June 15, 2025 • 39 mins
In this episode of The Moviegoers Society, we're soaring into How to Train Your Dragon, the brand-new live-action adaptation of DreamWorks’ beloved franchise directed by Dean DeBlois.
With stunning visual effects, heartwarming performances, and a faithful retelling of Hiccup and Toothless' legendary bond, this remake aims to capture the magic of the original trilogy. We break down Mason Thames’ take on Hiccup, Nico Parker’s Astrid, Gerard Butler’s return as Stoick, and how this live-action version stacks up against the animated classic.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Well, hello and welcome to the Moviegoers Society podcast
brought to you by Nerdtropolis. I'm your host, Sean Tajapur, the
mayor of Nerdtropolis. And joining once again is Drew
Manhausen, the professional media and movie mastermind.
And Drew, I must say, last minute pulled together, but
we're live and I got was able toput together a fun little intro.
(00:28):
What do you think about that one?
It was very nice. It fit the franchise.
And yeah, this is one of those where it's kind of like if we
didn't go live about this tonight, we weren't going to be
able to do it for quite some time.
So I'm glad that we were able tomake the time to jump on here to
talk about it because I know that this is a big movie for
Nurtropolis, too, I feel like. And it's one of your, it's been
(00:50):
on your, you know, hotly anticipated list.
And I just think we get we had to give this one the proper
time. Yeah, so saddle up everyone,
because today we're grabbing, grabbing the reins, holding on
tight and diving into, yes, how to train your dragon and your
dragon and Your dragon Drew. This one means a lot to a lot of
(01:11):
people. And even for me, as someone who
didn't grow up fully immersed inthe original trilogy, the
animated movie, or even the the shows that came from it, I can
feel how big this release was for everybody.
I think that was really anticipating seeing some live
action Dragons. Maybe they love that franchise,
that trilogy, or maybe they, youknow, Game of Thrones, right,
(01:33):
gave us some Dragons. So I think people do love
Dragons in general, and it's been a while since we've seen
them on the big screen, right? Yeah.
And you know, for me, I actuallyremember clearly going to see
the first How to Train Your Dragon movie in the theater when
I was in college. Like it was a classic.
I want to say it came out in March.
(01:54):
Is that right? I didn't, I did not check this.
Can we can we spot check that? Yeah, March 26th, because I feel
like it was it was close to spring break time.
And I remember I was, I was AOU and it was a Norman.
I had a friend come and visit and we were bored and it was
like, hey, want to go see how totrain your dragon?
And we did. And I remember walking out of it
(02:16):
being like, that was really good.
Like, I like that a lot more than I thought I was going to.
Yeah, it's been some time since that first one and you know,
they they spawned more. I'm trying to remember like
Peacock came up with this. It's like Dragon Riders or
something as a spin off. It takes place I think in the
future. Is that correct?
I think Peacock had something like that.
So doing some research on this of just like DreamWorks
(02:40):
animation franchises and it's has like their top franchises.
And for how to train your dragon, you know, there's,
there's five films listed, but it's because how to train your
Dragon 2, the live action 2nd movie is a development.
It's including that, right? So you got 3 animated Movies Now
a live action one and, and the sequel that's in development and
(03:01):
then 6 short films that it says 22 seasons of TV for how for the
how to train your dragon franchise.
And sure enough, DreamWorks Dragons.
DreamWorks Dragons rescue riders.
The rescue riders. The 9 realms.
What was Yeah 9 realm like? What was that on?
Let's see, that one was on Peacock, so you're right.
(03:22):
Peacock, yeah. Rescue Riders was Peacock or
started on Netflix and then wentto Peacock.
DreamWorks Dragons is Netflix started on Cartoon Network.
So this, yeah, this franchise has been all over the place.
It looks like all these series are concluded as of 2023.
And now they're going live action.
(03:43):
Which again, like looking at theso so had some time while I was
waiting for our stream to start and I was doing research on
DreamWorks Animation 'cause you know, they, they have some big
franchises, right? Their biggest one is Shrek.
And like they have the way it has it separated on like your
(04:04):
Wikipedia is your major franchises, which are the ones
that have three or more films. You got Shrek, Madagascar, Kung
Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, and Trolls.
They have a bunch of other franchises that have two movies
or so like Megamind, The Croods,The Boss Baby, and The Bad Guys
is about to have a sequel, things like that.
But if you look at their top grossing films in the US, the
(04:27):
four Shrek movies are the top four and then How to Train Your
Dragons, the 5th movie. We got Shrek coming too.
Shrek 5 coming soon? Yeah, and but when you look at
those franchises, it makes sensethat if you're going to give any
of them the live action treatment, how to train your
Dragons to 1 because all the other ones either feature
talking animals or mythical creatures as the main
(04:48):
characters. So even a live action quote UN
quote version be kind of like the live action Lion King
movies, right? Like you can make it look more
real, but it's essentially stillanimated.
But how to train your dragon? Other than the Dragons, you can
have people. Yeah, and I think this movie was
the perfect choice. This animated film was a perfect
choice to go live action. You know, I've always admired
(05:10):
the director Dean Dubois. He's given us those anime
movies. He gave us Lilo and Stitch.
He was part of that duo that gave us Lilo and Stitch, which
just ironically had its live action movie as well, which is
actually amazing that those are the 2 live action of films we're
getting this year. But I thought the visuals, the
heart of this film, the father son relationship and everything
(05:30):
they gave us in his live action was a fantastic.
And to see him pull this off andsuch a manner and we're going to
get into it felt nearly impossible to me.
Drew. I was like, how well can they do
this? A live action version of How to
Train Your Dragon. Will it actually work?
You know well but. Before we do diving was a little
(05:51):
weird, right? Like I feel like they announced
this kind of as the Disney live action remakes were people were
really starting to get like tired of those Little Mermaid
kind of underperformed and then it's like, well, DreamWorks is
make you know they're going to make live action how to train
your dragon. I'm like I don't understand how
y'all didn't try to do this fiveor six years ago, but you know,
(06:14):
here we are, here we are. Where does this, you know,
franchise sit with you personally?
You just mentioned you saw it, but did you like really fall in
love with it and kind of followed it as much or you just
kind of enjoyed the first coupleand just let it go?
I really really enjoy the first How to Train Your Dragon
animated movie. I know that I've seen the second
(06:38):
one but I barely remember it andI was even reading the plot like
the plot synopsis trying to remember to see if it would
spark my memory and I still can barely remember that movie.
I remember the third one though,because I saw the third one in
theaters and I remember the third one has like baby Night
Furies in it, you know, like I, I think that my.
(07:01):
Spoiler I didn't know about this.
Oh, I'm sorry, it's it's like it's well, I mean Shrek, you
know, you got Shrek babies in Shrek movies.
You got baby night furies in thethird how to train your dragon
movie. It's like I remember there's
like a white night fury. That's the female love interest
for Toothless and some things like that.
And the second one. Well, now, now you make me
worried. I'm going to spoil these 10 plus
(07:22):
year old, you know, animated movie for you.
But the second one, I believe that a big plot point is
reuniting Hiccup and Hiccups father Stoic with the mother who
is actually still alive. Which of course that's what they
do, right? It's like that's that's a
logical step and she's actually been alive this whole time.
(07:42):
Yeah, there's a lot to pull from, I guess, from these films.
But this, this live action world, these characters that
became live action versions, thestory somehow made it feel so
magical. I felt like something I haven't
felt in a long time in in cinema, something that was like
I said, I think magical is the word I like using.
This movie to me was like reallyepic, really emotional at the
(08:05):
same time. And I was surprised the budget
is lower than the animated film,the first film yet.
Breathtaking. Yeah.
I think it was like, you have topull it up as I'm saying this,
but I really thought the effectswere amazing, breathtaking start
to finish. I was amazed.
The term is, I'm going to say, realistic.
I know they're Dragons, but someof the effects, crisp, clear,
(08:28):
amazing sharpness in the world they gave us.
So, Drew, I'm going to ask you, did you think they handled this
transition from animation to live action on points?
And do you think having, you know, Dean back as a director
who was part of the original animated trilogy that made the
(08:48):
difference here? Honestly.
So OK, this I feel like that question, there's a lot of
weight to the answer here. And and because let's see, it's
kind of like where where to start.
First off, addressing like the live action to or excuse me, the
animated to live action adaptation parts of it.
(09:11):
It's kind of amazing how accurate these dragon designs
are to the animated films. I mean like they are pretty much
straight out of the animated Toothless looks just like from
the movie, but still like the transition to live action and
the Dragons interacting with humans naturally.
