Funny you should mention that BK, because here is my report for HTTYD2:
How to Train Your Dragon 2Saturday, 1:45 PM
~420 seat auditorium, ~40-50% full? (unless it's a big OW - like MU or CA2 - the non-stadium front rows are usually sparsely filled or empty)
Trailers: (missed the first trailer(s), I was intentionally late because I know that trailers last 10+ minutes), Annie, The Boxtrolls, Home (with "Coming Soon" date), The Penguins of Madagascar
Home got the most laughs out of the trailers, by a wide margin. I'm almost tempted to start a Home > Penguins club.
Mostly families, a lot of them with young girls. As for audience reaction,
The first act and a half got lots of laughs, so I was literally biting my nails in fear of what was going to happen when Stoick died. I heard some whimpering and sniffling, and the parents next to me were comforting their ~5 year old daughter, but I am pleased to report that there were absolutely no angry parents dragging their inconsolable kids out of the theater. Most of the kids were fine by act 3 - sure, that little girl looked a stone-faced for the rest of the movie, but other kids seemed fine. The baby-riding scene seemed to lift their spirits, and a couple girls behind me were clapping during the climax when Toothless snaps out of it and when he breaks out of the ice and breaks the evil alpha's hold on the other dragons. Nobody seemed particularly upset that Toothless was the one killed Stoick; they seemed to understand that it wasn't his fault and the bad guy made him do it, and to be rooting for him to pull through. I'm not sure whether the audience "fully recovered", but I can say that it wasn't a funeral atmosphere. There were kids in good spirits at the end.
Some parents were clapping too. And one of those little girls was talking with her parents about how she couldn't wait for the third movie. That definitely made me smile inside.
