As a long-time fan of the How to Train Your Dragon movie trilogy (as well as a fan of David Tennant, who narrates the audiobook), I felt obligated to finally listen to the book the movie was based on. I use “based on” loosely, because while there are dragons and Vikings, some of the names are the same, and there’s a similar theme, that’s about where the similarities end.
This review will mostly be a comparison between the movie and books and whether or not one (in my humble opinion) is better, and if so why.
Some Major Differences (and why it makes them difficult to compare)
Both book and movie tell the story of Hiccup, the self-proclaimed unheroic son of a Viking chief, and Toothless, a dragon. Over the course of both stories, Hiccup bonds with Toothless and together they learn how to become a true hero (“the hard way,” as the book puts it).
The first incredibly huge different that struck me was the age of Hiccup, who is ten years old in the book, versus his teenage counterpart in the movie. Older characters usually means a slightly different tone and themes, as well as something that is more likely to speak to me as a consumer of the media. I definitely enjoy middle grade stories and chapter books from time to time, but (as anyone who has read my other reviews might have noticed) my main genre is YA. Related to this, I was disappointed in the lack of female characters in the book. It was clearly aimed at boys, and the age of Hiccup means a love interest wouldn’t make much sense, but really the only female we see is Hiccup’s mother, who doesn’t get much page time. All of the youngsters like Hiccup are boys. Where are my badass girl Vikings???
The other staggering difference that changes the course of the story right from the start is the fact that, in the book, the Vikings don’t kill dragons. They aren’t mortal enemies. The dragons serve as creatures that help the humans with fishing and fighting, and given the fact that they are a clearly intelligent species treated like simple beasts, are basically enslaved by Hiccup’s people. Hiccup’s goal in the book is to capture and train his first dragon, only he uses different methods. Instead of yelling Toothless to force his will upon the dragon, Hiccup tells Toothless jokes as a reward for listening, which was very quirky and adorable. There’s also the odd and somewhat amusing fact that the dragons have their own language, dragonese, and for some reason Hiccup is the only person who speaks it. It’s never explained how Hiccup learned to speak this dragon language, but I tried not to dwell on it.
Night Furies Don’t Exist?
Apparently, the Night Fury is a species of dragon invented by the creators of the movie, because Toothless is referred to as a “common or garden dragon” (he’s actually a different species entirely, but we don’t find that out until much later). He’s also tiny, both because the common dragons in this world tend to be smaller than those portrayed in the movie and because he’s just small for his kind, which makes him the dragon version of Hiccup.
In this way, the book and movie diverge from each other rather significantly. Something that I personally love about movie Toothless is the fact that he’s an incredibly rare, mysterious, and powerful species (though he subverts the awe the Vikings hold for his species by proving himself to be goofy and adorable). He’s almost a foil to Hiccup character, who is scrawny, clumsy, and basically useless as far as the rest of his tribe is concerned. In truth, Hiccup is courageous, determined, and strong in his capacity to care for others. They are portrayed as both the same in many ways but opposites in others, as most great friends are.
I’m not going to say that either of these is necessarily better, but they do set up a very different relationship between boy and dragon.
Why the Movie is Ultimately Better
I can’t say that I’m not biased, given that I watched the movie first and fell in love with it long before reading the book, but I think there are a few solid reasons the movie surpasses the book in terms of story—never mind the incredible animation and soundtrack of the film.
I personally feel that the war between the dragons and Vikings is more powerful than the scenario set up in the book. It means that Hiccup befriending a dragon is not only unusual, but a betrayal of everything they stand for. Hiccup is a traitor to his people, not just weird for trying to train his dragon basically through positive reinforcement rather than bullying it.
One of the things I love about the movie is the amount of emotion that they packed into the story, and I just didn’t get that same depth in the book. The relationship between Hiccup and his father is infuriating, heartbreaking, and (by the end) touching. The bond between Hiccup and Toothless is inspiring and heartwarming. I can’t get through the movie without crying. Both the imagery (the iconic scene where Hiccup holds out his hand to Toothless) and dialogue (Hiccup screaming “for once in your life just listen to me!”) really make you feel every moment. While these relationships technically exist in the book, I didn’t feel them on the same level.
I think the filmmakers took an interesting concept and a fun story and turned it into something beautiful, simultaneously heartwarming and heart-wrenching. Not to mention no small amount of humor. The book did have amusing moments, but I didn’t walk away with iconic quotes I’ll spew at anyone whether they’ll get the reference or not. There are just so many layers to the movie, like the clever use of mirroring, that were absent from the book. I feel the need to expand on this last bit, to really get my point home on why this is important to me.
The Genius of Mirroring
The How to Train Your Dragon film does something fascinating, if you’re paying enough attention, or if you’ve seen it 500 times like I have. They use repeated dialogue to highlight key moments in the film, as well as adding some comedic effect. The callback to earlier points in the movie accentuate changes over the course of the plot, especially in terms of character development. I’ll outline a few examples.
1. “You just gestured to all of me.” Hiccup says this line multiple times in the movie. At the very beginning, just after the disastrous raid by the dragons, Gobber gestures at him and says, “You need to stop all… this.” Indicating that basically everything about Hiccup is wrong and needs to change. When Hiccup wakes up after the final battle, his father does the same thing, only his line is, “Turns out all we needed was a little more this.” This highlights the 180 in the way Hiccup’s tribe views him—from a complete disappointment to a savior.
2. “I did this.” This regret-filled line is spoken by Hiccup after shooting Toothless out of the sky and later by his father when he thinks Hiccup died during the battle with the dragon queen. It shows them reach a similar point in their character journey at different times, both of them realizing their actions have caused irreparable harm, a moment that sets them on a new path.
3. “This is Berk.” Perhaps the most obvious example of this mirroring is Hiccup’s speeches at the very beginning and end of the movie. He introduces Berk as not a very pleasant-sounding place in both parts of the movie, with one key change. In the beginning, dragons were pests. At the end, they were pets. It so perfectly frames the transition from the time when dragons were hated and feared to when they became beloved and an integral part of the tribe’s lifestyle—a transition that is entirely thanks to a boy who wouldn’t kill a dragon.
And That’s the Whole Story
How to Train Your Dragon, both movie and book, tells Hiccup’s journey from useless to hero. But the real key difference? In the book, Hiccup befriends his dragon instead of dominating him, which leads to them being able to save the day because Toothless cared enough not to abandon Hiccup in his time of need. In the movie, the duo ends a war between Hiccup’s tribe and the dragons.
And what’s more heroic than finding the courage and persistence to change people’s hearts and minds?
Nicole Aisling - Author 