Filmtracks: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (John Powell)

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Written 3/24/19, Revised 3/28/24

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Buy it... if you demand a satisfying conclusion to an incredible trilogy of music, the third entry a highly engaging and accessible experience with a clear narrative.

Avoid it... if you become frustrated when franchises replace existing themes with new ones where not entirely necessary, John Powell diminishing some old favorites here without really needing to do so.

Powell

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World: (John Powell/Various) It may not be the most successful animated franchise by most measures, but the "How to Train Your Dragon" concept has thrived on screens big and small during the 2010's because of its genuinely hearty and adventurous qualities. After the success of the original theatrical How to Train Your Dragon adaptation from novels in 2010, a franchise of several short films, television show, and video games followed, joined by two additional feature films that culminated in 2019's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. The world of Berk and its societal relations between Vikings and dragons may have lost some steam by the third motion picture, sustained critical praise met with a touch of fatigue from viewers as the filmmakers sought to devise a definitive conclusion to the original set of characters in one final installment. The second two films are not without a fair dose of sadness, the concepts of separation and loneliness remaining to temper the airy fantasy at the series' core. An inevitable segregation of humans and dragons awaits in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World after years of the two species living in relative peace at the humans' town of Berk. As in previous stories, evil human dragon hunters once again spoil the utopic endeavors, forcing the dragons into seclusion and necessitating depressing goodbyes between the series' main characters. Despite rotating between distributors for each film, the stylistic voice of the world of Berk and dragons remains intact, and much of that consistency is maintained by John Powell's exemplary music across all of the films. His work, led by three exuberant main themes of friendship and flying, has become recognizable to children worldwide and has developed into the most famous musical anthem used generally by DreamWorks in advertisements for its lineup of animated properties. The quality of Powell's masterful music for these films lies not in the complexity of his thematic constructs but rather in his ability to develop these easily digestible ideas in a myriad of settings. Like the franchises of The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, the How to Train Your Dragon scores offer constant repetition and development of dozens of themes. Their uniqueness stems from a playful, Celtic-influenced personality holding it all together.

For How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Powell audaciously added a plethora of new themes to an equation already stuffed with favorites from the prior two movies. He enlisted three ghostwriters to assist him in this endeavor on the majority of cues, utilizing Batu Sener more frequently than Paul Mounsey or Anthony Willis. But attribution of all the new themes points back to Powell himself, and the composer handled the film's later emotional scenes on his own. The composer's phenomenal handling of themes in Solo: A Star Wars Story the previous year was an unattainable benchmark of success for motific interpolation, and while How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World exudes similar intelligence and forethought in its handling of its own franchise's identities, the end result is slightly less satisfactory. While it's always good to add new themes to the formula for any sequel, Powell may have gone too far in this third film for the tastes of some listeners, marginalizing prior identities or, in some cases, casting them aside completely at moments when they could have appealed once again. Still, the new themes offer strengths of their own, the score benefitting from Powell's consistent spotting of an idea in various guises at nearly all moments. The instrumentation, meanwhile, is less overtly Celtic than at the franchise's origins. Enthusiasts of these tones, and especially the pipes, will appreciate that Powell extends their usage in "Exodus!," "Third Date" and, to lesser degrees, in the conclusive cues. Woodwind solos continue to carry much of the emotional luggage, flutes and clarinets shining particularly. A comparative lack of action in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World yields potential disappointment for listeners expecting extended sequences of brassy bombast, the long "Armada Battle" cue really the score's only such highlight. Choral applications fall closer to traditional notions of Viking bravado, Powell extending his male choral presence for Drago in How to Train Your Dragon 2 here as an almost too-similar representation of equally troublesome dragon hunter Grimmel the Grisly. Relying upon new thematic ideas for the villains, dragons, another human settlement, fresh heroism, and a general notion of destiny, the score for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World applies familiar instrumental colors to its debuting attributions without capturing the same romantic sense of awe and wonder as the previous entries.

