Harold et la légende du Pikpoketos

WARNING YOU MUST WATCH THE FULL LENGTH MOVIE BEFORE WATCHING THIS SHORT!!! Let me start off by saying I'M A HUGE FAN OF THE FULL LENGTH MOVIE!!! I was so excited to see a short film. The movie started out good just like the original but then when Gobber (Craig Ferguson) starts telling his stories it turns into this crappy cartoon, that looks like the Garfield cartoon. It spends 5 minutes of it in this cartoon. The cartoon's were funny but it should have been done just like the other 11 minutes of it! It was funny especially Fishlegs, he's so nerdy and voices his character perfectly! The dragon looked really good! But, this movie still had some cheesy factors that the original did not have. This short was good I just expected more out of it because the original was so good. But, it wasn't a waste of sixteen minutes.

As with so many animated films, How to Train Your Dragon created this short film I presume to go on the DVD as an extra. The plot is that the gang of children set out in search of a completely mythical dragon called the Boneknapper – a dragon only known via the highly dubious stories told by Gobber. While the main parts of the short are CGI, the stories snap into a nicely effective cartoon style which I liked as it differentiated it from the "reality" of the rest of the film. I can understand why some would see these sections as "cheap" because they clearly are less expensive to produce, but this didn't mean that this was the motivation – it worked as a device for me, not as a cost-saving.

The plot is simple and most of the laughs do come from the exaggeration in the story-telling in the cartoon sections. It isn't great but I did like the "and what came rising out of the water/volcano/ice" bits as they were out of nowhere and consistent. The rest of it comes and goes pretty quickly though and I certainly don't think the short is worth making an effort to seek out and it certainly doesn't stand up to the standard of the main film. But as a throwaway extra on a DVD? Sure, why not?

This is a wonderful little short story, which gives an in depth look at a much loved character, filled with barrels and barrels of laughs!!!!!! Its so hilarious!!!!!!!!!!

See, now this is what you get when you inject British humor into a film primarily viewed by Americans. They don't get it. I haven't laughed so hard since I last watched Monty Python or read a Douglas Adams novel (or maybe a Doctor Who episode).

This short was definitely quite outlandish and different than the feature film. And guess what! It was supposed to be! This being a short film, it allowed the filmmakers to get away with a lot more creativity and freedom than a big blockbuster would've allowed. It seems that any idea, no matter how ridiculous, that leapt to the writers mind ended up on the page. And it was damn funny, too. So get over yourself people and enjoy the ride.

I actually enjoyed these 16 minutes more than the entire theatrical film. And it was all because of The Mighty Craig Ferguson. God bless him. Watch his show. Or you're a terrorist.

This is a How to Train Your Dragon short. Gobber claims that a Boneknapper Dragon burned down his home. Nobody believes that species exists. Gobber sets off to find the elusive dragon which uses old dragon bones as armor. Hiccup and his friend join him to ensure his safety. Gobber tells them about hammerhead whales and hammerhead yaks in his previous encounters with his Boneknapper Dragon. This is good solid fun. It's absurd and funny. It fits the franchise nicely.