It's CG Dragons interacting withhumans like worked pretty well
(09:34):
in the movie. And even though the Dragons have
a bit of a cartoony look becausethey're pretty screen accurate
to the animated films, it reallyworked in the world that they've
created. I think it helps that the way
that they dressed up these characters like Stoic and you
know, Gerard Butler, who's reprising, you know, the the
character he provides the voice of in the animated movies
(09:55):
playing the live action version.But like they pad him up, they
make him look really big. Some of them had like almost
have cartoonish looking proportions of their bodies.
And so that fits that they kind of look like live action cartoon
characters. So the fact that the Dragons are
cartoony that that all works. The first How to train your
(10:17):
dragon movie I really have a soft spot for almost more than
any other DreamWorks Animation movie, The scene where you.
Got some boots. More than boots.
Some boots, yeah. For.
Me like the scene where Hiccup takes Toothless out for the test
drive and the score hits at the right moment in the animated
(10:40):
film. The it's the part you have the
image of that all is so good in the animated movie.
And for a long time, like I would revisit just that scene
often because I love the score. I will listen to that score, you
know, relatively frequently and I just it just hit so hard.
So going into this movie, I'm like, if long as they nailed the
(11:02):
test drive scene, I will probably walk away from this
pretty happy. But again, you get into the
overall animation to live actionadaptation conversation in which
I'm I wouldn't say I'm anti the entire concept because some of
these have been have been good. This really is beat for beat the
(11:26):
exact same as the animated movieto live action.
I can't really think of anythingthat they changed or like really
diverted from that, but I still really enjoyed watching it.
Like I enjoyed see all the moments that hit for me
emotionally in the animated movie hit for me emotionally in
the in the live action version. And so part of me wants to be
(11:51):
like against this movie just outof the concept, but the fact is
that I enjoyed watching it and it looked The Dragons looked
good at any time that Hiccup andToothless were together on
screen. Even though Toothless is a not
real CGI dragon, it felt like they had chemistry like it.
It worked for me in the way thatit does in the animated movie.
(12:12):
Everyone's, you know, saying they hate beat for beat live
action adaptations. Sometimes you do it, sometimes
you don't. Lelo and Stitch did it as well
as they could. They did change a little bit of
stuff. Nothing majored in my eyes.
Some people thought it was this film.
I think it was almost beat for beat.
But also they said they elevateda lot of the action, some of the
(12:33):
scenes, the motion, they add a little bit more, I guess heart,
even though you're saying how great the first one is.
I think they just added more of the human elements into this as
well, more stronger and kind of some of the the high risks, you
know, involved in this world, which is fantastic.
Yeah, the action set pieces are for sure expanded a little bit,
(12:55):
go on a little bit longer. Emanuel says.
They had more there. Emanuel says the dragon in the
live action film felt like had more weight, their seriousness
than the anime version, which I've seen it, not all of it.
But yeah, I can agree with you there.
Probably. The anime version is obviously
more tailored to the kids. I think all ages can enjoy this
(13:15):
film. But also I still think this was
a very kid friendly movie as well.
Drew, you saw this twice and youtook your little while in the
second watch. How?
How did she enjoy it? Oh, she she really liked it.
So yeah, I didn't know if I was going to be able to see it
today. And so I went and saw it
yesterday just to like make surethat I got to see it cuz I
wanted us to be able to talk about.
(13:36):
And then I ended up having availability and my 5 year old
wanted to go so we went. And I think at the beginning
there is a lot of like Viking standing around in rooms talking
about plans and things and kind of dark settings that I think
she was kind of, you know, struggling with it.
The moment that Hiccup and Toothless are on screen
(13:57):
together, she was totally lockedin, which actually happens
pretty quickly. Like there are some some scenes
at the beginning, like I said, to get rolling, but they they
get to Toothless pretty quickly.They do.
They're the beginning, like battle is pretty long, but I, I
really liked it. It was kind of like just putting
us into like what was going on. And also there's a lot of stuff
(14:20):
that happens at night and for a film that takes place at night,
you can see everything, which I really enjoyed a lot of films
that have the night landscapes. It's you can't tell what's going
on on the screen. So I actually watch this in a
semi IMAX screen. I didn't watch it in the IMAX
that we usually go to Drew, but I really enjoyed it.
I really think this is a film got to watch on the largest
(14:42):
screen possible. And you know this film, Drew
knows this. I got a little personal
connection to this film because I host the panel with the star
Mason Thames. Got to get to know him a little
bit too. And I've been rooting for this
kid since Black Phone and everything else he's been doing.
And let me tell you, he really nails Hiccup.
I remember when we did our interview on stage, he went into
(15:04):
those audition. He's like, I can do the Hiccup
voice if y'all want and he did it and he can mimic the voice
pretty well. But they're like, no, we don't
want, we don't want that at all.We don't know what's in the
animated film, but what he does is not an imitation of what you
see in the animated films at all.
I think Mason brings his own energy and still honoring what
fans love because he is a big fan of that film.
(15:24):
It was really cool. I just shot him a message the
other day just congratulating him and he was like, dude,
appreciate all the stuff that you do, supporting and stuff
like that. So I mean, I will always be on
that Mason Thames, you know, train rooting for him.
I'm excited for Black Phone 2. He's got another film coming out
soon. And then also they're making a
sequel to this. So First off, what did you think
about this live version Hiccup? I thought that Mason was good.
(15:51):
He he does, really. I'm glad that he didn't try to
mimic the voice and did it, you know that he did his own thing.
I'll say this. This is both a criticism and
compliment to Mason basically saying that I feel like he's
almost too cool to be Hiccup. Like, like they gave him kind of
(16:14):
goofy hair, like a goofy haircutto mimic what is in the animated
film. But like, he's pretty tall.
Seems like he's in pretty good shape.
Granted, he plays Hiccup, so Hiccup is kind of a klutz.
You know, he's clumsy and and those things he was able to do
well, but they're, you know, a few times I'm like this guy.
(16:37):
I don't know that I buy other than him being clumsy that
everybody is treating this guy as an outcast because like there
is a little level of coolness tohim.
Well, because Mason's. Very charming in real life.
And it's hard to, it's hard to cover Mason, right?
It's really hard, that's what I'm saying.
Like it's a criticism but also compliment because it's like,
(16:58):
you know, he's also a leading man of a live action movie.
So he can't be pure, you know, nerd.
But I think that I think that hepulled off everything well and
especially how much one-on-one time he has with Toothless,
which again, like, I can't, I can't imagine what it's like to
act in front of green screens interacting with ACG Dragon,
(17:21):
which I'm sure they have something in place of it.
Tennis balls, I. Think is what it was.
I think it was tennis balls for this one and.
For and for to have chemistry islike, that's impressive.
It's hard, I I tell you that, And you know, chemistry is it is
like is key in this movie. And you know, I really love Nico
Parker in this as Astrid. I must say she's really good.
(17:45):
On 2nd watch she stood out even more to me.
I thought she was great, yeah. A total stand out really knew
she was a four. She she showed up on the Last of
Us, but here she brings so much charm and strength to this role
that you know, not people know who she was.
But I think after this film people are going to know who
Nico Parker is. And then there's also obviously
Gerard Butler returning a Stoic.Which perfection, right?
(18:10):
He's great. Yeah, he.
He, I mean Gerard Butler basically is a live action
cartoon character also, so him reprising this role had to be
the easiest decision they made when making this movie.
I mean, he was born. To play these big emotional
father figure rules. I mean, he, he's perfect for
this. I thought the dynamic with Mason
was fantastic. And you know, it's Gerard Butler
at the end of the day. But how did you like the
(18:30):
chemistry between Mason and Nicoand you know, just sound.
I just love Astrid. I think I love Hiccup, but I
think Astrid is secretly like one of my favorite characters
because she she's totally awesome.
She's a bad a you know, she's a bad ass.
I'm going to say it in this as well.
And I just love her personality and what Hiccup has to deal with
(18:53):
and prove himself that, you know, he he can keep up with her
because she is awesome. They.
They had good chemistry. The whole group of the six kids,
you know, that are in the dragontraining together, I thought
we're all pretty solid so and and had their own kind of
chemistry. If anything, fish legs probably
(19:16):
gets which is Julian Dennison who we know from like Deadpool 2
and Y2K. Yes, Y2.
K that's I was going to say, I saw him in something recently.
