
Dragon stuck out with its impressive visuals and grand fantasy storytelling, and in 2014 the second film added a surprisingly melancholic tone. The first How to Train Your Dragon was released in 2010 and quickly became one of the most critically acclaimed offerings from DreamWorks Animation, the studio that has pumped out franchise after franchise over the decades (including Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, and a forthcoming The Boss Baby sequel). The Dragon trilogy, directed by Dean DeBlois, hits all those marks, but it’s also a highly adorable tale of responsible pet ownership, and for that reason alone it should probably endure in the annals of pop culture. Other hit films such as Kung Fu Panda and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse are stirring tales of heroism and maturity recent Pixar classics such as Coco and Inside Out examined the bonds of the family unit through the eyes of kids on the verge of growing up. The How to Train Your Dragon series occupies a particularly vital spot in the world of animated fables.
