A sequel toHow to Train Your Dragon was announced in April 2010, with the outline first drafted in February. DeBlois, who co-directed the first film, agreed to return on the condition he would be allowed to make a trilogy. He citedThe Empire Strikes Back (1980) andMy Neighbor Totoro (1988) as his main inspirations, with the expanded scope of the former being particularly influential. DeBlois and his creative team visitedSvalbard to look for inspirations for the setting. ComposerJohn Powell returned to score the film. It was DreamWorks' first film to use scalable multi-core processing and the studio's new animation and lighting software.
Five years after theViking villagers of Berk and thedragons have made peace,[b] Hiccup and his Night Fury best friend, Toothless, map out unexplored lands. Hiccup's father, Stoick the Vast, pressures him to succeed as chieftain, although Hiccup is uncertain whether he is ready.
While investigating a burnt forest, Hiccup and his girlfriend Astrid are ambushed by dragontrappers led by Eret, who works for Drago Bludvist, a warlord who plots to enslave all dragons into becoming soldiers. Hiccup and Astrid escape to Berk and warn Stoick about Drago. As Stoick fortifies Berk to prepare for battle, he explains that he once met Drago at a chieftain gathering, where Drago offered them protection from dragons if they pledged to serve him; upon denying him, he had his dragons attack them, leaving Stoick as the sole survivor.
Hiccup refuses to accept that war is inevitable and flies off with Toothless in search of Drago to change his mind. Instead, they encounter a mysterious dragon rider, who is revealed to be Hiccup's mother, Valka, who was presumed dead after being taken away by a dragon during a raid. Valka explains that, like her son, she could not bring herself to slay dragons; instead, she rescues them from Drago and brings them to an island nest formed out of ice by a massive, ice-breathingalpha dragon called a Bewilderbeast, which can control smaller dragons by emittinghypnotic sound waves. Stoick and his companion Gobber track Hiccup to the nest, where Stoick discovers that Valka is alive, and they finally reunite. Meanwhile, Astrid and the other riders force Eret to lead them to Drago, who captures them. Upon learning of Berk's dragons, Drago directs his armada to attack the dragon nest. He also tries to execute Eret, but Astrid's dragon, Stormfly, saves him, prompting Eret to help the others escape.
A battle rages at the nest between dragon riders, Valka's dragons, and Drago's armada. Drago unveils his own Bewilderbeast to confront the alpha, killing it and becoming the new Alpha, thus controlling all dragons. Hiccup urges Drago to cease the violence, but he refuses, citing his family's deaths from dragon attacks in his childhood and his desire to conquer the world. His Bewilderbeast hypnotizes Toothless and forces him to kill Hiccup, but Stoick sacrifices himself by taking the fatal blast instead. Grieving, Hiccup drives Toothless away. The group is stranded as Drago takes control of their dragons and rides Toothless to conquer Berk. After the group holds aViking funeral for Stoick, Hiccup feels lost without his father and his dragon, where Valka reminds him that his father believed he could unite humans and dragons. Inspired, Hiccup and his allies return to Berk on baby dragons, immune to the Bewilderbeast's influence.
Back at Berk, they find that Drago has attacked the village and taken control of the dragons. Hiccup frees Toothless from the Bewilderbeast's control and confronts Drago before the Bewilderbeast encases them in ice, from which Toothless shields Hiccup. However, Toothless blasts away the ice and enters a glowing, super-powered state, making him immune to the Bewilderbeast's control. Toothless challenges the Bewilderbeast while repeatedly shooting at it, breaking its control over the other dragons to side with him. The freed dragons fire at the Bewilderbeast until Toothless fires a massive blast, breaking its lefttusk. Defeated, the Bewilderbeast retreats to the sea with Drago.
The Vikings and dragons celebrate their victory. Hiccup is officially made chieftain of Berk, Valka decides to stay with her son, and the dragons accept Toothless as the new alpha. Berk undergoes repairs, and Hiccup feels confident that they will defend their way of life.
After the success ofHow to Train Your Dragon (2010), the sequel was announced on April 27, 2010.[9][10] "How to Train Your Dragon … has becomeDreamWorks Animation's next franchise. We plan to release the sequel theatrically in 2013", saidJeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation's CEO.[10] It was later revealed that DeBlois had started drafting the outline for a sequel in February 2010 atSkywalker Ranch, during the final sound mix of the first film.[11]: 10 The film was originally scheduled for release on June 20, 2014, but in August 2013 the release date was moved forward one week to June 13, 2014.[12]
Director and writer Dean DeBlois promoting the film at the 2014WonderCon.
