If you haven NOT watched the movie 'How To Train Your Dragon', you most probably do not know what I am going to tell you and if you have watched it, you, most probably, do NOT know what I am going to tell you.

According to IMDB, in 'How To Train Your Dragon' -

Long ago up North on the Island of Berk, the young Viking, Hiccup, wants to join his town's fight against the dragons that continually raid their town. However, his macho father and village leader, Stoik the Vast, will not allow his small, clumsy, but inventive son to do so. Regardless, Hiccup ventures out into battle and downs a mysterious Night Fury dragon with his invention, but can't bring himself to kill it. Instead, Hiccup and the dragon, whom he dubs Toothless, begin a friendship that would open up both their worlds as the observant boy learns that his people have misjudged the species. But even as the two each take flight in their own way, they find that they must fight the destructive ignorance plaguing their world. 

I have a rather simple one liner version-

It's a story of a young kid and of how he trains a dragon! Sounds scary, daring and tough task - training a dragon? We will discover that in coming paragraphs here -


This movie takes you into a vikings world, also populated with equal number of dragons! I will not be discussing what happens next scene by scene, dialogue by dialogue -because that part is easily available everywhere.We will however be unraveling five secret, hidden lessons in this movie as we watch here in five scenes -

Opening Scene -

Hiccup: This is Berk, my village. We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of sunsets. The only problems are the pests. While most places have the mice, or the mosquitoes, we have - dragons!

Scene A) 

Hiccup, who is the hero of the movie, a little, fragile viking kid, wants to hit a dragon for 2 reasons -

1) Killing a dragon was everything for a young viking. He thought he might even get a date (young little Astrid  who is the heroine of the movie). This will make his life infinitely better!

2) He wants to kill Night Fury, the toughest dragon because nobody has ever killed one. "That's why I am going to be the first" - thinks Hiccup!

"Not failure, but low aim, is crime." -James Russell Lowell

Lesson 1 -Set Your Goals High!


Scene B) 

Whenever Hiccup tries to kill a dragon, disaster follows. He ends up destroying the whole village in his useless attempts to killing a dragon. But Hiccup doesn't quit! After one of his several other failure attempts, when his friends pass on criticism, the answer that Hiccup gives them -

"Thank you, thank you - I was trying!"

Lesson 2 -Criticism is not always bad. It you're receiving it, it shows you were actually trying. Take your criticism positively!

Scene C)

For his whole life, Hiccup believed that he was a true viking whose sole aim in life was to kill a dragon. Even when he didn't enjoy the idea of killing a dragon, he always wanted to kill one. For the same stupid reasons - do something because you're expected to do that; because everyone else is doing that; because nothing different has ever been done by anybody..

But then, one day his father's friend gives him a lesson which changes his life -

Lesson 3- Don't try to be so hard, which you're not!

Scene D) 

Hiccup targets the Night Fury and becomes successful in trapping him in his net. When he goes near him, he couldn't kill him. Despite all the past rules, prejudices, fear, Hiccup makes the Night Fury his friend! In the journey of his friendship with Night Fury, Hiccup discovers altogether different aspects of the dragons, something which has remained undiscovered by any viking so far.

Lesson 4- Break the rules! Reach out to the Night Fury of your life - your biggest enemy or fear or whatever it is! Talk to them, make them your friends and turn the things to your side.


Scene E) 

Hiccup, from the the help of  his friend night fury, discovers that the actual enemy was not the dragons who used to attack Berk. There was a master dragon and all the other small dragons were only his puppets. The key here is that what appears is not true always. This helps them -

Lesson 5- go to the root of the problem and solve it. 

Closing Scene-

This is Berk, my village. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless. The people who grow here are even more so. The only upsides are the pets. While other places have ponies or parrots - we have Dragons!