Dreamworks Animation returns with a "legendary" tale that brings one of the all-time fairy tale types to the screen: dragons. In the context of the story about a Viking island with an antagonistic relationship with dragons, one young teen named Hiccup rises to show them that their is a better way, but of course, that new way isn't accepted immediately... there are some hiccups along the way.

How To Train Your Dragon surpassed Monsters vs. Aliens by quite a bit (not quite catching Kung Fu Panda) and adds an additional product line to Madagascar for Dreamworks/Paramount to franchise now that Shrek has (supposedly) ridden into the sunset. But that's just about numbers, and this is about story and art. The latter is extraordinary, as you can almost believe that this is a live-action flick with real people. Some of that is the animation (consider the scene when Hiccup's hand rises to touch his first dragon or the attack on the nest) and some also should be attributed to the vocal acting of our nerd du jour, Jay Baruchel, and leading tough guy, Gerard Butler, as Hiccup's dad, Stoick the Vast.

But the story is righteous by its own merit. It's not a constant reference to other times, places, and pop culture moments. Instead, it's a significant story, of the first human in three hundred years to choose not to kill a dragon, and one of the first to ride one of these great beasts himself.

Hiccup tells his one true love, Astrid (America Ferrera), that he looked into the eyes of his friend/pet dragon, Toothless, and saw "himself," scared and alone. He's made the bond, the view with his eyes, that allows him to see with his heart and not just see what others see. That's more than superficial: Hiccup is brave in ways he can't explain (and which aren't initially accepted) and wise beyond his years, because he sees the heart of Toothless. We've had that lesson for years, as God told Samuel: "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." And it's a lesson that the Vikings finally learn about Hiccup, too.

Too many people, including his own father, have only seen Hiccup's external appearance, but he makes the decision to see more than that, to not make the same mistake. Hiccup leads because he sees that the kingdom born of man, that the way the Vikings have always thought, is not the right way, and that a better way must rise up if they are in fact going to succeed in defending their island. What follows in the context of the story is "spirit-breathed" and allows parents and kids to consider how they interact with their world, and specifically other people in their lives.

Yes, the movie is called How To Train Your Dragon, but this is really about a dog learning new tricks: the Viking culture. When Hiccup succeeds in sharing what he knows, and others learn that it is true, the eyes of the adults are opened because one youth overcame his fears and decades of poor education. If only our society could learn that lesson from a dragon....