Probably gets kind of like the short end of the stick as far as
like he's basically just doing the shtick of like reading D&D
type stats for the Dragons, which is in the animated films
(19:38):
too, but doesn't get to do very much more than that.
But otherwise I thought this group was was pretty good.
The rough nut and tough nut to me stuck out as being like
particularly fun and over the top as as they are in the
animated series. At first I'm.
Going to say I wasn't a fan of this group I was like this is
not fan like what is this what'sgoing on here with this group
(20:01):
but then I really slowly became I started loving them and then
obviously in the battle scene atthe very end I'm like OK this is
really fun now yeah you're like I'm in all in here we got a
comment right here watch the movie that was actually really
good this movie I'm telling you everyone is saying I think
everyone that had their. Expectations low, which is fine.
(20:24):
I say go into this movie, your expectations low or even middle
or high. It's going to deliver regardless
what your expectations are. There is no reason this movie
should disappoint anybody because it's a really good movie
regardless. It's a great blockbuster.
It's an awesome Dragons movie and like we spoke about, like
the Dragons are really cool in this.
(20:46):
The FX was. Amazing.
I would say that I. Think that, again, this is like
a criticism and compliment to the movie because going from
making a live action adaptation of this animated movie, going
beat for beat and just making itlive action, this is probably
one of the best versions, if notthe best version of that you
(21:09):
could do. And Dean, I think it's Dean
Dubois, I think is how you Dubois.
Yeah. Maybe.
Yeah, maybe a little French in there.
I mean clearly. Like he worked on you know, was
a Co director of the first one, directed the 2nd and 3rd, and
then now is directing the live action adaptation.
I assume he's oh it's TBA but I wouldn't be surprised if he
(21:30):
directs the live action sequel too but that hasn't been
officially announced yet. But still, like, it's clear this
is something he has a lot of passion for.
So there is there is something to it, this being remade as
opposed to like Guy Ritchie remaking Aladdin when he's
(21:51):
really doing like like, OK, I I don't know this for sure, but
like just making an assumption, right?
No, no offense to Guy Ritchie, whose movies I really like, but
like clearly just seems like a paycheck move for him.
And it's like, I'm going to do this for my kids and for my
family and take take a Disney payday and you know, good for
you, Guy Ritchie. But like, man, that one, there's
no passion or heart to that liveaction adaptation, in my
(22:15):
opinion, Whereas in how to trainyour dragon there is it's clear
that Dean Dubois loves this franchise legacy.
He. Built I mean, you got respect.
It's a legacy, he Built, wrote, directed, produces adaptation.
You can feel every care in everysingle frame.
I mean, it's visually stunning, emotionally resonant, and this
is the love letter to the fans of the film and offering amazing
(22:36):
storytelling and visuals to a new audience.
I think that. My my criticism of it though
would be that because it doesn'tdo anything new or do take any
diversions from the plot or really anything from the
original animated movie, is it? There's barely a conversation to
be had other than like, yeah, it's pretty good adaptation
(22:58):
because for better or for worse,like even look at the live
action Lilo and Stitch remake that just came out right.
Obviously the ending the to thatmovie and what was changed did
get a lot of hardcore fans of the original Lilo and Stitch a
little bit hot and bothered about the changes that were made
and why and what that does to the franchise and the Ohana
(23:20):
meeting and and all of that. And it has been an ongoing
conversation. And I feel like even though a
lot of the fans are really negative about that, me
personally didn't really bother me.
There's no conversation like that to be had about this movie
because there's sorry if this iskind of a spoiler in a way, but
(23:40):
it's like the spoiler is it. There's no there's truly no
change. It is almost like scene by
scene, beat for beat. But again, those moments bring a
smile to my face. Like the moment we're Hiccup is
drawing in the sand a picture ofof Toothless and then Toothless
watches him and picks up a gianttree branch and start scribbling
(24:02):
in the ground around him mimicking what Hiccup is doing.
Like that exact scenes in the animated movie and they
recreated that here, but it mademe smile watching it so it's
like they're doing something right with it.
Well, because. Toothless is kind of like
everyone's pet cat or dog, right?
That's the thing too. And that was why people also
love Stitch when it comes to that.
They just see it as their their furry friend right Kevin says
(24:26):
Lilo and stitch 20 years later F1 going to eat up into how to
train your dragon live action box office.
I disagree because I think day 142,000,000 on a Friday already
for Friday for how to train yourdragon.
That's really good for for this,especially in a crowded summer
already 42,000,000 on a Friday. Yeah, the last.
Time I saw this and it's. Not made it to make.
(24:47):
Like a little over 110 at the box office.
I don't know if it's actually going to over perform.
Let me let me look and see. I mean.
The budget the budget for this film I believe is 145.
I mean, it's going to do well atthe box office if it's at 145
million budget, it's going to dopretty well I believe too.
(25:09):
Oh, from. From earlier today, it's looking
like domestic in the realm of 85,000,000, which is lower than
I would have expected, but I'm sure it'll do well overseas.
Too or just for two days weekendright now, Well, right now it's
sitting at 35,000,000 on a Friday.
(25:29):
So I'd assume especially going to Father's Day weekend, we'll
see how Sunday comes in into play.
But with a with a budget at 145,it's it's golden already
11,000,000. In in Thursday previews.
So yeah, I'm seeing 42,000,000 domestic right now with the
Friday total. But so the the too early top
five estimate has this 85,000,000 domestic for the end
(25:52):
of the weekend. So we'll see what that update.
Well, that's domestic. Too International's a big
audience as well, right, Right, right.
I'm just saying, I honestly thought this was going to make
over $100 million domestic and so I'm kind of surprised that
it's looking to be in the 80s. Listen if it's.
Going to be about 120 + 1,000,000 globally opening
weekend. It's a win, win, like I said,
with 145, and this is a, this isa.
(26:15):
Family movie too, and you can't underestimate that.
And yes, like I know that film fans are excited for 28 Years
later. We were just having this
conversation actually before we even went live.
You and I about like how successful that movie will be.
I just don't see 28 years later cutting into this one too much.
And even though Elio is another big family movie, I I don't see
(26:38):
Elio really I like I feel like Idon't know.
I'll be interested to see how that Leon does.
But and 20. Eight years later is not going
to affect anything. It's a radar film that doesn't
cut into that stuff of stuff. Adult films won't ever cut into
the children's stuff because they're always going to be
watched by the all ages aspect. You're not going to see a 5 year
old going to 28 years later at all.
(27:00):
Drew, you don't expect to take your little.
If you do, there's a problem. Yeah, that is.
That is indeed Drew. Honestly, I think this is one of
the rare live action adaptationsthat actually stands tall on its
own. I really think if you told me
they never made an animated version of this, I would have
said this is just also a great movie.
(27:21):
That's all I can say about that.When you look at where this
ranks amongst, you know, recent waves of live action and the
most recent one obviously is Lilo and Stitch, which is a
fantastic adaptation too. Where do you place How to Train
Your Dragon? Definitely.
Higher than Lilo and Stitch As far as the live action
adaptations the summer go, this is probably amongst the best if
(27:42):
you're including like all the Disney live action adaptations
of their animated movies. Probably.
Yeah, probably amongst the best of all of them.
This one's pretty solid. Again, I'm just like, I wish
maybe they had taken some risks to change something or do
something. Although this is one that people
(28:03):
have a lot of nostalgia for. I do think when you start
getting into how to train your Dragon 2 live action, I don't
know how if if there's as much that the fans in that one would
be upset about if they changed it in live action.
So like I'm hoping maybe if theydo a second one that they can
take a few more liberties with the plot and maybe do some
(28:25):
things really different. Although again, like I've seen
that movie and don't remember it, so, you know, it could be
like seeing an all new movie andI will be making less
comparisons. Whereas I've seen the original
How to Train Your Dragon many times and watching this I was
like I knew exactly what was going to happen next.
Yeah. I think that that's going to
(28:46):
speed it up a little bit as Mason's growing up really fast
the same time. But what's the time?
Are there time jumps though in the film?
Right? Yeah, hiccups I think a bit
older in there's five years in between the first one and the
second one. So he is a bit older.
His dad's wanting him to take over as as chief and things like
that, like all that kind of, youknow, stuff that I think is set
(29:07):
up in this one pretty well to move on to that sequel.
I, I want to highlight if, if you want to pull it up, I was
actually meaning to bring this up that Emmanuel brought up in
the comments that Cate Blanchettvoices the mom in the in the
sequel. And it would be fun to see her
reprise that role in the live action version.
