#httyd3 criticism

[australet789]

Also the whole concept of Area Zero is what i wished The Hidden World from HTTYD 3 was like

The Koraidon’s fight? THAT FELT LIKE A TOOTHLESS THING

Literally was mentally screaming “this is what i wish the whole way the dragons went way went throught”

[ashleybenlove]

"If I had to say goodbye to Toothless, I'd be pretty sad."

Me at Dean DeBlois

[bitchin-tubs]

As I have previously stated im a hating ass bitch and yknow what I hate even more than most things about helluva?? HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD !!!!!!!

I HATE this babybutt smooth scaleless eyeshadow wearing ass dragon

I HATE how stupid he looks and acts just to make a point about the domestication of wild animals that mind you that's a process that takes GENERATIONS to accomplish

I HATE how the original message of friendship and understanding was thrown out just to have dragon romance

And yknow what? Ive BEEN a redesigner this are my old redesigns of the lightfury that I hold very dearly to my 15 year old heart

I call her Toothpaste🩵

[dragonez]

it's crazy how hard httyd2 hits it's even crazier how httyd3 does not hit at all

[imminent-danger-came]

Hi I’m also an avid httyd 3 hater I think this video was a pretty good summarization of most of the things that were wrong with it if you wanna check it out

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bcFMEs177i0&feature=shared

"The director wanted an end from a different story". SO FUCKING TRUE. SO REAL.

From the httyd3 art book (which I'm so happy the video references):

"In general, it's more difficult to create a female character than it is to draw a male. For a female, any incorrect line and the shape can go wrong very quickly. We had to control all the shapes while keeping her both powerful and graceful so that she didn't fall to much into the reptilian category, like a lot of dragons. We wanted to explore how the Light Fury would walk and how to make her feel like a female, so we referenced lionesses and big cats."

What misogynistic bullshit am I right.

I'm going to go ahead and also show off the hearts on the light fury's forehead because it's just abysmal (this is a normal picture of the light fury with the saturation increased):

Thanks for sending this video my way anon!

[thecosmicmap]

Random Person: The Light Fury doesn’t make any sense to me-

Hiccup: (taking in a deep sigh) oh my Thor, you’re back…

Random Person: Yessir, I have returned! I need someone to bounce these thoughts off of, and who better than the supposed Dragon Master. (Sits on the ground and pulls Hiccup with them)

Random Person: The Light Fury doesn’t make much sense. Her feet are so small compared to her body, her eyes are too big, she’s curved for some reason. Say, Hiccup- doesn’t Toothless’ side nubs act as whiskers?

Hiccup: Yeah, I think so-

Random Person: Then why does the Light Fury have less? And the two she has are so short I doubt they can actually be helpful. Not to mention her tail, it’s not aerodynamic at all! More suited for aquatic creatures. Is she aquatic Hiccup?

Hiccup: I’m not sure, I’ve hardly gotten a good look at her.

Random Person: (pulls out book) It’s fine, we’ll consult the art book.

Hiccup: art book? Wh-where did you even get that?

Random Person: Silence, Hiccup, I’m researching- HOLY SHIET!

Hiccup: What?

Random Person: Everything makes so much sense now … the Light Fury, she’s a plot device!

Hiccup:

Random Person: Her only purpose is to be a female! “We had to explore how the Light Fury would walk and make her feel like a female.” “We had to control all the shapes while keeping her both powerful and graceful so she didn’t fall too much into the reptilian category.”

Random Person: Now I know why she only had eight minutes of screen time! She was never meant to be a character, just a plot device! An overly feminized plot device!

Random Person: That’s why she has no name! No personality. You don’t gotta be a character in order to be a plot device.

Hiccup: of course she doesn’t have a name; she’s wild.

Random Person: I call bullshit. When you first met Toothless, you gave him a name! Why not for her?

Hiccup: I just forgot okay? And I saw male Light Furies, they looked the same-

Random Person: yeah? How do you know they were males?

Hiccup: Because-

Random Person: I saw a Light Fury with an aerodynamic tail, how do we know that wasn’t a male?

Hiccup: I-

Random Person: we don’t. Because you guys never went outside the archipelago. You guys probably coulda found more Light Furies, other tribes too! Heck, if you guys went outside the archipelago I bet you coulda found more Night Furies!

Hiccup:

[kittenpinkamations]

Broke: Elsa with a Light Fury

Bespoke: Elsa with a Bewilderbeast

[isleofberk]

idk what it says that most people’s criticisms of httyd3 toothless end up being buried in six layers of ableism calling him stupid or deformed actually is not a good look for any of you

[inke-ri]

ok ok fine so- best moments of this new update:

(yes, this will be long, no I dont know how to put it under a read more on mobile. Sorry OTL)

- The Nightlights get actual unique personalities. In Homecoming, only Dart seemed to have one, while the boys were basically "cute boys who are always sparring". Here, Dart is inquisitive and forward, Ruff is a bit lazy but with a heart of gold, and Pouncer is playful and brave (he's biting at his tail like a dog would here lmao).

