In the midst of the epic score for Hiccup, Toothless and Berk is also the thread of romance throughout the How to Train Your Dragon Trilogy. Astrid and Hiccup's theme carries throughout all three films in different variations but there is also a theme for Hiccup's parents in film 2 based on a song they sing together, as well as the most romantic themes saved for the love story of Toothless and the Lightfury in film 3. We also look at the similarities of the music for romance as well as flying and even visit a little bit of Superman by John Williams to compare the few moments where those two ideas are combined. While it's a bit past Valentine's Day, I hope you enjoy these themes of burgeoning and deepening relationships.

Anybody who has heard the soundtrack for How To Train Your Dragon will admit that it just a lot of fun to listen to. Part of that lies in the Celtic nature of the music both instrument wise as well as the imitation of the melodies and rhythmic structure. This episode focuses on the sounds and music of Berk that helps to set the world as a Viking clan - both the fun and adventurous side as well as the warrior side. At times, it also reflects the various leaders such as Hiccup, Stoick, Astrid who embody the good and the bad at times but overall have a fierce love of their people and eventually the dragons that they protect. This also includes "The Village Hymn" from the third movie which is a newer theme for Berk and its leaders, covering a range of emotions especially for Hiccup and Astrid's relationship as the leaders of Berk.

Welcome to the episode that took the longest journey to get finished. I began writing this back in January but between two interviews, a trip to England, creating the Soundtrack class curriculum on top of work, this took a back seat for a while. This episode focuses on themes specifically for Hiccup's journey over the three animated movies often related to his fate, his destiny, dreams, losing and finding those closest to him. In many ways, they come down to his relationship with dragons and the village of Berk, seen most closely through Toothless and his parents. He dreams big and leads by his example. Ironically, the theme in the first film was mostly taken out of the live-action version since it didn't quite fit. But that's a discussion for another time...
Enjoy!

Happy New Year! I'm excited to be starting a new series focusing on the trilogy of animated movies: How to Train Your Dragon. A few years ago, I gave a few Zoom classes on three animated movies/series including HTTYD so it was lovely to revisit the series and all the great themes by John Powell. It's also fun to visit these movies with a live-action version coming out in June.
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This episode is about the main themes of friendship: One for Hiccup which is actually made of two different parts and a motif for Toothless. As their relationships form from animosity to best friends, the music changes and evolves over the series. I do cover everything chronologically so if have only seen the first movie, you can stop part-way through to avoid spoilers!

One new thing I have tried with this episode is speaking over some of the music because some of the music cues are really long, such as Forbidden Friendship. I am very curious to know whether you like that or not, so feel free to let me know!