For my double feature paper, I decided to compare The Sword in the Stone (1963) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010). Both of these movies are children’s movies, which made them fun to watch. How to Train Your Dragon (2010) is directed by Dean DeBlois and is about a boy named Hiccup who is a son of a viking. Hiccup lives with all the vikings and they fight and kill dragons. Hiccup is a particularly small boy, so when it comes to killing the dragons, his dad doesn’t let him because he will get hurt. Hiccup then stumbles upon a very dangerous Dragon, Night Fury, and surprisingly, Night Fury doesn’t kill Hiccup. After that, Hiccup knew he had a special power because he knew if it were anyone else, the dragon would’ve killed him. Hiccup learns to train dragons and be gentle with them. Everyone in their village is so amazed, but thinks they still need to kill the dragons. Hiccup teaches the vikings that the dragons are nice, and that they shouldn’t kill them anymore.
How to Train Your Dragon (2010) didn’t really create a very good image of the middle ages. The thing I thought that didn’t create a good image was the dialogue. I think the director wanted to connect the characters to present day, so they didn’t talk like the middle ages. One example comes to mind. When Hiccup is talking about himself, he jokingly says “I am way too muscular for them, They don’t know what to do with all of this” *as he is flexing his arms*. To me, that isn’t something someone would’ve said in the medieval era. Throughout the movie, the characters would just say some lines that were pretty modern which didn’t give a good image of the middle ages.
Other than the dialogue, there was some things that gave a good image of the middle ages. They had vikings and swords. The costumes weren’t very accurate, but you could tell they were vikings. You could definitely tell that the director did some research of vikings and has most of the right elements. Overall, I really liked this movie and I recommend watching it because it is humorous, adventurous, and has some parts that tug at your heart.
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I also decided to watch this movie for my second double feature and I love it! I agree with a lot of the things you said but it’s also interesting how much movies for children can reflect movies for adults. I think what most children’s movies do is just try to paint a picture of what happened in the past but obviously in a simpler version for kids. The biggest thing when it comes to children’s movies is “what can I put in the movie that the child would remember?” This is what leads me to believe that these movies are less about history and symbolism, but more about joy and happiness. I agree that this movie may not be the best portrayal of history, which is why I think kids are often shocked when they find out the movies they watched as kids aren’t true once they get older.
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I also watch this film for my double feature and I have to admit some things were not accurate. I felt the costumes and boats for me were the most real thing of the middle ages. As I watch Disney movies now I notice that certain themes are not true, which means the younger audience is obtaining this information and not getting the real meaning. Out of all the Disney movies you have watched, which one do you feel is realistic and tangible for kids?
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