How to Train Your Dragon
How to Train Your Dragon is a media franchise from DreamWorks Animation and based on the book series of the same name by British author Cressida Cowell. It consists of three feature films: How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. A live-action remake of the first film was released in 2025, with a sequel scheduled for 2027. The franchise primarily follows the adventures of a young Viking named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, generally known as Hiccup, son of Stoick the Vast, leader of the Viking island of Berk. Although Hiccup was initially dismissed as a clumsy and underweight misfit, he soon becomes renowned as a courageous dragons expert, alongside Toothless, a member of the rare Night Fury breed as his flying mount and closest companion. Together with his friends, he manages the village's allied dragon population in defense of his home as leader of a flying corps of dragon riders. Upon becoming leaders of their kind, Hiccup and Toothless are forced to make choices that will truly ensure peace between people and dragons. Dean DeBlois, the director of the film trilogy, described its story as "Hiccup's coming of age", taking place across a span of five years between the first and second film, and a year between the second and third film.
The franchise also contains six short films: Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon, Book of Dragons, Gift of the Night Fury, Dawn of the Dragon Racers, How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming and How to Train Your Dragon: Snoggletog Log.
The television series based on the events of the first film, DreamWorks Dragons, began airing on Cartoon Network in September 2012. The first and second seasons were titled Dragon: Riders of Berk and Dragons: Defenders of Berk respectively. After the two seasons on Cartoon Network, the series was given the new title Dragons: Race to the Edge. The characters are older and it served as a prequel to the second film, running from June 2015 to February 2018. A more-child-friendly second series, titled Dragons: Rescue Riders, began airing on Netflix in 2019 and features a completely different cast and locale than the original series of films and TV shows, but is set in the same universe. A third series, Dragons: The Nine Realms, began streaming on Hulu and Peacock in December 2021, with Rescue Riders transferring to Peacock beginning with the third season under the Heroes of the Sky subtitle. Unlike past entries in the franchise, The Nine Realms is set in the 21st century, specifically around 1,300 years after the events of The Hidden World.
The animated film trilogy has been highly acclaimed, with each film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, in addition to the first film's nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Films
Animated trilogy
''How to Train Your Dragon'' (2010)
How to Train Your Dragon, the first film in the series, was released on March 26, 2010. It was written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, and is inspired by the 2003 book of the same name by Cressida Cowell. The story takes place in a mythical Fantasy Viking world where a young Viking teenager named Hiccup aspires to follow his tribe's tradition of becoming a dragon slayer. After finally capturing his first dragon the infamous and elusive Night Fury, and with his chance of finally gaining the tribe's acceptance and father's recognition, he finds that he no longer has the desire to kill the dragon and instead befriends it. He soon realizes that to protect the Night Fury he must show the Vikings the truth of dragons. The film grossed nearly $500 million worldwide and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.''How to Train Your Dragon 2'' (2014)
A sequel, How to Train Your Dragon 2, was confirmed on April 27, 2010. The film was written and directed by DeBlois, the co-director of the first film. Bonnie Arnold, the producer of the first film, also returned, with Sanders, who co-directed the first film, serving as an executive producer for the second instead, due to his work on the film The Croods and its sequel. The film was released on June 13, 2014. All of the cast from the first film – Baruchel, Butler, Ferguson, Ferrera, Hill, Mintz-Plasse, Miller and Wiig –returned for the sequel. New additions include Kit Harington as Eret, Cate Blanchett as Valka, and Djimon Hounsou as Drago Bludvist.Set five years after the events of the first film, Hiccup and Toothless have successfully united dragons and Vikings on the island of Berk. Now 20 years old, Hiccup is pressed to succeed his father as chieftain. When he discovers a group of dragon trappers led by Drago Bludvist, he goes on a quest to find Drago and stop him, while also coming across his long-lost mother Valka.
''How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World'' (2019)
In December 2010, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg confirmed that there would also be a third film in the series: "How To Train Your Dragon is at least three: maybe more, but we know there are at least three chapters to that story." DeBlois, the writer, and director of the second and the third film, said that How to Train Your Dragon 2 is being intentionally designed as the second act of the trilogy: "There are certain characters and situations that come into play in the second film that will have to become much more crucial to the story by the third."The film's release date was changed several times. In September 2012, 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation announced an initial release date of June 18, 2016, which was later changed to June 16, 2016. It was then moved to June 9, 2017, and later to May 18, 2018, taking over the release date of Warner Animation Group's The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. On December 5, 2016, the release date was pushed back again to March 1, 2019. This was the first DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by Universal Pictures, after NBCUniversal's acquisition of the company in 2016, and followed DreamWorks' departure from 20th Century Fox after 2017's Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie.
The film was produced by Arnold, and exec-produced by DeBlois and Sanders. Baruchel, Butler, Blanchett, Ferguson, Ferrera, Hill, Mintz-Plasse, Harington and Wiig reprised their roles from previous films. F. Murray Abraham joined the cast as the film's main villain, Grimmel.
Set a year after the events of the second film, Hiccup had become the new chieftain of Berk for dragons and Vikings. His late father had told a younger Hiccup to seek out the haven of dragons, known as "the Hidden World". Upon discovering the Light Fury, a female sub-species of the Night Fury, Toothless falls in love and bonds with her. The Night Fury killer, Grimmel the Grisly, sets out to find and kill Toothless, prompting Hiccup to choose between keeping the dragons or setting them free.
Live-action remakes
''How To Train Your Dragon'' (2025)
In February 2023, a live-action remake of the first animated film was announced to be in development, to be produced by Marc Platt Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures, and would mark DreamWorks' first live-action film. Dean DeBlois returned to write and direct, with John Powell returning to write the score. It was originally scheduled for release on March 14, 2025, but due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, it was delayed to June 13 of that year.''How to Train Your Dragon 2'' (2027)
In April 2025, a live-action remake of the second animated film was officially announced at CinemaCon. It is set to be released on June 11, 2027. On January 15, 2026, it was announced that Cate Blanchett, the original voice actor of Valka in the animated films, will reprise her role. During the month, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and Phil Dunster joined the cast as Drago and Eret, respectively.Television series
''DreamWorks Dragons'' (2012–2018)
On October 12, 2010, it was announced that Cartoon Network had acquired worldwide broadcast rights to a weekly animated series based on the movie, which was scheduled to begin sometime in 2012. In January 2011, producer Tim Johnson confirmed that work had begun on the series and that, unlike the TV series spin-offs of the films Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and Monsters vs. Aliens, How To Train Your Dragon's series is much darker and deeper, like the movie. The show is the first DreamWorks Animation series that airs on Cartoon Network instead of Nickelodeon, unlike previous series such as The Penguins of Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Monsters vs. Aliens.Although it was announced that the series would be called Dragons: The Series, TV promos shown in June 2012 revealed a new title – Dragons: Riders of Berk. The series began airing in the third quarter of 2012. John Sanford, the director of seven episodes in the first season, confirmed that there would also be a second season. Jay Baruchel, who voiced Hiccup, also stars in the series, as well as America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and T. J. Miller. The second season is accompanied with the new subtitle, Defenders of Berk, replacing the previous Riders of Berk subtitle. Starting with the third season, the series moved to Netflix and is accompanied by the subtitle Race to the Edge.