Things you noticed after another watch (or 3DWINS)

[CJ the Slightly Unhinged]

Bit of symbolism I picked up on, actually, after taking a friend of mine to see it last night... during Hiccup's first monologue, where he's talking about the "pests," it's morning, but it's still dark. The dragons are seen as these awful monsters who sneak in during the night, catch your sheep, destroy your house, and wreck your date.

In the end, when he's referring to the "pets," it's daytime. The dragons are seen in a different way now that Hiccup has shown everyone the "light." Hurray for symbolism!

[Neoni245]

I had also gotten a clear sight of the caught Zippleback in the nest when first seeing the movie. As said earlier, perhaps the Red Death was heading for Toothless but a Zippleback came in range and (in a way?) saved his life? Idk, but when I first saw that I felt sorry for the Zippleback and that Gronckle that got eaten earlier. How many fish does it take to feed the Red Death? A thousand??

[Tasha]

Something that always bothered me, was that in the scene where Hiccup reached out to touch toothless, he had his arm nearly fully stretched out, and it didn't look like it'd be long enough to get close to toothless if he stretched it out completely.

see? and neither of them moved forward either... they just magically are closer together... i have no idea why, but that always bugged me xD

[Toothless]

That's not magic, Toothless just moved his head to Hiccups hand.

[Ӊ ӑ z ҿ]

Yeah - Hiccup couldn't reach Toothless, so Toothless moved his head closer to reach Hiccup's hand. I think they probably did this to make it seem as if Toothless was finally accepting Hiccup. Clever idea. Great moment.

[Tasha]

Ah, okay. I just didn't see toothless move his head that much and it really bugged me

[Toothless]

Just compare it to the background, then you'll see it's not Hiccups arm which gets longer, but Toothless who makes the final move.

[CJ the Slightly Unhinged]

After a few viewings, I noticed something. Everyone keeps assuming that when Stoick is referring to the dense fog heading toward the dragons' nest, he's calling it "Hellhound Gate." I listened a little closer and realized something.

He's not saying Hellhound. He's saying Helheim. It's one of the nine worlds in Norse mythology! The realm of the dead, located in Niflheim. Those that enter, even the gods, can never leave it as it's surrounded by the impassable river Gjoll.

An even neater little piece of symbolism they threw in is that according to mythology, Helheim is guarded by the giant Hraesvelg (which translates to "corpse eater"), which sits on the edge of the world and overlooks the realm. If you pay attention, when the ships enter the mist, you see a burst of flame and the silhouette of a dragon sitting at the edge of the fog, overlooking the entrance.

The Red Death herself could actually even be a reference to Hraesvelg, and I'm almost tempted to name her that in a story or something. XD

(A fun fact about Helheim is that it's where you go if you die of old age or sickness. You don't go to Valhalla, after all, unless you die in battle.)

[mokyn]

Apr 14, 2010 12:14:43 GMT -5 CJ the Slightly Unhinged said:

He's not saying Hellhound. He's saying Helheim. It's one of the nine worlds in Norse mythology! The realm of the dead, located in Niflheim. Those that enter, even the gods, can never leave it as it's surrounded by the impassable river Gjoll.

Thank you! I was sure what he was saying was a reference to something, but I could never catch it.

I only just noticed that when Toothless is drawing in the dirt, he looks back at Hiccup, wanting to draw a picture of him. It's so cute!

[Zenoah]

Kinda small, but when I saw it in 3D, when Hiccup is admiering Astrid at the begining, where its slowmotion of the other kids, Snotlout whipes his nose off.
I LOL'd since his name deals with snot and he whipped his nose.

[NoReality95]

This is based off a conversation I had with my uncle after the film:

He asked me why Hiccup was given a name so...un-viking-like. I thought about it and told him that a 'Hiccup' is often used when someone means a mistake, a goof, or a mess-up. Hiccup could be seen as all three in the beginning and through the village's eyes.

My uncle said it was cool how Toothless was also the smallest dragon of the bunch to him, however if we include the Night Terror this is false.
We also wonder how Toothless could exist, there didn't seem to be another Night Fury in the nest, they could just be rare though.

Lastly, when Hiccup and Astrid are flying and Hiccup goes "Thank you for nothing you useless reptile." I think it wasn't just because Toothless didn't listen but because it's like a guy with a really cool car, he wants the girl to like it so she'll like him, but in this case the 'car' was a dragon who wouldn't listen.

[Admin]

I always thought the "useless reptile" line was more like "oh great, she hates us, now she'll tell the whole village, thanks".

I read in one person's fic that Tuffnut's "birthmark" was a rabbit... and they seemed pretty darn sure... ANYONE have any idea about that?

I noticed that Snotlout... is a WIMP. XD Compared to the other teens anyway.

