How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming

Movie would be better than a short film. Looking forward to it.

Even though "How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming" may feel unnecessary - it's still a nice addition to the beloved franchise and giving us this time the final goodbye to the characters that we've known for almost ten years. It's even great that they brought back Jay Baruchel and America Ferrera to voice Hiccup and Astrid for one last time, because this short would not work without them. Even with it's flaws - it's a very enjoyable holiday special that everyone, including families will have fun while watching it. I'm giving "How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming" a 6.3/10.

This is the second Christmas special for the franchise. In my opinion, it's quite inferior to its predecessor from eight years ago, "Gift of the Night Fury." Neither was scripted by Dean DeBlois, the man behind the three movies, but this one was unnecessary and brought nothing new to the story. Worst of all is that there's poor continuity between this and the epilogue of the final movie. The children's reactions are completely different, as was Toothless's. This lack of consistency made it difficult to reconcile this in the same universe. Watch this only if you're a completist superfan of the franchise. Despite enjoying all three movies, most of the specials and some of the TV episodes, I won't be watching it again myself.

I didn't pay attention when I got this movie to view, we had enjoyed the various "HTTYD" movies and expected this one to be another one. Nope! It is a 22 minute short, I suppose a holiday special. While it has its own charm I can't really compare it to a feature length movie. Even the animation detail seems inferior, although that just might be an impression. Overall I'd say watch it if it comes on free TV but don't pay to see it, not good enough.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library. So it was free.

My family loves the HTTYD series! We were all so excited to learn that we would get more of Toothless, Hiccup, and Co. We loved how the characters bond remained strong even over long distances and time. There are people that will always leave an impression on our hearts and this was a good reminder of that. We have made a promise to reach out to those who have touched our hearts this holiday season. This is a fun dive back into the characters that will leave you remembering why you love HTTYD so much.