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After over a decade of Disney remaking its animated films into live-action films, it was inevitable that other studios would get in on the trend. Universal Pictures revealed the first trailer forHow to Train Your Dragon, a live-action remake of the 2010 DreamWorks animated classic. The trailer does what many live-action remake trailers try to do: capture audience interest as they slowly reveal that the trailer they are watching is a remake of a beloved movie they know, with the trailer building to the reveal of Toothless.
The trailer’s reaction has certainly been mixed, with some audiences excited to see a live-action take on an animated classic while others are more perplexed about why they would remake a movie so soon. Similar to the remakes ofThe Lion KingandBeauty and the Beast, the trailer looks just like the original film, withHow to Train Your Dragonfeeling more out of place because the live-action elements already resemble the computer-animated character.It also has raised a common criticism that comes with live-action remakes of animated films, which treats animation as less, while live-action gives it a form of legitimacy.
How to Train Your Dragon
Does the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Remake Feel Too Soon?
By the timeHow to Train Your Dragonarrives in theaters, it will have been 15 years since the release of the originalback in March 2010. 15 years certainly feels like a long time, as an entire generation has grown up and can be nostalgic for the original, but that gap is one of the shortest for the animated project to a live-action remake. Tim Burton’sAlice in Wonderlandwas 59 years after the release of the Walt Disney animated movie, with a 65-year gap between 1950sCinderellaand the live-action remake in 2015. Even when Disney started adapting theirRenaissance-era animated filmsin the mid-2010s, there was still a nearly 30-year gap with theBeauty and the Beastremaking opening 26 years after the original animated film.
The 15-year gap betweenHow to Train Your Dragon’s live-action remake and its animated original certainly feels too soon when one considers another animated franchise,Despicable Me, which also came out in 2010 and is still going strong with sequels and spin-offs. TheHow to Train Your Dragonremake feels so soon because the franchise itself only recently wrapped up in 2019 withHow to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.That will be a six-year gap between the animated conclusion and the live-action remake.
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TheHow to Train Your Dragonremake is a strange case as it’s been a while since the original film, but it hasn’t been THAT long, andit also doesn’t feel like such a big gap because audiences just saw Toothless and Hiccup less than six years ago. Whereas initially, there would be big gaps in time between an original movie and the remake, now it feels like the timeline is speeding up with remakes coming out before the generation who saw the original is even old enough to vote. IfHow to Train Your Dragonseems too soon to be remade, Disney is about to break that short gap withthe live-actionMoana. TheMoanaremake is set for a 2026 release date, which will be only 10 years after the original and just two years afterMoana 2.
The Jump Between 3D Animation to Live-Action Feels Redundant
The big reveal shot ofHow to Train Your Dragon’s remake trailer was the reveal of Toothless. However, many noted thatToothless looks like his animated counterpart, just in a higher resolution. Moreover,keeping Toothless’s original design for an animated film clashes with the live-action actors with realistic set design’s more muted color pallet. He feels like a cartoon character transported into the real world instead of a physical part of this new reimagined universe. Instead of reimaging Toothless to fit the more realistic world while maintaining his key elements, like the Pokemon inDetective Pikachu, it just feels like the same 3D model from 2019’sHow to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden Worldwas imported over into this live-action film and made for a tonal clash.
This decision to keep Toothless’s design and transpose him into a realistic setting highlights a strange, uncanny valley effect. Whereas the creative aspect of taking a 2D property and imagining it in live-action would be to take images, characters, or settings people knew in one medium and realize it in three dimensions, computer-animated films already resemble reality, so the awe of seeing an animated character “brought to life” is not lessened.TheHow to Train Your Dragontrailer doesn’t look different enough from the animated film, but paradoxically, it seems too different to have Toothless’s original design not stand out.