- Pouncer reminds me of his dad a lot. He follows you around because he wants to be near you, he sneaks after you as you go to a dangerous place, and even tho he is Baby, he still tries to use a blinding sort of light flash /shot to protect you from dragon hunters. He can get a little scared at times but he immediately calms down near you, and trusts you enough to follow you despite being afraid. The moment the fear disappears he just happily flies around like a dork <3 He's probably my favorite of the three but it's really hard to choose because they're all so unique.

- Dart is very much her mother's daughter. She's impulsive, wild, and does what she wants when she wants. She also apparently idolizes the Green Death, which is hilarious (for those that dont know, the Green Death is another female who moved and took over Dragon Island after the original Red Death was killed in SOD Universe, and yes, she is green). I'm not kidding, she killed a ship full of people lmao. Well, indirectly. She flew up to the Green Death and eventually led her to shoot fire at a whole ship of warlords. And eventually set fire to the whole fleet... in the open seas. Yea, those people are dead.

That said Dart is caring and protective and her special "power" is to rally and protect other dragons. She really feels like a mix of her mom's wild, more brutal side with her father's protectiveness. While she likes the Player character well enough I got the distinct feeling she bonds with dragons better, which I really love! She's just. Wild, but still open to work with people, just like her mom in this universe. Well, maybe a little more open than Mom. I also really like that both Pouncer and Ruffrunner had moments in which they were afraid and the Player had to comfort them, but Dart never did. She was always up and ready to go lmao.

- Ruffrunner is SO cute. Despite being a fighty boy, he's very attached to his parents and apparently wants to make them proud. He's also very lazy, he likes to nap around |D That said, he cares so deeply for others that he willingly puts himself in danger and draws enemy fire so others can attack properly. He's more tanky than the other two so he can take it. He's SO eager to help (and prove himself), be it you or his parents, which matches how his unique ability is to take hits to make sure everyone isnt attacked. He reminds me of the Toothless that was willing to die if it meant saving Hiccup.

- Bonus points for Toothless for being a fantastic dad to his kids and apparently not taking the Stoick route. He encourages Ruffrunner to be brave and look, this is just an excuse to show you how adorable they are.

- Hiccup remarks that Ruffrunner reminds him a lot of himself and how he wanted to make his parents proud of ALL of him. Why, yes, he referenced the "all this" line in the year of our Lord 2022. Did I mention I love this game? I love this game.

- As an AMAZING bonus, Valka was there and heard it, and she was actually a little awkward and upset at the thought of Hiccup suffering because of that. God. I love their dynamic. Just the right amount of awkwardness and guilt despite how much they love and understand each other, which makes perfect sense considering she abandoned him for 20 years.

- Valka in general getting focus and development is great. I love how every time she visits the Hidden World (she gets to see the Hidden World y'all!!!) she's in awe of it.

- Backtracking to talk about the Green Death for a second bc I love what they did with her! While she's just as violent and brutal as the Red Death, she didn't immediately go for the Warlord ships. Only after we rescued some baby scuttleclaws from those ships was that the Green Death attacked them.

I just love love LOVE that a dragon of the same species as the "pure evil"-type one from the first movie is not ACTUALLY shown as pure evil and IS capable of protecting and caring... just like any other dragon. I did not expect this but it was SO good. Between this and you being able to rescue and train one of Grimmel's deathgrippers, I LOVE how this game tells us that there are no true evil dragons. 10/10 point goes to School of Dragons.

- Just, this line from Valka:

I'm gonna be a bit salty for a sec because this. THIS. You have to respect these creatures and sometimes only watch from a distance- not every dragon needs to be trained, which is the lesson Hiccup seemingly had to learn in httyd 3. But learning about them, seeing them, living with them, even from a distance, is what leads to love and respect and inspires you to take care of them.

Not, y'know, shoving them down a hole for a thousand years. Even if it IS a very cozy hole. THAT just leads to them being forgotten and for people to still wanna use them for their own gains, like the timeskip show whose name I'm forgetting tells you.

Here they actually move back and forth between the skies and their ancestral home. I love that they have the freedom to do so.

- The King of Dragons lives! Somehow!

I didn't expect this- would have been cool if Drago's Bewilderbeast had taken over the King's duties to protect the original nest- buuuut y'know what? I'm okay with this. He deserved better and he's a good boi and I love him so yea.

Stoick is still dead here, and it IS heavily implied to still have been Drago-Toothless who took him out, so my best guess is that Drago's Bewilderbeast took the King out of commission long enough for Toothless to challenge him and become an Alpha on his own, etc, but he's recovered since?

