The Dragon Whisperer

I have a cat. His name is Sam. Sam looks like the dragon in this movie. Now before we go any further, I will admit, that I cried during this film. Not copious amounts, but really for a woman to become weepy because her cat looks like a cartoon dragon, I realize that I may not be entirely normal.
That being said (or written), I really enjoyed this film. The animation was great and the writing was fantastic. As I would tell my father...it was a sweet film. He would always answer - how can a film be sweet, it's not dessert - ahhh, Daddy, you give up too easily. This was a bright, funny and creative animated film from Dreamworks which gives us an interesting take on the Vikings and their creatures of torment...dragons.
Hiccup, voiced by Jay Baruchel, is a small viking, the son of the village leader and trying desperately to be taken seriously by his father in warrior viking ways, he ends up injuring a dragon, not just any dragon, but the most feared of all the dragons. Hiccup ends up learning a lot from his dragon friend and ends up teaching him a thing or two as well. It reminded me of the man that Oprah had on her show...this guy that can figure out how to deal with dogs and they call him the Dog Whisperer...For me, Hiccup was the Dragon Whisperer.
One of my favorite parts of this movie is how Jay voiced his character. His voice has a sweetness (yes, I wrote that, Daddy) to it which brings out some fantastic comedic timing and definite leading man material. I really enjoyed listening to him bring the teenager out of Hiccup in a very real, but tender way. As the mother of a teenage boy, I really appreciated that.
Gerald Butler voices Hiccup's father, Stoick and also has a loving way of maneuvering through the script. I understand that the 300 star isn't married or has children, but he was able to bring out the concerns, worry and frustration that having children, particularly teenagers can bring out in their parents. Oy!
The other characters were voiced by the talented America Ferrera, Kristin Wiig, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Jonah Hill to name just a few. They were all great. It's a lot more fun to go to the movies, when you have a decent storyline. I find that too often animated films get thrown together and aren't creative or witty or fun to watch. This movie was an animated action film...it was quick witted, interesting and as in all animated films, it's not too difficult to figure out the ending in the first 10 minutes or so. The trick with a decent animated film, is the manner of which the filmmakers develop the storyline in order to keep you focused and interested from start to finish. Can you enjoy the ride to the end?
Take your kids to see this film. It's worth the ticket price. My kids ended up seeing it without me, but I made my hubby take me later on that same weekend. I think that when we saw it, there were more adults than children in the theatre. I thought that this was hilarious. That is until one of the little boys turned around and asked me if I needed a tissue...apparently I was a little too emotional about the cat/oops, I mean the dragon.