Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-review by Professor Popinjay

Yes, this is a comparison between the “live-action” version and the original animated version.

I wanted to write about all of these in one chunk just to mark them off my list but there’s a bunch of shorts and series, even a series that takes place in the modern world, and I just haven’t been able to sit down and watch all of it.

I love everything HtTYD. It’s all good. What was my reaction when I first saw the trailer for a live-action version of the original film? It was “Hmmm, so they’re trying to keep up with Disney and make all their stuff live-action. Ho-hum.”

The original is pretty much a perfect movie. No polish necessary in my opinion. If Dreamworks was going to pull a Disney and make a live-action version, what could they possibly change to “modernize” it at this point? The original came out only 15 years ago. Were we such Neanderthals back then that this film needs an updated message to match current sensibilities? If anything a hefty majority have de-evolved.

Apparently the verdict to that quandary was “No, no changes are necessary.” So they just remade the film almost shot-for-shot, using actors’ faces instead of animation. They (gnomes) included a diverse cast and even added some lines to explain their presence in this Viking-studded Scandinavian village. There were women screaming out orders and kicking ass right there with the men which was awesome to see. Astrid DID have some lines that implied she might have to be village chief one day if Hiccup doesn’t shape up. This idea never came to fruition nor was it ever brought up again.

One gender becoming chief over the other was a moot point though when the real message of these films is considered. All the characters needed to learn to listen to each other. Hiccup made those first scary steps with the dragons. Astrid needed to listen to Hiccup. Hiccup needed to listen to Astrid. Hiccup and Stoic needed to listen to each other. By the end of the films we naturally have ListenFest 1000 AD.

Having Hiccup still become chief is probably accurate to the time and culture but he is all the better to serve in that capacity because he has learned to listen to Astrid and vice versa. They are a power couple throughout the films and shorts.

The animators and voice actors killed it in the original and the animators and on screen actors killed it in the live-action version.

They are the same movie. They are equally good. If you can’t decide which to watch, first watch one and then the other and then go back to the first one again. Repeat indefinitely.