How John Powell's Leitmotif for Hiccup Represents His Inner Struggle
John Powell in his score for How To Train Your Dragon, like Howard Shore, uses a Wagnerian Leitmotif style of composition, whereby the things in the film are represented by individual Leitmotif's which can be rearranged and harmonized and developed to help tell the story in the movie. In this analysis, instead of focusing on an individual track and its use of leitmotifs as I did in my previous post on The Lord of the Rings, I will be looking at a few of the themes within the movie and how they evolve over the course of the film to tell the story. I specifically want to track the leitmotif's for Hiccup and Toothless and the Vikings. This is because, as I will show, those Viking themes, and Toothless' leitmotif are theoretically connected to Hiccup, and elucidate the tension within his character throughout the movie. Here is a transcription of almost all the musical moments mentioned in this blogpost: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YpLprPtnskUw4lfA1jw44AZkEg1SF74G/view?usp=sharing
First off, a disclaimer. The leitmotif's in this post and transcription are labeled with my names, but there isn't a codified set, so other places like these sometimes use different names. http://www.filmscorefans.com/melody-map---dragons.html, Sideways Video. But they are still useful sources, in that they gave me an idea of where to go, although I differed in what I ended up calling some of them.
The movie starts out with the track "This is Berk" which brilliantly, according to the youtube channel Sideways (linked above), establishes almost all the musical material representing different characters or ideas within the film, with the notable exception of Toothless the dragon. It opens with a slow brass rendition of one of the two motifs for Hiccup--which together make up his full Leitmotif. This version is parred down and primes our ear for the music in the film. After that Hiccup's narration begins and we get the first version of the Berk leitmotif. Interestingly though, after about 8 measures, Berk's leitmotif seamlessly flows into Hiccup's second motif. This is the first thing I wish to highlight. Hiccup's second motif is built to connect to the music of Berk. The key of the Berk theme is complicated because every phrase appears to be using an F minor Pentatonic scale--the 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7th notes in an F minor scale or F, Aflat, Bflat, C, Eflat--and yet its cadences incorporate a Dflat which gives the sound of Aflat major or Fminor (relative Major/Minor). Hiccup's second motif (at least at this moment) is written in Aflat major, so when Berk cadences to Fminor and ends on an F, that F can be co-opted into a stepwise approach to the Aflat which starts Hiccup's 2nd motif without changing keys. Hiccup's 2nd motif also begins with an F minor chord as it's progression is a vi-IV-V-I chord progression, making the transition feel even more obvious. The lack of distinction when casually listening to the melody that represents Berk's transition into Hiccup's melody removes the distinction between them. As much as he will represent an outcast for much of the movie, and be rejected by his father who's character and music are arguably the least distinct from that of Berk, the score inextricably connects him to the island and the Vikings. He does belong even this early in the film.
Also in "This is Berk," the other two motifs associated with the Vikings are heard--both are in my transcription. I will refer to these as the Viking War motif and the Viking Heroism/Determination motif. They are used very differently and have a distinct sound from each other, the former is in Aeolian (minor) mode in the low brass when it's first heard, and will come back with a vengeance in the track "Ready the Ships." It's an aggressive piece of music that, while it has its calmer iterations, invokes the constant battle between Vikings and Dragons. In fact, in terms of instrumentation and existing in the lower register of the orchestra and chorus, it bears a similarity to the music for the dragons. Viking Heroism/Determination, on the other hand, is in a more middle register, more heroic brass chorus. It parallels the opening with Hiccup's first motif in its simple French horn line as both involve only a few notes that are alternated between. This theme's chord changes are accompanied by drum hits giving it an almost martial quality. A few minutes into the film both of these are used one after another. Viking Heroism is used as Hiccup is talking to Gobber and ironically boasting about his masculinity and "muscley Viking-ness." While this is a joke as he does not appear like other Vikings or even heroic, the music lets us know that this boy is destined for greatness. A few measures later it cuts to the dragons burning down houses as Stoic the Vast, Hiccup's father, gives orders to the Vikings. Viking War is arguably also Stoic's music and interestingly is not ultimately unheroic here. While it will later be used in a distinctly negative context, Viking War and Stoic the Vast are not the enemy at the start, but rather an unattainable goal for Hiccup and what he is measuring himself to.
