How I Met Your Dragon

The exact shot, when I saw Toothless for the first time.

I can’t believe 10 years has passed since the release of HTTYD… It feels like a lot more, but there was a lot going on in the past decade, so maybe that’s why. I wanted to celebrate it somehow that’s for sure, so I though I’ll share my “little” story of how I got first contact with HTTYD and then what kind of events draft me to realize it became my life, and I’ll never be the same.

If you want to read this very weird, bizarre and also convoluted story, click on read more

First of all, I’m not a dragon fan because of HTTYD. I always loved reptiles, lizards, dinosaurs, dragons as long as I can remember. I was all hyped about them when I was a student at elementary school but, sadly my classmates didn’t appreciate my passion for these amazing creatures. They made fun of it and also they treated me, like I was some sort of weirdo. so I decided, this will be a taboo for me and never ever let people know about my obsession. Years past, and I didn’t changed at all in this matter. I had also a favorite lizard, dino, etc., but I hadn’t have an absolute favorite dragon. Yes, there were a few that looked pretty awesome, but they weren’t as close that I wanted to find.

Soooo…. the date is 2010.01.01. There was an ancient film, I don’t know if you remember, it’s called Avatar. The first real 3D movie. My brother wanted to see it, and I'm also, so we went to the cinema. (What a way to start the new decade).

Before the movie started, there was an announcement to put on the glasses for the trailers, so I did. I remembered it was a Garfield movie when I put it on and see the 3D perspective for the first time. It was a lot to take in, so I really couldn’t focus what was I watching. I was just amazed by this totally new experience.

There was another trailer, and another… and THEN! Something came, that I never expected, and I didn’t know by then how much it will influence my life in the future. It was the first time I saw the trailer for HTTYD. Because of the lack of focus, I can only recall a few things. First, OMG it’s a dragon movie! Second, that black dragon is so sweet! (Yeah... that was my first though when I saw him for the first time...) Third, pretty shame that this is a kid’s movie and I’ll probably see it someday in a corner with a rotated screen and a locked door, so nobody else know that I watched. Umm… yes. This is one of those events, that really altered my life. That trailer was HORRIBLE! It was edited like if it was a movie for 5-6 years old kids! Really didn’t impressed me at all, although I was curious because there were dragons in it, but I was like… Yeah, yeah… I’ll watch it someday. I also didn’t bring up to anyone, because of the taboo. And that is what happened. We watched Avatar (it was quite awesome in my opinion) and we went home. A bit later, I totally forgot about that dragon movie. It was in my subconscious, but nothing more. I also recall, that I saw the trailer in the TV one or two times after, but still really didn’t impressed me that much. If I just went to the cinema and watch it, without any doubt and fear, I would be a different person today! But I know I was very anxious that time, and I was afraid even to go to a cinema alone. That was a HUGE mistake, and I wish I can go back to fix it… 

Well, from my part. The weird thing is, there was nothing about HTTYD on the net at that time. As a dragon nerd, I constantly searched the web for them and if some of them really got my attention, I downloaded the picture to my collection. That collection contained around just a few thousand pictures (yes, nerds like me, do things like this…) but you know which dragon was missing for a long time? Yes… That big black sweetness. I think, I saw some fanarts of him later, but the funny thing is most of them were quite… umm… unsophisticated, and I really didn’t realized it was him all the time! I though, it was a random dragon from some artist on deviant art. Here are a couple of them. (I still have a few, I'll will make an update when I found them).

First Toothless picture... I download this on 2012.02.09. 

Mostly because of that monitor lizard (who is still my favorite lizard) 

(Joanna from Rescuers Down Under in case you don't know her) 

I didn't know anything about that black... thing.

Oh yeah... I remember that one. Still was thinking, it's a random drawing, 

but that dragon looked quite cool, so I downloaded it. (2013.09.24.) 

Wow... Yep, again... didn't had a clue. But I liked the concerned 

look on his face, so down it went to the collection (2013.12.08.) 

Still thinking, it's a random dragon from someone... I liked his backspikes tho', so I downloaded it. I also thought he makes a goofy face for that..boy, BUT later I found out there is a story behind this picture which everything is, but fun. (Sorry Usertoothless for bringing this up!) I also downloaded the colored version after this (2013.12.10.) (Oh, and it's a Skrill!) 

Now the really interesting part comes…

The year is 2014. It was the 15th of June, and I was just finished my degree a month before. My thesis was “How to make an animation short film with the use of special effects”. It was also known as “Desert Wars”, which I worked on about 2 and a half years, but there were at least 200 errors that got to be fixed, before it will go public.