How to Train Your Dragonisn’t the only Chris Sanders movie getting remade. By a strange turn of fate, 2025 will see the release of another live-action remake of another Chris Sanders-directed animated film opening three weeks beforeHow to Train Your Dragon:Lilo & Stitch. While one could say aLilo & Stitchremake is also unnecessary,the design of Stitchcompared to Toothless does highlight a fundamental difference in adapting a hand-drawn animated film to live-action compared to a computer-animated movie.
Stitch’s design also keeps the same recognizable model as his animated counterpart, but because Stitch is only a 2D animated character, bringing him to life through computer animation allows the filmmakers to add texture to his design. Someone looks at the new Stitch, and they recognize it is Stitch but also “real,” whereas Toothless looks like a cartoon character in a real-world setting.
Some Good Things About the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Remake
How to Train Your Dragonseems, on the surface, an unnecessary remake, but it does have some elements in its favor. What makesHow to Train Your Dragonnotable is that the film will be directed by Dean DeBlois, who co-directed the originalHow to Train Your Dragonalongside Chris Sanders and was the sole-credited director onHow to Train Your Dragon 2andHow to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.
It is unlikely one of the creative minds of the original film would only come back to direct a one-to-one remake of the original movie. He likely does havea new spin on the materialthat the trailer didn’t highlight because its primary goal was to use iconic imagery to let people know the remake was happening and capture audience interest.
How to Train Your Dragonis, first and foremost, a fantasy movie with dragons. That makes the seeming controversy some fans have made about casting mixed-race actor Nico Parker as the character Astrid ridiculous. Like the supposed controversy around Halle Bailey as Ariel orRachel Zegler as Snow White, the claims of historical accuracy in fantasy-based stories aimed at children are a way to pass off racist talking points as critiques. Upset because aHow to Train Your Dragonremake is happening far too soon? Valid. Upset that Astrid is not played by a white actress? Not valid.
What Is the Point of the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Remake?
From being released so soon after the originalHow to Train Your Dragonto the remake mainly sticking with Toothless’s original design but only changing up the live-action setting, one has to wonder why even bother remakingHow to Train Your Dragon. The original isn’t that old and still looks incredible. The obvious cynical answer is money. Universal’s new theme park, Epic Universe, will have aHow to Train Your Dragonsection, so they likely want a live-action reference point to bring the characters into the park while also serving as a bit of corporate synergy.
While there is a certain novelty in seeing a live-action remake of an animated story, it does continue to show an alarming trend of animation being looked down upon compared to live-action. Animated films, particularly in North America, tend to be seen as a medium for kids. The gap between live-action and animated can be seen inmovies likeTransformers OneandTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.Despite getting positive reviews and being primarily seen as better than their live-action counterparts, they have a more challenging time attracting mainstream audiences than live-action movies based on their IP.
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Intentional or not, remaking an animated film and series into live-action conveys that this is a “real movie” and “not just for kids.“There is a reason audiences don’t see any big-budget animated adaptations of live-action movies because that would be seen as a downgrade. In contrast,moving from an animated movie to live-action film is seen as an upgrade. Animation is treated as a genre instead of a medium to tell a unique batch of stories that can be aimed at any audience.
Many animated films are aimed at children, but that doesn’t mean those films are less than live-action films and can’t have as much meaning or weight because they are animated. The originalHow to Train Your Dragonand its sequels are breathtaking, moving films that can stand tall among other fantasy films, and their being animated is not a detriment but a strength.
The live-actionHow to Train Your Dragonhas the potential to be good, but right now, the trailer highlights the current problem of not just remakes but unnecessary remakes that look down on one medium. Afterlive-action remakes ofAvatar: The Last AirbenderandOne Piecethat do the same but with real people acting out the stories, it feels like this trend won’t go away soon. It feels like only a matter of time before we are staring down the barrel of Sony Pictures announcing a live-actionHotel Transylvaniaor DreamWorks moving ahead on live-actionShrek.TheHow to Train Your Dragonlive-action adaptation is releasing on June 20, 2025.How to Train Your Dragonis streaming onMax.