And the way that Gerard Butler did would be pretty cool.
(29:30):
I don't know if she would do it,but why?
Not she's done worse things. I mean, a couple worse things
probably. I mean, she had a great career,
but I'm saying this is not the worst thing that she could do is
reprise her role and something that's so meaningful to Sony
people. I think that would be brilliant
actually, if they did that. I mean, we already got Gerard
Butler obviously, and I think she would be a great live action
(29:52):
fit on that. Agreed.
Back to the live action stuff. I'm trying to think I where do
you really place this? Like what is your most favorite
live action? Because I this one is really
bothering me because I think this is might be the top of my
list. Hold on, let me.
Let me Disney, there's live. Action.
(30:14):
Adaptations. I mean.
Because really, are there any other live action adaptations of
animated movies that aren't Disney that I'm forgetting
about? There might be.
Some, but in general, well, Detective Pikachu if you want to
put that, I think. That Alice in Wonderland live
action directed by Tim Burton isa bad movie.
Every watch to that one and is bad.
(30:35):
The Jungle Book is pretty good. The Jungle.
Book is really good, but that isalso just one really just one
real person in that the. That's fair, but honestly I'm
looking at all the Disney ones and that's probably the one that
I would say is the best. That's fair.
I. Do love The Jungle Book that was
(30:56):
I was like, this is actually really Cinderella.
Cinderella's OK, You know, Kenneth Branagh kind of doing
like his English Shakespearean kind of spin on like on like
Cinderella. That one's OK, which Kate
Blanchett is actually in that, ironically enough, as you know,
as we're discussing it. But yeah, like the only one of
the Disney ones that I have not seen is or excuse me, two, I did
(31:18):
not see Mulan, the live action adaptation that was that's on
Disney. Plus, go for it.
Yeah, it came. Out during COVID and that was
the whole thing. And I have not seen Peter Pan
and Wendy that David Lowry directed one with Jude Law as
Captain Hook. I have not watched that.
See the. Thing though, about law of these
the Disney ones, it's like it's a lot of stuff that's been
(31:40):
around for long. These stories are not new new,
right, and these stories have been around a long time, like
even Alice in Wonderland, right,based on the book.
So like how to join your dragon is like one of the most recent
stories and the quickest one probably get get a live action
adaptation. But I really thought this was
this movie that would be. Trounced with Disney's live
(32:01):
action adaptation of Moana. That will be out.
What, like next year? I don't know what's going.
On with that. I I know that they've been
filming it because there's been all they are so.
They are. Oh yeah, there's behind.
The scenes photos of of Dwayne Johnson as Maui and got like I
was right that did. Giant prosthetic.
Looking forearms on to make his,you know, make him even bigger
(32:22):
and kind of like a cartoon look.I'll be curious.
Of how close that is to the original film but like I said,
How to train your Dragon, it wasthe perfect example of a film
that if you didn't know about the animated version you would
love it. Some of the other stuff,
sometimes you have to just have a nostalgia for the animated
film to love the live action version.
(32:42):
Yeah, my. Five year old, you know how to
train your dragon. I think she has seen bits and
pieces of the animated one but it is never been part of her
usual kind of rotation. As you know kids that are 5 year
olds will watch the same movie over and over and over again for
like a couple weeks and they move on to something else.
And how to train your Dragons never been that for her.
(33:04):
But so I think seeing the live action 1 was like a whole new
experience for her. She like I said she wants it
really picked up. She was locked in.
And I will say the Isle of Burke, the town that this, you
know, this movie takes place in.I did think that some of the
(33:25):
sets that they had built like what almost looks like a big
town hall, like this dark long chamber with big statues around
where everything's oversized. The doors are huge, the tables
are huge, the statues are huge. And then you there's a lot of
time spent in the arena that where they're training, where
they're actually training against the Dragons.
(33:46):
I don't know this for sure. I haven't seen any like behind
the scenes things, but those looked like real sets to me and
they were pretty well done, I thought.
And I was like, Dang, if this movie is going to get into kind
of counteracting the CG Dragons with like really cool sets.
But those are really the only ones that stick out because
(34:07):
everything else is like the areawhere Toothless is kind of where
he can't fly out of and and the where the hive is of all the
Dragons. Like those are clearly just, you
know, your green screen kind of sets 'cause they have to be.
But the sets that are in this movie look really good because
they just look like, you know, the animated version.
(34:29):
So they're like kind of cartoonyand oversized gears and a lot of
chains and stuff like that. I just I I did like the look of
it all I think. This this movie is made like in
a hybrid version where you have half of it built out and then
the rest is blue screen and everything else for as an
extension. I know they built out a lot of
stuff, but there's also a lot ofblue screen as well.
But with that budget, man, everything looked great
(34:50):
regardless of being a little cartoony, oversized and kind of
like a caricature, right? A lot of stuff.
I everything looked fantastic. Before we do wrap up this
conversation, because I, I don'tknow, I don't have much left to
say on this really. But other than saying go see it,
I wanted to announce like this new thing we're starting Drew
called Metropolis kids conversation as we're getting a
(35:12):
lot of inquiry from like animated family shows or live
action stuff from like Nickelodeon and Disney and
everywhere else. We wanted to create like a new
Ave. to deliver really awesome family friendly, kid friendly
content, and that would be for Neutralis kids conversation.
You can see our first interview with Black Eyed Peas very own
(35:32):
taboo and his daughter Jet, who are part of the world of Dora
now. So we have that interview that's
on Neuropolis you can find on our YouTube channel, but that is
tailored towards Neuropolis kids.
I got more Dora the Explorer stuff coming because that's a
world that is not going away anytime soon and some fun stuff
coming with that. So I do want to mention that and
(35:54):
Drew, I know you were kind of take it back that that was
happening, but excited about this like new add on that we're
having a nerdtropolis. I just thought it was.
Such a good idea because you aredoing so many interviews about
like, you know, like people castfrom the new Dora the Explorer
show and like things like that, that I'm I think that those are
really cool things and to tailorthem to like a Nerdtropolis kids
(36:17):
audience is really smart becauseyou know, you got you got your
nerdtropolis, but you now have this kind of separate brand
where these things can live and you know, it just is just makes
sense. It makes sense.
Honestly, we just have so much awesome content, we want to make
sure we're delivering it to the people that are going to enjoy
the most. We got all types of content all
(36:38):
at nerdtropolis.com. Tons of reviews, tons of
interviews, tons of news as well.
Spaceballs to drew real quick thoughts on that.
You know, I, as a child of the of the 90s and who grew up
watching Rick Moranis in movies and who loved the space, loved
(37:00):
Spaceballs. I've seen Spaceballs upwards of
30 times, I'm sure. I'm so glad that he's finally
coming out of retirement and coming back for that.
I know that they approached him with the Ghostbusters movies,
but I think that he always just felt like, unless there's a real
reason for me to come back, I'm not going to come back.
Well, there was Drew. If you didn't know, there really
(37:22):
was a sequel to Honey I Shrunk the Kids, right?
He was supposed. To be in it, he was going to do
it with Josh. Gad and Josh.
Gad was riding it, and he was a play of the sun, I guess.
Growing up with Rick. Yeah.
What happened? With that, Disney just.
Didn't go, didn't want to go forit.
You know, it was really could have happened if Disney green
lighted. That was the movie Rick Moranis
was coming back for. Right now.
(37:43):
He's coming back as Dark helmet with Spaceballs to 2027.
And I really hope this happens because this is going to have to
jump through a lot of hoops to get everyone involved still
involved and get this done quickly, honestly, because and
Mel Brooks is. Involved in it, right.
And and Bill Pullman's coming back.
That's and his and his. Son is going to be part of it as
well. The Pullman's good.
(38:06):
The century himself. Oh yeah, sure enough.
Bill Pullman and Rick Moranis returning.
Kiki Palmer. Lewis Pullman.
Yeah. No, this is this is this is
spelling good things for me. I hope so.
So yeah, if y'all are Spaceballsfans out there, check out no
traumas.com. We have all the information for
that new one as well. But yeah, this wraps up that
deep dive into how to train yourdragon.
(38:28):
If you haven't seen it yet, I know it's only been a few days.
Take the family, take Dad. Great Father's Day movie.
Actually, I would say it is, yeah.
So I highly, highly recommend that.
But thanks for tuning into the movie Guard Society.
Make sure to follow and subscribe for more episodes
every week. We got a lot of fun stuff
planned. Drew.