While these two motifs for the Vikings are different, theoretically they are very similar. The first phrases of Viking Heroism's melody can be represented as the following scale degrees (numbers representing the note that is that number away from the tonic or start of the scale): [6, 6, 5, 3, 5, 6] and the first phrase of Viking War is very similar. It's scale degrees (relative to the major key of Eflat) are [6, 6, 3, 5, 6, 7, 5, 3, 6]. Outside of the 7th degree, they are incredibly similar melodies with very different chords and harmonies and timbres. These two motifs make up one Leitmotif for Vikings which represents both sides of them that Hiccup is trying to wrestle with throughout the movie. And Viking Heroism also has one other important musical connection--to Hiccup himself. The chord progressions of Hiccup's 2nd motif which is the one more connected to the Vikings, is very similar to that of Viking Heroism. Hiccup's progression is--in roman numeral chord notation (where the numbers represent that pitch in the scale's chord relative to the key of the scale so that in C major, a key with no sharps or flats, a iii chord means a chord based on the 3rd note. It is minor as represented by the lower case because the 3rd note in C major is E, and if you stack 3rds to make a chord from E without any sharps or flats it is minor)--vi-IV-V-I and it also has a major II chord in it at the end which is a chord borrowed from a different key as, within the key of C major the II chord is minor. Viking Heroism's first phrase uses a vi-IV-I-II progression and its second phrase uses a vi-IV-I-V progression which, while not identical, are very similar down to both including the same borrowed chord of Major II. So Hiccup's 2nd motif is musically connected to the Viking Heroism theme and the Berk theme, making him definitively a Viking who belongs and one with the potential for great heroism. And Viking Heroism's connection to Viking War therefore, represents the weight of Stoic's and the Vikings' expectations of dragon-killing-related greatness on Hiccup, within the score rather than just in the text of the movie.
So with all that set up, what happens when Toothless the dragon shows up? In the track "The Downed Dragon after a cautious retreading of Hiccup's 1st motif, he finds Toothless. And in that moment he decides he must kill Toothless as that will give Hiccup a reputation in the village. And Viking Heroism/Determination plays here for a few moments but Hiccup cannot bring himself to do it. He sees the fear in Toothless' eyes and the first indications of Toothless' leitmotif appear in a frenzy of rising and falling eighth notes until it appears in full in the strings in a minor key with brass outlining the descending shape of it: Toothless has lost hope. But then we hear an unusual reharmonization of Hiccup's 1st motif, it is pensive but also exploratory, finding weird out-of-key chords to back up the melody. And Hiccup cuts Toothless free and in turn Toothless jumps on him, scaring him the way that Hiccup scared Toothless, and then leaves him. And here, in bagpipes, is the first full rendition of Toothless in all his glory musically, there is no outlined melodic descent, he isn't afraid. Toothless is glorious and scary and powerful. Note here are that Powell uses Toothless' theme in minor here and in an unfamiliar instrument: bagpipes. Toothless is foreign to Berk and still a perceived enemy of Hiccups. Also it is mainly Hiccup's 1st motif that is used here, and in fact, that's the only one that will be used in conjunction with Toothless until the track "Test Drive" and will still be the majority of what musically relates them. Keep this in mind as it will be important later in the score.
So after their initial meeting Hiccup's curiosity leads him to continue to understand Toothless, and Toothless is injured so he can't fly away. In the track "Forbidden Friendship" they begin to bond. This is a very mellow piece of music, mostly taking place on pitched percussion instruments like xylophone, woodwinds, and soft high voice choir. But much of it, as Toothless and Hiccup explore each other, becomes a tapestry of their two themes intertwining (as shown in the transcription). There is very little dialogue in the scene so the score and the animation work together to tell the story, and the score does so brilliantly. The first half of the track keeps teasing Toothless' theme with bits and pieces of it: particularly moments implying the descending scale at the end of it, but also the perfect 5th shape that it opens with, and an ever-present soft 8th note beat. It is also in major much warmer. They aren't friends but they understand each other, it's kind of playful. And then midway through the track, Hiccup draws in the sand and Toothless sees this, and tries to do so as well. We get a bit of Hiccup's 2nd motif alternating with the descending end of Toothless' theme, which then leads us by way of a brilliant 16th note D major scale to a moment where Toothless leitmotif is played over a chorus repeating those first notes of Hiccup's 1st motif. And as Hiccup walks across Toothless drawing in the sand, careful to not step on any of the lines, moving ever closer to Toothless, it swells until they are close enough to touch. Hiccup reaches out and Toothless puts down his head. They have become friends, and it was all represented in the score. But more than that, the score almost feels like it is pulling us to this conclusion, telling the story that the animation is dependent on rather than music dependent on what's happening on screen. The teasing of Toothless' motif at the beginning, begging Hiccup and the audience to care about this friendship and about learning about this dragon, is an incredibly powerful narrative device.
