December Animation Tidbits [#2]

Another round of bits...

How To Spoil Your Dragon

A recently released image showing Cate Blanchett's
character.

How To Train Your Dragon 2's trailer is right around the corner, but we all may have to avoid it. I got word from a good friend of mine, who found a source suggesting that the trailer might spoil a major twist in the film. It's said to be all Fox's doing, and that the people at DreamWorks begged the marketing department not to spoil said "mystery".

Attention Animation Fans: There is a new HTTYD2 Trailer coming out soon. Don't watch it unless you want the story's big mystery spoiled.
— Mygames19 (@Mygames19) December 14, 2013

I know the source isn't exactly reliable, but for those who don't want to be spoiled, it's better to assume it is. http://t.co/W3ZUb99Wxl
— Mygames19 (@Mygames19) December 14, 2013

If this turns out to be true, all I can say is: Really Fox? Really?

People just don't have a clue when it comes to marketing animated films, do they? That teaser was so excellent, suggesting that Fox was going to market DreamWorks' films correctly since Paramount did poorly at doing so in their final years with the studio. I mean come on! This is a highly anticipated sequel to a highly acclaimed animated film, and this is what you're going to do?

I hope it's all a rumor…

Moana Madness

Like that logo for Walt Disney Animation Studios' upcoming Polynesian-set adventure? Well, it's fake. You can tell too, with the two swooshes above and below the "Moana" text looking so basic and the Disney logo being in white, which contrasts heavily from everything else.

Also, people thought that these were newly leaked pieces of concept artwork… They aren't…

And it seems like people are just discovering this upcoming Ron and John project. I don't mean to brag (if you've been reading prior to May, you have the same bragging rights), but I've known about this for a while.

The good thing is, people know it exists. It's presumably not due out until 2018 (going by Blue Sky Disney's notes), but it's good that the word has gotten out somehow. The only post-Big Hero 6 film that Disney has officially mentioned or announced is Zootopia, but they didn't outright say that the film is set to open on March 4, 2016. Smart move, because if you ask me, picking a date for an animated film very early on might be detrimental to the production.

Keane Gets Work!

Wow… Already! Apparently he's set to work on a commercial for Motorola, going by a mysterious email Cartoon Brew's Amid Amidi received.

Now, how long until it's announced that an animated feature enters development at Glen Keane Productions?

90s Revival

On January 20th, Cartoon Network will take us back to the City of Townsville with a Powerpuff Girls special titled "Dance Pantsed"…

As the poster implies, this special will be done in a completely different animation style and will also feature Ringo Starr as a character named Fibonacci Sequins, an over-the-top mathematician. Hmmm, I wonder if he'll sing a song! Oh wait, he will! "I Wish I Was a Powerpuff Girl"!

Color me excited.

Also, the premise…

In 'Dance Pantsed', why is Mojo Jojo kidnapping a mathematician, an opera singer and a badger? To steal Chemical X, of course, and to finally take over Townsville. But when the Powerpuff Girls thwart his plan, he invents an evil video game called “Dance Pants R-EVILution” to control their minds and bodies to fulfill his evil plot! The Professor must visit his dark dancing past to save his girls so they can save all of Townsville!

It's good to see Cartoon Network revisiting one of their classic 90s shows, and while the new art style might leave some fans upset, I'm certainly looking forward to it. Here's hoping the writing is as good as the original show. Plus, Ringo Starr… You can't go wrong.

~

Will you check out the How To Train Your Dragon 2 trailer when it comes out? Do you think it will end up being spoilerific? When do you think Disney will officially announce Moana? What do think Glen Keane will work on next year? Does the upcoming Powerpuff Girls special excite you? Or not?

Sound off below!

Take Off

The poster for How To Train Your Dragon 2 is finally here!

To be honest, I thought those teasers that were unveiled yesterday were for individual posters. Maybe one with just Hiccup, and one with just Toothless, but no - both are on here. It's a nice poster, one that implies that the sequel will be much more action-packed and perhaps a little more serious. After all, Kung Fu Panda 2 was just that in comparison to the original. The plot synopsis hints at something epic, now that the dragon has been… Ahem… Trained. It should do what a good sequel does: Go all out now that you've established everything in the first one.

Now let's hope that a new trailer is coming soon…

Tease, Tease, Tease…

DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox are going about marketing How To Train Your Dragon 2 in some pretty interesting ways. First off, they unleashed a teaser that was a full sequence rather than a selection of parts from the film, doing what Disney used to do for trailers (think The Lion King and Pocahontas); though it's possible that the sequence won't be in the movie itself and that it's just a custom-made bit for the teaser, much like what's used in Pixar's teasers.