The film was written, directed, and executive produced byDean DeBlois, the co-writer/co-director of the first film.[citation needed]Bonnie Arnold, the producer of the first film, also returned, whileChris Sanders, who co-directed and co-wrote the first film, acted only as an additional executive producer this time due to his involvement withThe Croods (2013).[13] When offered the sequel, DeBlois accepted it on condition he could turn it into a trilogy. For the sequel, he intended to revisit the films of his youth, withThe Empire Strikes Back (1980) andMy Neighbor Totoro (1988)[14] having the pivotal inspirations for the film.[15] "What I loved especially aboutEmpire is that it expandedStar Wars (1977) in every direction: emotionally, its scope, characters, fun. It felt like an embellishment and that's the goal."[16]
The entire original voice cast—Baruchel, Butler, Ferguson, Ferrera, Hill, Mintz-Plasse, Miller and Wiig—returned for the sequel.[17] On June 19, 2012, it was announced thatKit Harington, ofGame of Thrones fame, was cast as one of the film's antagonists.[8] At the 2013San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced thatCate Blanchett andDjimon Hounsou had joined the cast; they lent their voices to Valka and Drago Bludvist, respectively.[18]
While the first film was set in a genericNorth Sea environment, the creative team decided to focus onNorway this time around. Early in the sequel's development, about a dozen of them traveled there for a week-long research trip, where they touredOslo,Bergen and thefjords.[11]: 12–13 DeBlois, together with Gregg Taylor (DreamWorks' head of feature development) andRoger Deakins (a cinematographer who served as visual consultant), then broke off from the group to visitSvalbard and seepolar bears in the wild with the assistance of armed guides.[11]: 12–16
DeBlois explained that he had learned from directingLilo & Stitch (2002) that "if you set an animated film in a place you want to visit, there's a chance you might get to go there."[11]: 14 He had wanted to visit Svalbard for some time, after learning of its stark beauty from a couple of backpackers he met during earlier visits toIceland to work withpost-rock bandSigur Rós on the documentary filmHeima (2007).[11]: 14
An early draft for the film had Gobber the Belch being the one killed by the brainwashed Toothless under Drago Bludvist's orders instead of Stoick the Vast. However, when DeBlois shared his plot outline as originally envisioned to his colleagueGuillermo del Toro, who had enjoyed the first film, del Toro suggested instead to have Stoick killed over Gobber, as Stoick had "exhausted" his narrative contribution and would represent a "crutch" for Hiccup if he were to become chief. DeBlois ultimately felt this was a right decision for the story and del Toro was given a "Thank you" credit.[19]
During a visit to DreamWorks Animation in November 2013, U.S. PresidentBarack Obama tried amotion capture camera of the kind used to capture live-action reference performance for the film.[20]
Over the five years before the film's release,[21] DreamWorks Animation had substantially overhauled its production workflow and animation software.How to Train Your Dragon 2 was the first DreamWorks Animation film that used "scalable multicore processing", developed together withHewlett-Packard. Called by Katzenberg as "the next revolution in filmmaking", it enabled artists for the first time to work on rich, complex images in real time, instead of waiting eight hours to see the results the next day.[22] The film was also the studio's first film to use its new animation and lighting software through the entire production. Programs named Premo[23] and Torch allowed much more subtlety, improving facial animation and enabling "the sense of fat, jiggle, loose skin, the sensation of skin moving over muscle instead of masses moving together."[24]
By the time production was complete, over 500 people had worked on the film at DreamWorks Animation's headquarters inGlendale, as well as its branch offices atPDI/DreamWorks inRedwood City and DreamWorks India inBangalore.[11]: 158–159
Dean DeBlois, Jay Baruchel, and America Ferrera at an advanced screening of the film for military members and their families on June 4, 2014, atJoint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst.[25]
The film was screened out of competition on May 16, 2014, at the2014 Cannes Film Festival.[26] In the United States, the film premiered on June 8, 2014, at theRegency Village Theater inLos Angeles, and was theatrically released on June 13, 2014.[27] The film was also digitally remastered intoIMAX 3D and released to international theaters on June 13, 2014.[28]
How to Train Your Dragon 2 was released digitally on October 21, 2014, and was subsequently released onDVD andBlu-ray (both 2D and 3D) on November 11.[29] The Blu-ray and digital releases are accompanied by a new animated short film entitledDawn of the Dragon Racers (2014), in which Hiccup and friends compete to become the first Dragon Racing Champion of Berk.[29]
A double DVD pack with the film andDawn of the Dragon Racers was released exclusively atWalmart stores.[30] As of February 2015[update], 7.5 million home entertainment units have been sold worldwide.[31]
