
Man (uncredited)

As the son of a Viking leader on the cusp of manhood, shy Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III faces a rite of passage: he must kill a dragon to prove his warrior mettle. But after downing a feared dragon, he realizes that he no longer wants to destroy it, and instead befriends the beast – which he names Toothless – much to the chagrin of his warrior father.

An impressive parable where the artist’s creativity is paralyzed by the dull crowd can be seen as a metaphor for a totalitarian system. Cleverly designed animation shows the artist as a tied man whose creativity is hindered by the crowd. A visually attractive film with very interesting editing won an award at the Annecy festival in 1983.