Still, it was a nice change of pace and the teaser did its job right, it made the movie look good. I have a feeling that this film's marketing will be the antithesis of the first film's shoddy marketing (the very marketing that brought in a $43 million gross as opposed to $60 million), coupled with the fact that many people saw the original and are anticipating the sequel.

Now, DreamWorks continues to go the mysterious route… Today they have released three teasers…

Of posters…

Yep, much like Marvel's "teaser of a teaser" strategy, DreamWorks is doing this with posters.

I assume the full posters will be unveiled tomorrow or sometime this week, and maybe a trailer is right around the corner! That would be awesome…

(via fellow Rotoscoper comrade Max de Hartog)

August Animation Tidbits

More tidbits for ya...

Planes once again proves that animated films that don't have much adult appeal won't fare too, too well. Planes is unabashedly a children's film, so it didn't set the box office on fire over the weekend unlike something like Monsters University or Despicable Me 2. You know, animation that's both for kids and adults.

But others (such as are ever-so-accurate press) would lead you to believe that Turbo, The Smurfs 2 and Planes underperformed because there's "too much animation", implying that people are getting sick of feature animation... No, they are getting sick of bland animation and animation that's aimed at kids only... Plus, with all these films opening so close to each other, families got super-choosy. I hope this summer teaches distributors a lesson: Don't open so many animated films so close to each other. 2 or 3 is fine, but 5 or more? A big no-no.

Opening with a small $22 million, Planes already made Disney very happy since the film only cost $50 million to produce. Plus, it's bound to make a good amount overseas given some foreign locations they cover in this film. All I can say is... Ehhhhhhhhhh. Why oh why does the sequel have to be a theatrical release?

~

DreamWorks, in a rather surprising move, pushed their highly anticipated How To Train Your Dragon 2 a week forward. The film is now set to open on June 13, 2014, but honestly... I can kind of see Kung Fu Panda 2 happening all over again. Sort of.

If you remember, Paramount and DreamWorks for some reason felt that the sequel to their 2008 blockbuster would put up a good fight against The Hangover Part II. But what happened? The teens and adults flocked to The Hangover Part II, leaving Kung Fu Panda 2 to rely on family audiences and those who have no interest in The Hangover franchise... The result was a very disappointing $47 million opening while The Hangover Part II took in $85 million for the weekend. Its opening was certainly no major take off, especially when you consider that its predecessor opened 3 years earlier with $60 million... Without 3D ticket prices!

What opens the same weekend as How To Train Your Dragon 2? 22 Jump Street...

Let's see... A sequel to a sleeper hit R-rated comedy? Need I say more?

How To Train Your Dragon 2's opening may not be spectacular unless Fox plays their cards right. The teaser for this was fabulous, unlike the lazy "staring contest" teaser for Kung Fu Panda 2. Its official trailer better deliver and make audiences want to see it opening weekend, because Kung Fu Panda 2's underwhelming trailers and marketing didn't succeed in doing that. Hopefully Fox's marketing shows audiences why they should definitely see DreamWorks' epic sequel to their very good film and make the audiences think, "Hmmm... Yeah I'll see that instead of 22 Jump Street!"

I mean, this is supposed to be a very big follow-up to the leggy original. The original was lucky to have many weeks all to itself, so that the incredibly strong word-of-mouth was able to help the film climb to $200 million at the domestic box office. This sequel underperforming and making less would be terrible, especially since it's supposed to be like the series' Empire Strikes Back. I wouldn't doubt that, because DreamWorks went the darker route for their sequel to Kung Fu Panda but yet the poor handled of that stalled it from doing better than its predecessor at the box office. Let's hope the same mistakes aren't made again with this sequel, because DreamWorks needs a big hit and I don't quite think Mr. Peabody & Sherman will be a box office bonanza.

But apparently Fox and DreamWorks are confident in this, so it's possible that the dragons may outwit the cops that summer weekend. Personally, I think these poor choices of release dates are what's are partially killing most animated films these days. (Bolt and Winnie the Pooh, anyone?)

~

On the home media front, we got word of the postponed Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Volume 2 set. In case you didn't know, this series was meant to give us - the animation enthusiast - the complete, fully uncensored collection of the entire Tom and Jerry filmography from the Golden Age to the post-Hanna-Barbera films. Volume 1 delivered the goods and then some, everything on there was uncensored and there were even a couple lovely bonus features.