I know we we have busy, busy schedules for all these big
(38:51):
blockbusters this summer. But thanks for hanging out with
us once again. I'm Sean Charlesworth, the mayor
of Neutropolis, and I'm Drew. Manhausen, the professional
media and movie mastermind, and.We will see you at.
The movies. See you at the movies, everyone.
Well, hello and welcome to the Moviegoers Society podcast
brought to you by Nerdtropolis. I'm your host, Sean Tajapur, the
mayor of Nerdtropolis. And joining once again is Drew
Manhausen, the professional media and movie mastermind.
And Drew, I must say, last minute pulled together, but
we're live and I got was able toput together a fun little intro.
(00:28):
What do you think about that one?
It was very nice. It fit the franchise.
And yeah, this is one of those where it's kind of like if we
didn't go live about this tonight, we weren't going to be
able to do it for quite some time.
So I'm glad that we were able tomake the time to jump on here to
talk about it because I know that this is a big movie for
Nurtropolis, too, I feel like. And it's one of your, it's been
(00:50):
on your, you know, hotly anticipated list.
And I just think we get we had to give this one the proper
time. Yeah, so saddle up everyone,
because today we're grabbing, grabbing the reins, holding on
tight and diving into, yes, how to train your dragon and your
dragon and Your dragon Drew. This one means a lot to a lot of
(01:11):
people. And even for me, as someone who
didn't grow up fully immersed inthe original trilogy, the
animated movie, or even the the shows that came from it, I can
feel how big this release was for everybody.
I think that was really anticipating seeing some live
action Dragons. Maybe they love that franchise,
that trilogy, or maybe they, youknow, Game of Thrones, right,
(01:33):
gave us some Dragons. So I think people do love
Dragons in general, and it's been a while since we've seen
them on the big screen, right? Yeah.
And you know, for me, I actuallyremember clearly going to see
the first How to Train Your Dragon movie in the theater when
I was in college. Like it was a classic.
I want to say it came out in March.
(01:54):
Is that right? I didn't, I did not check this.
Can we can we spot check that? Yeah, March 26th, because I feel
like it was it was close to spring break time.
And I remember I was, I was AOU and it was a Norman.
I had a friend come and visit and we were bored and it was
like, hey, want to go see how totrain your dragon?
And we did. And I remember walking out of it
(02:16):
being like, that was really good.
Like, I like that a lot more than I thought I was going to.
Yeah, it's been some time since that first one and you know,
they they spawned more. I'm trying to remember like
Peacock came up with this. It's like Dragon Riders or
something as a spin off. It takes place I think in the
future. Is that correct?
I think Peacock had something like that.
So doing some research on this of just like DreamWorks
(02:40):
animation franchises and it's has like their top franchises.
And for how to train your dragon, you know, there's,
there's five films listed, but it's because how to train your
Dragon 2, the live action 2nd movie is a development.
It's including that, right? So you got 3 animated Movies Now
a live action one and, and the sequel that's in development and
(03:01):
then 6 short films that it says 22 seasons of TV for how for the
how to train your dragon franchise.
And sure enough, DreamWorks Dragons.
DreamWorks Dragons rescue riders.
The rescue riders. The 9 realms.
What was Yeah 9 realm like? What was that on?
Let's see, that one was on Peacock, so you're right.
(03:22):
Peacock, yeah. Rescue Riders was Peacock or
started on Netflix and then wentto Peacock.
DreamWorks Dragons is Netflix started on Cartoon Network.
So this, yeah, this franchise has been all over the place.
It looks like all these series are concluded as of 2023.
And now they're going live action.
(03:43):
Which again, like looking at theso so had some time while I was
waiting for our stream to start and I was doing research on
DreamWorks Animation 'cause you know, they, they have some big
franchises, right? Their biggest one is Shrek.
And like they have the way it has it separated on like your
(04:04):
Wikipedia is your major franchises, which are the ones
that have three or more films. You got Shrek, Madagascar, Kung
Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, and Trolls.
They have a bunch of other franchises that have two movies
or so like Megamind, The Croods,The Boss Baby, and The Bad Guys
is about to have a sequel, things like that.
But if you look at their top grossing films in the US, the
(04:27):
four Shrek movies are the top four and then How to Train Your
Dragons, the 5th movie. We got Shrek coming too.
Shrek 5 coming soon? Yeah, and but when you look at
those franchises, it makes sensethat if you're going to give any
of them the live action treatment, how to train your
Dragons to 1 because all the other ones either feature
talking animals or mythical creatures as the main
(04:48):
characters. So even a live action quote UN
quote version be kind of like the live action Lion King
movies, right? Like you can make it look more
real, but it's essentially stillanimated.
But how to train your dragon? Other than the Dragons, you can
have people. Yeah, and I think this movie was
the perfect choice. This animated film was a perfect
choice to go live action. You know, I've always admired
(05:10):
the director Dean Dubois. He's given us those anime
movies. He gave us Lilo and Stitch.
He was part of that duo that gave us Lilo and Stitch, which
just ironically had its live action movie as well, which is
actually amazing that those are the 2 live action of films we're
getting this year. But I thought the visuals, the
heart of this film, the father son relationship and everything
(05:30):
they gave us in his live action was a fantastic.
And to see him pull this off andsuch a manner and we're going to
get into it felt nearly impossible to me.
Drew. I was like, how well can they do
this? A live action version of How to
Train Your Dragon. Will it actually work?
You know well but. Before we do diving was a little
(05:51):
weird, right? Like I feel like they announced
this kind of as the Disney live action remakes were people were
really starting to get like tired of those Little Mermaid
kind of underperformed and then it's like, well, DreamWorks is
make you know they're going to make live action how to train
your dragon. I'm like I don't understand how
y'all didn't try to do this fiveor six years ago, but you know,
(06:14):
here we are, here we are. Where does this, you know,
franchise sit with you personally?
You just mentioned you saw it, but did you like really fall in
love with it and kind of followed it as much or you just
kind of enjoyed the first coupleand just let it go?
I really really enjoy the first How to Train Your Dragon
animated movie. I know that I've seen the second
(06:38):
one but I barely remember it andI was even reading the plot like
the plot synopsis trying to remember to see if it would
spark my memory and I still can barely remember that movie.
I remember the third one though,because I saw the third one in
theaters and I remember the third one has like baby Night
Furies in it, you know, like I, I think that my.
(07:01):
Spoiler I didn't know about this.
Oh, I'm sorry, it's it's like it's well, I mean Shrek, you
know, you got Shrek babies in Shrek movies.
You got baby night furies in thethird how to train your dragon
movie. It's like I remember there's
like a white night fury. That's the female love interest
for Toothless and some things like that.
And the second one. Well, now, now you make me
worried. I'm going to spoil these 10 plus
(07:22):
year old, you know, animated movie for you.
But the second one, I believe that a big plot point is
reuniting Hiccup and Hiccups father Stoic with the mother who
is actually still alive. Which of course that's what they
do, right? It's like that's that's a
logical step and she's actually been alive this whole time.
(07:42):
Yeah, there's a lot to pull from, I guess, from these films.
But this, this live action world, these characters that
became live action versions, thestory somehow made it feel so
magical. I felt like something I haven't
felt in a long time in in cinema, something that was like
I said, I think magical is the word I like using.
This movie to me was like reallyepic, really emotional at the
(08:05):
same time. And I was surprised the budget
is lower than the animated film,the first film yet.
Breathtaking. Yeah.
I think it was like, you have topull it up as I'm saying this,
but I really thought the effectswere amazing, breathtaking start
to finish. I was amazed.
The term is, I'm going to say, realistic.
I know they're Dragons, but someof the effects, crisp, clear,
(08:28):
amazing sharpness in the world they gave us.
So, Drew, I'm going to ask you, did you think they handled this
transition from animation to live action on points?
And do you think having, you know, Dean back as a director
who was part of the original animated trilogy that made the
(08:48):
difference here? Honestly.
So OK, this I feel like that question, there's a lot of
weight to the answer here. And and because let's see, it's
kind of like where where to start.
First off, addressing like the live action to or excuse me, the
animated to live action adaptation parts of it.
(09:11):
It's kind of amazing how accurate these dragon designs
are to the animated films. I mean like they are pretty much
straight out of the animated Toothless looks just like from
the movie, but still like the transition to live action and
the Dragons interacting with humans naturally.
