ABOUT THIS EPISODE
How to Train Your Dragon is only the latest piece in a cultural puzzle that dates back thousands of years. How realistic are dragons, anyway?
“While other places have ponies or parrots, we have…dragons.”
When you think of modern day animated classics, the first projects that people tend to think of are the titans of Disney/Pixar. But under no circumstances should you sleep on the brilliant people at Dreamworks Animation who have their own share of legitimate masterpieces in the form of the Shrek franchise, last year’s brilliant The Wild Robot, and the endlessly impressive How to Train Your Dragon franchise. And when it comes to the central concept of that franchise, dragons, well…the folks at Dreamworks have done it about as well as anybody ever has!
Think about it. The use of dragons in storytelling far transcends the “pop culture” label. Forget movies, TV, and animation, there’s literature, mythology, and something in our collective unconscious that compels us to keep returning to the familiar imagery associated with them. While we usually associate dragons with a particularly European flavor of fantasy, if you pick any culture or society, you’ll probably find a dragon myth or story. That’s how pervasive they are.
Not only that, but they’re timeless! Some of the biggest franchises of not just the last century, but this century, prominently feature dragons. Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, Game of Thrones, and yes, How to Train Your Dragon are proof that some old-fashioned concepts never really go out of style. Is it possible that with a slight evolutionary shift we could have ended up with dragons crowding our skies? And why IS the dragon concept so universal, anyway?
All this and more in the latest episode of Does it Fly? right here…
https://youtu.be/Ww84E8udLrA
SUGGESTED VIEWING
We based much of our discussion in this episode on the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, specifically How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. We hadn’t seen the live action remake that’s currently in theaters at the time of recording.
But while we have your attention, we’d like to direct you to a nearly forgotten piece of dragon-related media. 1981’s Dragonslayer is a remarkably dark piece of fantasy from a forgotten period where Disney was experimenting with more adult themes in its work. It’s not quite Game of Thrones but there’s plenty of gore and some sexy themes that you wouldn’t expect. It’s also the rare dragon flick that’s genuinely scary at times!
FURTHER READING
Do you want to delve a little deeper into the facts, concepts, and stories Hakeem and Tamara referenced in today’s episode? Of course you do!
Flying Reptiles?!?
While it’s natural to think in terms of the pterodactyl when thinking of real world parallels to dragons, those weren’t the only flying reptiles of that long ago age. But you might also want to consider a reptile that is still flying around today, the Draco lizard, when you wonder how dragons might eventually evolve. As long as they have hollow bones….
Convergent Evolution and Evolutionary Bottlenecks
Hakeem takes us on quite a journey as he tries to explain the processes by which dragons could have evolved. But two fo the key concepts involve evolutionary bottlenecks (which likely influenced human development) and the concept of convergent evolution, which would help explain why dragons were to develop very specific and distinctive traits (check out a bunch of real world examples right here).
But What About Fire-Breathing?
You might think that a fire-breathing dragon is far-fetched, but we’d like to remind you of the existence of the electric eel, the bombardier beetle, and the spitting cobra, all of which have distinctive self defense mechanisms that are pretty alien to humans. So the idea that a dragon could contain methanogens in its gut that provide the fuel for a fire might not be that far-fetched after all!
Read the Books!
A quick reminder that the How to Train Your Dragon movies were based on a book series by Cressida Cowell. Check ‘em out!
“We have wonder…”
That lovely quote from Dean Deblois that Tamara found comes from the documentary special feature, Where No One Goes: The Making of How to Train Your Dragon 2, which covers a lot more ground than just that second movie!
The Hero’s Journey
As Tamara points out, if you haven’t read Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, that will unlock so many touchpoints in the stories you love that you won’t look at your favorite franchise the same way again!
WANT MORE FROM DOES IT FLY?
For some of our other takes on excellent modern animation, check out our episodes on The Incredibles and Big Hero 6!
Need more Does it Fly? fantasy deep dives in your life? We’ve examined The Witcher and Lord of the Rings in previous episodes!
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