One day, I went into the living room to talk about something with my family and while they were speaking, I saw something on the TV. It was something, that will change things from now on. It was the trailer for HTTYD 2. I was really structed by the visuals, and also there was a black dra…. wait….. that looks…. familiar…. is that….that dragon from that…. kid’s movie? Oh, yeah….. I saw something like this before a long time ago…. hmm… maybe I should really check it out! And also, this second movie is not that childish!

So, finally it got my attention, and I (shamefully) downloaded the first movie that evening (Sorry! For me, at that time it was nothing more than just a curiosity). I downloaded it… to not watch it at all… Yes…

There is something that you should know about me, to understand why I didn’t watch it.

I like to connect big events to big events. I remembered this dragon movie and it was special to me, even if I didn’t know it was good or bad. I wanted to watch it when something mayor happens. Well, nothing particular happened for weeks, so it was laying around on my hard drive.

AND THEN!!!

2014.07.31. came… The day, which opened a new chapter in my life. I saw on some TV program list, that the first movie will be on TV that day! Hmm… Well, I’m interested, and also didn’t saw it yet… well, let’s give it a shot. 21:00 came and the movie started. At first, nothing super exciting, the visuals are quite good, and then HOLY CRAP!!!! What the heck is this???!!! This isn’t a kid's show, it’s a freaking action movie! Wow! I would never guess, that it could be so intense! (Yeah, I’m speaking about the intro).

I knew there will be that sweet black dragon in it, and I was very anticipating that scene, when he makes that cute face and gummy smile, but that dragon didn’t showed up yet. The Zippleback, Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare got introduced, and when Hiccup was saying: "But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one's ever seen"... I felt that, oh it must’ve to be that one! And then I heard for first time the word Éjfúria (ayy-foo-ree-a(h)) (Night Fury). I didn’t hear or read that before, that was quite weird. At least, I know how it is called. Cool! But after the raid scene, I decided to switch channels, cause I only wanted to take a sneak peek. Nothing more, nothing less. Then I turned it back, and switch back again. I did this around 6 times… I felt a huge warning, that this movie could be something, that if I don’t stop now, can probably be my new obsession in the following years. And that for me is very dangerous, because I can be so obsessed, that nothing else can motivate me. Not caring anymore about my future projects, or work.

So, I felt that, this isn’t the time. I have to delay this movie for a later time, when things will be much more stable and calm. But, I couldn’t fight with my curiosity about that scene…
*Sigh*... Fine... Just that scene, and I’m finished.

I was switched back again, and there was that part when Hiccup draw the Night Fury in his note and accidentally dropped the pencil in the Cove. And something very, very strange happened then. Which I’ll never forget… When the dragon perked up, and in the next shot, looked toward the camera… Umm… How can I put this… I started to really LIKE, that dragon from the past scenes, but when he did that stare and especially that little head tilt,
I felt… something…. let’s just say… DIFFERENT.

 

Instantly after that, there was a commercial brake, and I was sitting there with utter silence, in shock and thinking: How could I have been that STUPID! This movie is AWESOME, and it isn’t a cringey kid’s show at all!!! OMG! And that black dragon is… so amazing and… so beautiful! I was really felt that time, this will be my newest thing, and there is no going back from now.

I was switching channels, back and forth, try to ignore what I saw, but it really doesn’t matter anymore. My inner self was VERY curious, and I HAD to continue watching!

And the Forbidden Friendship scene came. Wow! I sort of remembered that landscape, so NOW will be that scene when the dragon makes that cute look and smile. But before that, I heard a word that was nothing particularly special to me until then, and was kinda gross in fact and it was Fogatlan (Toothless)*. Today, if I even hear the root word fog, or something similar, I instantly think of him. (same with tooth and a couple of more like black, fury, dragon etc.)

*(please, don’t try to pronounce like if it was an English word, it’s more like <fɔɡɒtlɒn> (well, if you can read phonetics… If not, just type it in google translate (Hungarian) and hear it there, it’s quite close).

(btw fog means tooth, -atlan is an attachment that kinda works like -less)

And yes, there was that scene! I was very excited that point, and didn’t really focus on the plot just drifting with the events. For some reason, it doesn't really amazed me at first, like others (I know a lot of people was hooked by this scene) but that was because, I was so excited and shocked, that it couldn’t really sink in, how perfect it was.