It's CG Dragons interacting withhumans like worked pretty well
(09:34):
in the movie. And even though the Dragons have
a bit of a cartoony look becausethey're pretty screen accurate
to the animated films, it reallyworked in the world that they've
created. I think it helps that the way
that they dressed up these characters like Stoic and you
know, Gerard Butler, who's reprising, you know, the the
character he provides the voice of in the animated movies
(09:55):
playing the live action version.But like they pad him up, they
make him look really big. Some of them had like almost
have cartoonish looking proportions of their bodies.
And so that fits that they kind of look like live action cartoon
characters. So the fact that the Dragons are
cartoony that that all works. The first How to train your
(10:17):
dragon movie I really have a soft spot for almost more than
any other DreamWorks Animation movie, The scene where you.
Got some boots. More than boots.
Some boots, yeah. For.
Me like the scene where Hiccup takes Toothless out for the test
drive and the score hits at the right moment in the animated
(10:40):
film. The it's the part you have the
image of that all is so good in the animated movie.
And for a long time, like I would revisit just that scene
often because I love the score. I will listen to that score, you
know, relatively frequently and I just it just hit so hard.
So going into this movie, I'm like, if long as they nailed the
(11:02):
test drive scene, I will probably walk away from this
pretty happy. But again, you get into the
overall animation to live actionadaptation conversation in which
I'm I wouldn't say I'm anti the entire concept because some of
these have been have been good. This really is beat for beat the
(11:26):
exact same as the animated movieto live action.
I can't really think of anythingthat they changed or like really
diverted from that, but I still really enjoyed watching it.
Like I enjoyed see all the moments that hit for me
emotionally in the animated movie hit for me emotionally in
the in the live action version. And so part of me wants to be
(11:51):
like against this movie just outof the concept, but the fact is
that I enjoyed watching it and it looked The Dragons looked
good at any time that Hiccup andToothless were together on
screen. Even though Toothless is a not
real CGI dragon, it felt like they had chemistry like it.
It worked for me in the way thatit does in the animated movie.
(12:12):
Everyone's, you know, saying they hate beat for beat live
action adaptations. Sometimes you do it, sometimes
you don't. Lelo and Stitch did it as well
as they could. They did change a little bit of
stuff. Nothing majored in my eyes.
Some people thought it was this film.
I think it was almost beat for beat.
But also they said they elevateda lot of the action, some of the
(12:33):
scenes, the motion, they add a little bit more, I guess heart,
even though you're saying how great the first one is.
I think they just added more of the human elements into this as
well, more stronger and kind of some of the the high risks, you
know, involved in this world, which is fantastic.
Yeah, the action set pieces are for sure expanded a little bit,
(12:55):
go on a little bit longer. Emanuel says.
They had more there. Emanuel says the dragon in the
live action film felt like had more weight, their seriousness
than the anime version, which I've seen it, not all of it.
But yeah, I can agree with you there.
Probably. The anime version is obviously
more tailored to the kids. I think all ages can enjoy this
(13:15):
film. But also I still think this was
a very kid friendly movie as well.
Drew, you saw this twice and youtook your little while in the
second watch. How?
How did she enjoy it? Oh, she she really liked it.
So yeah, I didn't know if I was going to be able to see it
today. And so I went and saw it
yesterday just to like make surethat I got to see it cuz I
wanted us to be able to talk about.
(13:36):
And then I ended up having availability and my 5 year old
wanted to go so we went. And I think at the beginning
there is a lot of like Viking standing around in rooms talking
about plans and things and kind of dark settings that I think
she was kind of, you know, struggling with it.
The moment that Hiccup and Toothless are on screen
(13:57):
together, she was totally lockedin, which actually happens
pretty quickly. Like there are some some scenes
at the beginning, like I said, to get rolling, but they they
get to Toothless pretty quickly.They do.
They're the beginning, like battle is pretty long, but I, I
really liked it. It was kind of like just putting
us into like what was going on. And also there's a lot of stuff
(14:20):
that happens at night and for a film that takes place at night,
you can see everything, which I really enjoyed a lot of films
that have the night landscapes. It's you can't tell what's going
on on the screen. So I actually watch this in a
semi IMAX screen. I didn't watch it in the IMAX
that we usually go to Drew, but I really enjoyed it.
I really think this is a film got to watch on the largest
(14:42):
screen possible. And you know this film, Drew
knows this. I got a little personal
connection to this film because I host the panel with the star
Mason Thames. Got to get to know him a little
bit too. And I've been rooting for this
kid since Black Phone and everything else he's been doing.
And let me tell you, he really nails Hiccup.
I remember when we did our interview on stage, he went into
(15:04):
those audition. He's like, I can do the Hiccup
voice if y'all want and he did it and he can mimic the voice
pretty well. But they're like, no, we don't
want, we don't want that at all.We don't know what's in the
animated film, but what he does is not an imitation of what you
see in the animated films at all.
I think Mason brings his own energy and still honoring what
fans love because he is a big fan of that film.
(15:24):
It was really cool. I just shot him a message the
other day just congratulating him and he was like, dude,
appreciate all the stuff that you do, supporting and stuff
like that. So I mean, I will always be on
that Mason Thames, you know, train rooting for him.
I'm excited for Black Phone 2. He's got another film coming out
soon. And then also they're making a
sequel to this. So First off, what did you think
about this live version Hiccup? I thought that Mason was good.
(15:51):
He he does, really. I'm glad that he didn't try to
mimic the voice and did it, you know that he did his own thing.
I'll say this. This is both a criticism and
compliment to Mason basically saying that I feel like he's
almost too cool to be Hiccup. Like, like they gave him kind of
(16:14):
goofy hair, like a goofy haircutto mimic what is in the animated
film. But like, he's pretty tall.
Seems like he's in pretty good shape.
Granted, he plays Hiccup, so Hiccup is kind of a klutz.
You know, he's clumsy and and those things he was able to do
well, but they're, you know, a few times I'm like this guy.
(16:37):
I don't know that I buy other than him being clumsy that
everybody is treating this guy as an outcast because like there
is a little level of coolness tohim.
Well, because Mason's. Very charming in real life.
And it's hard to, it's hard to cover Mason, right?
It's really hard, that's what I'm saying.
Like it's a criticism but also compliment because it's like,
(16:58):
you know, he's also a leading man of a live action movie.
So he can't be pure, you know, nerd.
But I think that I think that hepulled off everything well and
especially how much one-on-one time he has with Toothless,
which again, like, I can't, I can't imagine what it's like to
act in front of green screens interacting with ACG Dragon,
(17:21):
which I'm sure they have something in place of it.
Tennis balls, I. Think is what it was.
I think it was tennis balls for this one and.
For and for to have chemistry islike, that's impressive.
It's hard, I I tell you that, And you know, chemistry is it is
like is key in this movie. And you know, I really love Nico
Parker in this as Astrid. I must say she's really good.
(17:45):
On 2nd watch she stood out even more to me.
I thought she was great, yeah. A total stand out really knew
she was a four. She she showed up on the Last of
Us, but here she brings so much charm and strength to this role
that you know, not people know who she was.
But I think after this film people are going to know who
Nico Parker is. And then there's also obviously
Gerard Butler returning a Stoic.Which perfection, right?
(18:10):
He's great. Yeah, he.
He, I mean Gerard Butler basically is a live action
cartoon character also, so him reprising this role had to be
the easiest decision they made when making this movie.
I mean, he was born. To play these big emotional
father figure rules. I mean, he, he's perfect for
this. I thought the dynamic with Mason
was fantastic. And you know, it's Gerard Butler
at the end of the day. But how did you like the
(18:30):
chemistry between Mason and Nicoand you know, just sound.
I just love Astrid. I think I love Hiccup, but I
think Astrid is secretly like one of my favorite characters
because she she's totally awesome.
She's a bad a you know, she's a bad ass.
I'm going to say it in this as well.
And I just love her personality and what Hiccup has to deal with
(18:53):
and prove himself that, you know, he he can keep up with her
because she is awesome. They.
They had good chemistry. The whole group of the six kids,
you know, that are in the dragontraining together, I thought
we're all pretty solid so and and had their own kind of
chemistry. If anything, fish legs probably
(19:16):
gets which is Julian Dennison who we know from like Deadpool 2
and Y2K. Yes, Y2.
K that's I was going to say, I saw him in something recently.
Probably gets kind of like the short end of the stick as far as
like he's basically just doing the shtick of like reading D&D
type stats for the Dragons, which is in the animated films
(19:38):
too, but doesn't get to do very much more than that.
But otherwise I thought this group was was pretty good.
The rough nut and tough nut to me stuck out as being like
particularly fun and over the top as as they are in the
animated series. At first I'm.