But this upcoming set is a disaster in the making. Warner Bros. legal department will not allow two particular Tom and Jerry cartoons to be released in any form. The problem is, both are supposed to be on Volume Two since the series is going in chronological order. Mouse Cleaning and Casanova Cat are the two shorts in question. The legal department want to avoid a PR nightmare, but they are hypocrites because Warner Bros. has released material that's just as offensive for general consumers, from the uncensored Looney Tunes collections to the uncensored Popeye sets to the first volume of this series... And they all have warnings saying that they're for the "adult collector", and they also give viewers an explanation of the content in these films: Again, some of the certain gags in these shorts are offensive, but censoring them out is just as offensive. They're a part of history. The first set and all their other adult-oriented cartoon collections from Warner make this very, very clear.

However, WB's legal department doesn't want these two particular shorts to see the light of day for some probably stupid reason, not even through the WB Archive, thus contradicting everything the other sets stood for. So we can't have those two shorts on an "adult collector" set, but yet we can have other offensive material. The legal department apparently thinks that we're children or something.

Let that all sink in for a minute...

PR nightmare, alright. They created a new one just by playing this game with us. We're adults, we know why these cartoons are the way are, so stop trying to hide them from us when you've released other equally offensive cartoons to general consumers, general consumers! Anyone who has seen Mouse Cleaning and Casanova Cat will tell you that they are no more offensive than The Milky Waif and The Truce Hurts, or any other Tom and Jerry cartoon with a blackface gag that's readily available uncensored in the US for general consumers. Warner Home Video really wants all of these pieces of history to be released, but no, the legal department has something against those two particular shorts...

Anyways, this pointless and unfair censorship lead to (much-deserved) backlash, and it's made the news, too! The set was then postponed, though a December 17th date somehow got out there. Jerry Beck (in case you don't know, he's a great animation historian and has worked on many of these sets, including this one) appeared on Stu's Show not too long ago. The set was brought up and he outright confirmed that WB's legal department is giving Warner Home Video trouble, and they're not going to let those two cartoons see any form of release in America (note: They're available uncensored in the UK). He says that we shouldn't expect the set until 2014 at the least. I'm not holding my breath for a complete set.

Insert rant here...

~

Speaking of home media, on October 15th, the surprisingly very good and well-written Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls will be hitting some form of home media... Unfortunately, it's a DVD-only release with six episodes. "Six Strange Tales"... Yeah, because we can't have our full season just yet. Or ever, maybe... Given Disney's track record when it comes to these things.

If Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network can give us the full seasons of shows like Adventure Time and Regular Show, Disney can damn well do the same for Gravity Falls. Heck, where are the full season sets for Phineas and Ferb?! What they're failing to realize is that like those two Cartoon Network shows, Gravity Falls has a teenaged and adult fanbase that makes it very successful. People would also scoop up a season boxset of Phineas and Ferb, from families to fans to many others. However, it is possible that this is a set geared towards the kids and that they're saving the goods for the fans. (Making this show an exception to their TV shows on home media business model.)

Well, maybe. Here's hoping they do the same for TRON: Uprising, since they did a good job sending that show to the grave. At least Blu-ray sales or the fact that it's on Netflix could gain the series new fans... Though the third TRON film doesn't seem to be a go anytime soon. Director Joseph Kosinski has signed on to direct The Twilight Zone movie. Looks like that franchise is slowing down once again...

~

Animated Views recently interviewed Jimmy Hayward and Aron Warner. Hayward, as you may know, is the director of Reel FX Creative Studios' debut theatrical feature-length animated film Free Birds (formerly known as Turkeys), which will hit theaters on November 1st. Warner is a big-time producer, and he's well-known for producing the Shrek films, as Free Birds' fun trailer mentions.

Hayward talked about some of its production history, and also said that the film's plot is "all in good fun" and that they aren't trying to send some PETA-esque "don't eat turkey" message. (Phew!) He also explained the title change, saying that they wanted something that would have international appeal. Then he also explained the release date change, the movie was pretty much in the can last summer and November 2014 was too much of a family film mine (Big Hero 6, Home, Night at the Museum 3, etc.)

