How To Train Your Dragon 2 has a significant amount of goodwill going into release. The first movie still represents DreamWorks Animation’s most sustained box office run since the original Shrek thirteen years ago. Earning nearly five times its opening weekend gross, How to Train Your Dragon was one of the few early 2010 successes that didn’t see a massive benefit from Avatar’s earlier success in the 3D format. In fact, the film’s $43.7 million opening weekend was considered underwhelming at the time--but phenomenal word of mouth propelled it to $218 million in North America--making it the highest grossing DreamWorks Animation release outside the Shrek franchise.
　　《馴龍高手2》進入票房有著大量的好聲望。自13年前《怪物史瑞克》面世，《馴龍高手》一直代表著夢工廠動畫公司最持久的票房運作。賺取首映周票房幾乎5倍的收益，《馴龍高手》是2010年初成功電影中極其少見地未得益于《阿凡達》3D格式的早期成功。事實上，影片4370萬美元首映周票房在當時被認為太不起眼了——但驚人的口碑助推了北美2億美元票房——令其成為夢工廠動畫公司《怪物史瑞克》系列以外最賣座電影。

　　Dragon went on to post strong home video sales, more than doubling the revenues of Shrek Forever After despite the ogre’s fourth installment earning 10 percent more ($239 million versus $218 million) theatrically. The film boasted an excellent 98 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, a 2010 Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film, and a 91 percent Flixster audience score. In addition, DreamWorks successfully moved the property into the realm of television with Cartoon Network’s Dragons series.
　　《馴龍高手》爾后又繼續錄得家用錄像旺勢銷售，并超過了《怪物史瑞克4》雙倍的收入，盡管史瑞克第四部影院票房多賺得10%（2.39億美元對2.18億美元）。本片傲人的業績包括在爛番茄得分是卓越的98%， 2010年奧斯卡最佳動畫片電影提名，并且Flixster觀眾打分91%。此外，夢工廠成功將影片移植到電視領域，成為卡通網絡的馴龍系列。

REASON 2
MARKET MONOPOLY
理由2
市場壟斷

　　How to Train Your Dragon 2 will be this summer’s only major animated release before Disney’s Planes: Fire and Rescue (July 18). For the first time since 2005, there will be no Pixar release. That’s a huge advantage for any competing studio, but an amplified one for a DreamWorks sequel that follows what has arguably been their most popular film of the past decade.
　　《馴龍高手2》將會是今夏迪士尼《飛機總動員：火線救援》（7月18日）之前發布的唯一一部大型動畫。自2005年以來頭一遭沒有皮克斯影片發布。這對任何一家競爭工作室來說都是巨大的優勢，而且對夢工廠這個系列來說更會倍增，該系列無疑是過去十年間他們最受歡迎的影片。

　　Dragon 2 should also benefit from the two-month window between it and fellow Fox release, Rio 2. With no direct competition to speak of, it’s a safe bet that kids will be hankering for their first big screen cartoon of the BOXOFFICE USA summer when June 13 rolls around. It’s also comfortably distanced from Disney’s Maleficent (May 30) and Paramount’s Transformers: Age of Extinction (June 27) by two weeks on each side.
　　《馴龍高手2》與其對手福克斯公司發布的《里約大冒險2》之間有兩個月空窗期，應當也有所幫助。由于根本無正面競爭可言，可以安全地打賭，6月13日席卷而至時孩子們將渴望爭睹美國票房夏季第一部大銀幕動畫片。同時它與迪士尼公司的《沉睡魔咒》（5月30日）、派拉蒙公司的《變形金剛4：絕跡重生》（6月27日）也分別拉開兩周的舒適間隔。

REASON 3
DEAN DEBLOIS & JOHN POWELL
理由3
迪恩·德布洛斯與約翰·鮑威爾

　　Dean DeBlois may not be a household name, but as part of Disney’s writing team on Mulan and Lilo & Stitch over a decade ago (codirecting the latter title with Chris Sanders), his credentials speak for themselves. He followed those films with the original How to Train Your Dragon adaptation, again co-writing and co-directing with Sanders. The latter took time away to write and direct The Croods, but DuBlois’ continued oversight of the Dragon films is encouraging from a standpoint of maintaining consistence in quality storytelling.
　　迪恩·德布洛斯名字可能并非家喻戶曉，但十幾年前作為迪士尼《花木蘭》與《星際寶貝》編劇團隊（與克里斯·桑德斯共同執導后者），他的資格不言自明。他完成這些電影后對原版《馴龍高手》做改編，再次與桑德斯共同編寫與執導。后者花費時間來寫作與執導《瘋狂原始人》，但迪恩·德布洛斯繼續督導《馴龍高手2》電影，從保持一致的高品質講故事角度來看是令人鼓舞的。

