THE GANG’S ALL BACK WITH NEW FRIENDS IN “HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2”
The universal
appeal of Hiccup and Toothless has touched the hearts of many people round the
globe when the first “How To Train Your Dragon” soared successfully into
theatres last 2010 and nabbed two Academy Award nominations for Best Animated
Feature and Original Score. The first
film, based on the children’s books written by British author Cressida Cowell,
introduced to audiences the gangly teenage Viking Hiccup, whose world is
flipped upside down when he encounters and befriends an injured dragon he names
Toothless.
He discovers an unexpected ally: his long lost mother Valka (Cate
Blanchett). Valka disappeared many years ago and it emerges that she is in fact
a dragon whisperer who has an uncanny connection to these amazing creatures.
Presumed dead by both her husband Stoick (Gerard Butler) and their son, she has
spent two decades rescuing dragons from traps and keeping them safe in an
Arctic, dragon sanctuary.
Astrid, Hiccup’s champion dragon racer girlfriend returns, voiced by
America Ferrera, as do other familiar characters from the first film: Snotlout
(Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) Tuffnut (T.J. Miller) and
Gobber (Craig Ferguson). Kit Harington from
“Game of Thrones” joins the cast asthe dragon trapper, Eret, Son of Eret.
Meanwhile, Hiccup’s and Toothless’ loyal friends along with their
dragons are also the comic relief of “How To Train Your Dragon 2” —
particularly Ruffnut, who develops a crush on Eret, son of Eret, while
simultaneously fending off two suitors of her own: Snotlout and Fishlegs.
“Kristen Wiig, who plays
Ruffnut, does it so well,” DeBlois says of her constant rejection of the boys
and her slavish fawning over Eret. “She’s the last of Berk’s scarce and scary
single ladies but she has no interest in either of them. We have some very
strong female characters in Astrid and Valka. We thought there was room to have
one that was completely shallow and vapid as well,” he chuckles. “We made
Ruffnut as ridiculously shallow as possible. She’s willing to throw everything
she has at Eret to try to get his attention, just as Snotlout and Fishlegs are
dying for hers.”
This time around audiences get to see a different side of Jonah
Hill: putting romantic charm into his character as Snotlout tries to gain the
advantage over Fishlegs for Ruffnut’s affections. But he really hasn’t changed
much. Christopher
Mintz-Plasse is back as Fishlegs, the big, loveable oaf who knows everything
there is to know about dragons. “We get to see a more aggressive side to him
this time around because of his competition with Snotlout,” Owens adds. Ruffnut’s antagonistic twin is played by T.
J. Miller. “T.J. Miller is one of the
funniest people on Earth,” DeBlois says. “He gives us all sorts of ad libs that
I love to use whenever we can. I just can’t get enough of the banter he has
with Kristen as the battling twins — and they’re always at war with each
other. It’s just kind of a silly,
nonsensical joke. We love to play out the idea that even though they’re forced
to work together, they’re always trying to sabotage each other.”
“Eret, son of Eret, who is one of three new characters in Dragon 2,
is a little bit full of himself. He claims to be the finest dragon trapper
alive,” says DeBlois, “because he and his team have been successfully trapping
them for some time.” In time, his
opinion will change. “There’s more substance to him than Hiccup and Astrid give
him credit for when they first meet him,” DeBlois says. “Through their
influence, Eret comes around to realizing that dragons aren’t the commodity he
has thought them to be; that they are loyal and if you take the time to earn
their loyalty, they will do anything for you.”
Despite his abilities, Eret doesn’t trap dragons for his own amusement.
He works for Drago Bludvist, a vicious megalomaniac without conscience or
mercy, who once claimed to be a man of the people, devoted to freeing mankind
from the tyranny of dragons. In reality he presents an even bigger danger than
Eret, who’s just a middleman: Drago is building a dragon army.
“How To Train Your Dragon 2” is action-packed,
moving and funny. Visually stunning, the 3D film is highly immersive with
wondrous images of fantastic and realistic looking dragons soaring across the
skies. Watch what the riders have to say
about their latest adventure here:
A DreamWorks
Animation film, “How To Train Your Dragon 2” opens June 11 in cinemas
(available in 2D, 3D and 4DX format) from 20th Century Fox to be
distributed by Warner Bros.
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