At the end, when Toothless steps on Hiccup, he holds his stomach like that's what he stepped on... but it LOOKS like he stepped a TAD further south.

[mokyn]

Went to see it again, and sat through the credits this time. The movie is dedicated in memory of Blake Snyder, who was a screenwriter and has taught a lot on the subject. I thought this was interesting not only because I actually recognized the name, but because I have used his screenplay structure as an explanation for why I don't like AstridxHiccup as much as other people. I find them cute in a puppy-love sort of way, but the movie didn't need to have a love interest. Every movie has a B story, but since Astrid could have just been a friend for Hiccup to talk to, this slot is filled by the relationship between Stoick and Hiccup, and I personally found it one of the most interesting relationships in the entire movie, aside from how the boy becomes Toothless' friend. Anyway, I've been rambling. On to what I noticed this time around!

- Hiccup is left-handed (apparently in How to Be a Pirate, he found out he was, so this is a nice little reference)

- Fishlegs has the beginning of sideburns on his face

- The complaint of Hiccup having the attention span of a sparrow is pretty accurate: During the training against the Nadder, there's a wide shot as the Nadder moves through the maze, and Hiccup only looks back once before continuing to ask Gobber questions about Night Furies.

- The ending credits have concept art of the movie, so you can see the original designs for a ten-year old Hiccup. He's sooo cuuuute!

- Dirt falls out of the big dragon's wings before it flies (I'm still not sure whether to call it Red Death or Green Death, so i'll just call it a Sea Dragon)

- The Terrible Terrors don't have teeth, which is a nice reference to how Toothless was in the book.

- Ruffnut and Tuffnut have matching necklaces

- During the free fall, Toothless has a look on his face for a moment, as if he's confused to see Hiccup in front of him

- When Hiccup and Astrid are flying amidst the dragons bringing in their kill, the dragons have varying colours

- the Sea Dragon catches a Zippleback in its mouth as the others escape, which I found slightly disturbing

- During the talk between Hiccup and Stoick in the workshop, after Stoick says "All these years of the worst Viking in Berk," you can see Hiccup's face change to looking rather heartbroken at this, and he continues to look sad throughout the rest of the scene. My sister instantly hated me for mentioning this, and I think we both got more emotional than before over the "You're not my son" scene.

- For some reason, before Toothless and Hiccup hit the Sea Dragon's tail, Hiccup fiddles with the right stirrup despite it being the left one that operates the tail prosthetic.

- The Sea Dragon nearly eats a man before it is distracted by the smaller dragons and drops him. He's all right though, he runs away once he hits the ground.

- When everyone thinks Hiccup is dead, Stoick says, "I did this," which mirrors the scene when Hiccup first finds Toothless.

Also was able to really appreciate the 3-D this time. The only other 3-D movie I'd seen before this had been UP, so during moments where the camera would pan across subjects it would hurt my eyes because I'm used to focusing on small details in things, which isn't a good idea when you're wearing those glasses. I still stand to the idea that this movie would still be breathtaking because the animation itself tries to create a sense of being in the air and moving at fast speeds (some of my favourite shots are when the camera is behind Hiccup or the Sea Dragon as they dive toward the ground), but now that I was used to the 3-D, the scenes really pulled me along, like I actually felt my stomach drop at times. I think I may have to watch this movie over some more, because I love how it pulls me along for a ride.

[Admin]

Apr 16, 2010 13:19:07 GMT -5 mokyn said:

- The complaint of Hiccup having the attention span of a sparrow is pretty accurate: During the training against the Nadder, there's a wide shot as the Nadder moves through the maze, and Hiccup only looks back once before continuing to ask Gobber questions about Night Furies.

I;m not so much sure this is ATTENTION SPAN as it is focusing on something he should NOT be focusing on. XD But he does seem to have a short one.

Apr 16, 2010 13:19:07 GMT -5 mokyn said:

- For some reason, before Toothless and Hiccup hit the Sea Dragon's tail, Hiccup fiddles with the right stirrup despite it being the left one that operates the tail prosthetic.

Looks like you may have found an animation error. Good eye!

[Mothy]

Apr 16, 2010 13:19:07 GMT -5 mokyn said:

- During the free fall, Toothless has a look on his face for a moment, as if he's confused to see Hiccup in front of him

I caught that too! It's sorta like he's thinking "Wait, how can you be in front of me? If you're in front of me then--oh craaaaaaaaaaaa-"

Also noticed: When Stoick is talking to Hiccup after returning from the trip, Hiccup hastily hides some bits of paper. Whenever we cut back to him, we can see what's on them...one of the papers has a few headshots of Toothless at varying angles! (Above view, side, 3/4, head-on...)