Review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 92% based on reviews from 187 critics, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Exciting, emotionally resonant, and beautifully animated,How to Train Your Dragon 2 builds on its predecessor's successes just the way a sequel should."[33]Metacritic gives the film a score of 77 out of 100 based on reviews from 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[34] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore during the opening weekend gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[35] Audiences were a mix of 47% female and 53% male. Children and Young Adults responded most strongly, with those aged under 25 giving a grade A+.[36][37]
At the2014 Cannes Film Festival, Peter Debruge ofVariety praised the film and its ambitions: "The pressures to make a giant four-quadrant monstrosity must be enormous, and yet, like his unflappable hero Hiccup,How to Train Your Dragon 2 writer-director Dean DeBlois has prevailed, serving up DreamWorks Animation's strongest sequel yet—one that breathes fresh fire into the franchise, instead of merely rehashing the original. Braver thanBrave, more fun thanFrozen, and more emotionally satisfying than so many of its live-action counterparts,Dragon delivers. And good thing, too, since DWA desperately needs another toon to cross the half-billion-dollar threshold."[38] Elizabeth Weitzman of theNew YorkDaily News gave the film three out of five stars, saying "It's the unflinching edge that gives the film its unexpected depth."[39] Jocelyn Noveck of theAssociated Press gave the film three out of four stars, saying "How to Train Your Dragon 2 doesn't play it safe, and that's why it's the rare sequel that doesn't feel somewhat stale."[40] Joe McGovern ofEntertainment Weekly gave the film a B, saying "The flight path needs straightening, but this is still a franchise that knows how to fly."[41] Jody Mitori of theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch gave the film three out of four stars, saying "For audiences who want a sweet story, they can't beat the first film of a boy finding his best friend. For those who are ready for the next stage, try this one about a boy becoming a man."[42]
Bill Goodykoontz ofThe Arizona Republic gave the film four out of five stars, saying "It seemed as if there was nowhere new to go after the first film, but this is a richer story that dares to go darker and is thus more rewarding."[43]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "Dragon 2, likeThe Empire Strikes Back, takes sequels to a new level of imagination and innovation. It truly is a high-flying, depth-charging wonder to behold."[44] Peter Hartlaub of theSan Francisco Chronicle gave the film three out of four stars, saying "DeBlois, who also wrote the script, successfully juggles the multiple story lines, shifting allegiances and uncharted lands."[45] Rafer Guzman ofNewsday gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Gruesome? A little. Scary? You bet. But that's exactly what makes theDragon films so different, and so much better, than the average children's fare."[46] Michael Phillips of theChicago Tribune gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "For once, we have an animated sequel free of the committee-job vibe so common at every animation house, no matter the track record."[47] Stephen Holden ofThe New York Times gave the film a negative review, saying "The story seems to be going somewhere until it comes to a halt with the inevitable showdown between the forces of darkness and the forces of light."[48] Peter Howell of theToronto Star gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Taking its cues as much fromStar Wars andGame of Thrones as from its own storybook narrative,How to Train Your Dragon 2 breathes fire into a franchise sequel."[49]
Claudia Puig ofUSA Today gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Nearly as exuberant as the original,How to Train Your Dragon 2 nimbly avoids sequel-itis."[50] Colin Covert of theStar Tribune gave the film four out of four stars, saying: "The impressive part is the storytelling confidence of writer/director Dean DeBlois. He has created a thoughtful tale as meaningful for grown-ups as it is pleasurable for its young primary audience."[51] Stephanie Merry ofThe Washington Post gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "This may be the first and last time anyone says this, but ifHow to Train Your Dragon 2 is this good, why stop at3 and4?"[52] Moira MacDonald ofThe Seattle Times gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying: "Young and old fans of the first movie will be lining up for the wit, for the inventiveness of the characters, for the breathtaking visuals — and just the sheer fun of it all."[53] Tirdad Derakhshani ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying: "One of this year's true surprises, the superior animated sequel not only is infused with the same independent spirit and off-kilter aesthetic that enriched the original, it also deepens the first film's major themes."[54] Stephen Whitty of theNewark Star-Ledger gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying: "This was not a sequel that anybody needed, outside of the accountants. And there's another already planned."[55] John Semley ofThe Globe and Mail gave the film four out of four stars, saying: "More than just teaching kids what to think about the world they're coming into, it's a rare film that encourages them to think for themselves."[56]
