‘How to Train Your Dragon': Life lessons and eye-popping action
There are lessons to be learned in 'How to Train Your Dragon,' which tells the story of a weak and skinny teenage Viking who defies his dragon hunter father to, as the title spells out, domesticate a fire-breathing mythological beast. Lessons about generational discord, about demonizing the other — here, one of a different species, not race, religion or political party — and about how, when training, it is the teacher who learns as much as, if not more than, the student.
'Lots of lessons here,' a mother was overheard to remark, with some surprise, after a recent screening. Mom nodded her head in agreement with her young child, who also couldn't help noticing the film's deeper meaning.
'Dragon' imparts these pearls of wisdom with verve and delight, in a telling that is as visually impressive as it is emotionally stirring. The dragons — categorized by species like the two-headed Zippleback and the Gronckle, a sort of overstuffed couch with hummingbird wings — are fantastical, but so are the Vikings, whose homeland is entirely that of the imagination, not Scandinavia.
But these things were equally true of the Oscar-nominated 2010 animated film of the same name, on which this live-action remake (live, except for the CGI dragons) is based. Written and directed by Dean DeBlois, who co-wrote and co-directed the original (with Chris Sanders) before helming its two sequels, the new movie need only be no worse than the first to justify its existence.
And it does meet that bar, if you discount the slight bad taste that might be left in your mouth from the naked greed of DreamWorks. Like Disney, which has been remaking its own catalogue of animated classics as 'live-action' films — a dubious classification if you consider the number of elves, fairies, genies, flying elephants and other fantastical creatures involved — the studio has jumped on the money train, eager to persuade a new audience to buy tickets for the same thing it sold a previous generation. There's another lesson there about how Hollywood thinks.
I can't say that I mind too terribly in this case.
Full disclosure: It may have something to do with the fact that I have an 11-month-old rescue dog at home. The new film's titular dragon, dubbed Toothless for his retractable teeth, rendered in convincing CGI, is meant to remind viewers of a difficult, irascible pooch — albeit one that also resembles a bat large enough to saddle up and ride through the sky like Pegasus. That makes for some neat aerial action sequences.
And so that's exactly what our adolescent hero Hiccup (Mason Thames) eventually does, much to the chagrin of his bloodthirsty dad, played by Gerard Butler in a reprise of the fulminating — and inexplicably Scottish — vocal role he originated in the first film as the Viking chieftain Stoick. While, in his village, Hiccup may be forced to train with other teens who are preparing to hunt dragons (who eat the Vikings' sheep), he's a lover, not a fighter. More tinkerer than soldier, Hiccup manages to capture a wounded Night Fury dragon with a weighted net, nursing it back to health and eventually teaching it to fly again, despite a broken tail fin.
The real lesson will come later, when Toothless will teach Hiccup — and ultimately the other Vikings — about the perils of blind hatred.
As good as the 2010 film was, there are actually a few more moments here that will leave animal lovers verklempt, given the realism of Toothless's rendering, especially in his sad, puppy-dog eyes, which are somehow both reptilian green and heart-melting.
But there may be another reason to see this 'How to Train Your Dragon' now — to, as it were, relearn its lessons, even if you've already seen the first film. (Or, for those who haven't, to discover them for the first time.)
Loosely based on the 2003 children's book by British writer Cressida Cowell, the film is, at its core, a cautionary tale about misjudging outsiders. In short, it's about prejudice. There's a line in the new 'How to Train Your Dragon' that says it all: 'I looked at him,' Hiccup says of Toothless, whom he was taught to fear and kill, 'and I saw myself.'
The line also happens to be in the 2010 film, whose narrative the remake follows closely. But somehow it lands differently, and with a poignant urgency that startles, in 2025.
PG. At area theaters. Contains sequences of intense action and peril. 125 minutes.
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Forbes
3 hours ago
- Forbes
When Is 'How To Train Your Dragon' Coming To Streaming?
