How to Train Your Dragon – Good for Kids?
Is "How to Train Your Dragon" good for kids?
Obviously, the short answer is that it depends on how old the children are, and how well they respond to startling scenes.
I saw the movie with my 4-year-old daughter and my 7-year-old son. Neither had nightmares, although there were scenes where my daughter had to cover her eyes.
Hello! It's got DRAGONS! There are going to be scary moments. There are quite a few times when a mouth full of teeth comes chomping down a mere inches from one of the characters. That, accompanies with suspenseful music and rumbling, roaring sound effects, will startle anyone, even the adults.
So, to answer the main question of "is it good for kids", there are two answers: "Yes", the storyline and morals are generally good for kids, and "Maybe" because of the scare factor, although most children should be able to handle it by far.
There are good morals in the story: being who you are, not caving to peer pressure, accepting others in spite of differences, avoiding "pre-judging" others (in this case, the dragons). And it is refreshing to see a parent apologize in this movie (the Dad apologizes for rejecting his son's ways earlier in the movie).
There are several points that might be worth discussing with your children. The biggest one that I would deal with in my family is "secret-keeping". We have a "no-secrets" policy in our house. So, when Hiccup (the main boy in the story) decides to keep his relationship with the dragon a secret from his Dad, that is something we discuss. (How might he have handled it differently?)
All that stuff aside, the movie is so good, if you don't have kids, you should still go see it!
US $5.99
