Rebirth: Movie 01: The Flight of Dragons

***The Flight of Dragons*** is the 1st film of *Rebirth* and the 21st film of *The Wonderful World of Toons* (franchise). It is loosely based on the 2003 book of *How to Train Your Dragon* by Cressida Cowell.

## Overview

The story takes place in a mythical Viking world where Tom Cat aspires to follow his tribe's tradition of becoming a dragon slayer. After finally capturing his first dragon, a Night Fury, and with his chance at last of gaining the tribe's acceptance, he finds that he no longer wants to kill the dragon and instead befriends it, even calling him Toothless.

## Plot

The Film begins where Tune World is attacked frequently by Dragons, which take livestock, damage property and endanger lives. Over the course of seven generations, Tune World has been continuously raided by dragons of all different species, prompting a war between them and the tribe. Like every other animal in this world, Tom Cat is expected to fight and kill a dragon in order to be considered a true hero. However, he is very small of his age, and can hardly lift and use traditional Viking weapons and even has a tendency to cause accidents. Stonekeeper, who is also chief of the tribe, and tries to keep Tom indoors as often as possible.

During one particular attack on the village, while working his post in Hong Kong Phooey smithy, Tom decides to prove himself as a hero and capture a dragon using his own methods rather than standard heroic brutality. Using a bola shot from a cannon he designed and built himself, Tom is overjoyed when he hits a dragon in mid-air, thinking it's the rare and dangerous Night Fury. Having not paid attention to in the chaos, no one else in the village believes him because no one ever even saw a Night Fury, let alone brought one down. Hiccup goes to the forest at Raven Point to bring back the dragon's heart as proof to Stonekeeper. Meanwhile, Stonekeeper and Hong Kong Phooey discuss Tom's behavior, after a meeting is held in the Park, and how to make him into a proper hero. Although initially hesitant, Stonekeeper agrees to enlist Tom into Dragon Training in the hope it will toughen him up and give him survival skills before preparing to lead an expedition to take out the Dragon's Nest.

Despite being told to go home, Tom disobeys Stonekeeper and heads out to the forest. He searches for some time, but can't find where the dragon went down. Luckily, Tom finds a broken tree and churned up ground, leading him to the downed dragon which is tied up in the bola shot. He psychs himself up in preparation to cut out the dragon's heart with his belt knife, but after seeing the fear in the helpless dragon's eyes as it looks back at him, he can't bring himself to kill it. After cutting it free from the ropes, the Night Fury pounces on him and the situation is now reversed: Tom is clearly afraid and the dragon stares intently into his eyes for several moments. When it rears up, Tom cringes as he thinks it's going to kill him, but it instead roars angrily in his face before attempting to fly off into the trees. Tom attempts to walk away, but faints from the encounter.

On the first day of Dragon Training, Wally Gator, Snagglepuss and Hokey Wolf continue to mock Tom. He nearly gets killed by a Gronckle, but is saved in the nick of time by Hong Kong Phooey. As Hong Kong stows the beast away, he mentions a dragon "will always go in for the kill". Tom returns to where he found the Night Fury, wondering why it hadn't attempted to kill him. Following the path the dragon flew off to, Tom notices half of the Night Fury's tail was torn off in its crash and can't exit the small cove which it became trapped in. Attempting to finally record actual information about Night Furies, Tom drops his pencil and alerts the dragon to his presence, but the Night Fury only stares at him. Later that night, Tom reads the Dragon Manual in hopes to learn more about the creature, but it only says the Night Fury is extremely dangerous.

After barely surviving a Deadly Nadder in Dragon Training shortly afterward, Tom attempts to get closer to the Night Fury by offering a fish. The dragon's attitude, on guard after spotting his belt knife, greatly improves after Tom tosses it away in the cove pool to prove his intentions. It cautiously takes the offering of fish using its retractable teeth and regurgitates some of it to share with Hiccup. To stay on good terms, Tom takes a bite of the raw fish (now covered with dragon's drool), and is forced to swallow with some disgust as the dragon watches expectantly, and is surprised to see the dragon attempt to imitate a smile. However, his attempts to touch the Night Fury cause it to fly off to the other side of the cove. Later that same day while attempting to sleep, the Night Fury is curious Tom hasn't left and walks over to see the cat drawing an outline of the dragon's head in the dirt. Curious about the drawing, the dragon snaps off a large tree branch and attempts to do the same, making deep impressions in the ground of random scribbles to try to draw Tom's head. Tom is amazed by it and when the dragon growls when he steps on it, takes care not to stand on the drawing before finally getting close enough to the Night Fury to touch it. It still doesn't allow him to do so, but when he only holds his hand out, palm open and leaves it to the dragon to decide, it presses its nose into it.