And then we reach "Test Drive," my favorite track in the movie in which their fates are sealed together. This track has several fantastic musical things going on. We open with this big pedal D power chord over which is a fast, ostinato like, version of Toothless leitmotif, which ends on a descending D major scale taking us into a flute version of Hiccup's leitmotif. I say leitmotif because both motifs are showcased. And it's grand. Both leitmotifs are in strong fully realized instrumentations and harmonies. They are flying together and the dream is being realized, but then they crash, and the score reflects this with a sudden mass of chords that don't fit in the key with a pedal D repeatedly playing as the chords try to find their way back into the melody, and when they finally do there is a key change to E major. Whole step key changes often are used for a restatement of something musically with more power, a revitalization. Here Toothless' leitmotif has doubled notes giving it an energy we've never seen before and the descending scale of Hiccups' 2nd motif is used to lead into Toothless' which also has a descending scale. This track is a brilliant encapsulation of their friendship and relationship come to fruition. Their individual musical themes have been written intentionally for combination. And while before we mostly got Hiccup's 1st motif in conjunction with Toothless because it can function well as melody with the Toothless music taking the role of background ostinato (which we do see later in the film), now we have seen Hiccup's 2nd motif really come into play with Toothless' despite it being the one more connected to the Vikings. Hiccup's journey in the film is about finding his place amongst his people through his relationship with his friend the dragon, and up until this point those two worlds as represented in Hiccup's thematic music hadn't interacted much, but now they have become fully interconnected.
From here on out in the movie Hiccup is taken by Stoic to find the dragon nest and they fight the big evil dragon called the Green Death. Furthering the development of "Viking War" it is played when Stoic says to Hiccup "you're not my son," and then as Stoic chains Toothless up and gets ready for war. Hiccup looks down at Toothless and there's a mournful recollection of Hiccup's 2nd motif as he has lost his connection to his people and his friend. But then he and the other teens go on dragons to save the day, and Stoic realizes his mistake and saves Toothless and Hiccup, and so in the track "Battling the Green Death" when they are back together we get another brilliant rendition of Hiccup 1 and Toothless musically overlayed while Stoic apologizes. And then interestingly during the fight with the Green Death in "Counter Attack," Toothless and Hiccup go head to head with the massive dragon as the Vikings watch and a new version of "Viking Heroism/Determination" plays rather than Toothless or Hiccup's music. And this is because while Test Drive represented the culmination of their relationship, Viking Heroism's connection to Hiccup's 2nd motif lets it musically show that Hiccup has found his place amongst his people and has been accepted by them and by his father. And all of that storytelling happens in the score--and because of the score in some places--because Powell wrote Hiccup's leitmotif as connected to the two things that create the tension: Vikings and Dragons. And as Hiccup's music becomes audibly connected to, and accepted by, the music of Toothless and the Vikings, so then is the tension in the film resolved.
First off, a disclaimer. The leitmotif's in this post and transcription are labeled with my names, but there isn't a codified set, so other places like these sometimes use different names. http://www.filmscorefans.com/melody-map---dragons.html, Sideways Video. But they are still useful sources, in that they gave me an idea of where to go, although I differed in what I ended up calling some of them.
The movie starts out with the track "This is Berk" which brilliantly, according to the youtube channel Sideways (linked above), establishes almost all the musical material representing different characters or ideas within the film, with the notable exception of Toothless the dragon. It opens with a slow brass rendition of one of the two motifs for Hiccup--which together make up his full Leitmotif. This version is parred down and primes our ear for the music in the film. After that Hiccup's narration begins and we get the first version of the Berk leitmotif. Interestingly though, after about 8 measures, Berk's leitmotif seamlessly flows into Hiccup's second motif. This is the first thing I wish to highlight. Hiccup's second motif is built to connect to the music of Berk. The key of the Berk theme is complicated because every phrase appears to be using an F minor Pentatonic scale--the 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7th notes in an F minor scale or F, Aflat, Bflat, C, Eflat--and yet its cadences incorporate a Dflat which gives the sound of Aflat major or Fminor (relative Major/Minor). Hiccup's second motif (at least at this moment) is written in Aflat major, so when Berk cadences to Fminor and ends on an F, that F can be co-opted into a stepwise approach to the Aflat which starts Hiccup's 2nd motif without changing keys. Hiccup's 2nd motif also begins with an F minor chord as it's progression is a vi-IV-V-I chord progression, making the transition feel even more obvious. The lack of distinction when casually listening to the melody that represents Berk's transition into Hiccup's melody removes the distinction between them. As much as he will represent an outcast for much of the movie, and be rejected by his father who's character and music are arguably the least distinct from that of Berk, the score inextricably connects him to the island and the Vikings. He does belong even this early in the film.