Going to say I wasn't a fan of this group I was like this is
not fan like what is this what'sgoing on here with this group
(20:01):
but then I really slowly became I started loving them and then
obviously in the battle scene atthe very end I'm like OK this is
really fun now yeah you're like I'm in all in here we got a
comment right here watch the movie that was actually really
good this movie I'm telling you everyone is saying I think
everyone that had their. Expectations low, which is fine.
(20:24):
I say go into this movie, your expectations low or even middle
or high. It's going to deliver regardless
what your expectations are. There is no reason this movie
should disappoint anybody because it's a really good movie
regardless. It's a great blockbuster.
It's an awesome Dragons movie and like we spoke about, like
the Dragons are really cool in this.
(20:46):
The FX was. Amazing.
I would say that I. Think that, again, this is like
a criticism and compliment to the movie because going from
making a live action adaptation of this animated movie, going
beat for beat and just making itlive action, this is probably
one of the best versions, if notthe best version of that you
(21:09):
could do. And Dean, I think it's Dean
Dubois, I think is how you Dubois.
Yeah. Maybe.
Yeah, maybe a little French in there.
I mean clearly. Like he worked on you know, was
a Co director of the first one, directed the 2nd and 3rd, and
then now is directing the live action adaptation.
I assume he's oh it's TBA but I wouldn't be surprised if he
(21:30):
directs the live action sequel too but that hasn't been
officially announced yet. But still, like, it's clear this
is something he has a lot of passion for.
So there is there is something to it, this being remade as
opposed to like Guy Ritchie remaking Aladdin when he's
(21:51):
really doing like like, OK, I I don't know this for sure, but
like just making an assumption, right?
No, no offense to Guy Ritchie, whose movies I really like, but
like clearly just seems like a paycheck move for him.
And it's like, I'm going to do this for my kids and for my
family and take take a Disney payday and you know, good for
you, Guy Ritchie. But like, man, that one, there's
no passion or heart to that liveaction adaptation, in my
(22:15):
opinion, Whereas in how to trainyour dragon there is it's clear
that Dean Dubois loves this franchise legacy.
He. Built I mean, you got respect.
It's a legacy, he Built, wrote, directed, produces adaptation.
You can feel every care in everysingle frame.
I mean, it's visually stunning, emotionally resonant, and this
is the love letter to the fans of the film and offering amazing
(22:36):
storytelling and visuals to a new audience.
I think that. My my criticism of it though
would be that because it doesn'tdo anything new or do take any
diversions from the plot or really anything from the
original animated movie, is it? There's barely a conversation to
be had other than like, yeah, it's pretty good adaptation
(22:58):
because for better or for worse,like even look at the live
action Lilo and Stitch remake that just came out right.
Obviously the ending the to thatmovie and what was changed did
get a lot of hardcore fans of the original Lilo and Stitch a
little bit hot and bothered about the changes that were made
and why and what that does to the franchise and the Ohana
(23:20):
meeting and and all of that. And it has been an ongoing
conversation. And I feel like even though a
lot of the fans are really negative about that, me
personally didn't really bother me.
There's no conversation like that to be had about this movie
because there's sorry if this iskind of a spoiler in a way, but
(23:40):
it's like the spoiler is it. There's no there's truly no
change. It is almost like scene by
scene, beat for beat. But again, those moments bring a
smile to my face. Like the moment we're Hiccup is
drawing in the sand a picture ofof Toothless and then Toothless
watches him and picks up a gianttree branch and start scribbling
(24:02):
in the ground around him mimicking what Hiccup is doing.
Like that exact scenes in the animated movie and they
recreated that here, but it mademe smile watching it so it's
like they're doing something right with it.
Well, because. Toothless is kind of like
everyone's pet cat or dog, right?
That's the thing too. And that was why people also
love Stitch when it comes to that.
They just see it as their their furry friend right Kevin says
(24:26):
Lilo and stitch 20 years later F1 going to eat up into how to
train your dragon live action box office.
I disagree because I think day 142,000,000 on a Friday already
for Friday for how to train yourdragon.
That's really good for for this,especially in a crowded summer
already 42,000,000 on a Friday. Yeah, the last.
Time I saw this and it's. Not made it to make.
(24:47):
Like a little over 110 at the box office.
I don't know if it's actually going to over perform.
Let me let me look and see. I mean.
The budget the budget for this film I believe is 145.
I mean, it's going to do well atthe box office if it's at 145
million budget, it's going to dopretty well I believe too.
(25:09):
Oh, from. From earlier today, it's looking
like domestic in the realm of 85,000,000, which is lower than
I would have expected, but I'm sure it'll do well overseas.
Too or just for two days weekendright now, Well, right now it's
sitting at 35,000,000 on a Friday.
(25:29):
So I'd assume especially going to Father's Day weekend, we'll
see how Sunday comes in into play.
But with a with a budget at 145,it's it's golden already
11,000,000. In in Thursday previews.
So yeah, I'm seeing 42,000,000 domestic right now with the
Friday total. But so the the too early top
five estimate has this 85,000,000 domestic for the end
(25:52):
of the weekend. So we'll see what that update.
Well, that's domestic. Too International's a big
audience as well, right, Right, right.
I'm just saying, I honestly thought this was going to make
over $100 million domestic and so I'm kind of surprised that
it's looking to be in the 80s. Listen if it's.
Going to be about 120 + 1,000,000 globally opening
weekend. It's a win, win, like I said,
with 145, and this is a, this isa.
(26:15):
Family movie too, and you can't underestimate that.
And yes, like I know that film fans are excited for 28 Years
later. We were just having this
conversation actually before we even went live.
You and I about like how successful that movie will be.
I just don't see 28 years later cutting into this one too much.
And even though Elio is another big family movie, I I don't see
(26:38):
Elio really I like I feel like Idon't know.
I'll be interested to see how that Leon does.
But and 20. Eight years later is not going
to affect anything. It's a radar film that doesn't
cut into that stuff of stuff. Adult films won't ever cut into
the children's stuff because they're always going to be
watched by the all ages aspect. You're not going to see a 5 year
old going to 28 years later at all.
(27:00):
Drew, you don't expect to take your little.
If you do, there's a problem. Yeah, that is.
That is indeed Drew. Honestly, I think this is one of
the rare live action adaptationsthat actually stands tall on its
own. I really think if you told me
they never made an animated version of this, I would have
said this is just also a great movie.
(27:21):
That's all I can say about that.When you look at where this
ranks amongst, you know, recent waves of live action and the
most recent one obviously is Lilo and Stitch, which is a
fantastic adaptation too. Where do you place How to Train
Your Dragon? Definitely.
Higher than Lilo and Stitch As far as the live action
adaptations the summer go, this is probably amongst the best if
(27:42):
you're including like all the Disney live action adaptations
of their animated movies. Probably.
Yeah, probably amongst the best of all of them.
This one's pretty solid. Again, I'm just like, I wish
maybe they had taken some risks to change something or do
something. Although this is one that people
(28:03):
have a lot of nostalgia for. I do think when you start
getting into how to train your Dragon 2 live action, I don't
know how if if there's as much that the fans in that one would
be upset about if they changed it in live action.
So like I'm hoping maybe if theydo a second one that they can
take a few more liberties with the plot and maybe do some
(28:25):
things really different. Although again, like I've seen
that movie and don't remember it, so, you know, it could be
like seeing an all new movie andI will be making less
comparisons. Whereas I've seen the original
How to Train Your Dragon many times and watching this I was
like I knew exactly what was going to happen next.
Yeah. I think that that's going to
(28:46):
speed it up a little bit as Mason's growing up really fast
the same time. But what's the time?
Are there time jumps though in the film?
Right? Yeah, hiccups I think a bit
older in there's five years in between the first one and the
second one. So he is a bit older.
His dad's wanting him to take over as as chief and things like
that, like all that kind of, youknow, stuff that I think is set
(29:07):
up in this one pretty well to move on to that sequel.
I, I want to highlight if, if you want to pull it up, I was
actually meaning to bring this up that Emmanuel brought up in
the comments that Cate Blanchettvoices the mom in the in the
sequel. And it would be fun to see her
reprise that role in the live action version.
And the way that Gerard Butler did would be pretty cool.
(29:30):
I don't know if she would do it,but why?