Later that night, Tom learns from Top Cat a dragon without its wings can't fly, explaining why the Night Fury can't leave the cove. Tom attempts to get the Night Fury, which he names Toothless after the dragon's retractable teeth, to fly again through the use of an artificial tail fin. It soon becomes clear after a test run the design needs improvements and Toothless can't fly on his own. Through testing new versions of the fin, Tom learns things about dragons from experiences with Toothless. He pushes a Hideous Zippleback into its cage through learning the dragon's distaste for eel, incapacitates a Gronckle using knowledge of Toothless' love of garlic grass, or "Dragon Nip", leads a Terrible Terror into its cage by having it chase a beam of light like a cat, and incapacitates a Deadly Nadder by scratching it below the chin. The Viking adults see these feats of "subduing" dragons without actually harming them as a sign of greatness. The other Vikings teens watch in awe as Tom improves his skills, but Jerry Mouse's rivalry turns into extreme jealousy. As Tom becomes popular with his technique of incapacitating dragons rather than killing them, Jerry notices his strange behavior of leaving after every session. Stonekeeper returns from his unsuccessful attempt to find the Dragon Nest and is surprised to hear how well Tom does in Dragon Training. Shortly after, Tom perfects his design of the prosthetic fin and helps Toothless take a successful flight around the island. After taking a lunch break with several wild Terrible Terrors, Tom realizes everything his friends know about dragons is wrong.

Stonekeeper sees Tom and tells about his surprise of him succeeding in dragon training. Stonekeeper gives Tom a badge as a reward. In the arena, Jerry loses out on the right to kill their first dragon in the final test: a Monstrous Nightmare. An angry Jerry follows Tom to the small cove where he plans to leave Berk with Toothless to avoid taking part in his final exam. While he interrogates Tom about his skills, Toothless, thinking Jerry is a threat, attempts to attack him and subsequently exposes Tom's relationship with the dragon. In an attempt to keep Toothless a secret, Toothless pulls Jerry onto the top of a tree, and Tom offers him a ride on the dragon's back to show him he means no harm. Jerry reluctantly accepts Tom's offer, but a cautious and annoyed Toothless fakes extreme attempts to throw him off. After Jerry admits he's sorry for what he tried to do, Toothless stops his acrobatics and takes them on a calming best friend flight above the clouds. Jerry's view on dragons is changed and he comes to think Toothless is amazing.

Tom and Jerry are both surprised when Toothless changes course and flies alongside other dragons that carry food to their Nest. Toothless follows them and hides as Tom and Jerry discover the dragons aren't eating their kill themselves. Instead, they feed it to Muttley. The dragons are forced to feed him with what they steal from Berk or else they will be eaten by it instead, as proven with an unlucky Gronckle and a Hideous Zippleback.

After they escape the Nest and return home, Jerry wants to tell Stonekeeper and the village about the Nest, but Tom is adamant that he does not do so, otherwise they would kill Toothless. Shocked, he asks in disbelief if he would go that far to "protect his dragon friend". Unlike the uncertain and hesitant Tom he's always known, Tom looks right at him and tells him "yes", causing him to see him in a new light. Jerry promises to keep Toothless a secret.

Back at the town the next day, Tom faces a captive Monstrous Nightmare dragon in his final exam. The final test begins. Instead of killing it, however, Tom tries to tame it to prove the dragons aren't dangerous creatures. Stonekeeper's insistence on stopping the test makes the Monstrous Nightmare revert into its regular state into attacking the cat. Toothless hears his cat friend's cries of fear and help from the cove and rushes to save him, climbing out of the cove by himself and running through the forest. Jerry enters the battle arena in an attempt to save Tom, but fails to fight off the Monstrous Nightmare. Stoick helps Astrid get out of the arena but Hiccup is stopped short when the dragon blocks him from escaping. Toothless arrives in the nick of time and saves Tom by fighting away the Monstrous Nightmare. The other animals are in awe at the Night Fury and jump into the arena to capture him.