- Hiccup arrives in the Sacturary after a while and... I dunno, maybe seeing the King of Dragons reminded him of his father, because he quietly mutters that "I miss him so much."

The shock and pain kept me from screenshotting the first comment from him. Ugh, come for my heart won't you. I love that Hiccup still struggles with being Chief, and missing Stoick, but is trying his best. I love how this game doesn't forget about him- there's a whole video sequence dedicated to his memory in one of the previous storyline missions when we return to Dragon Island for the first time. I'm very lucky to have played this game VERY on and off for years, because I still remember everyone's httyd1 models, Stoick being there, and his missions about the importance of being responsible and being a chief. I treasure them fondly since he's not around anymore- not even in this game.

- Speaking of Hiccup, he's surprisingly absent for most of the storyline! He only shows up every now and then and doesn't even participate in the battle with the Warlords and Stormheart- you work mainly with the Nightlights and Valka through this story. At first I wasn't sure why, but eventually I realized that I really liked this. It sort of shows that Hiccup can delegate- that we don't NEED him to be there at all times to do the right thing and fight for the bond with dragons. It shows his ideas are spreading- that he's changing the world little by little :)

- I also really like how they pair each of the nightlights with a King Dragon that inspires them. Pouncer with the playful, curious and brave Luminous Krayfin, Dart with the fierce, wild yet protective Green Death, and Ruffrunner with the gentle, protective and loyal Bewilderbeast. Amazing way to showcase their personalities and make them unique! Also goes to show how all 3 have what it takes to, perhaps one day, become worthy Alphas of their own.

- As a last bit, I love that they make the Warlords threatening- Griselda gets a bit of a spotlight, and I loved the tension between the three Warlords and Stormheart since they kept intruding on her turf. I love how the Warlords got a whole storyline for themselves after Grimmel is dead, even if the star of the show is still Stormheart.

- Also also, it takes the whole gang (minus Hiccup and Toothless), PLUS Player and his dragon, PLUS Valka and Cloudjumper, PLUS THREE WHOLE NIGHTLIGHTS to defeat them, instead of 6 kids in flight suits. While the game focuses just on you and the nightlights, everyone else IS there and they didn't NEED to spend money and resources to add that. I thought it was very cool.

- Stormheart in general is just such a good character. I love that we have a female villain in the first place, I love how after threatening you for so long she finally decides she's done and Player's gonna die... I love that SHE's the final boss of the storyline because SHE is the main antagonist of this story and has always been.

- Also, I love that we finally get to blow up her fancy ship that used enslaved dragons to create steam for it to move. It felt so satisfying after all these years.

- Also, it's cute that the Player character gets to pick a nightlight to bond with and train for free at the end of the story, with Toothless and the Light Fury watching on. The fact that they approve and that Hiccup trusts you with this is such a fun way to end this story and to show how far Player has come.

Overall, I both feel and fear this game is gearing up for a final storyline... Stormheart escaped, but her ship and most of her power is no more. Even her ally, Harald, has (perhaps surprisingly) betrayed her and gave us the info to destroy her ship. It feels like it's leading up to one final confrontation with her. If so, it will make the whole thing one hell of a ride, and I couldn't be happier to be able to experience it myself. This story and world is so rich, and it really sticks to the franchise's core, while being fun, educative, not afraid to craft their own unique stories, and so, so full of heart. As I said earlier, it really reminds me of why I love httyd as much as I do.

[ecto-space]

yes it's 2021 and i'm still mad about httyd3 but, why the fuck did they treat the light fury as such a big deal and "ooooo toothless isn't the last of his kind" if

A. she's not actually his kind, she's just a subspecies of fury

B. we ALREADY HAVE canon fury subspecies

like if a fury subspecies is the solution to the "no more nightfuries" thing why didn't toothless just find a sand wraith or wooly howl as a mate

[kingofthewilderwest]

As "bad" as THW ended up being *glares in the lazed traitor De Blois' direction* just be thankful that it was made by DreamWorks and not Disney. There's no knowing how much worse the female character designs(both human and dragon), the sugarcoating of serious topics, and pretty much everything else would've been if Disney had made it.

So I’m of two minds about this one. On one side, you know how I feel about Disney and its current direction, with way too much power given to the financial and monopolizing aspects and too little heart coming through anymore. Also, as you said, Disney tends to be less gritty, etc. etc. etc.

