#if you think i've overreacted i think you need to reconsider yourself and understand how much crap i've gotten

[peachdoxie]

Alright @smidvargandthegang, this is a callout post for you and for the dozens of other people who have complained about my response to the news of the Light Fury in HTTYD 3. 

But in particular, I’m going to call out your comment about how we don’t trust DreamWorks because that’s just a shitty thing to say.

If you want the truth, no, I don’t trust DreamWorks mainly because “DreamWorks” isn’t a singular entity with a definitive goal towards creative endeavors. DreamWorks is a company made up of hundreds of individuals who have their own ideas about how things should go. In one movie, there’s a director (sometimes two), producer, executive producer, assistant producers, creative directors, screenwriters, storyboarders, editors, sound editors, lighters, and character designers, to name some major contributors off the top of my head. And that’s only people who are involved in the production of the movie. There are also marketers, franchisers, and studio executives. Some of these people have more sway than others, and while there is agreement among people involved about how the film should go, there is a lot of disagreement as well. 

And right now, we’re in unchartered territory when it comes to how the studio will treat How to Train Your Dragon 3. NBC Universal bought DreamWorks in 2016 and though DreamWorks will maintain its own brand and some creative control, it will now be overseen by Chris Meledandri, the founder of Illumination, NBC’s animation department. In case you’re unaware of this, Illumination is the studio that gave us the Minions, as well as the Lorax (remember the Onceler?) and Secret Life of Pets, which was a pile of garbage. While Despicable Me was decent (I didn’t see the sequel or “Sing”, but from what I know they were good but not stellar), Illumination doesn’t have the best track record for producing great films, but rather for overcommodifying popular franchises. Before being bought by NBC, DreamWorks did the same, but at least they had many very good films to back them up.

I’d say I have fairly good reason to have worries about How to Train Your Dragon 3. Oh wait, sorry, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. I’ve already spoken about this, but the title breaking the pattern of the previous two doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in me. While I can attribute this to the marketers or studio execs and not people directly involved in filmmaking, it’s still worrying because it’s just not a good decision, which is agreed upon almost unanimously by fellow fans I’ve spoken to. We don’t like it. And since they’ve already broken with one major pattern regarding the film (a title is like, super important to the image of a film, especially this early), it sets a precedent that other major patterns of quality may be broken as well. 

Then, we have the news about the Light Fury. Man, how many ways could that go wrong? A lot, if my bingo speculation is any indication. Or this post, for a little bit of discussion. Or this one. I know that a lot of us are reminded of Angel from the Lilo and Stitch TV show, who was basically Stitch but lighter colored and very seductive, for a show aimed at kids. It’s probably because the people who originally made Lilo and Stitch, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, also directed the first HTTYD movie. While Chris Sanders is no longer involved in HTTYD and was the one who worked on the TV show, the similarities between Stitch and Toothless, at least for me, automatically made me think of the addition of Angel and how that same situation might happen in HTTYD 3. 

Which brings me to another point I want to make about this. At least for me, and I suspect for others, a lot of my reaction is predominantly an anxiety response. I’m freaking terrified that How to Train Your Dragon 3 might be bad! To tell the truth, I’ve been afraid ever since they announced that Toothless would be getting a mate in HTTYD 3, and it’s only gotten worse since the title was announced because of the direction it’s pointing. And now, we have this Light Fury business. It’s terrifying to think that a trilogy I have so much emotional investment in might let me down by falling into patterns of cliches. My “trust” in DreamWorks has absolutely nothing to do with that. I’ve said this multiple times already, but anxiety overrides logic. Especially when we don’t know anything. There’s a reason that Nothing is Scarier is such a common trope. There’s a reason suspense is such a huge and profitable genre in horror films. Very few things are more terrifying than the unknown, from an existential standpoint. We don’t know what is going to happen. This means that minds begin to wander, particularly for people with anxiety or paranoia issues, and when minds wander, things often go to the worst place possible. I know that this is something I tend to do, which is why I was so angry when an anon spoiled Stoick’s death for me because I began to speculate about how it could happen and how that might ruin the enjoyment of the movie for me. The same thing is now happening with HTTYD 3 and will likely continue until we have a trailer to give us some indication of what direction the movie will take.

Also, It’s really shitty to say that I don’t “trust” DreamWorks just because I made a bingo sheet of things that could go wrong in HTTYD 3. Heck, there’s nothing inherently wrong with not trusting DreamWorks, even if it were logical to trust an entire studio (whose track record isn’t exactly top notch, mind you). You and others are basically calling me a bad fan of DreamWorks and the HTTYD franchise just because I’m expressing my fears for the third film. Which I am allowed to do, by the way, just to @all of the people who have told me to “let it go” or “stop complaining.” I’m allowed to express my fears in the ways that work for me, and to be honest, I think I’m fairly justified in having those fears. I’ve mostly been processing my anxiety through jokes and such, like this bingo sheet, which is mostly facetious anyway. It’s rude to tell me that I and others are not allowed to be worried about something we love. 

I am allowed to be worried. I am allowed to express my worries on my personal tumblr. I am allowed to criticize things that I like. This does not automatically mean that I do not “trust” the studio making this film. This does not make me a “bad” fan. And I ask that you and all others who read this take a moment to think about your own response to my response and wonder why you feel the need to shut me down and tell me to shut up.

If you don’t like what I have to say about How to Train Your Dragon 3, unfollow me. Block me. I do not give a crap anymore.