For some listeners, the diminishment of overwhelming romanticism and uproarious, sustained action in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, especially as it relates to Powell's existing themes, may disappoint. But perspective is necessary, as the film's plot, essentially devised as one long series of interactions meant to soften the blow of the goodbyes at the end, doesn't provide the score ample opportunity to either soar or exhilarate at frequent intervals. Clearly cognizant of this conundrum, however, was Powell, for he did make it something of a mission to address nearly all of his existing themes at least once here, even if briefly. Roughly two-dozen themes are conveyed, most of which heard in the cues available on the official album. Ten or so of these ideas carry over from the previous scores, and they compete with more than a dozen new ones that occupy most of the work's running time. No new identity can compete with Powell's trio of friendship and flying themes from the first film, and the composer is careful to bookend the third film with these fan favorites. The descending friendship motif of the franchise has become its go-to fanfare, bursting with energy and representing all the youthful excitement of the concept. Capping two of the first score's other main themes at 4:59 into "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk," the idea is hinted on harp at 0:47 into "New 'New Tail'" and is skittish on strings at 1:55 and 6:22 into "Armada Battle." It returns to its introductory fanfare form at 1:09 into "As Long as He's Safe" and its appropriately familiar romantic allure (reprising pivotal vocal and percussion shades from the first film) at 3:10 into "Once There Were Dragons" on its way to announcing the trilogy's conclusion at 4:06, 5:06, and 5:33 in that cue. Both the phrases of Powell's legacy flying theme are employed, though the primary one is saved mostly for the end. Touched upon briefly as a subdued low choral fragment at 0:45 into "With Love Comes a Great Waterfall," this main theme receives rousing renditions at 1:18 into "As Long as He's Safe" and 4:12 into "Once There Were Dragons." Its companion phrase is more frequently applied here, and it takes on almost an anthemic personality by the end. Its snare-ripping optimism reaffirms its fan-favorite status at 4:46 into "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk" and extends to an accelerated version at 1:03 into "New 'New Tail'" before returning to its full stature at 1:34 into "As Long as He's Safe." Its use in "Once There Were Dragons" is particularly satisfactory, the idea applied as choral counterpoint at 2:56 before maturing to strong brass at 4:27 and a full-ensemble send-off at 5:14.

Among the dispiriting developments of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is the story's shift away from Berk and associated Viking culture as seen in the first film, a change partly reflected by Powell in his music. The composer knows that his original Berk/Viking theme, a momentous presence early in the franchise, has limited opportunity to shine in this installment, so he offers it two full statements of glory at 4:19 into "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk." The ingenuity of the culture and Hiccup himself are reprised in the cute throwback cue, "New 'New Tail'" (at 0:38 and 0:55), and throughout "Armada Battle" (sadly subdued at 0:00, briefly but with zeal at 2:54, and in its full choral interlude at 5:00). Also fleeting in its applications, sometimes oddly, is Powell's love theme for Astrid, alternately a more romantic flying identity. It's confined to moments like 3:29 into the gorgeously melancholy "Legend Has It/Cliffside Playtime" and twice in "Armada Battle," where it explodes with full ensemble relief at 3:46 and 7:00. From How to Train Your Dragon 2 return two ideas explicitly, including the "Lost and Found" theme most prominently. Often associated with Hiccup's family, this identity is expressed first on soft woodwinds and choir at 0:06 into "With Love Comes a Great Waterfall" before taking momentous turns at 2:10 and 5:36 into "Armada Battle." The theme is influential in "As Long as He's Safe" as well, its dramatic choral performances at 0:46 and 5:06 bracketing a contemplative rendition for flute and piano at 4:25. Its companion motif, representing responsibility and loss, returns at 1:53 into "Legend Has It/Cliffside Playtime" and is as lovely as ever. Other motifs from the first score are reprised in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, though their impact is muted. This holds true for most of the dragon-related motifs, one comical take continuing at 5:06 into "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk." Likewise, the lighthearted identity for Hiccup and his silly friends is reduced to only a solemn performance on piano at 1:47 into "Once There Were Dragons." Powell does not introduce new themes for these concepts explicitly, but he does offer a wide enough breadth of fresh identities to accompany their general purposes. The dragons' themes have been condensed into several motifs to represent the two leads of their kind, the Berk theme is displaced by a new one for another island, the flying and friendship themes are supplanted by new heroic alternatives, and other major new locations and characters are afforded appropriate ideas of their own. The inclusion of a theme and submotif for fate ties all of them together by the end.