In defense, Toothless attacks the others, including Stonekeeper, to stop them from harming his cat friend. Tom tries to order Toothless to leave before he is captured, but Toothless's strong devotion to protecting Tom causes him to stay put. Tom barely stops Toothless from using his fire on Stonekeeper before the Vikings eventually overwhelm him. Tom tries to explain to the chief, dragons are nowhere near as harmful as they think they are and why the Dragons were so fierce when they took the livestock, but Stonekeeper refuses to listen, outraged at Tom for befriended his enemy. During his attempt to explain, Tom accidentally mentions the Dragon's Nest, Muttley, and his treatment of the dragons and says only a dragon can enter the Nest, giving Stonekeeper the idea to use Toothless as the ticket to get there. Tom tries to explain again to him about Muttley, but Stonekeeper still refuses to listen and simply says to Tom that he disowns and accuses him of siding with the dragons.

The Animals prepare themselves and leave to fight the dragons, keeping Toothless chained up aboard one of their ships. Tom watches them leave from the village's harbor just as Jerry comes to him and talks about his situation. Tom rants about being the first Viking in 300 years who wouldn't kill a dragon, prompting Jerry to ask him why he didn't kill Toothless. Tom explains he saw Toothless was as afraid as he was. Jerry encourages him to take action and get Toothless back. He teaches his friends how to ride the arena dragons, then flies their way to the Dragon's Nest.

Everyone reach the Nest using a shackled Toothless as a guide, then use catapults to blow a hole in the Nest's lower base. Upon doing so, the dragons flee from Muttley and the enraged Red Death, causing it to break through the side and attack everyone, setting all of the longboats on fire, including the one Toothless is chained up on, leaving them with no escape. Stonekeeper realizes the scale of the fight Tom tried to tell him and curses himself as a fool. He, along with Top Cat, decide to sacrifice themselves to let the others escape.

However, both them and the Red Death are halted in their efforts when Tom and his friends arrive on the dragon's back and shoot at the back of the Red Death's head. Hiccup instructs Scooby-Doo, (riding the Monstrous Nightmare), and Snagglepuss, (riding the Gronckle), to go to the Red Death's blind spot and make noise to keep it confused while Wally and Hokey, (riding the Hideous Zippleback), exhaust the Red Death's shot limit and Jerry, (riding the Deadly Nadder), drops off Tom so he can free Toothless. However, it turns out Scooby and Snagglepuss can't find a blind spot due to multiple eyes on the side of its face but they continue to bash the shields, this works on the Red Death but also works on Snagglelpuss' Gronckle and Scooby's Monstrous Nightmare. The Nightmare flings Scooby-Doo onto the head of the Red Death while the Gronckle drops altitude. Snagglepuss, before crashing, throws Scooby-Doo his hammer which Scooby-Doo uses to hit the Red Death's eyes so it doesn't step on Snagglepuss.

In the Red Death's thrashing about in steps on the boat Tom and Toothless are on and Toothless sinks a few feet below water. Tom still tries to save him, but passes out from lack of air. Stonekeeper, amazed at what Tom and his friends did, dives down and saves them both. After apologizing to Tom, he tells him he doesn't have to face the dragon, but with a smile, Tom replies, "We're Animals: it's an occupational hazard", something Stonekeeper said early in the movie. Telling Tom he's proud to have him as his friend, Stonekeeper watches as Tom climbs aboard Toothless and heads toward Muttley. Jerry instructs the duo to get Scooby-Doo off the Red Death's head which they do. However, Jerry is almost sucked in and eaten by the Red Death until Toothless and Tom stop Muttley with a plasma blast. Jerry falls off his Nadder due to the force of the plasma explosion, but Toothless catches him. After dropping him off, Jerry silently says "go".