Not she's done worse things. I mean, a couple worse things
probably. I mean, she had a great career,
but I'm saying this is not the worst thing that she could do is
reprise her role and something that's so meaningful to Sony
people. I think that would be brilliant
actually, if they did that. I mean, we already got Gerard
Butler obviously, and I think she would be a great live action
(29:52):
fit on that. Agreed.
Back to the live action stuff. I'm trying to think I where do
you really place this? Like what is your most favorite
live action? Because I this one is really
bothering me because I think this is might be the top of my
list. Hold on, let me.
Let me Disney, there's live. Action.
(30:14):
Adaptations. I mean.
Because really, are there any other live action adaptations of
animated movies that aren't Disney that I'm forgetting
about? There might be.
Some, but in general, well, Detective Pikachu if you want to
put that, I think. That Alice in Wonderland live
action directed by Tim Burton isa bad movie.
Every watch to that one and is bad.
(30:35):
The Jungle Book is pretty good. The Jungle.
Book is really good, but that isalso just one really just one
real person in that the. That's fair, but honestly I'm
looking at all the Disney ones and that's probably the one that
I would say is the best. That's fair.
I. Do love The Jungle Book that was
(30:56):
I was like, this is actually really Cinderella.
Cinderella's OK, You know, Kenneth Branagh kind of doing
like his English Shakespearean kind of spin on like on like
Cinderella. That one's OK, which Kate
Blanchett is actually in that, ironically enough, as you know,
as we're discussing it. But yeah, like the only one of
the Disney ones that I have not seen is or excuse me, two, I did
(31:18):
not see Mulan, the live action adaptation that was that's on
Disney. Plus, go for it.
Yeah, it came. Out during COVID and that was
the whole thing. And I have not seen Peter Pan
and Wendy that David Lowry directed one with Jude Law as
Captain Hook. I have not watched that.
See the. Thing though, about law of these
the Disney ones, it's like it's a lot of stuff that's been
(31:40):
around for long. These stories are not new new,
right, and these stories have been around a long time, like
even Alice in Wonderland, right,based on the book.
So like how to join your dragon is like one of the most recent
stories and the quickest one probably get get a live action
adaptation. But I really thought this was
this movie that would be. Trounced with Disney's live
(32:01):
action adaptation of Moana. That will be out.
What, like next year? I don't know what's going.
On with that. I I know that they've been
filming it because there's been all they are so.
They are. Oh yeah, there's behind.
The scenes photos of of Dwayne Johnson as Maui and got like I
was right that did. Giant prosthetic.
Looking forearms on to make his,you know, make him even bigger
(32:22):
and kind of like a cartoon look.I'll be curious.
Of how close that is to the original film but like I said,
How to train your Dragon, it wasthe perfect example of a film
that if you didn't know about the animated version you would
love it. Some of the other stuff,
sometimes you have to just have a nostalgia for the animated
film to love the live action version.
(32:42):
Yeah, my. Five year old, you know how to
train your dragon. I think she has seen bits and
pieces of the animated one but it is never been part of her
usual kind of rotation. As you know kids that are 5 year
olds will watch the same movie over and over and over again for
like a couple weeks and they move on to something else.
And how to train your Dragons never been that for her.
(33:04):
But so I think seeing the live action 1 was like a whole new
experience for her. She like I said she wants it
really picked up. She was locked in.
And I will say the Isle of Burke, the town that this, you
know, this movie takes place in.I did think that some of the
(33:25):
sets that they had built like what almost looks like a big
town hall, like this dark long chamber with big statues around
where everything's oversized. The doors are huge, the tables
are huge, the statues are huge. And then you there's a lot of
time spent in the arena that where they're training, where
they're actually training against the Dragons.
(33:46):
I don't know this for sure. I haven't seen any like behind
the scenes things, but those looked like real sets to me and
they were pretty well done, I thought.
And I was like, Dang, if this movie is going to get into kind
of counteracting the CG Dragons with like really cool sets.
But those are really the only ones that stick out because
(34:07):
everything else is like the areawhere Toothless is kind of where
he can't fly out of and and the where the hive is of all the
Dragons. Like those are clearly just, you
know, your green screen kind of sets 'cause they have to be.
But the sets that are in this movie look really good because
they just look like, you know, the animated version.
(34:29):
So they're like kind of cartoonyand oversized gears and a lot of
chains and stuff like that. I just I I did like the look of
it all I think. This this movie is made like in
a hybrid version where you have half of it built out and then
the rest is blue screen and everything else for as an
extension. I know they built out a lot of
stuff, but there's also a lot ofblue screen as well.
But with that budget, man, everything looked great
(34:50):
regardless of being a little cartoony, oversized and kind of
like a caricature, right? A lot of stuff.
I everything looked fantastic. Before we do wrap up this
conversation, because I, I don'tknow, I don't have much left to
say on this really. But other than saying go see it,
I wanted to announce like this new thing we're starting Drew
called Metropolis kids conversation as we're getting a
(35:12):
lot of inquiry from like animated family shows or live
action stuff from like Nickelodeon and Disney and
everywhere else. We wanted to create like a new
Ave. to deliver really awesome family friendly, kid friendly
content, and that would be for Neutralis kids conversation.
You can see our first interview with Black Eyed Peas very own
(35:32):
taboo and his daughter Jet, who are part of the world of Dora
now. So we have that interview that's
on Neuropolis you can find on our YouTube channel, but that is
tailored towards Neuropolis kids.
I got more Dora the Explorer stuff coming because that's a
world that is not going away anytime soon and some fun stuff
coming with that. So I do want to mention that and
(35:54):
Drew, I know you were kind of take it back that that was
happening, but excited about this like new add on that we're
having a nerdtropolis. I just thought it was.
Such a good idea because you aredoing so many interviews about
like, you know, like people castfrom the new Dora the Explorer
show and like things like that, that I'm I think that those are
really cool things and to tailorthem to like a Nerdtropolis kids
(36:17):
audience is really smart becauseyou know, you got you got your
nerdtropolis, but you now have this kind of separate brand
where these things can live and you know, it just is just makes
sense. It makes sense.
Honestly, we just have so much awesome content, we want to make
sure we're delivering it to the people that are going to enjoy
the most. We got all types of content all
(36:38):
at nerdtropolis.com. Tons of reviews, tons of
interviews, tons of news as well.
Spaceballs to drew real quick thoughts on that.
You know, I, as a child of the of the 90s and who grew up
watching Rick Moranis in movies and who loved the space, loved
(37:00):
Spaceballs. I've seen Spaceballs upwards of
30 times, I'm sure. I'm so glad that he's finally
coming out of retirement and coming back for that.
I know that they approached him with the Ghostbusters movies,
but I think that he always just felt like, unless there's a real
reason for me to come back, I'm not going to come back.
Well, there was Drew. If you didn't know, there really
(37:22):
was a sequel to Honey I Shrunk the Kids, right?
He was supposed. To be in it, he was going to do
it with Josh. Gad and Josh.
Gad was riding it, and he was a play of the sun, I guess.
Growing up with Rick. Yeah.
What happened? With that, Disney just.
Didn't go, didn't want to go forit.
You know, it was really could have happened if Disney green
lighted. That was the movie Rick Moranis
was coming back for. Right now.
(37:43):
He's coming back as Dark helmet with Spaceballs to 2027.
And I really hope this happens because this is going to have to
jump through a lot of hoops to get everyone involved still
involved and get this done quickly, honestly, because and
Mel Brooks is. Involved in it, right.
And and Bill Pullman's coming back.
That's and his and his. Son is going to be part of it as
well. The Pullman's good.
(38:06):
The century himself. Oh yeah, sure enough.
Bill Pullman and Rick Moranis returning.
Kiki Palmer. Lewis Pullman.
Yeah. No, this is this is this is
spelling good things for me. I hope so.
So yeah, if y'all are Spaceballsfans out there, check out no
traumas.com. We have all the information for
that new one as well. But yeah, this wraps up that
deep dive into how to train yourdragon.
(38:28):
If you haven't seen it yet, I know it's only been a few days.
Take the family, take Dad. Great Father's Day movie.
Actually, I would say it is, yeah.
So I highly, highly recommend that.
But thanks for tuning into the movie Guard Society.
Make sure to follow and subscribe for more episodes
every week. We got a lot of fun stuff
planned. Drew.
I know we we have busy, busy schedules for all these big
(38:51):
blockbusters this summer. But thanks for hanging out with
us once again. I'm Sean Charlesworth, the mayor
of Neutropolis, and I'm Drew. Manhausen, the professional
media and movie mastermind, and.We will see you at.
The movies. See you at the movies, everyone.
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