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Powell explicitly identified names for his new themes in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, and the attributions are fairly straightforward. He concentrates the most on a set of themes and motifs for the two lead dragons, the furies consisting of Toothless and Light Fury in a clear exhibit of support for interracial sex by DreamWorks. The primary identity for this pair is constructed of two sections often found apart from each other but most satisfying when together. The first phrase is heard initially on woodwinds at 0:49 into "Toothless: Smitten" before recurring at 1:35 and 2:13. The second, more fluidly romantic phrase exists in that cue at 1:09 and 2:24, though the first of those is fragmented and interrupted. The theme's two parts are on full, lush display in the propulsive "Exodus!," the opening phrase expressed at 2:35 and 3:07 while the accompanying answer follows at 2:44 and 3:15. These performances are, in many ways, the best for the theme in the film. The opening phrase is more tentative at 5:29 and 6:04 into "Third Date" while the secondary phrase swoons at 6:11. A flute conveys the primary phrase only at 0:14 into "New 'New Tail'," while the strings do the same at 0:36 into "Furies in Love." That cue playfully develops this new love theme material in sometimes robust incarnations; the main phrase at 1:04 and 1:48, joined by the secondary phrase at 1:16 and 2:03, are performed with surprisingly muscular brass layers over constant metallic percussion. The secondary phrase appears alone at 1:30 into "Killer Dragons" while the primary phrase explodes with tragedy at 2:20 into "Armada Battle" and finds relief as it closes the cue at 8:26. The pair of phrases join again with redemption at 2:03 and 2:16 into "As Long as He's Safe." Powell concludes the score with a brief reference of the idea at 4:51 into "Once There Were Dragons." Meanwhile, the composer created a pair of lesser motifs for the two dragons that weave into many of the same cues. One is a lighter affair that replaces equivalent ideas from previous scores, and it has some similarities to Jerry Goldsmith's writing. Very briefly foreshadowed at 3:52 into "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk," this motif of curiosity and intrigue is fully introduced at 0:10 into "Toothless: Smitten" and returns at 1:23. It opens both "Third Date" and "Furies in Love," both softly setting the mood for the more major themes. A playful mating motif exists separately at 2:12 into "Toothless: Smitten" and at 0:40 and 4:41 into "Third Date," where the idea is expressed with fun staccato figures. The underlying rhythm informs the start of "New 'New Tail'" and transitions into a full action motif at 4:53 into "Armada Battle."

For the hidden world sanctuary awaiting the dragons in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Powell supplies a quasi-religious theme of majestic scope. It begins with humble origins, solo flute exploring the melody at 3:00 into "Legend Has It/Cliffside Playtime." The theme expectedly lies dormant until a wondrous expression at 2:32 into "Furies in Love" and, more impressively, at its formal introduction in full at 1:30 into "With Love Comes a Great Waterfall," where Powell's brass and choral combination is not to be missed. The idea occupies much of "The Hidden World" (2:22, 2:51, 3:42) before a resolute performance with enhanced percussion graces "As Long as He's Safe" at 5:38; listen for the fantastic exotic woodwind shades to close out this performance. Two lighter renditions await at 2:15 and 2:44 into "Once There Were Dragons." Among the more curious choices made by Powell in the score is the replacement of the Berk/Viking theme with a fresh village hymn to represent the new island inhabited by the characters. The composer chose not to evolve the Berk theme but rather provide a malleable new identity, a questionable move given that for some listeners, the existing melody could be the connecting tissue of the whole franchise. The idea is foreshadowed lightly at the start of "Dinner Talk/Grimmel's Introduction" and at 1:20 and 2:30 into "Legend Has It/Cliffside Playtime." It receives almost comical personality from lower woodwinds at 0:04 in "Worst Pep Talk Ever." Its highlights come in "Exodus!," where the upbeat optimism of the Berk theme carries over to its successor at 1:06 and 3:37. A brief choral performance at 4:13 into "Killer Dragons" is matched by a single phrase at 5:22 into "Armada Battle." The idea is provided a solemn choral personality at the outset of "Once There Were Dragons," though by 0:59 in that cue, the full Celtic flair of the earlier Berk theme transitions to this new one. Likewise, the new heroic themes of this score are a questionable replacement for existing identities. These three new related motifs all thrive in "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk," the most prominent of which occurring at 0:47, 1:06, 2:38, and 2:50 into the cue, the last performance providing melodramatic swing to the idea. Listen for this motif to persist at 1:19 into "Killer Dragons." More memorable is a stirring, relatively unused alternative at 3:27 into "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk" that returns twice prominently (6:35, 7:20) in "Armada Battle." The third heroic motif is softly heard at 1:43 into "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk" but really makes an impression at 1:24 and 1:42 into "Exodus!" These three motifs never really congeal into a singular, major new theme.