Tom angers Muttley and the Red Death into following him with Toothless using a powerful plasma blast. After leading it up high enough into the dark clouds, they hide among them and while diving past at high speed, repeatedly blasting hole after hole into the Red Death's wings. In pain and anger, the giant blasts a long stream of fire all around it, setting Toothless' prosthetic tail-fin alight when the Night Fury can't avoid the flames. Knowing they have little time left, Tom dives nearly straight down, the Red Death in hot pursuit. When he hears the sound of the Red Death heating its gasses to fry them, he waits for the last possible moment, then shouts to Toothless; Toothless spins around and fires a plasma blast directly into the Red Death's mouth, prematurely igniting the gas and setting its insides on fire. Toothless twists away and slips past its head, as it realizes it's about to hit the ground. However, when it spreads its wings to stop itself, all the holes in its wings tear into even bigger holes, rendering its wings useless.

As Muttley and the huge dragon crashes at full speed and explodes, Tom is knocked off unconscious when Toothless is unable to turn away from hitting the Red Death's tail after his prosthetic fin burned. Seeing Tom fall towards the flames beneath, Toothless dives into the inferno of the Red Death's exploding body to save him. After the smoke from the battle clears, it is shown Toothless survived, with his prosthetic fin destroyed and his saddle empty and burned. Everyone believes Tom was killed in the explosion, reducing Stonekeeper to tears. He apologizes, saying how sorry he was for not listening to him. Toothless sees this and unfurls his wrapped up wings, revealing he has Tom clutched to his body: his fire-proof dragonhide saved Tom's life.

After the battle, Tom has recovered from injured and is welcomed back as a hero and Jerry punches him for "scaring her" and gives him a hand-shake. After Toothless is fitted with a new fin and saddle that Smurfette built, Tom, Jerry, and the other adult animals ride their dragons through Tune World as the new age of animal and dragon alliance begins as the film ends.

## Characters

* Tom Cat
* Jerry Mouse
* Scooby-Doo
* Cindy Bear
* Top Cat
* Wally Gator
* Snagglepuss
* Hokey Wolf
* Atom Ant
* Magilla Gorilla
* Quick Draw McGraw
* Hong Kong Phooey
* Dino
* Smurfette
* Jessica Rabbit
* Stonekeeper
* Muttley
* Tin, Pan & Alley
* God

## Voice Talent

* D.B. Sweeney as Tom Cat
* Robert Naylor as Jerry Mouse
* Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo
* Sofía Espinosa as Cindy Bear, Jessica Rabbit
* Jeremy Renner as Top Cat
* Will Arnett as Wally Gator
* Billy Crystal as Snagglepuss
* Matthew Broderick as Hokey Wolf
* Cheech Marin as Atom Ant
* Jim Gaffigan as Magilla Gorilla
* Brad Garrett as Quick Draw McGraw
* Jackie Chan as Hong Kong Phooey
* Eric Bauza as Dino
* Demi Lovato as Smurfette
* Common as Stonekeeper
* Billy West as Muttley
* Greg Eills as Tin
* Jess Harnell as Pan
* Richard McGonagle as Alley
* James Earl Jones as God

## Opening Credits

* Based Upon Characters Created by: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera

* Executive Producer: Sam Register

* Produced by: Bobbie Page

* Associate Proudcer: Judge Plummer

* Music by: John Powell

* Casting and Voice Direction by: Maria Estrada

* Edited by: Paul Hunter

* Story by: Robert Zappia

* Written by: John Edwards

* Directed by: Darrell Van Citters

## Songs

1. *Be All Right*: D.B. Sweeney, Robert Naylor, Frank Welker, Will Arnett, Billy Crystal, Matthew Broderick
2. *Are You Old Enough?*: Sofía Espinosa, Jeremy Renner, Cheech Marin, Jim Gaffigan, Brad Garrett, Jackie Chan, Demi Lovato
3. *Love's Not Enough*: D.B. Sweeney, Robert Naylor, Frank Welker, Will Arnett, Billy Crystal, Matthew Broderick
4. *Satellites*: Sofía Espinosa, Jeremy Renner, Cheech Marin, Jim Gaffigan, Brad Garrett, Jackie Chan, Demi Lovato
5. *Alone With You*: D.B. Sweeney, Robert Naylor, Frank Welker, Will Arnett, Billy Crystal, Matthew Broderick
6. *Puff, The Magic Dragon*: Sofía Espinosa, Jeremy Renner, Cheech Marin, Jim Gaffigan, Brad Garrett, Jackie Chan, Demi Lovato

## Trivia

* This film is based on *How To Train Your Dragon*
* This is the 3rd film where Tom Cat is the main protagonist.