How To Train Your Dragon Universal Pictures How to Train Your Dragon soared into theaters on Friday, June 13. The film is a live-action remake of the beloved 2010 animated film that kicked off the franchise. If you're waiting to watch it at home, here's what to know about when How to Train Your Dragon will likely start streaming. Dean DeBlois, who wrote and directed all three animated How to Train Your Dragon films, is once again behind the reins for the 2025 live-action remake. Also returning is Gerard Butler, who played Viking chief Stoick the Vast in each of the animated installments. The remake also stars Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Ruth Codd, Peter Serafinowicz and Murray McArthur. 'On the rugged isle of Berk, a Viking boy named Hiccup defies centuries of tradition by befriending a dragon named Toothless. However, when an ancient threat emerges that endangers both species, Hiccup's friendship with Toothless becomes the key to forging a new future,' the official synopsis reads. 'Together, they must navigate the delicate path toward peace, soaring beyond the boundaries of their worlds and redefining what it means to be a hero and a leader.' In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Butler explained how his approach to his character differed this time around compared to the animated films. 'When I watch myself, there's moments where I go, 'That's very like how I did it before,' then there's moments where you just go completely different," he said. "What I did want to do was be fresh, coming in there and starting as a new story and suddenly I'm embodying that all day long — I didn't get to do that when I was just doing the voice. I wore my pajamas every day.' Ready to watch How to Train Your Dragon again or waiting for its streaming debut? Here's how long fans will likely have to wait to see the movie on Peacock and digital streaming. How To Train Your Dragon Courtesy of Universal Pictures How To Train Your Dragon premiered exclusively in theaters on Friday, June 13. Currently, the only way to watch How To Train Your Dragon is in movie theaters. Check your local cinemas for specific showtimes. How To Train Your Dragon Courtesy of Universal Pictures How to Train Your Dragon is distributed by Universal Pictures, so the film is set to land on Peacock in the future. Fans can expect the movie to arrive on the streaming platform about three to four months after its theatrical debut – likely in September or October 2025. In comparison, Wicked began streaming on Peacock on Friday, March 21, 2025, almost four months after its November 2024 debut. Twisters also had a lengthy theater-to-Peacock release timeline at nearly four months. Similarly, The Fall Guy followed a comparable schedule, arriving on the streaming platform just under four months after its theatrical debut. How To Train Your Dragon Courtesy of Universal Pictures The great news is that you won't have to wait for How to Train Your Dragon to arrive on Peacock to watch the live-action movie at home. How to Train Your Dragon will be available for purchase or rental on digital platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Fandango at Home sooner (typically about 45 to 65 days after its theatrical premiere). That means viewers could be watching How to Train Your Dragon from the comfort of their home as early as Monday, July 28, 2025. Stay tuned to learn exactly when How to Train Your Dragon will premiere on Peacock and digital platforms. Watch the official trailer below.
Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
How Toothless evolved for the new ‘How to Train Your Dragon': ‘We wanted him to feel like a big pet'
Whether soaring through the sky or sharing a playful moment with his human bestie Hiccup, Toothless, the dark-hued dragon with a friendly face and an injured tail, disarms you with his endearing nature. It's no surprise that he's become the emblem of the 'How to Train Your Dragon' animated movies, the first of which arrived in 2010. (There have since been two sequels, three separate TV series and five shorts.) A fan favorite among Gen-Z viewers, Toothless now returns to the big screen in a new hyper-realist iteration for the live-action remake, now in theaters. And in an unprecedented move, Dean DeBlois, who directed all three 'Dragon' animated films — as well as 2002's original 'Lilo & Stitch,' along with Chris Sanders — was asked to helm the live-action reimagining. It was his priority to preserve Toothless' essence. 'He is our most recognizable dragon within the entire assortment,' DeBlois says on the phone. 'And he has a lot of sentience and personality that comes through. And so much of it is expressed in this face that's quite Stitch-like with the big eyes, the ear plates and the broad mouth.' In fact, the entire live-action endeavor hinged on whether Toothless could be properly translated as a photorealistic dragon among human actors and physical sets, while retaining the charm of the animated movies. According to Christian Manz, the new film's visual effects supervisor, when Peter Cramer, president of Universal Pictures, initially considered the project back in 2022, he wasn't convinced Toothless would work. His touchstone for a fantastical creature that successfully achieved believability was the Hippogriff, a winged four-legged creature seen in 2004's 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.' To test the viability of a new Toothless, DreamWorks enlisted British visual effects and computer animation outfit Framestore to spend three months trying to create a 'realistic' version of Toothless. Framestore has had some popular successes to its name: Paddington Bear in the film series, Dobby from the 'Harry Potter' universe and Groot and Rocket Raccoon from the Marvel movies. 'We always knew that we weren't aiming for a real dragon, as in a 'Game of Thrones' dragon,' says Manz, via video call from the U.K. Toothless' design, particularly his facial features, presented a challenge for Manz and the team at Framestore. If they made his eyes or his mouth too small or if they tried to drastically reshape his head with more naturalism in mind, he quickly lost his personality. 'His big, expressive face with eyes that are larger than any animal in the animal kingdom, including the blue whale, had to remain because, without them, we felt like we were going to be delivering a lesser version of Toothless,' says DeBlois. A stage show based on the first film called 'How to Train Your Dragon: Live Spectacular,' which toured Australia and New Zealand in 2012, radically changed the design — to a mixed response. 'Toothless was too creature-like and it just wasn't as appealing and as charming,' says Simon Otto, head of character animation for all three animated movies, via Zoom. While they may be too subtle for an untrained viewer to notice, certain design changes have been made that differentiate the live-action Toothless from his animated counterpart. 'He's now bigger, his head's smaller, his eyes are actually smaller,' says Manz. The nuanced reshaping of his head and his body was intentional: an effort to make him blend into a photorealistic world. 'The interesting thing is that when people see the live-action movie, they say, 'Oh, it's Toothless, like he stepped out of the animated movie,'' says DeBlois. 'But in truth, if you put them side by side, you'll see quite a few differences.' The texture of Toothless' body needed to be more intricate for the live-action version, so he would feel more convincingly integrated within the environments. 'In the animation, he's quite smooth,' says Manz. 'We tried very snake-like skin, but it just made him look very unfriendly. You wouldn't want to put your hand on his forehead.' Both on-screen versions of Toothless were crafted using essentially the same digital technique: computer animation. The difference here is that the one meant to share space with a flesh-and-blood world, with distinct aesthetic concerns. Even if seeking realism in creatures that only exist in our imagination might seem counterintuitive, the goal is to make them feel palpable within their made-up realm. 'One of the things I don't like about live-action remakes is they seem to try to want to replace the animated source, and I find myself very protective of it,' says DeBlois with refreshing candor. 'We tried to create a version that lives alongside it. It follows the beats of that original story, but brings new depths and expanded mythology and more immersive action moments and flying. But it's never trying to replace the animated movie because I'm very proud of that film.' Toothless as we now know him originated expressly for the screen. The Toothless in Cressida Cowell's originating book series is tiny and green (a design that can be seen in the first animated movie in the form of a minuscule dragon known as Terrible Terror). But when DeBlois and Sanders came aboard, 15 months before the 2010 release, replacing the previous directors, their first major change was to make Toothless a dragon that could be ridden. It was the screensaver of a black panther that first inspired the look of Toothless in the animated films. Otto, one of the designers who knows Toothless best (he drew the original back in 2008), recalls his real-world animal references. 