, as you can see, started off relatively normal. But then again...whenever I embark on a Live Tweeting Spree, you really should brace yourself.

I didn't start my live tweet until maybe like 20 minutes into the movie, so there were definitely a few things my tweeting session missed. In those first minutes, a Viking Lightsaber, a Frying Pan and Viking Pirate Ships were among the odd references I found amusing. Keep the Viking Lightsaber in mind. It'll be back later. 

I actually had several tweets about this and I still feel this way after seeing the whole film, but I sensed a lot of connection between Brave and How to Train Your Dragon, more-so within the second HTTYD than the first. I have the feeling it had something to do with the mother, since Merida's mother and Hiccup's mother really remind me of one another. Then again, it could also be because they're based on similar locations in Europe...

Apparently I was really on a Star Wars track mind today because I found plenty of connections between the films, and yes, that guy really does remind me of General Grievous (I think it later became his mother...but when she had the mask one...and this makes no sense if you haven't seen the movie...). The villain in the film reminded me more of Attila the Hun though. 

I kind of felt like HTTYD2 was filled with little references from other movies, like it was a bunch of Disney animated films and then a few other oddball movies thrown together with a dragon that acts like a cat. I'll talk more about this at the end, but this is just example one of other movies this one reminded me of. 

Of course, I was live tweeting from a computer (because it's literally a million times easier than trying to do it on your phone), and then in the middle of live tweeting a picture of Colin popped up. This actually happened many more times throughout the movie, but we found it amusing...or at least I did...that I never escape. After all, #HookersGonnaHook!

Here we have a more master list of the films this movie reminded me of, and to be completely honest, I'm not even sure where all of these references came from...especially since I haven't even seen The Croods. Must be a Non-Disney Animation thing. 

Haha this character made me laugh! I don't remember her name anymore, but if you've seen the film I'm sure you can figure out who I'm talking about. Basically, she spends the entire movie fawning over this viking and it's not important at all, but I found it super hilarious the whole time and just had to tweet about it eventually. 

Megan was probably more upset about it than I was, but the fact that (SPOILER ALERT) Hiccup's father just goes off and dies is really upsetting to us. It just seemed weird. And sad. And not ok. 

I mean, I feel like the Ice Dragon and Marshmallow would be really great friends! 

I cannot express to you how much I loved the Viking Lightsaber. I thought it was pretty darn clever and was a really unique addition (and reference) to the film. I think I tweeted about it at least three times throughout the course of the movie...basically anytime I saw it. 

In the end, I think I really enjoyed the first film more than the second, mostly because I feel like the plotline in the first one was more original. We hadn't met Toothless yet and we were learning about Hiccups problems, but this one just kind of fell flat for me. I felt like part of the plot from the last film was repeated (with the relationship between Hiccup and his father and so on and so forth), and the mother coming in only for the father to be taken away just kind of disrupted the plotline and made it flow in a sort of awkward way. And as I mentioned earlier, I felt like it brought in a lot of elements from other movies, making me feel like what I was watching had already been done before. No, it wasn't like just one movie being repeated, but sometimes, if there are too many elements that remind you of another film, it still doesn't feel as original as it could. As for HTTYD in general, as in both films, I think they're certainly worth a watch, maybe not on the same scale as some other animated films out there, but something that will keep you entertained. Plus, the music is great throughout both films and if you watch it for no other reason than to listen to the music, go for it. I won't judge, I'm a music major, after all! 

However, that wraps up another live tweeting session, meaning that yet another blog post is in the books. It's sort of odd...blogging about something that's sort of relating to Disney on an off-scale. After all, HTTYD is not a Disney Animated Movie, but the reason I'm watching it is because I should, I suppose, every once and a while, watch a non-Disney Animated Movie. Regardless, if you haven't seen HTTYD, go give it a chance! Toothless is one adorable dragon! 

Have a magical day!

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).