Dragons: I paladini di Berk

I'm a huge fan of How to Train Your Dragon. In fact I would rate it as my favorite animated movie, even more so than anything Pixar can come up with. I love the feeling of magic it gave me, and the interesting characters and setting. So of course I was worried about Dragons, considering the show for Kung Fu Panda was disappointing. I expected the same amount of great character development and heart touching story lines from Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesome, but didn't get those. I was expecting Dragons to suffer the same fate, and I was wrong. Right away, I notice that the animation quality is just better than other Dreamworks animated shows. then there's the plot. No little 15 minute stories here, instead we get 30 minute plots that show a problem, involve character development followed by the solution to the problem. Most of the voice actors have returns and the music sounds incredibly, so the sound quality of the show is amazing. The writing is pretty much on par with the movie as well, and the jokes are funny and witty. Its a truly great show that CN should be glad that they picked up.

This show adds a little bit of story that you could miss during the movies, they incorporate everything nicely. The art and animation is good despite it being ~10 years old. I sometimes go back and rewatch the series since the music and characters are amazing!

How to Train Your Dragon was a wonderful film, animated or otherwise, DreamWorks' best since The Prince of Egypt and one of the best animated films of the 2000s. The sequel was great and almost as good with even better animation, a darker tone and a good amount of depth to the characters, though Hiccup and Toothless' friendship was done a little better in the first(which I also preferred for its simplicity). Dragons: Riders of Berk compliments How to Train Your Dragon very well indeed and is a terrific show in its own right, though understandably not quite as good. The animation may not be as incredible as that in How to Train Your Dragon and the sequel, but that's inevitable because this is a TV show and they feature-length films. That is not knocking the animation though, because the animation still has much beauty and detail with all movements nice and smooth, and the flying sequences and action still exhilarate, Dragons: Riders of Berk is for me one of the best-looking computer-animated shows out there and it's also true to the style of that of the film. The music has parts where it's rousing and others where it's sensitive depending on the mood, it's fitting, it has a pace and most of all it's memorable. The use of some of the themes from the film was welcome too. Dragons: Riders of Berk has great writing, the show is very thoughtfully written with some jokes that are actually funny and balance well with the emotional and suspenseful parts. Like the film the show gives us plenty of time to get to know the characters and relate to them just as well as we did in the film. Hiccup and Toothless' friendship is genuinely endearing. The story lines are always easy to follow and maintain the simplicity of the tone/spirit of the film, which will please fans, the comedy doesn't feel at odds with anything else and the conflict is convincing while never getting too dark. With how the characters interact and how you really feel the friendship of Hiccup and Toothless the show definitely has heart as well. As said the characters are still engaging, I've always loved how Toothless is so lovable and touches and warms the heart without even speaking, and most of the voice actors return and do typically fine jobs, even the new voice of Stoick courtesy of Chris Noth (although Gerard Butler's voice suits the character far more). Alvin is a fun adversary with a good amount of menace about him and Mark Hamill's voice fits perfectly. All in all, terrific show, the films are a little better but compared to most animated shows now and other shows airing on Cartoon Network Dragons: Riders of Berk compares more than favourably. 9/10 Bethany Cox

DreamWorks, in its decision to make Dragons into an animated series, branched out on the plot, delving into the details of Berk from ground level. Coupled with various mini-feature specials, including 'Gift of the Night Fury' and 'Book of Dragons', the power of this show never ceases to amaze.

The excellence of the animation alone is mind-blowing. From every movement of Hiccup and the gang, to every plasma blast, spine shot and sheep "baaa" feels real enough to reach out and touch. The art of the Vikings brings a sense of reality to a fantasy story that will be remembered for decades to come.

I'm a fan of How To Train Your Dragon and was looking forward to watching this TV show with higher expectations. After I had saw a few episodes that aired on Cartoon Network, I smiled with joy, saying, "This is turning out to be an amazing show!". I understand that lots of people hated the Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness show, but I was one of the few people who liked it, in my honest opinion and considered it much more watchable for kids. With that said, this show has done well to do justice to the movie-hit back at 2010.

The episodes are well-structured with unique story lines along great character development and the concept that shows solving the situation to every problem. The writing is also pretty good with some witty and hilarious jokes that would never make you stop laughing your head off. The episodes that touched me was where Hiccup leaves Toothless at the Dragon Cove where he first met him and leaving him far away in an island from Berk in the one part-2 episode, which almost made me shed a tear. The characters are likable as ever and some of the voice actors from the original film did great voicing them with great spirit and energy while the villain named Alvin The Treacherous is amazing with some menacing voice work from Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. The music is very amusing with some of the same motifs from John Powell's original score for the first film.

Overall, Dragons: Riders of Berk is a great TV show that would leave die-hard fans of the movie dying to love it. Due to it's recommendable value, this deserves a solid thumbs up from me!