Top 10 Differences Between How to Train Your Dragon (2010) & (2025)

Top 10 Differences Between How to Train Your Dragon 2010 and 2025

Welcome to MsMojo, and today were looking at the most significant differences between the animated and live-action versions of How to Train Your Dragon. Spoilers for both films.

The remake opens pretty much like the animated film, but takes a little more time immersing us in Berk. The original sees a dragon swoop in, snatching a sheep grazing on grass. In the remake, the Vikings craft a trap that resembles a sheep. When the dragon takes the bait, it sets off an alarm, alerting Berk that the pests have arrived. Although Berk is slightly more prepared, the swarm of dragons still make off with much of their livestock. Hiccups narration provides a few additional details, noting that Astrid and her crew are Berks fire brigade. If it wasnt obvious enough already, its also stressed that Astrid is the one Hiccup is talking about when he expresses his desire to go on a date.

Gerard Butler returns as Stoick the Vast. While the scenes between Hiccup and his father essentially play out as you remember, we get to see Stoick interact more with fellow Berk residents. The most notable example is when hes rallying the other Vikings to search for the elusive dragons nest. In the original, Stoick gives two options: join him in the search or stay behind and look after Hiccup. This immediately gets everyone on board. The remake sees Stoick deliver a longer speech, singling out individuals in the room as he convinces them to join him on the water. It highlights that Stoick isnt just a fierce warrior. Hes a natural leader who connects with others, making them want to follow him.

Hiccups teenage friends have always been among the more underdeveloped aspects of the How to Train Your Dragon films. While the remake doesnt greatly expand upon their backgrounds, we are given some extra insight. Snotlout is still Hiccups rival, although they share something in common here: both are trying to win their fathers approval. Even if communication isnt their strong suit, at least Stoick acknowledges that Hiccup exists. Thats more than can be said about Snotlouts father, Spitelout, who ignores his son around every turn. Snotlout seems to be in denial, which explains why he overcompensates by acting like a hotshot. Snotlout finally gets his dads attention during the climax as he rides a dragon, helping save Berk from the Red Death.

In the 2010 film, the village elder, Gothi, singles out Hiccup to fight the Monstrous Nightmare for his final example. Gothi is kind of randomly dropped into the plot before retreating to the background, although she receives a touch more development in the DreamWorks Dragons TV series. The remake gives Gothi more of a presence throughout the training sessions. Stoick introduces her early on, and we see Gothi keeping track of each young Vikings progress. Although Astrid is initially out in front, Hiccup soon catches up. Like her animated counterpart, Gothi is a woman of few words, but you can tell that she commands respect from everyone in the village. Even with little dialogue, actress Naomi Wirthner brings gravitas to a small yet significant role.

Granted, Toothless more or less retains his cute, toyetic design, although there are some tweaks to make him fit into a live-action environment. The other dragons are given more prominent CGI overhauls. While their designs arent drastically changed, they are rendered to appear more realistic or at least as realistic as mystical creatures can be. Director Dean DeBlois said in an interview, We started with that idea that even though we had some quite cartoonish designs in the animated films, we should work backward to the animal that inspired those designs. For inspiration, the team looked to real-life animals like birds, crocodiles, and walruses. The aim was to ground these creatures in a live-action world, yet still preserve the animations personality and whimsy.

The original ends with Hiccup emerging from his house, finding Vikings and dragons living together in harmony. The remake concludes on a similar note, although it provides one extra detail: how the Vikings returned to Berk. After all, the Red Death destroyed their ships in a fiery blaze. The remake reveals that the Vikings escaped the island by riding the dragons home. Its safe to assume thats what they did in the animated film as well. While the audience probably couldve filled in the blanks on their own, it is satisfying seeing Hiccup light up when he learns that his father rode a dragon. It further emphasizes that Stoick has moved past his prejudice, accepting the dragons as part of his clan.

Upon discovering the dragons nest in the animated version, Astrid compares it to a beehive with the queen controlling her workers. This expositional line is in the remake as well, albeit with a modification. Astrid refers to the Red Death as an Alpha. In the animated continuity, the concept of Alphas isnt introduced until How to Train Your Dragon 2. With some exceptions like Toothless, the Alpha is usually a massive beast that can send other dragons into a hypnotic trance. The first film doesnt spell out whether the Red Death is an alpha in the same vein as the Bewilderbeast, which our heroes encounter in the sequel. The live-action film makes it clearer that the queen is an Alpha, bending other dragons wills.

The remake adds an exchange between Astrid and Hiccup shortly after the latter discovers Toothless. Hiccup throws out the idea that maybe theres more to dragons than they think, much to Astrids confusion. She proceeds to condemn Hiccup, convinced hes had it easy as the chiefs son. Astrid has aspirations to become a chief someday, working hard to prove herself. Hiccup cant argue with Astrid, believing Stoick would be prouder to have her as a kid than him. It shows that Astrid and Hiccup envy what the other has. While Hiccup hasnt won her respect yet, Astrid does begin to see that hes working through his own insecurities. Stoick casts a vast shadow, which Hiccup seems destined to live in until he forges his own path.

Berk is predominantly caucasian in the animated universe. There were people of color behind some of the voices, including America Ferrera. Yet, the remake strives to have more representation on screen. Not only are Astrid and Fishlegs played by actors of color, but Berk is comprised of different races and ethnicities. This isnt exactly colorblind casting, as historical research suggests there were Vikings with darker skin. The remake also explains that Berk is composed of Vikings from around the world, who have joined forces to hunt dragons. While race is never a plot point, the fact that Astrid pushes herself to be the best echoes how many people of color must often work twice as hard to achieve whats gift-wrapped to those born into privilege.

How to Train Your Dragon is a father-son story. As such, the original doesnt delve too deep into Hiccups mom outside of a breastplate gag. At the time, there were no guarantees the animated film would get a sequel that could explore what happened to Hiccups mother, Valka. Since a live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon 2 is already in the works, it makes sense that the first remake would touch upon the mother more. Valka is namedropped during an early conversation between Stoick and Gobber. Its also mentioned that dragons took Valka, intensifying Stoicks hatred of them. Valka might not make an appearance, although since Butler got to reprise his role, were holding out hope for a Cate Blanchett casting announcement.

How do you feel about these changes? Let us know in the comments.