'He is a mix between a bird of prey, like a peregrine falcon, with extremely streamlined shapes — of course a feline but also a Mexican salamander called an axolotl,' Otto says. Sanders' design for Disney superstar Stitch, namely his large almond-shaped eyes, ears and pronounced mouth, also influenced the design. 'There's a little bit of a design influence from Stitch in Toothless' face that makes them feel like they're distant cousins,' says DeBlois. He believes that making Toothless more closely resemble a mammal, rather than a reptile, and giving him pet-like qualities were the keys for him becoming so memorable. '[We] spent a lot of time on YouTube looking at videos of dogs and cats doing funny things,' he says. 'And we would try to incorporate a lot of that behavior into Toothless with the hopes that when people watched the movie, they would say, 'That's just like my cat' or 'My dog does that.' We wanted him to feel like a big pet. Ferocious and dangerous at first, but then a big cuddly cat after.' On the set of the live-action movie, Toothless and the other dragons existed as large puppets with simple functions, operated by a team of master puppeteers led by Tom Wilton, a performer who had worked on the 'War Horse' stage play. Using puppets was meant to provide the actors, especially Mason Thames, who plays Hiccup, a real-world scene partner. The Toothless foam puppet had an articulated jaw and articulated ear plates that allowed for a subtle, interactive performance. 'There's a performance that Dean can direct and that Mason and the other actors could act against, so that the interaction is utterly believable,' says Manz. '[The puppets] are obviously removed from the frame in the end, but it just means you believe that connection.' As for the impressive flight sequences, in which Hiccup rides Toothless, the production created an animatronic dragon placed on a giant gimbal that moved on six different axes to simulate the physics of flying. 'If the dragon was diving or ascending or banking and rolling, Mason would be thrown around in the saddle, like a jockey on a racehorse,' says DeBlois. 'And it married him to the animal in a way that felt really authentic.' For all his success in the animated realm, DeBlois has never directed a live-action film until now. 'I do commend Universal for taking a risk on me knowing that I had not made a live-action film, but also recognizing that I knew where the heart and the wonder was, and I was determined to bring it to the screen,' he says. Otto, the designer who trained Toothless before anybody else, candidly says he would have 'peed his pants' if he knew the drawings he did back in 2008 would spawn a franchise and a theme-park attraction (a re-creation of the films' Isle of Berk opened at Universal Studios Florida earlier this year). 'The most critical choice they made for the live-action was making sure the audience falls in love with Toothless,' he adds. 'And that you understand that if you have a creature like that as your friend, you wouldn't give up on it.'
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Forbes
‘How To Train Your Dragon' Just Set A Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Record
How to Train Your Dragon Dreamworks The live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon may have looked like an exercise in redundancy, given how 1:1 it seemed to the original, but it's a massive box office hit due to the fact that audiences absolutely love it. And they love it to a point where it appears to be record-setting. As it stands, How to Train Your Dragon has a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. That's up from the 77% critic score for the remake and even the 91% audience score from the original movie. That score? It's a record among the slew of recent live-action animation adaptations, which are from Disney, not Dreamworks. Here's the list: How to Train Your Dragon Rotten Tomatoes You will note here that How to Train Your Dragon is the only non-Disney film on this list, and it's the first one Dreamworks has done. There are no other confirmed live-action adaptations that Dreamworks has announced but after this? It seems more than possible that they're going to get working on…something, whatever that may be. Live-action Shrek? Anything's possible. I was about to say Despicable Me, but that's Illumination and Universal. How to Train Your Dragon also got an 'A' audience score from recent screenings, very solid in the context of that measurement. Generally speaking, these live-action adaptations have been more well-received by audiences than perhaps sometimes-jaded critics who are not amused with seeing these 10–30-year-old movies recycled into box office churn. But for many families, it's a way to show these classics in an updated format to their kids for the first time or to get a hit of nostalgia for themselves. I can't say I'm wild about most of these, but I thought Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin were really well done. I do want to see How to Train Your Dragon now, but my son isn't quite old enough for that, and I don't particularly want to head to a theater on my own to check that one out. We will keep an eye on the box office for How to Train Your Dragon, which looks like it's going to be enormous. And what announcements may follow, like adapting the movie's sequel, no doubt. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
