i'm not that well read on disability activism, and i know my personal experiences with being disabled are not universal, so if i get anything horribly wrong do feel free to point it out to me and i apologize in advance, but:
something that really stands out to me in how to train your dragon is how the vikings of berk go from being a very ableist, and just hostile in general to any perceived difference, society to one of the most inclusive and committed to supporting its citizens needs settlements we see throughout the entire franchise, and how this is shown to be to the benefit of everyone involved.
hiccup, in the first film, is very arguably disabled even before he loses his leg at the end of the movie. he's less physically able than his peers, and disadvantaged and mistreated and resented because of it. the opening scene literally shows him using an aid he developed himself in order to enable him to manage to contribute in some way to something his community values despite his physical limitations. and when nobody sees his success, nobody believes it possible, and his insistence that he just wants to be like the others - just wants to be accepted and included - is met with scorn.
but then hiccup meets toothless, and realizes that he has doomed the dragon to a slow, undignified death, and he empathizes - as he says at the end of the film, he looks at toothless, and he sees himself. hiccup begins to realize that the rules his community are governed by are no way to live - they're the opposite, in fact, and the first to feel it are those like him, and those like toothless. those who cannot survive alone, without help. if the people of berk continue to live the way they do, they will not survive. and the people of berk, on some level, likely know this - but they don't care. they only care about their goal of wiping out what they perceive to be a threat to their community, the dragons, and so they do not see the real threat - their own stubborn unwillingness to change.
so hiccup uses his greatest skill - his innovation; his willingness to change and adapt born from his need to in order to survive, but motivated by compassion - to provide toothless with mobility aids that will help him to manage his disability. and, more than that, he provides toothless with the support and care he needs to manage it, to reach he best quality of life possible for him. and at the end of the film, and throughout the franchise, toothless returns the favor.
but hiccup and toothless are not alone, either. at the end of the film, they're joined by the people of their community, who finally see what hiccup has been trying to tell them - that they must work together and embrace their differences and recognize each other's needs in order to not just survive, but live and thrive. there are still things that hiccup and toothless, and others like them, struggle to manage alone due to their disability, but now the people of berk accommodate for that. they look out for each other. and because of that, they create progress. their once dark and cold island is full of color, light, and warmth, and happy, well-fed, long-lived people whose needs are met, allowing them to pursue their passions and celebrate the joy of living.
and i think that's such an important message to have in a film. that a society that cares about all its members is a society that prospers. that looking out for the most vulnerable and marginalized members of your community and enabling them to participate in the same things as you do is the only way to truly live. that compassion not only saves lives, but improves them. that in order to care for yourself, you must care for others.