After that, I was quite satisfied, and was happy that finally I could see that scene in full length, but still… I really don’t felt like I’m ready for this… so I started to switch channels again... but around the middle of the movie, I was like… you know what? Damn it! This movie is too good, so I didn’t switched channels anymore, and I watched the rest.

Needless to say, after that I was very pleased with the movie, but I wasn’t instantly a fan. The ticking bomb was planted though. It was a matter of time, before I start digging around on the net for fanarts or pictures.

But things started to change… and escalade quickly.

Few days later, I had nothing else to do, so I though if the movie is on my PC let’s recap some scenes that I though was pretty freaking cool. (Like the Test drive scene, Forbidden friendship, and some other ones). I was getting pretty hooked up that point, now that I could comprehend the subtle details. And wow!

This was very different. No matter how many times I watched back a scene, I always find something new! That was… very weird. I hadn’t seen something like this for ages.

Then, I started listening to the soundtrack. It was so amazing, I couldn't stop listening. It was a great fuel while I was fixing the hundreds of errors and mistakes with Desert Wars.

Fun fact: One of the last finishing touches was a little easter egg, I made into the animation short. A way of gratitude for keeping my sanity, while I was working tirelessly.

see that 271355? It translates to: 2(too) 7(t) 1(l) 3(e) 55(ss)

so yeah, there is Toothless for ya! :)

A week later after I saw the film, I started to read the wiki page of HTTYD and I noticed… WHAAA? There is a series? Holy Moly! Umm… that makes things more… complicated… So, I downloaded the first and second seasons. I saw there were 40 episodes… omg… But I started watching… After a few episodes later, I was like… Ok, this is what I always wanted to see, and finally something I can relate to. So, I became a real fan around there. There was no going back that’s for sure, Toothless absolutely topped all of my expectations and by faaar. He was the perfect character I could REALLY relate to. (and I will forever) And finally, I had my absolute favorite dragon which I was searching for a very long time. (He became my all-time favorite character too. One dragon to rule them all!) Not because he was cute or goofy, but he was so complex, interesting, and also a beautiful and awesome reptile, so I couldn’t get enough of him. My internet history from there was pretty “boring”. For the upcoming months and even years it mostly contained the words HTTYD, Night Fury, Toothless… so yeah. My productivity was at 0, nothing else interested me, just HTTYD. I watched the first movie dozens of times if not more, and also the two seasons for a couple of times. (There was no Race to the Edge yet...)

BUT!!!

What about the second movie?!

Ummm…yeah. That was another HUGE mistake from me. As you know, the second movie was released on the 13th of June. When I became a huge HTTYD nerd, it was around mid-august. Very few cinemas screened it by then and if I want to be more precise, only just one. The cinema was 70 miles away, and had only one screening left. I was like… I have to see this! Even if it was far, it’ll worth it. But my anxiety got me again, and felt guilty, that I didn’t earned it or hadn’t do anything to deserve it. The room was full empty too I think, so it was very tempting, but I also felt if I watch it, something terrible will happen. (I’m not joking… There were a LOT of times, when I did something like this and there were ALWAYS some sort of retaliation that was around the same scale). So, I didn’t take the risk, and also things was turning out pretty good recently, so it would be TOO GOOD for me. Yes, I know I’m messed up, but hey that’s me… :)

So yeah… I really regret now for not seeing it. I was spoiler dodging for about 2 years, I tried my best, but on 2016.10.16. I watched the second movie, because I finally finished a huge project, and I felt NOW I deserve it.

It was pretty shocking and also very, very mature. But for some reason it lacked the charm what the first movie had. It was more like watching Lord of the Rings or something, with these massive battles. I really don’t say it was bad, but it was different. Also, I was a hardcore fan by then and these characters were like family to me. One of the reasons is why I watched the second movie much less times than the first, because of THAT scene…. Yes, I know you’re thinking about the same scene. That was so bizarre and so shocking! In the past, I never thought a movie will have such an impact on me, when they killed off a character. I also watched Game of Thrones, which is full with moments like this, but I really didn’t fond to them, but the drama was at the same scale. It was surprising, but I wasn’t in shock like with this one.

After watching the second movie the embargo was lifted, and once again, I was back in the fandom. I read a lot of fanfictions, download again a few thousand pictures and gifs… the same like before.