The concept of fate receives its own theme and submotif in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, an acknowledgement of the trilogy's need to devise a relatively sad but appropriately "realistic" ending. The idea seems underplayed in tone compared to all the other themes. Opening "Legend Has It/Cliffside Playtime" with lovely flute and choir, the theme's most memorable moment comes early in "Exodus!," where its resolute stature builds to a vintage Hans Zimmer-like crescendo in the first minute. The idea returns much later, at 4:48 into "The Hidden World," as a cap to the action of that scene. A more determined rhythmic submotif exists for the theme, heard prominently at 1:01 into "With Love Comes a Great Waterfall" and on flute at 3:14 into "The Hidden World." The two join forces in "Armada Battle;" after the melody itself builds to an elegant performance at 0:36, the theme and its submotif coincide nicely at 5:58. The performance of this theme at 2:51 into "As Long as He's Safe," starting with harp and generating a deep, yearning crescendo with choir, is interesting in that it supplants the franchise's love theme for Astrid at a time when it could have made at least a token appearance. Powell includes one last reference to this theme at 4:45 into "Once There Were Dragons" alongside the main furies theme. The villain of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World receives a theme all too similar in tone to Drago's from the previous entry, but it proves itself extremely adaptable here. Powell created a "March of the Warlords" as an introduction to Grimmel's formal theme; the former explodes twice in full (the opening of the entire score and again at 0:45 into "Dinner Talk/Grimmel's Introduction"). Its stomping, percussive and male chanted tone is highly reminiscent of the slightly more flamboyant and sparsely realized Viktor Krum material from Patrick Doyle's Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire. Its main, underlying three-note phrase becomes a secondary factor in Grimmel's actual theme and frequently accompanies the character. This usage is not surprising given the composer's tendency to use triplets liberally in these scores, especially on brass, though his harsh, lower brass renderings of the idea will remind some listeners of his adaptation of John Williams' existing imperial motif in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The fuller expressions of "March of the Warlords" are among the score's most enticing moments, even if they remind of Drago's forceful presence from How to Train Your Dragon 2 a tad too much (but without the Arabian progressions), and it's a shame that greater hints of this material could not have persisted in some way later in the score.