Warner talked about Reel FX's plans, things I speculated about months ago. I'm in support of this studio because they've got risky things planned for the future (Hayward himself elaborated on that), and they also plan on spending reasonable budgets on their films. Hmmmm, maybe other studios should follow suit, yes? For the record, Free Birds has pretty good-looking animation if you ask me. See, I like this idea. Lower budgets mean greater risks can be taken, LAIKA and Aardman don't thrive for nothing.

He also mentioned a few things about Jorge Guiterrez's Book of Life...

"The movie is unlike any computer animated film I’ve ever seen. It looks different; it feels different; it sounds different. It’s definitely Jorge’s – it is so much a project from this guy’s heart."

Now see? That's what studios should be doing, making lower budget films that take some major-league creative risks. Book of Life might just change the industry if Free Birds is a hit, and prove that good computer animation can be done for less than $100 million and it doesn't have to come from someone like Disney, Pixar or DreamWorks. Again, Free Birds looks fun despite some formulaic elements, but it's a safer film for a reason. It's the debut, it's the kick-off feature. Safe film first, risks later!

No word on Beasts of Burden, though...

~

What do you think of Reel FX? Do you think the studio has a lot of potential? Do you anticipate what they have to offer? Do you think Disney will eventually give us season box sets of shows like Gravity Falls, Phineas and Ferb and TRON: Uprising? Do you think Warner Home Video will triumph over the legal department? Or will they lose and all we'll end up getting is a censored set? Do you think DreamWorks and Fox moving How To Train Your Dragon 2 up a week was a good idea, or not?

Sound off below!

Thoughts on Comic-Con News

Note: This will of course cover a lot of the animation-related happenings at this year's Comic-Con, but also things on Disney as a whole (i.e. Marvel, Lucasfilm, live action film division...) and maybe some ramblings about other things...

This entry will be updated frequently, much like my coverage of Disney's CinemaCon presentation three months ago...

July 18th - 10:36 P.M. Eastern

DreamWorks Animation had their panel today, showing footage from 2014 releases Mr. Peabody and Sherman and How To Train Your Dragon 2. Exclusive posters were also given away. It was also announced that Kit Harrington (Jon Snow in Game of Thrones) is now part of the cast, along with Cate Blanchett and Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond).

On the footage for Mr. Peabody and Sherman, CinemaBlend's Mack Rawden writes, "The action is chaotic. Peabody is about to get decapitated by Maximilien de Robespierre during the French Revolution when he uses his wacky science genius to reflect light, escape his predicament and Shawshank Redemption his way to freedom. It's straight up awesome. I was 0% excited about this movie before seeing this clip, and now, I can promise you I will see it."

That's good to know. I'm now looking forward to it as well, because it sounds like it's going to be the film it should be... An all-out fun time travel adventure. I was initially skeptical, since I didn't think the segments from Rocky & Bullwinkle didn't offer the story team much of a vehicle, which is why I was surprised to hear that Lion King director Rob Minkoff was at the helm of the project. But it seems like they're going to take idea of two characters traveling to various times and places, and run with it!

Too bad we have to wait till March, rather than November.

The How To Train Your Dragon 2 footage sounds awesome. Rawden adds that one bonus clip that was shown channels The Empire Strikes Back. Footage showed Hiccup getting captured by a menacing dragon rider as Toothless is sent falling into the water, the footage was said to be pretty "intense" and much more so than what was seen in the first film. It all implies that this sequel will be significantly darker than its predecessor. Well, Kung Fu Panda 2 was a lot darker than the first one, so this will be no different. Also very good to hear!

Other than that, directors Dean DeBlois (Dragon 2), David Soren (Turbo) and Rob Minkoff (Peabody) spoke about their films and what it was like working on them. It's too bad we didn't hear much about any other 2014-2015 releases, but I'm sure we'll get some info soon...

July 20th, 4:46 - 5:15 P.M. Eastern

A LOT happened while I was out. Warner Bros. has been making the waves in Hall H today, but before I get to that, I'll briefly comment on a few things concerning Columbia/Sony's panels...

Footage from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (opening May 2nd) was shown, featuring Jamie Foxx's Electro and how he becomes Electro, along with a sequence where Spider-Man outsmarts the Rhino (Paul Giamatti). I very much enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man, as I felt it was more than just a serviceable reboot. Greater things are to come, and this film kicked things off to a good start. It took on a darker tone without succumbing to the Nolan brand of dark that Hollywood is copycatting these days. It was still a load of fun, the cast was excellent and it delivered on action... Maybe there wasn't enough, but this sequel should really bring some real excitement.

