Live-Action Remake’s Approach To “Iconic” Moments Explained By How To Train Your Dragon Director

How to Train Your Dragon director Dean DeBlois explains how he approached adapting “iconic” moments from the original movie. The first How to Train Your Dragon animated movie came out in 2010, and the series went on to become a DreamWorks animated trilogy. Now, a live-action adaptation of the first How to Train Your Dragon is in the late stages of development, set for release this year on June 13. The How to Train Your Dragon live-action movie features a leading cast including Gerard Butler, Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Julian Dennison, and Bronwyn James.

In rountable interview attended by ScreenRant, DeBlois talks about how he approached adapting some of the animated film’s most “iconic” scenes. The director was asked “Were there moments where you were thinking along the lines of the audience and what they’d love to see, or were you finding new approaches?” He responded that there were “key moments” that he felt that “people see as iconic to the original trilogy.” For said scenes, he decided to “mimic those scenes almost shot for shot.” Check out the full quote from DeBlois below:

I took the stance that there are key moments that people see as iconic to the original trilogy. Like where [Hiccup and Toothless] are drawing in the sand, where they touch the first time, the test drive where they’re flying for the first time. We very carefully tried, with the live-action crew on our set and our camera set-up, to mimic those scenes almost shot for shot.

What This Means For How To Train Your Dragon

Fans Did Not Initially Like Its Shot-for-Shot Moments

The very first How to Train Your Dragon live-action trailer, which showed the first meeting between Hiccup and Toothless. This trailer mimicked “key moments,” including Toothless first waking up, and Hiccup holding his hand out to toothless. The marketing of this trailer emphasized the shot-for-shot nature of these moments, but said recreation was harshly criticized. This first trailer gave audiences the impression that the film overall would feature ample shot-for-shot recreation.

In this most recent quote, DeBlois clarifies that the shot-for-shot sequences were used more sparingly. They were only made to cover the iconic scenes, including the first flight, the touching, and Hiccup drawing a picture of Toothless in the sand on the beaches of Berk. By using these select moments for exact recreation, DeBlois made sure to pay enough homage to the original How to Train Your Dragon movies while not making the whole film an exact replica.

Our Take On How To Train Your Dragon’s Shot-for-Shot Moments

Even Including A Select Group Risks Comparison

Image via Universal Pictures

Even making these scenes shot-for-shot is a complicated choice when it comes to the How to Train Your Dragon live-action remake. Those scenes will risk comparison to the original, and be more apt to have the audience question why the live-action version needed to be made. The just-released How to Train Your Dragon full trailer shows some additional Astrid sequences as well as other shots not included in the original animated film, showing how the new version stands out.