Gift of the Night Fury

Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury
Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury
	DVD cover
Directed by	Tom Owens
Written by	Adam F. Goldberg
Based on	How to Train Your Dragon; by Cressida Cowell; Characters; by Will Davies; Chris Sanders; Dean DeBlois;
Produced by	Dean DeBlois (Executive); Kate Spencer
Starring	Jay Baruchel; America Ferrera; Gerard Butler; Craig Ferguson; Jonah Hill; Christopher Mintz-Plasse; Kristen Wiig; T. J. Miller
Edited by	John K. Carr
Music by	Dominic Lewis; John Powell;
Production; company	DreamWorks Animation
Distributed by	Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date	November 15, 2011;
Running time	22 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury is a 2011 American animated Christmas short film by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Tom Owens. It was released on November 15, 2011, on DVD and Blu-ray, along with another original animated short film Book of Dragons.^[2]

Based on the 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon, in-turn loosely inspired by the 2003 novel of the same name, the short takes place in the middle of preparing for the Viking winter holiday.^[3] After all dragons inexplicably fly away, the last one of them unwittingly kidnaps Hiccup. Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse all reprise their roles from the original film.

Plot

Right before Berk's traditional winter holiday of Snoggletog, all the dragons of Berk unexpectedly depart, leaving everyone distraught – except for Toothless, who cannot fly by himself. Out of compassion, Hiccup builds him a new automatic tailfin allowing him independent flight, thus gifting him his freedom; he then flies off too.

Three days later, Meatlug, Fishlegs' dragon whom he had secretly kept chained, escapes, inadvertently taking Hiccup with her. Meatlug takes him to an island with hot springs, where all the dragons (except Toothless, who is nowhere to be found) have been hatching their eggs. Meanwhile, on Berk, Astrid and the other teens discover dragon eggs in Meatlug's nest, which they scatter around Berk in hopes of lifting the villagers' spirits; this plan backfires, because dragon eggs hatch explosively (normally underwater). Berk is severely damaged in the process, leaving Stoick alarmed.

On the dragons' island, Hiccup found Stormfly (Astrid's dragon) and Hookfang (Snotlout's dragon) and their newly hatched babies; in asking for a ride home, he inadvertently triggers the dragons' return migration. He quickly decides to use a nearby wrecked ship to carry the baby dragons, who cannot yet fly as far as Berk. The Berkians are overjoyed at their dragons' return and the new babies, though Hiccup is still distraught at Toothless' absence. During the ensuing Snoggletog celebration, Toothless returns with Hiccup's lost helmet, which he had dropped into the sea earlier; the two enjoy a heartfelt reunion.

The next morning, Toothless discards his new tail, begging Hiccup to put the old tailfin on him and fly with him by controlling his fin manually as opposed to passively riding him; in doing so, he gives Hiccup a "better gift" – his friendship and companionship.^{[N 1]}

Voice cast

Jay Baruchel as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
America Ferrera as Astrid Hofferson
Gerard Butler as Stoick the Vast
Craig Ferguson as Gobber the Belch
Jonah Hill as Snotlout Jorgenson
Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs Ingerman
Kristen Wiig as Ruffnut Thorston
T.J. Miller as Tuffnut Thorston

Home media

Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury was released on Blu-ray and DVD on November 15, 2011, along with Book of Dragons. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD as part of the DreamWorks Holiday Classics. It was re-released on DVD on October 1, 2013, along with Shrek the Halls, Merry Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda Holiday, and The Croods. The short was released again on Blu-ray and DVD on October 15, 2019, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, this time as part of the DreamWorks Ultimate Holiday Collection set.

Notes

^ Hiccup would later build another automatic tailfin for Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019).

References

^ Smith, Matthew (September 7, 2011). "Dreamworks Dragons Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
^ "How to Train Your Dragon Continues On DVD". DreamWorks Animation via ComingSoon.net. September 7, 2011. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 118. ISBN 9781476672939.

External links

[4] Hiccup would later build another automatic tailfin for Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019).

[blu-ray-1] Smith, Matthew (September 7, 2011). "Dreamworks Dragons Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved September 7, 2011.

[dragons-2] "How to Train Your Dragon Continues On DVD". DreamWorks Animation via ComingSoon.net. September 7, 2011. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2011.

[3] Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 118. ISBN 9781476672939.

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