The only thing that I'm not happy with is the fact that Sony is going to hang onto the film rights to Spider-Man, so we won't see him in any of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films any time soon. Not too long ago, Sony scheduled a third and fourth installment in this new series for 2016 and 2018 respectively. Yeah, forget Spider-Man appearing in The Avengers 3... If only Disney/Marvel and Sony were to collaborate, but I can't see that happening...

They also teased the RoboCop remake (opening February 7th), pissing off many because this remake of the R-rated film will be PG-13 and sanitized in order to get a wider audience. I think ratings have nothing to do with the quality of the film, but to me, you can't take an R-rated film and re-imagine it in a watered down form. Also, did we really need a RoboCop remake? Hollywood...

But now onto the big doings going on today... As in right now.

Warner Bros. excited many with Gareth Edwards' Godzilla film, which I've been looking forward to it. First of all, it's about time that America got a suitable Godzilla film. Second of all, giant monster movies seem to be a rarity (other than Pacific Rim) these days. Also, it's got a lot of good talent attached to it from the director to the cast. I'll be looking out for this one.

Stuff on the upcoming Seventh Son (starring Jeff Bridges) was also shown along with some of Edge of Tomorrow, Tom Cruise's next sci-fi film (formerly All You Need is Kill), but the big announcement of course concerned DC...

The sequel to Man of Steel will feature Batman, though it's not certain whether it'll be called World's Finest or not. At this rate, I don't know if they'll still call it Man of Steel 2 or not.. Director Zack Snyder and writer David S. Goyer confirmed it, showing a logo with the film's Superman symbol inside a brand new Batman symbol. Based on Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, it was said that it should be released in 2015. As if that year couldn't get any bigger...

If you've read my quick review, you'll know I wasn't fond of Snyder's Superman film. I felt that aside from having a jumbled story structure and more focus on the plot than the characters themselves, it tried too hard to be like Christopher Nolan's Batman films. Yes, I know Nolan executive produced it, but still... It immersed itself in this dour, dire, depressing tone with a desaturated color scheme, an angsty atmosphere and a surprisingly downtrodden Hans Zimmer score. I know others loved the score and the film itself, but I didn't. I felt like they tried way too hard to make Superman serious and Batman-esque. That tone, to me, only worked for Batman. Yet Nolan's Batman films still managed to be fun and not depressing. Man of Steel's action was shallow and it was mostly just city damage, nothing really exhilarating. The fact that the characters weren't fleshed out just makes it all worse. Not to mention, the script kept contradicting the themes of the film. Superman and Zod destroy millions of buildings (what were the casualties?!), yet Superman is supposed to be the man who makes the moral choice. Don't even bring up the ending and Pa Kent.

I fear that they'll apply this Nolan-esque template to the sequel, along with the announced The Flash film (pegged for 2016 at the moment) and Justice League (now slated for 2017). All I want is something well-written with good character development, a good story and something that's at least fun and enjoyable. Batman Begins was just that, and so were the other two Nolan Batman films. Man of Steel wasn't, sadly. It could've and should've been...

I personally think that Warner Bros. is going about the DC cinematic universe the wrong way. Man of Steel was weak, and they're getting the same team to handle the sequel and probably everything else. Since the film is going to gross $300 million at the domestic box office (or somewhere right below it) and over $700 million worldwide, it doesn't really matter. A crumbier sequel and subsequent films is what we might have to settle for, unless Snyder (who I feel isn't a good director) and Goyer (I also think he's not a good writer) seriously evaluate Man of Steel's problems... Oh wait... Why do I think they'll do that?

Yeah sorry... This news doesn't excite me. Does it excite you? Did you like Man of Steel?

9:32 -  P.M. Eastern

Now Marvel is on... The big one has come at last!

Footage from Thor: The Dark World was just shown, and from what I've been hearing, the focus is on Loki. He cuts Thor's hand off as the god tries to summon Mjinor! Apparently in the footage, Thor begs for Loki's help, as briefly shown in the teaser. Hopefully we get the full trailer sooner. Paul Shirey said that the film looks "more atmospheric and kick ass" compared to the first film. Screen Rant mentioned that the footage is basically Thor and Loki teaming up, Loki betraying him and Jane Foster slapping him saying, "That's for New York!"