　　Composer John Powell also returns for Dragon 2. In addition to a variety of other genres, Powell’s been a go-to collaborator in the world of animation for over sixteen years--including contributions to the Kung Fu Panda films, Happy Feet, two Ice Age sequels, the original Shrek, and many more. The musical score for the first Dragon garnered him his first Oscar nomination, though. Outside of enthusiasts, a movie’s musical palette is an often overlooked and underappreciated element in a film’s ability to tell an emotional story and, in turn, help it connect with audiences. Powell returning to what is perhaps his most successful canvas (so far) is good news toward that end.
　　作曲家約翰·鮑威爾也回歸《馴龍高手2》。鮑威爾成為動畫世界的首選合作者逾十六年——包括對《功夫熊貓》電影的貢獻、《快樂的大腳》、兩部《冰川時代》系列、原版《怪物史瑞克》，等等等等。不過首部《馴龍高手》的配樂為他贏得首個奧斯卡提名。除了發燒友以外，影片音樂渲染在電影講述情感故事強化感染力時是經常被忽略、低估的因素。鮑威爾回歸或許是他（迄今為止）最成功的作品是朝向這一目標的好消息。

REASON 4
UNIVERSAL APPEAL
理由4
普遍的吸引力

　　Underscoring the remarkable holding power and after-market success of the first film was its ability to entertain an audience beyond kids and pre-teens. The film’s visual vibrance and humor were just as conducive to strong word of mouth as its mature, heartstring tugging story that kept parents and older audiences invested.
　　超強凝聚力以及首部影片次級市場的成功基礎取決于娛樂觀眾能否超越孩童與少年階段。電影的視覺震動與幽默感與其強勁的口碑同樣有益，因為圓滿、扣人心弦的故事會吸引父母與年長觀眾掏錢觀影。

　　The sequel’s addition of Hiccup’s long lost dragon-riding mother (voiced by Cate Blanchett) could serve to further increase interest among women in the otherwise male-heavy story, while simultaneously moving the main characters’ narrative forward. An increased scope and scale of action shouldn’t hurt either.
　　續集中添加小嗝嗝失散多年的龍騎士母親（由凱特·布蘭切特配音），在這個偏重男性的故事中有助于進一步提高女性的興趣，同時更能鋪陳主角的敘事。情節范圍與規模的增多也無害。

REASON 5
ANIMATION’S BOX OFFICE EXPLOSION
理由5
動畫票房爆發

　　Concluding Dragon 2’s five keys to success, its release comes at an opportune moment. The brief “animation slump” of 2011 (which saw Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars 2, and Happy Feet Two each fall short of lofty expectations) is long past. 2012 delivered solid returns for the likes of like Brave, Madagascar 3, The Lorax, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Hotel Transylvania, and Wreck-It Ralph, while 2013 and 2014 have continued the upward trend.
　　在《馴龍高手2》成功的5個關鍵因素中壓陣的是開映的恰當時機。2011年短暫的“動畫衰落”早就成為歷史（《功夫熊貓2》、《汽車總動員2》與《快樂的大腳2》每一部都深負盛望）。2012年則回報豐厚，譬如《勇敢傳說》、《馬達加斯加3》、《老雷斯的故事》、《冰川時代4》、《精靈旅社》以及《無敵破壞王》，而2013年與2014年繼續呈上升趨勢。

　　In fact, a whopping four animated movies have earned over $250 million domestically in the past ten months: Frozen, Despicable Me 2, Monsters University, and The LEGO Movie—besting the 12-month record of three set by Up, Toy Story 3, and the original Despicable Me between 2009 and 2010. While that doesn’t outright prove every major animated release is going to do gangbusters in a hot market, it does reaffirm the selling power of quality family movies. Demand for them rarely to seems burn out, and when they hit, they can hit big.
　　事實上，過去十個月里4部強勁的動畫電影已賺得超過2.5億美元國內票房：《冰雪奇緣》、《卑鄙的我2》、《怪物大學》與《樂高大電影》——超越了《飛屋環游記》、《玩具總動員3》與《卑鄙的我》三部影片在2009年至2010年的12個月保持的紀錄。雖然這并不能直接證明每一部動畫大片的上映都能在火爆的市場上勢如破竹，但肯定了高品質的家庭類電影的銷售力。對這類影片的需求鮮有枯竭，當它們來襲時，那將會十分勁爆。