How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
- During the filming of How to Train Your Dragon 2, Jay Baruchel improvised one of the most famous lines in the movie.
- Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a hidden easter egg referencing Dean DeBlois's previous film in the background of the opening scene.
- Dean DeBlois originally wanted a completely different ending for the film, but test audiences preferred the one we see today.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a 2014 American animated fantasy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Dean DeBlois. Set five years after the original, the film follows an older Hiccup, now 20, who discovers a massive ice cave that is home to hundreds of wild dragons and their mysterious protector โ his long-lost mother Valka, voiced by Cate Blanchett, who abandoned her family years ago to live among the dragons she dedicated her life to protecting. Hiccup's reunion with his mother is complicated by the arrival of Drago Bludvist, a madman who has been building a dragon army to conquer the world using an enormous Alpha dragon that can bend other dragons to his will.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 was that rare animated sequel that significantly matured alongside its audience โ where the first film was a coming-of-age story about a boy and his dragon, the sequel dealt with themes of family, loss, leadership, and the burden of responsibility with genuine emotional weight. The death of a major character was handled with a gravity unusual for animated family films, and Hiccup's evolution from adventurous teenager to reluctant leader was convincingly portrayed. Cate Blanchett's Valka was a memorable addition, and the dragon flying sequences were even more visually spectacular than the original.
The film earned $621 million worldwide and won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film.