Rene Rodriguez of theMiami Herald gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying: "How to Train Your Dragon 2 is its own standalone picture, with a surprising range of emotions that surpasses the original and a brisk pace and manner of storytelling that give it purpose and direction. The fact that it's also so much fun, no matter what your age, almost feels like a bonus."[57] Bill Zwecker of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars, saying: "Not only does this second movie match the charm, wit, animation skill and intelligent storytelling of the original, I think it even exceeds it."[58] Lisa Kennedy ofThe Denver Post gave the film a positive review, saying: "How to Train Your Dragon 2 is soaring, emotionally swooping, utterly satisfying fun."[59] Bob Mondello ofNPR gave the film an 8.5 out of 10, saying: "It's clear that [director Dean DeBlois] took inspiration from thefirstStar Wars trilogy—not a bad model for breathing new life, and yes, a bit of fire, into one ofHollywood's more nuanced animated franchises."[60] Inkoo Kang ofThe Wrap gave the film a mixed review, saying: "If there isn't enough to feel, at least there's a lot to look at. Thanks to the superb 3-D direction by DeBlois, we swoop through the air, whoosh down dragons' tails, andjuuust baaaarely [sic] squeeze into small crevices, but still, those experiences are only like being on a really great rollercoaster—they don't mean anything."[61] A. A. Dowd ofThe A.V. Club gave the film a B−, saying: "There aren't just more dragons, but more characters, more plot, more everything. The trade-off is that the charm of the original gets a little lost, a casualty of rapid-franchise expansion."[62]
How to Train Your Dragon 2 grossed $177 million in North America, and $445 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $622 million.[3] The film is the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2014, behindBig Hero 6, and the twelfth-highest-grossing film of the year in any genre.[3][63][64] WhileHow to Train Your Dragon 2 only earned $177 million at the US box office, compared to $217 million for its predecessor,[65] it performed much better at the international box office, earning $438 million toHow to Train Your Dragon's $277 million. Calculating in all expenses,Deadline Hollywood estimated that the film made a profit of $107.3 million.[66]
In the United States and Canada, the film earned $18.5 million on its opening day,[67] and opened at number two in its first weekend below22 Jump Street, with $49,451,322.[68] In its second weekend, the film dropped to number three, grossing an additional $24,719,312.[69] In its third weekend, the film stayed at number three, grossing $13,237,697.[70] In its fourth weekend, the film dropped to number five, grossing $8,961,088.[71]
Its $25.9 million opening weekend in China was the biggest-ever for an animated film in the country, surpassing the record previously held byKung Fu Panda 2.[72]
Sigur Rós' lead vocalist,Jónsi, who wrote and performed the song "Sticks & Stones" for the first film, provided two new original songs for the sequel in collaboration with Powell: "For the Dancing and the Dreaming" (performed byGerard Butler,Craig Ferguson and Mary Jane Wells) and "Where No One Goes" (performed by Jónsi himself).[18] Belarusian-Norwegian artistAlexander Rybak, who voices Hiccup in theNorwegian dub of the film, also wrote and performed the song "Into a Fantasy", which is only featured in the European versions of the film.[118]
The soundtrack album for the film was released on June 13, 2014, byRelativity Music Group.[119] The album features over an hour of score by Powell; additional music by Anthony Willis andPaul Mounsey, as well as the two original songs written by Powell and Jónsi. Rybak's song "Into a Fantasy" was released separately as a single. A deluxe edition, consisting of previously unreleased music, was released byVarèse Sarabande in May 2022.[120]
The third installment in the trilogy,How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, was released on February 22, 2019;[121] the release date had been changed multiple times due to various distributor changes.[d] DeBlois, Arnold, Powell and all of the main cast (with the exception of Miller, whose role was recast to Justin Rupple) returned for the third film,[126] with Blanchett and Harington reprising their roles from the second.[127][128]F. Murray Abraham joined the cast as Grimmel.[129]
^Saldukas, Scott (June 5, 2014)."JB MDL community sees stars". Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.Archived from the original on October 14, 2014. RetrievedOctober 7, 2014.
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