"Into a Fantasy" is a song by Norwegian singer-songwriter Alexander Rybak. It was released on 9 June 2014 as a digital download in Norway. The song features on the '' How to Train Your Dragon 2'' soundtrack, though it only appears in the European versions of the film. The song was written by Alexander Rybak and produced by Knut Bjørnar Asphol.

Background

Alexander Rybak lend his voice to the main character

Hiccup A hiccup (scientific name ''singultus'', from a Latin word meaning "to catch one's breath while sobbing"; also spelled hiccough) is an involuntary contraction (myoclonic jerk) of the diaphragm that may repeat several times per minute. The hic ...

in the Norwegian dub of the ''How To Train Your Dragon'' franchise. He wrote a song titled "Come Fly with Me" during a difficult period in his life and decided he wanted to include in the song book ''

Trolle og den magiske fela The House of Trolle (sometimes in Danish ''Trold'') is the name of a Scanian noble family, originally from Småland, in Sweden. The family has produced prominent people in the histories of Denmark and in Sweden since the Middle Ages and is associat ...

'' on which he was also working then. During the dubbing of the second film, Rybak noticed that his newly-written song fit the storyline. After a Norwegian director at

Dreamworks DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...

heard the song, Rybak was encouraged to send the song to the headquarters of Dreamworks. Although the soundtrack of ''How To Train Your Dragon 2'' had already been finalised at that stage, the company was fond of the song and decided to include it as a bonus track in the European and Slavic versions of the soundtrack. In these countries, the song, which title had been changed to "Into a Fantasy", was also played during the end credits.

Critical reception

VG gave Rybak a " die throw" of 4 for "Into a Fantasy". Synchrotones called it a "lovely song with a folksy sound", but critiqued that it was lacking energy.

Live performances

Alexander Rybak, opening of Slavianski Bazar 2014

Rybak officially premiered the track in Kyiv, Ukraine and also performed it during the Opening Ceremony of the

Slavianski Bazaar The International Festival of Arts “Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk” ( be, Міжнародны фестываль мастацтваў «Славянскі базар у Віцебску», uk, Міжнародний фестиваль мист ...

in Vitebsk, Belarus in July 2014. On 7 August 2014, Rybak performed "Into a Fantasy" during the Norwegian television show ''

Allsang på Grensen Allsang på Grensen (''Sing-along at the Border'') was a Norwegian musical entertainment programme that has been broadcast every summer on the TV 2 channel following its premiere in June 2007. The programme is based on the Swedish program ''Alls ...

'', which he co-hosted that episode. In Sweden, Rybak debuted the song in the morning programme ''Nyhetsmorgen'' on 10 August, where he also performed songs from his album ''

Visa vid vindens ängar ''Visa vid vindens ängar'' is the third studio album by the Belarusian-Norwegian artist Alexander Rybak, released on 15 June 2011 in Norway. It peaked at No. 7 on the Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart. It is presente ...

''.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Into a Fantasy" was first released onto YouTube on 17 June 2014 at a total length of three minutes and thirty-two seconds.Alexander Rybak - INTO A FANTASY (official soundtrack for "How To Train Your Dragon 2") -
YouTube

Track listing

Release history

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles Alexander Rybak songs Songs written by Alexander Rybak