In the animated movie How to Train Your Dragon, the main character Hiccup captures Toothless, the elusive Night Fury dragon. In capturing the dragon, Hiccup injures one of his wings which disables him from flying. Instead of killing the disabled dragon, Hiccup creates a sort of artificial limb for the dragon. After much hard work, Toothless is able to fly again, but only with the assistance of his rider Hiccup (see the video on the right). Although he is disabled, Toothless is one of the most heroic characters, and he and Hiccup together save their town. | |
In the end, when Hiccup loses his leg in a fight, Hiccup is inspired by Toothless to keep on living his life with his artificial leg. This representation of disability in animated film illustrates the newer societal view of disability being a trait that should be recognized and celebrated instead of rejected and looked down upon. Since he had an artificial wing that had to be controlled by Hiccup, the team Toothless and Hiccup formed made them much stronger than anyone else. Due to their strong friendship, Hiccup was able to learn to walk again on his artificial leg with the help and inspiration of Toothless (see the photo on the right). In this manner, disability is portrayed as a favorable characteristic that was helpful to both the dragon with the disability and those around him, particularly Hiccup. | |