Also in "This is Berk," the other two motifs associated with the Vikings are heard--both are in my transcription. I will refer to these as the Viking War motif and the Viking Heroism/Determination motif. They are used very differently and have a distinct sound from each other, the former is in Aeolian (minor) mode in the low brass when it's first heard, and will come back with a vengeance in the track "Ready the Ships." It's an aggressive piece of music that, while it has its calmer iterations, invokes the constant battle between Vikings and Dragons. In fact, in terms of instrumentation and existing in the lower register of the orchestra and chorus, it bears a similarity to the music for the dragons. Viking Heroism/Determination, on the other hand, is in a more middle register, more heroic brass chorus. It parallels the opening with Hiccup's first motif in its simple French horn line as both involve only a few notes that are alternated between. This theme's chord changes are accompanied by drum hits giving it an almost martial quality. A few minutes into the film both of these are used one after another. Viking Heroism is used as Hiccup is talking to Gobber and ironically boasting about his masculinity and "muscley Viking-ness." While this is a joke as he does not appear like other Vikings or even heroic, the music lets us know that this boy is destined for greatness. A few measures later it cuts to the dragons burning down houses as Stoic the Vast, Hiccup's father, gives orders to the Vikings. Viking War is arguably also Stoic's music and interestingly is not ultimately unheroic here. While it will later be used in a distinctly negative context, Viking War and Stoic the Vast are not the enemy at the start, but rather an unattainable goal for Hiccup and what he is measuring himself to.
While these two motifs for the Vikings are different, theoretically they are very similar. The first phrases of Viking Heroism's melody can be represented as the following scale degrees (numbers representing the note that is that number away from the tonic or start of the scale): [6, 6, 5, 3, 5, 6] and the first phrase of Viking War is very similar. It's scale degrees (relative to the major key of Eflat) are [6, 6, 3, 5, 6, 7, 5, 3, 6]. Outside of the 7th degree, they are incredibly similar melodies with very different chords and harmonies and timbres. These two motifs make up one Leitmotif for Vikings which represents both sides of them that Hiccup is trying to wrestle with throughout the movie. And Viking Heroism also has one other important musical connection--to Hiccup himself. The chord progressions of Hiccup's 2nd motif which is the one more connected to the Vikings, is very similar to that of Viking Heroism. Hiccup's progression is--in roman numeral chord notation (where the numbers represent that pitch in the scale's chord relative to the key of the scale so that in C major, a key with no sharps or flats, a iii chord means a chord based on the 3rd note. It is minor as represented by the lower case because the 3rd note in C major is E, and if you stack 3rds to make a chord from E without any sharps or flats it is minor)--vi-IV-V-I and it also has a major II chord in it at the end which is a chord borrowed from a different key as, within the key of C major the II chord is minor. Viking Heroism's first phrase uses a vi-IV-I-II progression and its second phrase uses a vi-IV-I-V progression which, while not identical, are very similar down to both including the same borrowed chord of Major II. So Hiccup's 2nd motif is musically connected to the Viking Heroism theme and the Berk theme, making him definitively a Viking who belongs and one with the potential for great heroism. And Viking Heroism's connection to Viking War therefore, represents the weight of Stoic's and the Vikings' expectations of dragon-killing-related greatness on Hiccup, within the score rather than just in the text of the movie.
So with all that set up, what happens when Toothless the dragon shows up? In the track "The Downed Dragon after a cautious retreading of Hiccup's 1st motif, he finds Toothless. And in that moment he decides he must kill Toothless as that will give Hiccup a reputation in the village. And Viking Heroism/Determination plays here for a few moments but Hiccup cannot bring himself to do it. He sees the fear in Toothless' eyes and the first indications of Toothless' leitmotif appear in a frenzy of rising and falling eighth notes until it appears in full in the strings in a minor key with brass outlining the descending shape of it: Toothless has lost hope. But then we hear an unusual reharmonization of Hiccup's 1st motif, it is pensive but also exploratory, finding weird out-of-key chords to back up the melody. And Hiccup cuts Toothless free and in turn Toothless jumps on him, scaring him the way that Hiccup scared Toothless, and then leaves him. And here, in bagpipes, is the first full rendition of Toothless in all his glory musically, there is no outlined melodic descent, he isn't afraid. Toothless is glorious and scary and powerful. Note here are that Powell uses Toothless' theme in minor here and in an unfamiliar instrument: bagpipes. Toothless is foreign to Berk and still a perceived enemy of Hiccups. Also it is mainly Hiccup's 1st motif that is used here, and in fact, that's the only one that will be used in conjunction with Toothless until the track "Test Drive" and will still be the majority of what musically relates them. Keep this in mind as it will be important later in the score.