One of the things I always loved about DreamWorks was that it was willing to be quirky and take chances. You could get some wonderfully artistic, heart-felt movies like The Prince of Egypt, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, the Kung Fu Panda trilogy, or Rise of the Guardians. You could get stuff that made you go, “What the fuck?” like Bee Movie. You could get stuff that intentionally turned expected animated movie paradigms on their head like Shrek and Megamind. You could get stuff that felt like standard but good family fare. And yeah, sure, you’d get your Shark Tales in there, too, but there was nevertheless a willingness to go places in their movies that made DreamWorks fun. Even with the movies that were mediocre, you could tell DreamWorks was willing to experiment, willing to have grit or wonkiness, but also trying to keep good heart in the story, too.

I think that DreamWorks in the last half decade isn’t quite that level anymore. DreamWorks is starting to settle into the role of an established company... which I mean, now it is. But with that settling has come creative complacency, too. The Boss Baby, The Boss Baby sequel, Trolls, Trolls sequel, that’s starting to feel increasingly like the norm for what they’re outputting. It feels like DreamWorks is playing it increasingly safe, increasingly standard. Its edge isn’t so edgy anymore.

Mind. They’ve had elements of this way longer than the last five years (Turbo in 2013 was no showstopper), but these traits are feeling increasingly pronounced to me. Whereas DreamWorks used to be a delightful mixed bag, now it feels increasingly... bland.

I would never call DeBlois a “traitor” or “lazy.” I think that’s misdirecting the thunder. I don’t like seeing him called something like that, myself. He worked with a lot of heart on beautiful movies like Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2... that’s someone who’s helped put good soul in our stories. Whether or not he would have made something in THW all fans would’ve liked, I don’t know, especially given as no one creator will make EVERYTHING into a powerhouse... we all have our “okay” projects and our “awesome” ones. But we’ve seen hints of what the original drafts of HTTYD 3 looked like, and they’re more on par with the flavor of storytelling I’d expect from him. Major movies are created with too much corporate power and higher-ups molding them, and if the movies we get are bland, watered-down, sugarcoated, lacklusterly mainstream, etc. then it’s not necessarily the creative team (though good creative teams are more likely to leave in such environments)... it’s likely the business blokes stifling them.

So I am like, “Yeah, DreamWorks ain’t Disney.” But... they’re infringing on some of the same crimes, aren’t they? Isn’t DreamWorks already making projects feel more palatable and sweet, isn’t DreamWorks already showing money-first idea-second for some of its latest projects? I’m not as much in the DreamWorks camp as I was even five years back, and this is why. I’m a little jaded wondering where they’re headed.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe that shift I’m seeing is just my perspective of the company changing, not the company actually changing. And who knows, maybe they’ll surprise me. They better do The Wizards of Once right. XD That’s something I hope they can make as beautiful as they did the first HTTYD.

[ashleybenlove]

“Besides--she displayed a flash of amusement--it’s not as if dragons mate for life.”

Noice.

Also: [glares at Dean DeBlois in THW disappointment]

[bitchin-tubs]

Not really finished but I thought it was funny

[frostyviking]

how does httyd3 manage to be really pretty and really ugly at the same time

[shilohs-things]

I wish the Light Fury was at least semi-aquatic.

When I first saw the images of her design, the long fin on her back made me think she was. She looked like a beluga whale. Her skin was smooth, wings and tail streamlined, perfect for swimming through the water.

I thought she was an aquatic dragon.

She was not.

Provoked by my sister, I recently began wondering just what the Light Fury would be like if we saw her in the water. I imagined Toothless hearing her call and following it.

He gets to the shoreline of a small pond (think of the one in the cove from the first movie) just in time to see the Light Fury's tail slap the water as she dives under.

He sticks his head under the water, trying to find the creature he just saw. But it's very dark; the Light Fury has practically disappeared. He lifts his head, taking a cautious look around, and then jumps into the water.

And then the creature returns. She's a stark contrast to the darkness of the water. Her scales glimmer as she swims around Toothless at lightning speeds; he tries to turn his body to find her, but she's too fast.

Until she comes up right in front of him, and they get a good glimpse of each other for the first time.

I imagine Light Furies in the Hidden World swimming in the moon pools where we see those manta ray dragons.

I wish we saw this in the movie. It would have given her more personality, as well as made her species more interesting.

Tagging for opinions:

@chaifootsteps

@nightfury-2001

[10blue10]

So about the Deathgrippers

Grimmel uses them to carry his quadcopter thing, and to attack the riders twice...but he doesn’t order them to take down that Rumblehorn...or to help capture Toothless and the Light Fury (not that he needed help with that 🙄).  It just seems odd because I thought the whole point of him having them was to help him capture and kill other dragons. Also, why did they need to be mind controlled? They don’t even act drugged. If Grimmel was supposed to be a dark foil to Hiccup, why not just tell us that he trained them but in a cruel way.  Hiccup uses positive reinforcement, trust and the Power of Friendship™️.  Grimmel uses negative reinforcement, fear and Pavlovian Conditioning™️.