When news came about there will be a 3rd movie, I was like there is NO WAY(!) I’m gonna miss that, and I even thought if I have the opportunity by then, I want to see in America at the premiere day. Yes, I would really go that far if I'll have the chance… but when it came out last year, sadly I couldn’t managed to do it, so I had to see it here. There was no excuse! It’s the last movie, and this will be the first time I can somehow fix my HUGE mistake, which haunted me like 5 years by then. So, I looked up what kind of screenings will be. I wanted to watch in IMAX, but that wasn’t available, instead there was Cinema 4DX (where the chairs are moving and also there is wind and lighting effects etc.). Finally, I went and saw a HTTYD movie on the big screen! I don’t know how many times I watched the movies on my computer, but this was a WHOLE different situation and also so bizarre! (Also having chills, right now thinking back...)

It was quite an amazing experience I must say! No movie I saw in a cinema even neared this kind of excitement! Also, this was the first time, when I cried on a movie. (I’m not that emotional guy on the outside you may think, but that scene when Hiccup say goodbye to Toothless was… I really can’t find a word for it… devastating. Also very, very sad. This is what a movie suppose to accomplish! It grabs you in its world, like you were there, and also the events or consequences are having an impact on you as well. If not physically, but mentally.) So yeah… after the movie, I was a wreck, depressed, and also a ton of things swirled in my head. I watched again a month later in “basic 3D” (4DX wasn’t available) to see it, without getting overwhelmed, because it's the first time, but it was worse! I really focused on the plot and dialog that time, and this movie is such an emotional roller coaster, I didn’t dare to watch it again since. Not because I don’t like it, but because it’s too much for me. I really fond to these characters, (especially Toothless) and it have a serious impact on me when something bad happens to them (oh, and this was also canon).

And we arrive to the present days…

I sadly don’t have the luxury to dig into HTTYD for now, I have serious projects to do, but I still look up on Berk’s Grapevine, or my favorite bloggers sites from time to time checking around how things are going there. Also doing some pretty challenging HTTYD stuff right now in my free time, so I’m here, but just absent.

This trilogy is a masterpiece, and it may sound weird, but I REALLY HOPE, there won’t be a 4th movie! I would like to see a new series which connects the 2nd movie to the 3rd or even a prequel which explains Toothless’s past (OMG!!!) but at the same time, seeing the trend nowadays… I’m really afraid that Universal will bring HTTYD back later somehow, but whatever that thing will be, it definitely will lack a soul and it will surely just for getting more money (which disgust me greatly!) If you want to cash grab, pick Trolls or Madagascar whatever, BUT NOT THIS ONE! Leave it be!

But as always, my fears are realized again, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, there is Rescue Riders for example. It was announced years ago, and it looked like a bridge to the 2nd and the 3rd movie… well. It turned out, it really IS a kid’s show. The dragons are talking, they also have a very messed up and ugly design, there are no Hiccup and Toothless (thank Thor!) and it has nothing to do with Dragons: at all! It’s a shameful attempt to rip off kids and a pathetic excuse for making more money because hey it’s Dragons: ! I’ll not even watch it! (This is also true for the new Nine Realms series too!!!) It’s a disgrace, and I hope they flop! We don’t need garbage like this! And that is why I REALLY HOPE(!) there won’t be any more movies! We have a lot of good stuff still. 3 awesome movies, 5 great short films, more than 120(!) episodes of series stuff, a bunch of books, and also comics… so yeah… I think that's a good amount HTTYD goodness from the studios, but it’s time, to let the REAL FANS get it under control, before the creators destroy everything they built (like Disney with the new Star Wars trilogy, or Blizzard with Warcraft 3 Reforged). We fans would never disgrace a masterpiece like this, and it means a lot more to us, even more what those corporate people might think!

So, as a conclusion, this is the story how HTTYD became a part of my life and Berk my second home. I can’t think another franchise that will have such an influence or impact on me like this one! The whole atmosphere is amazing, the message is top notch, the characters are very well developed and Toothless is perfection, and I love him more… um... well, more than I would admit it here, so let’s just say I really, really LOVE him! ;)

So yeah… this post turned out to be a pretty long one, but it deserves to be. It’s a red-letter day for me, and I'm still regretting not seeing the first (and second) movie at the cinema. If I could go back 10 years from now, I would definitely make things right, but also, there is a good chance then my nerd rage starts earlier and that would almost certainly made impossible Desert Wars to be a thing today. (Which is one of my huge accomplishments).

I hope you enjoyed reading my story. It was quite a ride, and still is and will be, for the rest of my life. I’ll always be a fan whatever happens, and I try to do some tributes for the movies and series somehow in the future.

See you on the next one! :)

AND HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON!!! W00t!