For those who haven’t seen “How to Train Your Dragon” since the animated movie’s 2010 release, the new live-action version might stir up moments of déjà vu.
Passionate fans will pick up on the slight alterations and expansions from writer-director Dean DeBlois, but blink — and you could miss them.
Recreating “How to Train Your Dragon” as a live-action movie was not DeBlois’ idea, but it presented an opportunity to revisit beloved characters and expand the story, he told the Deseret News.
“Universal Studios approached me about this idea of making a live-action version,” DeBlois said. “I thought it was an opportunity to actually dial (the movie) up in many ways and maybe answer some questions, or fill in a bit more mythology and deepen a few characters like Astrid — who had been a little bit short-changed, just due to time constraints, in that first animated movie.”
DeBlois continued, “We could just understand characters a little bit more, understand the father-son relationship a little bit more and lean into, I think, a more mature version of a lot of these themes by making it grounded, by making the dragons photo real and the world itself seem like somewhere you could visit.”
The bulk of the live-action “How to Train Your Dragon” is a shot-for-shot recreation, save a few expanded side character roles.
Several action sequences and some dialogue were copied from the animated movie and pasted in the live-action film. Even Gerard Butler, who voiced Stoick the Vast in the original, reprises his role in the remake.
Still, critics applaud the live-action remake — a genre living on thin ice — as a success.
A review from USA Today praised the film as a “heartwarming, meaty adventure perfect for a new generation.”
And the San Francisco Chronicle called it “the best live-action adaptation ever,” because “it makes its teenage protagonist deeper and more mature -- and its monsters extra frightening.”
Satisfying passionate fans of the animated “How to Train Your Dragon” series while also impressing a new generation of viewers, was a “very tricky situation from the start,” DeBlois said.
“We had very vocal and fervent fans of ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ and I certainly didn’t want to disappoint them. I didn’t want to desecrate the trilogy in any way. I wanted to cherry pick, sort of the best of what worked and then be additive in ways that would hopefully, for the fans and for new audiences, be received very well,” DeBlois said.
“So we’ll see how that goes as it rolls out into the world. But it was made with a lot of love and respect for the fan base.”
Molding Hiccup into a live-action character
In the years since the debut of “How to Train Your Dragon,” DeBlois has heard many fans express how they connected with the movie, specifically its unconventional protagonist, Hiccup.
For DeBlois, Hiccup was a character worth revisiting in a live-action setting.
Hiccup, who is played by Mason Thames in the remake, is “somebody who had to overcome kind of mockery and ridicule and still follow his heart and still lead with his compassion,” DeBlois explained.
“That type of a character is a hero for so many people who do feel a little bit at odds with the world they were born into, or the family they were born into,” the director continued. “There is something about marching to the beat of your own drum that is celebrated by this movie and by Hiccup specifically.”
Hiccup, who lives on the fictional Isle of Berk, suffers under societal pressures to follow in his father’s footsteps and hone the skills of a fierce dragon slayer. But Hiccup’s compassionate nature puts him at odds with his father, the village chief, and his peers — who are all aspiring Vikings.
When he connects with a rare Night Fury dragon, Hiccup discovers his village’s shallow understanding of dragons is hindering their chances of prosperity.
“Hiccup starts as self conscious, he’s a bit of a nuisance, and he lacks a lot of confidence,” DeBlois said. “Through the course of the three (animated) movies, he has a coming of age, so much so that as a wise adult, he’s able to say goodbye to the dragon that got him there.”
DeBlois continued, “Mapping that arc sort of back feeds into this new version, this live-action version of the story, because we know more about who the characters become, what they really (are), how their relationships evolve, and so we can better set that up.”