This is "How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming", an animated short film by Dreamworks that premiered less than two weeks ago, in early December 2019 and this one is nominated for three Annie Awards (the animation Oscars). The title makes it very obvious that once again you are back into the world of the successful How to Train Your Dragon franchise, which I found initially pretty surprising because therd installment seemed like such massive closeure to it all. Guess you never know and they made short films before this one, so here is another. The director is Tim Johnson and while he may not have much of a connection to said franchise, he has been pretty prolific and successful in terms of animated films for quite a while. This is one of two HTTYD short films he was in charge of, definitely the one with the much better reception. And I also think it was a success. As for the basics, I liked the first film, loved the sequel, but was really disappointed by the third film. With this one here, it is a return to quality and there is never really a weak moment. Maybe real greatness is also not really achieved, but unless you really dislike the franchise, you will probably have a fun time too watching these slightly over 20 minutes.

It delivers in terms of both comedy and heart. Comedy has some running gags about the main character getting hit by applications his kids installed and one character maybe still appreciating Stoick a tad too much. As for the heart, it was challenging to get vikings and dragons together again with what the third film told us and how the franchise ended. But I think they found a nice way. Basically the key probleme here is that the way humans think of dragons is not entirely positive anymore because they never really met them and still read old books about how they were scary and evil. So it is up to Hiccup to show his kids, especially his daughter, that dragons are kind and caring and close friends. It only partially works out with a stage play they initiate, but eventually Toothless show up and does the rest and Hiccup's daughter is really fond of dragons from this moment on having seen one live. And everybody else too, even if they did not get the same experience. The reason toothless was there is because the tables are somewhat turned as well and his children also want to see what humans are like. I mean if they mannage to fly there this easily and quickly, then perhaps it will be a really difficult challenge to keep them apart in the long run. But let us not nit-pick here. I must say the mix of colors these little dragons had, the dark from Toothless and the white from their mother was really very nicely done. In general, visually there is absolutely nothing wrong with this movie and it looks as good as the theatrical releases. I think I personally like it a lot that they made this film because like I said I did not like the third film and so this is better closure for me really. If it is the final chapter, that is. We will see. Anyway, all in all I give this one a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out, but yeah like I said if you consider watching, it is almost essential that you have seen the three films before that (not the other short films) because that way you are simply in the story right away and also understand references like when Hiccup talks about how he touched Toothless for the first time. And also to see what a nice tribute to Stoick it actually is. Hiccup's mother does not show up here, it is really much more about the events from film 1, maybe film 3 too, but film 2 not really. That's all. Go see it and even if this may be a release for the holidays and it is also set during times of snow, this is not a major factor here and you can also watch it in summer if you want. It's fun during every season.

It's a sweet Christmas special about the value of loved ones, though I don't think it was really necessary. When I first heard about this, I was like "Wow, that came out of nowhere. More How to Train Your Dragons" and don't get me wrong, I like this franchise but I feel that it ended perfectly so I felt this special was unnecessary.

Another thing I don't like about this special's place in the timeline is because apparently, this takes place before the very last scene of the film. Which is confusing because as you can see in the epilogue, the kids were taking their time trying to warm up to the dragons so why are they all of a sudden afraid of dragons again? Even if this did take place before they met Toothless in the epilogue, it still wouldn't make sense if they started like dragons here but then are afraid of dragons again in the epilogue.

But enough of that, let's get to the special. This short tells the story of how Hiccup misses Toothless but his daughter, Zephyr is not believing in the town's fondness for dragons due to never have seen a dragon before, only seeing them as vicious creatures in books. So, Hiccup decides to set up a play that tells the story of how he met dragons when he was younger and to show that they really are friendly.

Now that we know what the kids are like, I like Nuffink the best. Zephyr is okay, though occasionally a bit too sassy and cynical for me but like I said, she hasn't seen a dragon so it makes sense. Nuffink is a fun guy and always happy and excited.

The night lights, unfortunately like the light fury are flat. They just do a lot of banter and are curious about Berk but we don't really know them beyond that and their personalities aren't distinctive from each other. Which is really disappointing because there seems to be some symbolism between the dragon family and the viking family of Hiccup, Astrid and their two kids and only the human kids had personalities but the dragons didn't so there's no dynamic here.

Again, the story is sweet. The special is decent as a whole but nothing to write home about and won't go down as being one of the best of the franchise.

It's New Berg at Snoogletog. It's ten years since humans and dragons have agreed to live apart. Hiccup and Astrid are shocked when their daughter Zephyr reveals her anti-dragon sentiments after reading her grandfather's old book. Hiccup decides to hold a dragon friendly festival by re-enacting his first contact with Toothless. This is a Christmas special coming after the third How to Train Your Dragon movie. This is a fun under-the-radar franchise and this continues its good works. It hits on a good theme and continues the story onwards.