How to Train Your Dragon
Quick answer
How to Train Your Dragon is a franchise based on Cressida Cowell’s children’s books. DreamWorks Animation made three films (2010, 2014 and 2019), and a live-action remake directed by Dean DeBlois was released in June 2025, with a live-action sequel scheduled for 2027.
Key facts
- Created by
- Cressida Cowell (books, 2003)
- Studio
- DreamWorks Animation, Universal
- Main characters
- Hiccup and Toothless
- Toothless's species
- Night Fury
The story follows Hiccup, a skinny Viking teenager on the island of Berk, where everyone fights dragons. Instead of killing one, he befriends a rare, injured Night Fury he names Toothless, and changes how his whole village sees dragons.
The movies in order
| Year | Film | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | How to Train Your Dragon | Animated |
| 2014 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 | Animated |
| 2019 | How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World | Animated |
| 2025 | How to Train Your Dragon | Live-action remake |
| 2027 (scheduled) | How to Train Your Dragon 2 | Live-action |
The first animated film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Dean DeBlois, who co-directed it, directed the whole animated trilogy and the live-action remake.
The live-action remake
The 2025 film retells the original story with Mason Thames as Hiccup and Nico Parker as Astrid, while Gerard Butler returned to play Hiccup’s father, Stoick, the role he voiced in the animated films. It was a major box office hit, and Universal quickly scheduled a live-action sequel.
Books vs movies
The TV series
The world continued in several animated series, including Dragons: Riders of Berk, Defenders of Berk and Race to the Edge, which take place between the first two films, and the later spin-off Dragons: The Nine Realms, set in the present day.
Prefer a creative project? Here’s how to draw for beginners, dragons included.
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