ABSTRACT
DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon, which sees a boy from a tribe of dragon-hating Vikings rebel against his elders once he realizes the fiery lizards may be misunderstood, represents the studio's first foray into high fantasy, a genre defined by its texts' ability to create, maintain and expand a fully fleshed-out alternative world. A key point of distinction between high fantasy fiction and the Dream-Works canon is the privileged cultural position the former has come to enjoy. To read How to Train Your Dragon as a meeting point of high and low culture may seem unusual given that fantasy fiction has long been generally considered "low culture," existing outside of the established literary canon. How to Train Your Dragon, then, is the product of two distinct traditions: the high fantasy genre from which it draws its setting, its creatures and many of its characters, and the DreamWorks CGI feature.
