Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be endlessly fascinating.

2010’s How to Train Your Dragon was something of a surprise hit, making almost half a billion dollars at the box office and getting a couple of Oscar nominations, so a sequel was inevitable (especially when you consider the success of the TV show spinoff).  The first film, very very loosely inspired by the book series by Cressida Cowell, was a fun, funny beautifully animated film, whose plot may not have been overly interesting but which had a firm anchor in the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless.  The new trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2, highlights that relationship, while trying to amp up the story and show off the visuals.  Take a look below and read on for my thoughts:

The trailer opens as it should, with Hiccup and Toothless.  Hiccup is trying to teach Toothless how to fly better, but Toothless is having none of it.

Watchu talkin ’bout, Willis?

Not interested

Their relationship seems to be just like it was when we last saw them, full of loving antagonism.  Toothless doesn’t seem to have changed a bit, but Hiccup has grown up noticeably, and is now sporting at least 80% more stubble than when we last saw him:

I imagine Tumblr is loving the new look. I wonder what this will do to the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons fandom.

We get reintroduced to Berk, the viking village that Hiccup calls home.  I have to say that the animation here looks gorgeous.  Berk looks far richer than it did in the first film.

So pretty…

We get the same clip that we got in the teaser trailer, of Hiccup and Toothless falling before Hiccup opens a flying squirrel-style suit and glides beside them.  It also happens to include my favorite shot of Toothless’ expressiveness.

Love it.

The trailer then delves into the story, which involves some mysterious characters with powers over dragons.  One of whom turns out to be Hiccup’s mother!  I don’t exactly remember what we were told about his mother in the first film, but I always assumed she was dead (though she isn’t in the books).  Still, this seems like a setup for a lot of drama for Hiccup.

And then this happened.  I’m not sure exactly what’s going on with Toothless and this other dragon (Toothless’ mother maybe?), but it’s adorable.

Adorable

It looks like the action quota will be seriously increased as we get shots of swirling dragons, plus what looks like a battle!  It’s too soon to say for sure what’s going on here, but it looks like someone is capturing dragons, and Hiccup and company are trying to stop them.  Whether this is part of some war between the vikings and another group or is some plot involving the dragons I can’t say.  But it’s impressive to watch.

Is that a Chain Chomp from Super Mario?

Astrid is back, looking like she’s definitely in a relationship with Hiccup, as she’s seen giving him some advice.

But the trailer ends up right back where it started, with Hiccup and Toothless, which is as it should be.  There’s a tendency in sequels to lose sight of the heart of your story, and if the trailer is any indication, the relationship between the young man and his dragon is still right at the front of the film.  While I enjoyed the first film a lot (despite being a little shocked at how far it deviated from the books), I was a bit unsure about the prospect of a sequel, especially after Chris Sanders stepped back to a producing role in order to focus on The Croods.  But this trailer has gone a long way toward winning me over, and now I’m definitely looking forward to How to Train Your Dragon 2.

What do you think?  Did you enjoy the first film?  Are you looking forward to How To Train Your Dragon 2?  Do you wish it had some sort of catchy subtitle that would take two lines to type out?  Are you glad all of the voice cast is returning?  What do you think about the improvements to the animation?  Let me know in the comments!