The actual applications of Grimmel's theme in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World announce the idea in full at 1:06 and 1:57 into "Dinner Talk/Grimmel's Introduction" and dissolve to ominous, low woodwind and string allusions starting at 1:07 into "Worst Pep Talk Ever." Most of "Night Fury Killer" is occupied with this theme, and it culminates in a victorious, cymbal-crashing expression over trilling brass at 2:46. In a show of Powell's creativity, the theme transforms into the upbeat environment of "Exodus!" at 1:51, where it effectively mingles with the new hero material. An almost humorous interlude for the theme follows in that cue at 4:08. The idea is again developed extensively in "Killer Dragons," with another robust expression of brassy dread at 2:05. It interrupts the beauty of "The Hidden World" amongst frantic action at 4:25 and is heard at regular intervals in "Armada Battle" (1:30, 3:10, 7:39). All of the main new themes in the score were assembled into an end credits suite available only on the digital version of the album; in "The Hidden World Suite," you hear pieces of "Furies in Love," "Exodus!," and "The Hidden World" assembled together in a different mix and containing a unique ending for the hidden world theme. Both the digital and physical albums contain the song, "Together From Afar," by franchise regular Jonsi; the Icelandic musician's song here does not contain any of the score's themes and is generally weaker, though the performer can be heard contributing his tone to the score's "The Hidden World" cue, which offers uniquely styled vocals that take the place of the hypnotically pulsating string effect from the prior score as this entry's most strident deviation from the norm. Ultimately, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is an extremely strong score but, with its unnecessary bevy of new themes, a step behind its predecessors. There continues to be moments of brilliance on display by Powell, especially in his solo cues. The thematic layering of the protagonist melodies over the villain's rhythm and tone at the outset of "As Long as He's Safe" is remarkable. The handling of old and new themes together in quick succession at the conclusion of "Once There Were Dragons" is also fantastic. By comparison to the prior two entries, this work may merit only four stars from some listeners, but when judged on the complexity of its own ideas and excused for a relative lack of robust action because of the plot, you cannot help but rate it the full five stars. The original 2019 CD album from Back Lot Music is not perfect, as it is missing the suite and about 20 minutes of material from the score, but it is nevertheless a highly engaging and listenable experience with a clear narrative.

In 2024, the Varèse Sarabande followed its "Deluxe Edition" treatment of the prior two scores with an equivalent expansion of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. The CD is limited to 2,000 copies with no initial digital download option. It appends the suite track and sprinkles additional, unreleased cues into a strictly chronological arrangement with all-new track titles. Also included on that product is a half dozen demo tracks that favor Powell's more lyrical passages leaning on the favorite franchise themes. Those demos are well refined by synthetic standards and may find an audience for listeners, bit they are better suited for intellectual appreciation than mere enjoyment. The highlights of the album will be some of the new music included from the actual score. Two additional minutes is attached to the end of "Rescue Mission - Busy Busy Berk," an upbeat passage that includes a soft rendition of the "lost and found" theme on woodwinds, the same instruments transitioning over to the hero theme's main A phrase. That cue concludes with the B phrase of the Berk/viking theme for viking heroism on brass. That same phrase continues playfully into "Setting Up Camp," which then rotates quickly between other Berk and hero theme material. Illuminated on the expansion is Valka's theme, opening "Valka's Warning" with a quietly wholesome phrase but stewing thereafter. That idea is referenced quickly at the start of "Near Miss Valka" as well, but Grimmel's theme dominates the rest of the cue. "New Berk Feast" is a source-like cue with jovial but soft Celtic spirit that teases familiar progressions. Forming "With Love Comes a Great Waterfall" in reverse chronological order on prior album are the separated cues "Into the Hole" and "With Love Comes Loss." Just before, "Stronger Together" pensively meanders through phrases of the new Fury material before the main Berk theme nicely overlaps with a jaunty version of the Village hymn for a great moment. Grimmel's theme builds ominously throughout "New Island," and "Grimmel's Surprise" (the most major cue that needed to be on the original soundtrack) opens with a sad, muted Fury theme that evolves into a wonderful burst of quick life in its first minute. That cue then turns to the friendship arpeggio adapted into a preview of Grimmel action with a muscular Fury statement, followed by the B phrase of the Berk/viking theme for viking heroism and the dragon leadership theme, which receives impressively massive treatment at 2:36 in dark shades. In "The Hiccup I Know/Armada Battle," an additional 40 seconds added at the 2:46 mark includes new hero theme material splashed into the action. Overall, the 2024 album is a pleasing though not totally necessary completion of a score that remains a very satisfying conclusion to an incredible trilogy of music. ***** @Amazon.com: CD or Download

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For John Powell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.31 (in 51 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.16 (in 52,894 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

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