How To Train Your Dragon (2025) Director Dean DeBlois reveals how the live-action version is going to expand and enrich the animated films.
I don’t know about you but the first thing that went through my mind when I heard there was going to be a live-action version of How To Train Your Dragon was, why? I love the animated franchise – in fact, I think it is one of the few perfect trilogies to ever grace the screen. So of course, I had some concerns.
These concerns, however, were immediately squashed the first time I saw the teaser trailer. In fact, it brought me to tears. Director Dean DeBlois also co-directed the animated movies with Chris Sanders and it is clear that he still has a special place for them in his heart.
During a special event, we were shown three (unfinished) scenes from the movie and the new trailer. DeBlois spoke about filming the movie, and his wishes for it. He expressed that it was important for him to expand and enrich the animated films wherever he could, and that the live-action movie was never meant to replace the originals.
“If we were going to do this in live-action, we wanted to find a reason for being.”
“This [story] comes from the mind of Cressida Cowell and her many books,” DeBlois explains. “This was also based on the animated movie, of which I’m very proud, that Chris Sanders and I wrote and directed together.” He goes on to admit that he has not been the biggest fan of live-action movies that have been made of animated films because he feels like they’re made to replace the animated movie.
“From the start, we wanted to make sure that that wasn’t our intention here. If we were going to do this in live-action, we wanted to find a reason for being.” DeBlois explains that with the rushed production schedule and the limited resources that they had on that first movie, there were things that they skipped past that they could have done a little more justice to: “Some of the characters, some of the depth of relationships, and the immersive action.”
How To Train Your Dragon (2025) Is “Quite Faithful” To The Story
DeBlois says that How To Train Your Dragon (2025) is “a reimagining that holds quite faithful to the story and yet, finds moments where we could enrich character relationships, give a bit of depth, even a little bit of Mythology that might have been lacking in that original, all in hopes to make it feel like it enriches the experience and it gives you that much more emotional connection to the characters and a sense of established folklore to this world.”
He compares the animated movie to a test preview screening, saying he used it to find what they could add if they still had money and still had time. He asked himself, “Where would we put those efforts?,” before adding, “We’re hoping to bring all of the strengths of that medium to this story. Whether or not we succeed, the world can judge, but that was the intention.”
Deblois says there is a lot of love, affection, care, and attention that they sunk into this version of How To Train Your Dragon.
Dean DeBlois Always Felt Astrid Was “Underserved” In The Animated Films
DeBlois wanted to use this opportunity to “give a little bit more to the character of Astrid” who he always felt was a little underserved. He also “loves the idea of expanding the mythology of this story that this tribe exists on the island of Burke with purpose.”
In this lore, the Vikings sailed far and wide collecting the best dragon-fighting warriors, they could find with the purpose of eliminating dragons for the good of all. They arrived on the island of Burke because they knew it was within spitting distance of a key dragon’s nest, but generations have gone by and they have not found it. This means there is a mounting pressure that has fallen upon their Chief Stoick, played by Gerard Butler.
Certain Key Scenes Needed To Be Recreated Shot For Shot
Going into this film, DeBlois knew that there were a couple of moments where they should almost stick shot for shot with the animated movie because these are iconic scenes that fans will recognize and they wanted to honor them in live-action as best they could.
“In designing them for live action, we wanted to make sure we didn’t we didn’t sacrifice those trademark silhouettes and personalities from the animated movie that we wanted to draw forward.” To do this, they wanted to set aside anything that was too anthropomorphic because they were really trying to make the idea of dragons credible on the screen.
“We had these amazing puppeteers who created foam heads and bodies from the digital assets of the dragons and then they puppeteered them in such a way that they disappeared and there was a dragon and our actors had somebody to act with.” – Dean DeBlois
They filmed with with real cameras and moved around as a creature of this natural world would. “Working backwards we were able to retain what we think might have been simplified in an animated design but give it a little bit more robust skeleton, and musculature, and scales and details,” DeBlois explains.
How To Train Your Dragon (2025) soars into theaters on June 13.
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About How To Train Your Dragon (2025)
On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup (Mason Thames; The Black Phone, For All Mankind) stands apart. The inventive yet overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, reprising his voice role from the animated franchise), Hiccup defies centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon.
Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking society. With the fierce and ambitious Astrid (BAFTA nominee Nico Parker; Dumbo, The Last of Us) and the village’s quirky blacksmith Gobber (Nick Frost; Snow White and the Huntsman, Shaun of the Dead) by his side, Hiccup confronts a world torn by fear and misunderstanding.
As an ancient threat emerges, endangering both Vikings and dragons, Hiccup’s friendship with Toothless becomes the key to forging a new future. 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.
How To Train Your Dragon (2025) soars into theaters on June 13.