So after their initial meeting Hiccup's curiosity leads him to continue to understand Toothless, and Toothless is injured so he can't fly away. In the track "Forbidden Friendship" they begin to bond. This is a very mellow piece of music, mostly taking place on pitched percussion instruments like xylophone, woodwinds, and soft high voice choir. But much of it, as Toothless and Hiccup explore each other, becomes a tapestry of their two themes intertwining (as shown in the transcription). There is very little dialogue in the scene so the score and the animation work together to tell the story, and the score does so brilliantly. The first half of the track keeps teasing Toothless' theme with bits and pieces of it: particularly moments implying the descending scale at the end of it, but also the perfect 5th shape that it opens with, and an ever-present soft 8th note beat. It is also in major much warmer. They aren't friends but they understand each other, it's kind of playful. And then midway through the track, Hiccup draws in the sand and Toothless sees this, and tries to do so as well. We get a bit of Hiccup's 2nd motif alternating with the descending end of Toothless' theme, which then leads us by way of a brilliant 16th note D major scale to a moment where Toothless leitmotif is played over a chorus repeating those first notes of Hiccup's 1st motif. And as Hiccup walks across Toothless drawing in the sand, careful to not step on any of the lines, moving ever closer to Toothless, it swells until they are close enough to touch. Hiccup reaches out and Toothless puts down his head. They have become friends, and it was all represented in the score. But more than that, the score almost feels like it is pulling us to this conclusion, telling the story that the animation is dependent on rather than music dependent on what's happening on screen. The teasing of Toothless' motif at the beginning, begging Hiccup and the audience to care about this friendship and about learning about this dragon, is an incredibly powerful narrative device.
And then we reach "Test Drive," my favorite track in the movie in which their fates are sealed together. This track has several fantastic musical things going on. We open with this big pedal D power chord over which is a fast, ostinato like, version of Toothless leitmotif, which ends on a descending D major scale taking us into a flute version of Hiccup's leitmotif. I say leitmotif because both motifs are showcased. And it's grand. Both leitmotifs are in strong fully realized instrumentations and harmonies. They are flying together and the dream is being realized, but then they crash, and the score reflects this with a sudden mass of chords that don't fit in the key with a pedal D repeatedly playing as the chords try to find their way back into the melody, and when they finally do there is a key change to E major. Whole step key changes often are used for a restatement of something musically with more power, a revitalization. Here Toothless' leitmotif has doubled notes giving it an energy we've never seen before and the descending scale of Hiccups' 2nd motif is used to lead into Toothless' which also has a descending scale. This track is a brilliant encapsulation of their friendship and relationship come to fruition. Their individual musical themes have been written intentionally for combination. And while before we mostly got Hiccup's 1st motif in conjunction with Toothless because it can function well as melody with the Toothless music taking the role of background ostinato (which we do see later in the film), now we have seen Hiccup's 2nd motif really come into play with Toothless' despite it being the one more connected to the Vikings. Hiccup's journey in the film is about finding his place amongst his people through his relationship with his friend the dragon, and up until this point those two worlds as represented in Hiccup's thematic music hadn't interacted much, but now they have become fully interconnected.
From here on out in the movie Hiccup is taken by Stoic to find the dragon nest and they fight the big evil dragon called the Green Death. Furthering the development of "Viking War" it is played when Stoic says to Hiccup "you're not my son," and then as Stoic chains Toothless up and gets ready for war. Hiccup looks down at Toothless and there's a mournful recollection of Hiccup's 2nd motif as he has lost his connection to his people and his friend. But then he and the other teens go on dragons to save the day, and Stoic realizes his mistake and saves Toothless and Hiccup, and so in the track "Battling the Green Death" when they are back together we get another brilliant rendition of Hiccup 1 and Toothless musically overlayed while Stoic apologizes. And then interestingly during the fight with the Green Death in "Counter Attack," Toothless and Hiccup go head to head with the massive dragon as the Vikings watch and a new version of "Viking Heroism/Determination" plays rather than Toothless or Hiccup's music. And this is because while Test Drive represented the culmination of their relationship, Viking Heroism's connection to Hiccup's 2nd motif lets it musically show that Hiccup has found his place amongst his people and has been accepted by them and by his father. And all of that storytelling happens in the score--and because of the score in some places--because Powell wrote Hiccup's leitmotif as connected to the two things that create the tension: Vikings and Dragons. And as Hiccup's music becomes audibly connected to, and accepted by, the music of Toothless and the Vikings, so then is the tension in the film resolved.
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