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was described as gritty by Scarlett Johannson. On his Twitter, Ethan Anderton said the footage "felt like The Avengers in scale and tone", which shows that it won't be "gritty" like Nolan films and Nolan wannabes. Eric Vespe of AICN mentions that the tone seems "darker and more ambiguous". He also reveals that S.H.I.E.L.D. is doing preemptive strikes, which Rogers is at odd ends with. Rogers says, "That's not freedom, it's fear." Russ Fischer of /Film writes that film is "actively engaged in politics and paranoia", which only builds on earlier announcements that the film was going to be like 1970s political thrillers.

The Guardians of the Galaxy was described as weird and fun, a film that will be totally okay with being different. It's said that it's all unlike anything we've seen in a Marvel movie.

For the grand finale, the title of The Avengers 2 has been revealed... The Avengers: Age of Ultron! I like it! Ultron was also shown during the Guardians footage...

From the descriptions, all I can say is "Wow"... Big things are happening now that Marvel has comfortably moved into the second phase of their cinematic universe. Isn't it great that The Avengers not only turned out well, but also was a massive success?

Great things are coming.

Updates coming soon...

A Soaring Teaser

After months and months of waiting and seeing leaked images that were unfortunately pulled, we finally got a teaser for DreamWorks' hugely anticipated sequel to one of their best films... How To Train Your Dragon 2!



This teaser, simply put, is great. It gets fans and audiences alike pumped up for this sequel, as it seems like it is going to surpass the already impressive original. It packs the thrills, showing a great flight sequence that in many ways shows what's in store for us. More epic action will certainly be present, and an equally amazing score from John Powell. The teaser hints at how much bigger the story will be, if the plot synopsis alone didn't...

It's also interesting to note that DreamWorks has kicked off the campaign for this film first, and not the film that's coming out before it... Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Of course, they're probably doing this because the world is looking forward to this potential smash more than a film based on a classic cartoon. Smart move on DreamWorks' part, getting it out so early.

What do you think of the teaser?

By the way, does the lack of a title in this trailer (regardless of the fact that it's labelled How To Train Your Dragon 2 Teaser Trailer by DreamWorks' YouTube channel) imply that this film won't be called How To Train Your Dragon 2? After all, when Fox unveiled their full 2013-2018 animation slate, they put [working title] next to this film... Hmmmmmm...

Back To Berk

Note: DreamWorks has been asking several sites and blogs to take down the early images for this film. When they are made available again (officially by DreamWorks), then they'll reappear in this article.

Artwork and plot details for DreamWorks' How To Train Your Dragon 2 have surfaced. Cue the excitement and anticipation...

Though these details have shown up over the past couple of days, I thought I'd offer my take on it. When DreamWorks made their presentation at this year's CinemaCon last weekend, they had showed footage from the upcoming sequel to their 2010 hit How To Train Your Dragon and they also displayed some early images from the film. The images are now online, courtesy of Hypable.

The artwork already shows what our leads look like as young adults, since it was revealed a while back that this sequel would take place five years after the first film. (Does this mean that there won't be any distracting, dated modern slang dialogue?) I already like what I'm seeing here, and these designs are an overall step up from the already great ones from the first film. We also got a peek at some more dragons!

[Artwork temporarily missing]

... And a beautiful piece of concept artwork! That dragon below is wicked...

[Artwork temporarily missing]

How To Train Your Dragon was certainly one of the studio's best-looking films, from the breathtaking sets to the imaginative dragon designs. I have a feeling that this sequel will top all of that in the visual department, as it appears that the film may have a much more vibrant color scheme.

Then there's the plot... It sounds great!

Hiccup and Toothless lead hundreds of hero dragons in defense of Dragon Mountain, battling against Drago Bloodfist’s huge army of Dragon Hunters and their ruthless war machines. The mighty Bewilderbeast, Master of Dragon Mountain, rises to join Hiccup against Drago’s forces, but Drago has a secret weapon – his own enslaved Bewilderbeast arrives to turn the tide. Hiccup and Drago lead their massive armies in an epic showdown.

It's definitely much more epic, much like how Kung Fu Panda 2's story was bigger than the first film's story. As I've said before, the recent DreamWorks sequels improve upon the flaws that are present in their predecessors. I know I'm probably going to get heat for this, but I felt that Dragon could've had a better supporting cast and more timeless dialogue. Perhaps these flaws, now that they've developed Hiccup and Toothless enough in the first film, won't be present in the sequel. I also expect the film to balance thrilling action and dramatic sequences masterfully, the first film did a good job at doing that.

Are you anticipating this sequel? Do you think it'll be just as good as the original? Or better? What do you want to see in a How To Train Your Dragon sequel?

Sound off below!