How to Train Your Dragon is an American fantasy adventure 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 (2010), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019). A live-action remake of the first film was released in 2025, with a sequel scheduled for 2027. The franchise also includes three television series: DreamWorks Dragons (2012–2018), Rescue Riders (2019–2022), and The Nine Realms (2021–2023), as well as six short films: Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon (2010), Book of Dragons (2011), Gift of the Night Fury (2011), Dawn of the Dragon Racers (2014), Homecoming and Snoggletog Log (both 2019).
The franchise primarily revolves around a young Viking named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (voiced by Jay Baruchel in the animated films, and portrayed by Mason Thames in the live-action films), the 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 films, described their 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 original animated films have 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 (Toothless) 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. Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Producer(s) Original animated trilogy How to Train Your Dragon Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders Will Davies, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders Bonnie Arnold How to Train Your Dragon 2 Dean DeBlois How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Brad Lewis & Bonnie Arnold Live-action series How to Train Your Dragon Dean DeBlois Marc Platt & Adam Siegel How to Train Your Dragon 2
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 first film, 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. , running from June 2015 to February 2018.
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 (Astrid), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Fishlegs), and T. J. Miller (Tuffnut). 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. The series serves as a prelude to the second film.
DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders (2019–2022)
A preschool-oriented series, DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders, premiered on Netflix on September 27, 2019. It features a completely new cast of characters and locale compared to the original films and series, but is set in the same universe. Rescue Riders was moved to Peacock starting with its third season.
DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms (2021–2023)
Another series, DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms, premiered on Peacock and Hulu on December 23, 2021. Unlike previous 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, and features a new cast of characters.
Short films Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon (2010)Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon is a 16-minute short film which was originally broadcast on Cartoon Network on October 14, 2010 and was released by Paramount Home Entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray on October 15, 2010 as a special feature on the double edition of the first How to Train Your Dragon film. The short film was directed by John Puglisi, written by Peter Steinfeld and reprising the roles of the first feature film's eight actors Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon follows Hiccup and his young fellows accompanying their mentor, Gobber, on a quest to kill the legendary Boneknapper Dragon. About half the short film is done in traditional animation, showing Gobber's history and his encounters with the Boneknapper, and how he comes to look like he does now.
Book of Dragons (2011)Book of Dragons is an 18-minute short film which was released by DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray on November 15, 2011. Written and directed by Steve Hickner and co-written by Bart Coughlin and Joshua Pruett, Book of Dragons stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Cummings and Tress MacNeille.
The short film shows Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, Toothless and Gobber telling the legend behind the Book of Dragons and revealing insider training secrets about new, never before seen dragons. Book of Dragons shows a total of 14 different dragons, each separated into 7 classes: Stoker (Terrible Terror and Monstrous Nightmare), Boulder (Gronckle and Whispering Death), Fear (Hideous Zippleback and Snaptrapper), Sharp (Deadly Nadder and Timberjack), Tidal (Scauldron and Thunderdrum), Mystery (Changewing and Boneknapper) and Strike (Skrill and Night Fury).