Laura and I elected to not pay a surcharge for fancy 3D.

Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois?!?!?! That’s what you get, Disney! Well, then again Disney couldn’t make a movie like this one, but my point is somehow still valid! Not really, I’m just stubborn. Anyways – as I understand it, Chris and Dean were key players at Disney’s Florida animation studio (located inside Disney’s MGM Studios before the name change and before they shut it down) and were partially responsible for Mulan (1998) and almost wholly responsible for Lilo and Stitch (2002), which are two of my favorite post-Frank Wells animated feature films (Chris was also prominantly featured along with other crew members of Mulan in Drawn to Animation at Disney’s California Adventure until it was replaced with The Animation Academy). To the best of my understanding, Chris Sanders left or was fired after which Disney turned Chris Sanders’ American Dog (a quirky road comedy) into Bolt (2008).

This film is delightful, quirky and a wonderfully poignant father-saddled-with-oddball-son-who-ends-up-proving-his-father-wrong tale.

There was a delightful “Whole New World” sequence in the film (without waxing musical) when Toothless takes Hiccough and Astrid for a fly (soaring, tumbling, free-wheeling!).

The music was wonderful! It is interesting to note that there were a lot of Scottish influences, being that they’re vikings, but Craig Ferguson is in there too, so it all balances out.

Credit Game Final Score: Jeremy 4, Laura 3

There was also a preview for Shrek 4 which looks to me (having not seen Shrek the Third) to be better than Shrek the Third, mostly because Rumpelstilskin makes a WONDERFUL villain. Although the plot outlined in the trailer reminded me A LOT of Santa Claus 3 which reminded me A LOT of It’s A Wonderful Life. Tale as old as time….